HST 407/507:
"Voltaire & the
Enlightenment"
Thomas Luckett
Spring 2009
Tue., 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM
Cramer Hall 494
NOTE: see reading assignment
for week 1
Blackboard required:
This is the public web page for this course. The rest of the web
site for this course is available only through Blackboard, and will
become accessible a few days in advance of the term. To view it,
you will need to obtain an ODIN account, and enroll in the
course. Use of Blackboard is a requirement of the course.
If you are new to ODIN or Blackboard, the following links
will be useful:
Course section information:
- HST 407/507, section TML, CRN 64806/64823.
Course description: This seminar examines French
politics, society and culture from the death of Louis XIV to the eve of
the French Revolution, and focuses on the turbulant career of France's
most celebrated writer and social critic, Voltaire. Required
readings will include electronic facsimiles of the original editions of
Voltaire's works in English translation (or in French, for those
students who read French). Major themes of the course include
conflict between the king and the parlements, the struggle for
religious toleration, the scientific legacy of Isaac Newton, the French
Enlightenment and the rise of the public sphere. Prerequisite for
HST 407: HST 300 or consent of the instructor.
Goals: By the
end of the term, the student should:
- Possess an extensive knowledge of French society, politics
and culture in the eighteenth century.
- Possess a detailed, critical understanding of the ideas of
Voltaire.
- Know how to critique a secondary work on the French
Enlightenment, identify its strengths and weaknesses, and explain how
it
fits into the larger historiography.
- Know how to analyze a primary source on the French
Enlightenment, and explain how it could be used to support a particular
position in the historiography.
- Be able to develop and write, at an advanced level, an
original
historical research paper.
Course requirements:
Grades will be based primarily on a final research paper (15-25 pages,
double-spaced), completion of several short ungraded assignments, an
in-class presentation, attendance and participation.
Research: Depending on
the topic
chosen, students in this course may be able to do most of their
primary-source research with the electronic facsimiles of
eighteenth-century English editions available through Eighteenth-Century Collections Online.
Those who read French can find original French editions in Gallica and Gallica Classique. (For
Gallica's list of more than 250 works by Voltaire, click here).
Readings: Required readings will include on-line
readings,
and four books available through the Portland State Bookstore:
- Cronk, Nicholas, ed., The
Cambridge Companion to Voltaire (Cambridge UP, 2009).
[ISBN 0-521-61495-3]
- Jones, Colin, The Great
Nation: France from Louis XV to Napoleon (Penguin, 2003).
[ISBN 0-14-013093-4]
- Voltaire, Philosophical
Dictionary, trans. Theodore Besterman (Penguin, 1984).
[ISBN 0-14-044257-X]
- Voltaire, Political
Writings, ed. David Williams (Cambridge UP, 1994).
[ISBN 0-521-43727-X]
Reading assignment for week 1:
By our first class
meeting on 31 March please
read:
- Jones, Great
Nation, chapters 1-2 (pp. 1-81).
- Voltaire, Fanaticism, or
Mahomet the Prophet (1741). Read either:
- English version:
"Mahomet,
a Tragedy," in Dramatic Works of M.
de Voltaire, 4th edn, 24 vols., trans. Francklin (Dublin:
Moncrieffe, 1772-73), vol. 23, pp. 215-276.
- French version:
Le fanatisme, ou Mahomet le prophète
(Amsterdam: Ledet, 1753). (Note:
The text of the play, but not the preface, is also
available in HTML format.)
Contact Prof. Thomas Luckett:
- Office hours by appointmment: 441-H CH.
- Office phone: (503) 725-3982.
- Email: luckettt@pdx.edu.
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