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posted 15 January 2006 - I've updated the "schedule" page to reflect our discussion, last Friday, about the next stages of the course and the Humboldt Project, and also to prepare for the videoconference observation on Friday, 20 January (room TBA and preparatory materials to come). I've also added more information about the themes that will organize weeks 4-10;

posted 6 January 2006 - "Reason and Revolution" starts Monday, 9 January:

Some thoughts about the course.

What is "Reason and Revolution"?

"Reason and Revolution" is a brand new course. It was originally intended to allow programs within the FLL Department, especially French and German, to share one course about the European Enlightenment and the period of revolutions associated with it. The reasons were: 1) to alleviate staff shortages; 2) combine smaller courses; 3) allow for the cultural breadth that so much characterizes the Enlightenment itself. That purpose remains, but the course is also being developed for the Sophomore Inquiry and the various clusters related to European studies and the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries.

But why the title "Reason and Revolution?

The European Enlightenment placed great emphasis on the power of human reason as a tool to understand the world (including God, human nature, and morality). The Enlightment was associated with the American and French Revolutions, which were followed by still more revolutions. The relation between Reason and Revolution requires much exploration

What will we do and learn?

Something we will NOT do is study our topic in isolation: 1) not in isolation from our own time and environment; 2) not as literary texts unrelated to other kinds of texts or other cultural phenomena; 3) not as an "academic" subject unrelated to the teaching and learning of language and literature - anyone who has pursued that subject far enough to be taking upper-division courses in it should be thinking about vocational, professional and career dimensions.

Nor will you be assigned a term paper. But you will most certainly do as much or more researching, learning and writing as you would do to write a term paper. You will likely like it better this way, and almost certainly you will learn more this way.

Yes, there will be some "academic" reading and writing (and talking and listening and, of course, thinking). But we won't neglect the more personal and affective dimension, or that of group undertakings. You can expect to do some reflective writing, to do individual and group presentations, and to undertake a group project that will deliver our topic to a larger audience and relate it to the teaching and learning of language, literature and culture.

During class you will be expected and encouraged to join in the discussion - just as would the scholars and artists and other leaders of the period of Reason and Revolution.

What are some of the major questions and topics of investigation of the course?

What are "reason" and "enlightenment"? Are we ourselves reasonable and rational and enlightened? Were people back then? How do the Enlightenment and its revolutions relate to our time and American society and culture? Did the Enlightenment go wrong? Did the Revolutions? Has there been progress or regression since the Enlightenment and the Revolutions? (Does that last question have any valid meaning?) Did America create a New Jerusalem, a New Athens, a New Rome? Is the American Declaration of Independence, according to one book that will be used in the course, "the ultimate statement of the European Enlightenment"? Why did Jefferson not free his own slaves? Why did the French have a Revolution, while the Germans didn't? And what about the British? And as the American Revolution really a revolution? Are we post-Romantic/ -Enlightenment / -modern?

religion; science; politics; gender and sexuality; race; environment; art, music, and literature; technology, books, language, scholarly societies, salons, and clubs

The selection of topics will be adjusted to fit the interests and other study areas of the participants.

Who are some of the people we will encounter?

Maybe not all of the following, but many of them, and certainly some others: Pascal, Kant, Jefferson, Voltaire, Diderot, Goethe, Franklin, Gibbon, Cook, Frederick the Great, Alexander von Humboldt, Lafayette, DeToqueville, Condorcet, Lyell, Paine, Maria Theresia, Handel, Haydn, Napoleon, Rousseau, Johnson, Blake, Madame de Stael, Trumbull, Copley, David, Ingres, Catherine the Great, Mozart, ourselves

What will we read and what other sources of knowledge will we use?

Excerpts or short works from original sources, in translation where necessary; three modern books as case studies and sources of background knowledge; various other books and articles for incidental reference; visual and audio materials; the usual range of internet resources (and maybe some unusual ones)

Many of the shorter texts will be distributed as photocopies; if the class stays small, I will use my faculty photocopy allowance to absorb the cost. If we need larger quantities, we'll set up a rotating system of making copies and collecting for them.

What's this about a group project?

One team or, if enrollment warrants, more than one team, will develop a teaching and learning resource that will summarize the learning done in the course and present it in a useful way to another community of learners. The priority project is a presentation about Alexander von Humboldt that kids in American schools named for him can use to find out more about him and relate him to their cultural heritage. If there are enough participants, another project will focus on one or two famous explorers of the Enlightenment era, Cook and Bougainville. In the background here, of course, are Lewis and Clark, whose expedition could not have happened without either the Enlightenment and Reason or Revolution.

In many of my courses there are such final projects, and presenting them publicly replaces the final exam. Some courses also present their work in other public venues: German 320, the German business simulation, has appeared at the PSU early-May Tech Fair for several years.

The group projects often serve as the basis for grant applications, as has the German business simulation, which attracted funding several years ago to expand to other languages. Last year that course, and the GER399 German Science Fiction course, won one of the two PSU prizes for Teaching with Technology.

What about language skills?

••more to come here, when we find out about the languages in our group

What are testing and grading like?

There are no tests, in the sense of written bluebook exams. All your learning and what you do to communicate and document it will be evaluated by scoring guides with multiple rubrics that use the standard 6-level rating system.

In that system, 6 is A+. It is "exemplary" - so wonderful that the instructor wants to save it forever and show it off to everyone. To get that "A" you have to AmAze me and the rest of the class. But you'll have to figure out how to do that, because if I tell you what will amaze me and then you do that, I won't be amazed. But I can give you examples.

4 is B-. It is "sufficient" - the basics and the essentials are evident but not strong, and there are significant shortcomings in understanding and presentation.

For many activities there is the possibility of revision and rescoring.