HONOR 2103 - Honors Core in Intellectual Tradition: Modernity

This class studies the modern period in which we live, as influenced by the Scientific Revolution, the Enlightenment, and/or other movements and periods. Readings are drawn from canonical writings in science, literature, history, and philosophy, among other genres. The course typically focuses on issues such as the development of modern science and technology, the tension between science and religion, the modern state and totalitarianism, the impact of evolutionary theory and developments in psychology on conceptions of the person, and so forth, subject to the individual instructor's discretion. Readings may include Galileo, Descartes, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Jane Austen, Freud, Marx, Virginia Woolf, and Sartre, but will vary somewhat from one section to another. The course stresses careful reading, critical thinking, and good writing. Students interested in knowing more about authors and themes to be covered are urged to attend the Honors Preview or contact the instructors directly.