English R1A

Book List

Blake, William : Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience; Freud, Sigmund: Civilization and Is Discontents; Morrison, Toni: Sula

Description

Note the changes in instructor, topic, book list, and course description (as of Dec. 15).

Is homicide ever morally justifiable? . . .  Is lying? Is it moral or immoral to lie to a murderer in pursuit of a victim? Humanity has long been concerned with questions of morality, questions encompassing both the nature and the development of morality. Along with philosophers, both sage and everyman, we will consider: What is just and what is unjust? Do we construct moral values through social interaction, or is morality the product of cultural, religious, or educational training? We will pursue these questions by considering psychological explanations and literary explorations of morality. Our psychological readings will include the foremost theories of morality and moral development which emerged over the  past century, including those of Freud, Piaget, Kohlberg, and Turiel, as well as the perspectives of contemporary cultural psychologists, neuroscientists, and cultural critics. Interwoven with our psychological readings will be three literary explorations of morality, as represented by the poetry of William Blake, excerpts form Dostoyevsky's The Brothers Karamazov, and the novel Sula, by Toni Morrison.

Since this is an R1A course, we will focus on the development of college-level critical reading and writing skills. The overarching goal of our work together is the development of your ability to understand and analyze complext texts and to gain confidence and skill in articulating your knowledge and position, particularly through your writing. I look forward to our work together!