Readers (HUM225/455)

I’ve uploaded all the materials from the reader in pdf format on the course information page.

Lecture (HUM225)

Here’s today’s lecture. Hopefully, it will work. If not, let me know. 1:31lec225 Be warned: it’s a fairly large file (22 MB).

Readers (HUM225/HUM455)

I’ve been assured that the readers for HUM225 and HUM455 will be available in the bookstore by noon tomorrow. In the meantime, I’ve uploaded pdf versions of the assignments for Thursday to the course information pages.

Calibans and Tempests (HUM455)

From Peter Greenaway’s Prospero’s Books (aka “the naked Tempest”): An earlier BBC version of the Tempest. This clip begins with the dialog between Propsero and Ariel and then leads up to the former’s exchange with Caliban. A series of trailers for films based on the Tempest. The animated Tempest. Derek Jarman’s “gay Tempest“– all 90-odd [...]

All That is Solid (HUM225)

“The bourgeoisie cannot exist without constantly revolutionising the instruments of production, and thereby the relations of production, and with them the whole relations of society. Conservation of the old modes of production in unaltered form, was, on the contrary, the first condition of existence for all earlier industrial classes. Constant revolutionising of production, uninterrupted disturbance [...]

Tuesday (HUM470)

We didn’t discuss Berry’s essay much at all on Thursday, though I think that text is valuable– despite being so glib– for what it can tell us about the search for what in the old days used to be known as national character. Here’s a bit of a tangent: during the Cold War, when American [...]

Value (HUM225)

Ideally, even lecture classes contain an element of dialog. Paolo Freire, the Brazilian theorist of pedagogy, took great pains to explain that an effective education cannot be governed by what he called “the banking concept of education“– a principle which holds that students are merely passive, empty vessels which the teacher-expert attempts to fill. Asking [...]

New Location/ Music (HUM470)

Against all expectation we’ve managed to secure a new room with better media equipment. Our new classroom is in HUM 286. We’ll meet there on Tuesday. Pass the word along if you see anyone from class. Also, I’d like you to submit a youtube clip of a track that you think constitutes an example of [...]

Life Narrative (HUM470)

I was going through your questionnaires looking for musical advice and selected a few of the artists mentioned. First, a remarkable clip of Billie Holiday singing Travelin’ Light:

More Maps (HUM455)

The kingdoms of Spain, ca. 1200 CE: