Thanks to a last minute change to my teaching schedule involving a National League-style double substitution, I am now teaching one section of Western Civilization I.
I just got the assignment this week and have been scrambling to put together a syllabus — which is kind of silly, when you think about it. I have been thinking about Western Civilization reading lists off and on for the better part of 30 years at least. Granted, a reading list and a syllabus are not the same thing. But still — I should have been expecting the unexpected here.
I did finally finish my syllabus this evening. I’m using The West: A New History by Anthony Grafton and David A. Bell (W.W. Norton, 2018). The book is 11 chapters long, which is perfect for breaking the semester down into an introductory week and three units of study, with a week for exam review and an exam at the end of each unit. As we work our way through the semester, students will read a chapter per week on non-exam weeks and take a reading quiz before that week’s class meetings. I’ll give an overview lecture on Monday of each teaching week touching on some of the themes and turning points covered in the chapter. And on Wednesday of each teaching week, we will discuss the additional readings I am assigning. Some of these are just short passages pulled from the online reader that comes with the textbook. Others are…a little more toothsome.
Since I’ve spilled so much virtual ink here on Western Civ reading lists, I thought it might be of interest to share mine, which is not in any way an ideal list. Ubi sunt feminae?, as my Latin textbook long ago queried. With more time to prepare — and helpful suggestions from friends and colleagues who can point me to free, full-text online resources — I am sure I can come up with a better list for the next time around. And there will surely be a next time. But I am not sorry to start with this one.
H
ere’s what I’m asking my students to read.
I think it will teach. I’m grateful for the opportunity to give it a try.
The Costs of Civilization
The Epic of Gilgamesh, Tablets I, VIII, XI
The Book of Genesis, Chapters 6-8
The Consolations of Civilization
The Iliad, Book XVIII
The Book of Ecclesiastes, Chapters 1-6
Mediterranean Civilizations and the History of History
Herodotus, Histories, Books I and II
The Good Life and the Great Life
Plato, Republic, Book VII
Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, Book I
Plutarch, “Alexander the Great”
From Libya’s Shores to Rome’s Seven Hills
Virgil, The Aeneid, Book IV
Cicero, “On Friendship”
Seeking the Truth
Quintillian, The Ideal Education (excerpts)
The Gospel of Luke, Chapters 1-2, 6-8, 15, 23-24
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, Books I and II
Take Up and Read
Augustine, Confessions, Books I, II, and VIIII
“In Righteousness and Simplicity”
Selections from the Qur’an
Bede on Purgatory, Hell, and Heaven
“These Most Evil Tidings”
Pope Urban II, call for the first Crusade, 1095
Letter from Stephen, Count du Blois and Chartres, to his wife, 1098
“How Great the Afflictions”
Account of the Sack of Constantinople
The Statutes of Gregory IX for the University of Paris
Boccaccio, Decameron, selections
“Midway Through Life’s Journey”
Dante, Inferno, Cantos I-IV, XXXIV; Purgatorio, Canto XXX
“Here I Stand”
Johann Tetzel, sermon on indulgences
Martin Luther, Ninety-Five Theses
Martin Luther, “On Good Works”
John Calvin on Predestination
Michel de Montaigne, “On the Education of Children”
9 Thoughts on this Post
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I added Sappho (same week as Herodotus) and Tertullian on the martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicitas — will probably glom that on the week we do Augustine. Might as well keep all the Fathers together. North Africa in late antiquity is my jam — hope my students will at least bear with me.
L.D.,
I’m the wrong person to comment here, but since no one else has, I will.
This may be an unfair or impossible question, but I’m curious about whether there are underlying
themes or narrative arcs implicit here. I suppose one might be “the good life” and how it’s achieved, esp. for those fortunate enough to have had the leisure and intellectual resources to reflect on the question (but I’m sure there are other themes too, e.g. different routes to “the truth,” or etc.).
I totally understand why Augustine and Luther are here (among others), but noticed the absence of Aquinas. Given the importance of medieval Christendom (and to help set the overall context for the Reformation (and Renaissance)), a bit might make sense. Or maybe the survey text covers it adequately. (Also could throw in some Maimonides, maybe… ?)
Lastly, wondering if there’s a way to squeeze a bit more of the Renaissance in at the end — one could imagine different ways to do that. (An excerpt from Leonardo, say?)
Anyway, wouldn’t tamper with the list as it stands. Just a couple of thoughts for next time around.
Louis, this is a fine comment. I had mentioned on Facebook that I’m seriously considering just laying out the differences between Platonism and Aristotelianism without having them read either philosopher, though I think there is some value for them in being able to say at the end of the class that they read at least some of both thinkers. But I might assign Medea instead.
In any case, if I jettison something from earlier in the course I will probably assign some questions from Aquinas, because the reading load gets lighter between Augustine and Dante. And I may end up swapping out the Decameron for Margery Kempe. Since I’m using only sources available online, it will be easy to change a reading as we go along with no financial cost to the students.
But I really need to see how the first unit of study goes before making any changes. I’ve front loaded the heaviest reading load at the start of the semester, so I should know by week four what I need to do differently, and might very well course-correct mid-semester if needed. Students never complain when you tweak the syllabus to meet them where they are.
And this reading list above is just the primary source reading they will do each week. Every chapter of the survey textbook is another 30-40 pages. And when it comes to the Renaissance (or, for that matter, the 13th century), there’s plenty to look at as well as plenty to read, so we’ll be looking at some frescoes and paintings and architectural developments in class.
As far as “theme” goes, I did not design the course with one in mind. I mean, I had all of a week to whip this syllabus together (though as I said above, it’s not like I haven’t thought for a while about doing this). But I do see a theme emerging through most of the readings I’ve chosen — the theme is, broadly, the search for meaning in the face of mortality. So, as William James asked, “What makes a life significant?” Or, as the Gospel passage from the Common Lectionary put it yesterday, “What are you looking for?”
Honestly, I’m not too worried about what’s missing — there’s already so much here. They will get “coverage” from the textbook. Hopefully they’ll get something more from the class. We shall see.
Thanks for the reply (I like that statement of the theme). I’m sure the class will go well.
Perhaps your more philosophically inclined students would want to consider how what counts for “Western civilization” is a bit messy (this is but one example): https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/arabic-islamic-influence/
“The Arabic-Latin translation movements in the Middle Ages, which paralleled that from Greek into Latin, led to the transformation of almost all philosophical disciplines in the medieval Latin world. The impact of Arabic philosophers such as al-F?r?b?, Avicenna and Averroes on Western philosophy was particularly strong in natural philosophy, psychology and metaphysics, but also extended to logic and ethics.”
I am aware — but thanks for the link anyhow. I talk about the influence of Islamic philosophers and scholars in the first half of the US history survey as well. Gotta set up the pins of the medieval world before you can knock them down with a heretofore undiscussed hemisphere.
One thing I particularly like about the Grafton/Bell book is that it does not start out by defining “the West.” We will spend most of the first class meeting discussing what we think “Western,” “Civilization,” and “Western Civilization” mean, and we’ll be returning to that definitional problem throughout the semester. The catalog description for the course is pretty good as these things go: “Themes that should be addressed in Western Civilization I include cultural legacies of Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, Rome, Byzantium, Islamic civilizations, and Europe through the Middle Ages, Renaissance, and Reformations.” I guarantee you that was not part of the catalog description at Stanford when I took “Western Culture” — not in my great books track, anyhow. The canon wars of the late ’80s and the multiculturalist turn of the curriculum in the early ’90s show up here, and I’m glad to see it.
As for more provocative examples (and of course you might be familiar with these as well), I would recommend Richard W. Bulliet’s The Case for Islamo-Christian Civilization (Columbia University Press, 2004), and Thomas McEvilley’s The Shape of Ancient Thought (Allworth Press, 2002), which concerns the evidence for “the interchange of ideas and mutual influence” between the ancient Greek world and the world of ancient India.
Pleased to report that the first week’s discussion of Gilgamesh and Genesis was fantastic. Students were prepared and engaged. Alas, I realized that I also should have assigned Genesis 3. Next time…
I wish I had had you as my Lit Hum teacher at Columbia!