August 27 Introduction to Class and Class Themes
No advance readings
August 29 The Monster in the Cave
Homer, Odyssey, book 9 (Cyclops episode, password-protected)
September 3 "Monsters from the Id" I
1. Watch lecture: Paul Bloom, on Freud: https://oyc.yale.edu/psychology/psyc-110/lecture-3
2. Read: Sigmund Freud, “The Unconscious," pages 12 to 16 (password-protected PDF link)
3. View film: Forbidden Planet (in-class viewing)
September 5 No Class
September 17 Thinking about Monsters
1. Read essay, J. J. Cohen, “Monster Culture (Seven Theses).*
"*** Old link seems to be down. Please Google 'Cohen Monster Culture Seven Theses' - first hit should be a .pdf of the essay. [Prof. Thibodeau]
September 19 Illness in the Psyche, I
1. Read essay, Hippocrates “The Sacred Disease” (password-protected)
September 24 Illness in the Psyche, II
1. Read book, James Fallon, The Psychopath Inside
(password-protected selections: 1-20, 65-72, 90-106, 187-212)
September 26 Self-Knowledge and its Limits, I
1. Read play, Sophocles, Oedipus the King
October 1 No Class
October 3 Self-Knowledge and its Limits, II
1. Read play, Sophocles, Oedipus the King
October 8 No Class
October 10 Soul Blindness, I
1. Read essay, David Foster Wallace "Consider the Lobster" http://www.columbia.edu/~col8/lobsterarticle.pdf
2. View film, Blade Runner (in-class viewing)
October 15 Soul Blindness, II
1. View film, Blade Runner (in-class viewing)
October 17 Soul Blindness, III
1. Discussion of film
October 22 The Dionysiac Pattern, I
1. Watch clip, staging of Euripides Bacchae: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ge4ynDhFVsg
2. Read play: Euripides, Bacchae
October 24 The Dionysiac Pattern, II
1. Read play: Euripides, Bacchae
2. FIRST DRAFT of Digital Book Due.
October 29 Leaders and Misleaders, I
1. View documentary, “The Jonestown Massacre”
October 31 Leaders and Misleaders, II
1. Read essay, J. Z. Smith, “The Devil in Mr. Jones”
2. Practice Final Exam
November 5 Leaders and Misleaders, III
1. Read Plato, Republic book 9, 571-579.
November 7 Authority, Anarchy, and Abuse, I
1. View documentary: Obedience. Stanley Milgram. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNqfPKWiRao
2. Read essay: Cari Romm, "Rethinking One of Psychology's Most Infamous Experiments." https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/01/rethinking-one-of-psychologys-most-infamous-experiments/384913/
November 12 Authority, Anarchy, and Abuse, II
1. View documentary: Stanford Prison Experiment. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=760lwYmpXbc
2. Read essay: Maria Konnikova, "The Real Lesson of the Stanford Prison Experiment" https://www.newyorker.com/science/maria-konnikova/the-real-lesson-of-the-stanford-prison-experiment
November 14 Disgust and Humanity, I
1. Read chapter, first half:
“Disgust and Our Animal Bodies,” Nussbaum, Hiding from Humanity, 71-93 (password-protected)
November 19 Disgust and Humanity, II
“Disgust and Our Animal Bodies,” Nussbaum, Hiding from Humanity, 93-123 (password-protected)
November 21 Scapegoating, I
1. Read short story, Shirley Jackson, “The Lottery”
November 26 Scapegoating, II
1. Read article, Elizabeth Bruenig, "What Do We Owe Her Now?" https://longform.org/posts/what-do-we-owe-her-now
November 28 NO CLASS
December 3 The Banality of Evil? I
1. Read essay, "The Case of Hannah Arendt" by Amos Elon (password-protected)
2. View clip, Hannah Arendt (2012)
3. SECOND DRAFT of Digital Book Due.
December 5 The Banality of Evil? II
1. View clip, “Hannah Arendt, Adolf Eichmann, and how Evil Isn’t Banal” by Yaacov Lozowick, former director
of Yad Vashem Archives (15 min.).
2. View clip, Prof. Susan Neiman on the question of evil (2 min.)
December 10 Embracing the Monster, I
1. Read poem: Allen Ginsburg, Howl https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/49303/howl
December 12 Final Exam
December 19 Final Class Meeting, 1-3 pm Embracing the Monster, II
1. View documentary, “Under the Influence. New York Hardcore.”
2. View: documentary, BBC Brass Tacks debate on punk rock.
