Humanities Program
GES146, Freshman Spring SemesterWestern Humanity in Christian Perspective II |
|
In the second course, taken in spring of your freshman year, we begin with the Renaissance and Reformation, and continue through the Enlightenment, ending with the French Revolution. |
|
There is a significant emphasis on Renaissance and Baroque art, capped with another trip to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. Several weeks are given to the Reformation writings of Luther, Calvin, Anabaptist writers, and the Catholic reformers. The semester continues with attention to the Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment (Descartes, Voltaire), as well as the early pietism that is central to the history of Bethel and the evangelical tradition more broadly. We then move into the political debates over the French Revolution by reading Thomas Paine and Edmund Burke. |
|
Spring term concludes with a reading of a novel by Jane Austen and a dance for all Humanities students, in the style of her era. |
Sample Texts: |
|
Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince Hans Hillerbrand, ed., The Protestant Reformation (readings by Luther, Calvin, etc.) Voltaire, Candide Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice Descartes, Discourse on Method and Meditations Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France Thomas Paine, Political Writings Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice John Walford, Great Themes in Art Vasari, Lives of Leonardo, Michelangelo Pico della Mirandola, Oration on the Dignity of Man Hubmaier, Armenian Remonstrances Canons of the Council of Trent Hymns of Watts, Wesley, and Cowper |
Sample Lectures that support the reading: |
|
Introduction to the Renaissance: Art and the Humanists Luther's Reformation Calvin and the Radical Reformers The Catholic Reformation Music and Worship in Renaissance Europe Baroque and 17th Century Art Shakespeare and Renaissance England to 1660 The Scientific Revolution, Peace of Westphalia, and the Satire of Candide Rationalism, Empiricism, and Deism Pietism Music in the Enlightenment: Bach, Handel, et al The Novel and Economics in the Era of Jane Austen Political Crisis in Enlightenment Europe: The French Revolution Beethoven, Napoleon, and the Beginnings of Romanticism |