MLAS Course Roster
Spring 2008 Courses
* Classes from January 7th through May 1st. See individual course descriptions for first class metting date and place.
- MLAS 270 29: The Public Intellectual's Work Beyond the Ivory Tower
- MLAS 260 56: Don Quixote and the Development of the Novel
- MLAS 260 69: Ethics, Liberty, and Justice
- MLAS 270 28: American Economic History
- MLAS 260 68: Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang – James Bond and Popular Culture
- MLAS 260 66: The Opera
- MLAS 260 67: New Testament
MLAS 270 29
The Public Intellectual's Work Beyond the Ivory Tower
Professor Robert Barsky (robert.barsky@vanderbilt.edu)
Wednesday evenings 7 pm–9:30pm
Buttrick 112
First Class: January 16th
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
To be a “public intellectual” is to undertake work beyond the “Ivory Tower,” variously construed, a conscious or conscientious effort that has been going on ever since the advent of a line, variously drawn, between an Academy for intellectuals and the rest of society. In Europe and North America, those involved with criticisms of the established order of society have come from a broad array of backgrounds and, inspired by Greek, Roman, Renaissance or Enlightenment thinkers, have imagined themselves spreading ideas and approaches which foster some sense of the common good or else which address the problem of social ills. As a consequence, many of those who have worked beyond the Ivory Tower have variously identified themselves as Marxists, fascists, feminists, socialists, Utilitarians, Fabians, existentialists, social democrats, libertarians, radicals, anarchists, syndicalists and, in more recent times, civil rights activists, neo-conservatives, neo-liberals, Trotskyites, Maoists and muckrakers, supporting causes ranging the entire “left”-”right” spectrum. One consequence of this is that intellectuals can be perceived to have, as Howard Zinn suggests, a public responsibility “to earn our keep in this world. No matter what side of the political spectrum they speak from, Western intellectuals can make themselves useful from this perspective by making productive use of their hard-won political liberty, their access to information and their freedom of expression. For the privileged few who are in this situation, Western democracy, in Chomsky’s words, “provides the leisure, the facilities, and the training to seek the truth lying hidden behind the veil of distortion and misrepresentation, ideology and class interest, through which the events of current history are presented to us.” Whether or not academics or intellectuals choose to do work “beyond the ivory tower,” and the motivation for their foray beyond their specialization, is a large part of the public intellectual story and will be the focus for this course.
Course Books:
- See selected Bibliography below for class texts. Much of the reading will be available online as excerpts from the selected Bibliography works.
Assignments:
Mid-term paper (choose one of the following options):
1. Write a poem (2-5 pages) or short story (7-10 pages) that takes a stand on a social issue in a way that is consistent with the descriptions of similar efforts described in this course. Then offer a critique or evaluation of this effort (3-5 pages).
OR
2. Employ one of the theory texts from this course as a means of discussing a fictional work from the syllabus.
Final paper:
Using primary texts and theoretical materials discussed in this course, elaborate upon the relationship between the writer and politics.
Oral Presentation:
On the basis of texts available for discussion during a given week, choose one or two texts for discussion (20-30 minutes).
Grades:
- First paper: 30%
- Final paper: 40%
- Oral presentation: 10%
- Participation (attendance, interaction in class): 20%
Select Bibliography:
- Raymond Aron, The Opium of Intellectuals.
- Pierre Bourdieu, Homo Academicus
- Bricmont and Sokal, Intellectual Impostures.
- Noam Chomsky, The New Mandarins
- Bernard-Henry Levy, What Good Are Intellectuals?: 44 Writers Share Their Thoughts
- Michael Ignatieff , “Decline and fall of the public intellectual” in Queen's Quarterly (Digital - Jul 28, 2005)
- Russell Jacoby, The Last Intellectuals
- Mark Lilla, The Reckless Mind: Intellectuals in Politics
- Richard A. Posner, Public Intellectuals: A Study of Decline.
- Interviews With Edward W. Said (Conversations With Public Intellectuals Series).
- George Woodcock, Writers and Politics.
Course Instructor:
Robert Barsky is the author or editor of numerous books on narrative and refugee law (Constructing a Productive Other: Discourse Theory and the Convention Refugee Hearing and Arguing and Justifying: Assessing the Convention Refugees' Choice of Moment, Motive and Host Country), on radical theory and practice (The Chomsky Effect: A Radical Works Beyond the Ivory Tower; Noam Chomsky: A Life of Dissent and an edition of Anton Pannekoek's Workers Councils) on discourse and literary theory (Introduction à la théorie littéraire, an edited volume with Michael Holquist entitled Bakhtin and Otherness, an edited collection with Eric Méchoulan entitled The Production of French Criticism, and an edited collection entitled Marc Angenot and the Scandal of History) and on translation -- in both theory and practice (including the translation of Michel Meyer's Philosophy and the Passions). He has been involved with a range of journals, including SubStance, for which he served as an editor, and he is the founder of 415 South Street, a literary magazine, Discours social/Social Discourse, and AmeriQuests. He is Professor of Comparative Literature, French and Italian, Vanderbilt University.
MLAS 260 56
Don Quixote and the Development of the Novel
Professor Edward Friedman (edward.h.friedman@vanderbilt.edu)
Wednesday evenings 7 pm–9:30pm
Furman 209
First Class: January 16th
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
In conceiving Don Quixote, which starts out as parody, Miguel de Cervantes came upon the idea that madness could be humorous. In this case, his knight errant (or errant knight) suffers from a literature-induced malady that brings readers, writers, and fiction-making into the frame. Don Quixote, accompanied by his somewhat reluctant squire Sancho Panza, has the best of intentions, if not the most practical of agendas. His anachronistic plan and his eccentricities give the exploits a special cast. Don Quixote ultimately shares the stage with the author himself, who undertakes adventures of his own. At the beginning of the seventeenth century, when Cervantes published Don Quixote, the novel was not only new but was in the process of inventing itself. Cervantes breaks away from the idealism of chivalric, pastoral, and sentimental romance, as he helps to develop narrative realism. At the same time, he moves in an entirely different direction, by calling attention to the process of composition. Don Quixote announces itself as a “true history,” but its fictional devices clearly show through. Spanish society is on display, but so are the literary forms of the day, to be acknowledged and often satirized. Don Quixote is, thus, a novel and a theory of the novel, brilliantly comic but profound, as well. It serves as a type of template for future novels and, accordingly, for future experiments, as texts engage and challenge tradition. Don Quixote will be the centerpiece of the seminar, along with examples of experimental fiction from the twentieth century.
Course Books:
- Miguel de Cervantes, Don Quixote (trans. Edith Grossman)
- Miguel de Unamuno, Mist (trans. Warner Fite)
- Toni Morrison, The Bluest Eye
- Paul Auster, City of Glass
- Mark Haddon, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time
- Also included will be a selection of short stories and critical essays, and the class will view the Woody Allen film The Purple Rose of Cairo.
Tentative Schedule:
Week 1 |
Introduction; narrative fiction; Don Quixote: text and contexts |
Week 2 |
Selected short stories |
Week 3 |
Don Quixote, Part One: Prologue – Chapter27 |
Week 4 |
Don Quixote, Part One: Chapters 28 52 |
Week 5 |
Selected criticism; Essay on Part One |
Week 6 |
Don Quixote, Part Two: Prologue – Chapter 28 |
Week 7 |
Don Quixote, Part Two: Chapters 29 – 58 |
Week 8 |
Don Quixote, Chapters 54 – 74; Essay on Part Two |
Week 9 |
Selected criticism, including Carroll B. Johnson, |
Week 10 |
Mist |
Week 11 |
The Bluest Eye |
Week 12 |
City of Glass |
Week 13 |
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time; |
Week 14 |
The Purple Rose of Cairo |
Assignments:
There will be a reading assignment and a short writing exercise (2-3 pages) for each class. The seminar sessions will depend heavily on group dialogue. There will be no tests or final examination.
Grades:
- Written exercises: 75%
- Class discussion participation: 25%
Select Bibliography:
- See previous Course Books section.
Course Instructor:
Edward Friedman, Chancellor’s Professor of Spanish and Professor of Comparative Literature, teaches courses in early modern Spanish literature, comparative literature, and theory at Vanderbilt, and he especially enjoys having the opportunity to include Don Quixote,in English and in Spanish, in his classes. His research has focused on Cervantes, the picaresque novel, women’s voices in fiction, and sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Spanish theater, but he also works on contemporary narrative and drama. His most recent book is Cervantes in the Middle: Realism and Reality in the Spanish Novel (2006). He is editor of the journal Bulletin of the Comediantes and from 2001-2004 served as president of the Cervantes Society of America. The Vanderbilt Theatre, under the direction of Prof. Jeffrey Ullom, performed his play Wit’s End, an adaptation of Lope de Vega’s La dama boba, as part of its 2006-2007 season.
MLAS 260 69
Ethics, Liberty, and Justice
Professor Robert B. Talisse (robert.talisse@vanderbilt.edu)
Thursday evenings 7:00pm-9:30pm
Furman 109
First Class: January 17th
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
It is safe to presume that we all want to live a good life. But what is it to live a good life? Does living a good life amount simply to living a life which we believe is good, or must a life satisfy some set of objective conditions in order to be good? Can one be mistaken about what makes a life good? Does living well mean simply doing what you want (whatever you want), or does it require in addition that we want the right things? Do we need others to live well? Do we need to live in a good society in order to live well? Does our shared interest in living good lives create an obligation to help others to live well; that is, does our living well consist in part in caring about whether others live well too? What role should political entities such as the state or community play in the enterprise of living a good life? How should we go about trying to answer these questions?
These are among the deepest questions in philosophy, and we surely will not be able to answer them in a single semester. But we will begin to try to answer them by reading, discussing, criticizing, and challenging some of the most forcefully-argued and influential texts that the discipline of philosophy has to offer. Beginning with classic texts from the history of philosophy (including Plato’s Republic, John Locke’s Treatise on Government, and John Stuart Mill’s On Liberty) and incorporating the work of contemporary political philosophers (including John Rawls, Robert Nozick, Michael Sandel, Ronald Dworkin, and Martha Nussbaum), we will explore different conceptions of the good life and correspondingly different conceptions of freedom, liberty, responsibility, and justice.
Course Books:
- Plato. The Republic. Hackett.
- John Locke. Second Treatise of Government. Hackett.
- John Stuart Mill. On Liberty. Hackett.
- John Rawls. A Theory of Justice. Harvard.
- Michael Sandel. Public Philosophy. Harvard.
- Ronald Dworkin. Is Democracy Possible Here? Princeton.
- Martha Nussbaum. Frontiers of Justice. Harvard.
Assignments:
Regular attendance, class participation, and two papers (one due around mid-term; the other due at the end of the course).
Select Bibliography:
- See previous COURSE BOOKS section.
Course Instructor:
Robert B. Talisse is Associate Professor of Philosophy and Political Science at Vanderbilt University. He earned his Ph. D. in Philosophy from the City University of New York in 2001, and joined the Vanderbilt faculty that same year. He has published extensively in the area of political philosophy; his current research is focused on moral and political reasoning, the role of religious commitment in democratic politics, and global justice.
MLAS 270 28
American Economic History
Professor Jeremy Atack (jeremy.atack@vanderbilt.edu)
Monday evenings 7 pm–9:30pm
Calhoun 109
First Class: January 14th
COURSE DESCRIPTION: This is an introductory course in American economic history--the development of the American economy--from colonial times to the recent past. My goals are: to provide an overview of the subject matter, to stimulate your interest and enthusiasm for America's past, and to provide historical parallels that may provide insights into current problems. The course is organized around a few big topics—one per week—rather than being structured chronologically. Familiarity with introductory principles of economics is assumed (e.g. supply and demand analysis and how banks work).
WHAT IS ECONOMIC HISTORY?
The name says it all: "Economic history"--it is both history and economics. This means more than simply the study of past events that have economic content. We will employ the tools and techniques of economics--elementary economic theory and statistical evidence--to help us understand and interpret those economic events in our past. Perhaps the best way to view class is as a course in applied economics and one of my goals is to get you to appreciate how powerful economic theory is--even very simple economic theory--in helping you understand events and their consequences. Along the way, however, you will also learn something about the economic growth and development of the United States which should help you appreciate and interpret current trends and how we got here. Consequently, you will find that several readings come from recent newspaper and magazine articles.
Course Books:
No textbook is currently organized in the way that I teach this class and so there is considerable jumping around. For those of you who want a conventional textbook (i.e. a comprehensive yet superficial tome that requires taking out a second mortgage), I suggest hose texts listed in the selected Bibliography section below.
Tentative Schedule:
The topic for each week is listed first. “Text” in the following document is: Jeremy Atack and Peter Passell, A New Economic View of American History , Norton 1994. Selections with an asterisk at other readings and materials to review: Week 4-7, 9-14 additional readings are “in process.”
Week 1 |
Long term economic growth: Text Chapter 1 |
Week 2 |
Settlement patterns: Text pp. 237-273 |
Week 3 |
Demographic change: Text pp. 212-237 |
Week 4 |
Wages, hours and working conditions: Text Chapter 19 |
Week 5 |
Free and bound labor: Text pp. 40-53 and Chapter 12 |
Week 6 |
Slavery and its consequences: Text Chapters 11 and 13 |
Week 7 |
Money, banking and financial markets: Text pp. 65-67; Chapter 4 and Chapter 18 |
Week 8 |
Economics of war finance: Text pp 70-79; Chapter 13 and pp.554-564 and 570-74 *EXAM--First part of class period. Other readings in process |
Week 9 |
The transportation revolution: Text Chapter 6 and 16 and pp. 578-80 |
Week 10 |
The rise (and fall) of American agriculture: Text Chapters 10 and 15 and pp. 574-76. |
Week 11 |
Trade policy: Text Chapter 5 and pp. 599-601 |
Week 12 |
The rise (and fall) of American industry: Text Chapters 7 and 17 |
Week 13 |
The Great Depression: Text Chapters 21 and 22 |
Week 14 |
Government in the economy: Text Chapter 23 |
Assignments:
Term Paper:
You will write a brief (NOT to exceed 10 pages of text exclusive of references/bibliography and any graphics) term paper discussing the economic origins and growth of the town where you spent most of your youth. If you come from a large city, you may want to pick a neighborhood or borough. If you come from a rural area, you may need to pick the township or county. This paper is due by noon, April 18, 2008 as a PDF attachment to an e-mail sent to my address (Jeremy.Atack@Vanderbilt.edu) with "Economic History Paper" in the subject line and a file name beginning with your last name.
Some items to think about in writing your paper: Why did the community locate where it is? Have the factors influencing location changed over time? Why, how and with what consequences? How has the area grown? Has this growth been smooth or chequered? Why? Were specific events of special importance to the growth and development of your town (e.g. construction of the railroad or an interstate highway; the location of a specific firm; ability to use a particular resources, etc.)?
In researching this paper, I strongly encourage you to:
a) begin work now!
b) use the libraries and the services of librarians (they will help you in your research but not do it for you) both here at Vanderbilt (the Heard Library) and elsewhere (be sure to check too if there is a local historical society);
c) be aware that almost any source can be secured through Inter-Library Loan given enough lead time which is why you need to begin your research now; and,
d) do not to rely upon just one or two sources, especially WWW sources (I am likely to be most unhappy if all, or even most, of your sources are on the WWW as one goal of this assignment is to help you to conduct your own research. This means using all available sources and resources, not just those which fall immediately and conveniently to hand).
Be sure to keep detailed research notes and full information regarding all of your sources so that these are properly cited in your paper.
In writing your paper, write and then rewrite! I am happy to discuss early drafts with you.
Documenting the sources for your research is a vital part of your work and critical to your development as a scholar. There are many different styles of doing this, not all of which are covered here. Do not "mix and match." Pick one (MLA, Chicago, APA or some other generally recognize and accepted academic style) and use it consistently.
These are described in various places:
- MLA style, go to http://honolulu.hawaii.edu/legacylib/mlahcc.html. You may also consult the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 6th ed., by Joseph Gibaldi. (LB2369 .G53 2003) in the Heard Library.
- Chicago Manual of Style: http://library.osu.edu/ sites/guides. The library's copy of the 14th edition of The Chicago Manual of Style may be found at Z 253 .U69 1993. The latest edition(the 15th) is on-line at http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/home.html.
Note that the Chicago Manual of Style uses somewhat different citation styles for the sciences and the humanities. I recommend that you use the scientific style for economics. - APA (American Psychological Association) style:
http://library.osu.edu/sites/guides/. You may also consult the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 5th ed. available in the Heard Library at BF76.7.P83 2001 - Turabian style: http://library.osu.edu/sites/guides/. You may also consult A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations 6th ed. 1996 available in the Heard Library at LB 2369 .T8 1996.
What do I use? As editor of the Journal of Economic History, I keep copies of the Chicago Manual of Style close at hand both at the office and at home.
Class Participation:
I welcome classroom questions and discussion. Some of the most valuable material gets communicated this way but it requires your active participation as well as mine. I will use PowerPoint as a part of my lectures, primarily showing supporting evidence such as tables and photographs and illustrating points with the occasional supporting economic diagram. For the most part these will NOT contain a blow-by-blow narrative of my lecture and thus cannot be relied upon other than as an aide de memoire.
I do NOT make these PowerPoint presentations available to you but I post key tables and diagrams and provide a brief synopsis of each big topic.
Exams:
You will be given exams. These will neither be comprehensive nor cumulative.
Rather, each will cover only that material dealt with in the preceding weeks. The first will occupy the first part of class on week 8. The second will take place during the regular class time in the week following the last class. Questions will be a mix of short answer questions (typically 10 with no choice and answerable with 2-3 well-chosen sentences) and a short essay question (from a choice of two questions).
Select Bibliography:
- Gary M. Walton & Hugh Rockoff, History of the American Economy (Southwestern-Thompson Learning). Earlier editions are pretty much as useful as the very latest edition.
- Jeremy Atack & Peter Passell, A New Economic View of American History (Norton, 1994). This is my own text to which I have keyed the readings. Since this presents a minor conflict of interest (I get 5% of the purchase price of a new copy), I suggest that you buy a used copy in which I have no such financial interest. However, I would note that even new this book costs only a small fraction of what the Walton-Rockoff text costs and it is a better—if less comprehensive—text.
Course Instructor:
Professor Atack is English by birth and studied Economics at the University of Cambridge (Jesus College) before coming to the United States for graduate school. He completed his PhD in 1976 at Indiana University and taught at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for 17 years before moving to Vanderbilt where he is a Professor of Economics and a Professor of History. Professor Atack has published some 50 articles and three books in economic history, was appointed as a Research Associate with the National Bureau of Economic Research in Cambridge (Mass.) beginning in 1989 and currently serves as co-editor of the Journal of Economic History, the leading journal in the field.
MLAS 260 68
Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang – James Bond and Popular Culture
Professor Jeffrey Ullom (jeffrey.ullom@vanderbilt.edu)
Tuesday evenings 7 pm–9:30pm
Buttrick 103
First Class: January 15th
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
The twenty-one films of James Bond have become part of popular culture, and the figure of the super spy has become mythic in proportion. This series, from its first installment in 1963 to the latest reinvention of James Bond in 2006, not only depict one dashing man’s efforts to save the world again and again from disaster, but these films also trace the development of our popular culture. Issues of violence, sex, the presentation and treatment of women, racial stereotypes, and spectacle among other topics can be discussed after viewing each film, providing an opportunity to explore the changing expectations of American audiences and the developing form of contemporary cinema.
Course Books:
- James Bond and Philosophy
- Class Pak of articles
- A James Bond novel (to be determined in class)
Tentative Schedule:
These dates are subject to change depending upon our progress. Many of the films that we will be watching will be edited to allow for more discussion time in class. Readings are to be completed by the date they appear on the course outline.
January 15 |
Intro to Class – Bond as an English Hero |
January 22 |
|
January 29 |
|
February 5 |
|
February 12 |
No Class |
February 19 |
|
February 26 |
|
March 4 |
No Class |
March 11 |
|
March 18 |
|
March 25 |
|
April 1 |
No Class |
April 8 |
|
April 15 |
|
April 22 |
|
April 29 |
|
May 1 |
|
Assignments:
ALL written work must be typewritten and double-spaced. I will not accept handwritten work. All work is to be turned in at the beginning of class on the due date. Students submitting a late critique may not attend the class discussion of the film. For each calendar day (including weekends) an assignment is late, a full letter grade will be deducted. In the case of an excused absence, late work is accepted without sanction. Vanderbilt’s Honor Code governs all papers, quizzes, and original creative work in this course. Collaboration on course work is not allowed.
Attendance/Participation:
This class is organized around a structure of watching and discussing films. Your attendance is necessary for this to function properly. Absences are excused only for documented illnesses, official university business, religious observances, or emergencies. Please notify me in advance, if possible.
You are responsible for all required reading assignments and for additional information and insights provided in lectures and films. I expect your participation in discussions; if you do not contribute in class or group discussions, your participation grade will suffer. I will evaluate you on the quality of your in-class contributions, not simply the quantity thereof. I reserve the right to administer pop quizzes if I feel the discussion quality warrants them. I will evaluate you on participation and preparation at the end of the course. I will base the evaluation on your in-class discussions and how you have contributed the class as a whole. This will include the quality of your contributions and your level of preparedness to discuss the films viewed.
Film Critiques:
You will write three (3) critical responses for this course, each of which addresses a particular aspect of popular culture. These are not literary analyses of the films; they will instead critique a particular film examining the how the issues presented in the film have been treated in contemporary works. I will hand out detailed topics at a later date.
I am happy to discuss papers with you in advance of the due date. I encourage you to see me with an outline or rough draft for feedback at least three (3) days prior to the due date.
Final Paper:
A final paper will be required in this course. On the second day of class, you will be assigned a continuation novel to read (either by John Gardner or Raymond Benson). You will need to read this book in its entirety before you are able to write the final paper. The final paper will be a creative project, asking you to argue how to adopt the novel for a film production, utilizing either Connery Moore, Brosnan, or Craig (and their appropriate time-period). Details concerning this paper will be given when books are assigned. These books are available for purchase on Amazon.com or other websites.
Class Articles:
During the course of the semester, you will be reading articles from the Class Pak. These readings are due for the specific dates listed as they correspond to discussions for the appropriate film.
Grades:
Participation: 10%
Film Critique #1: 20%
Film Critique #2: 20%
Film Critique #3: 20%
Final Paper: 25%
Select Bibliography:
- See course books for assigned readings.
Course Instructor:
Jeffrey Ullom, (Ph.D., University of Illinois) is an Assistant Professor of Theatre at Vanderbilt University where he teaches theatre history and directs the Honors Studies Program. His book, The Humana Festival,will be published by Southern Illinois University Press in June 2008. His publications have appeared in Theatre Journal, The Journal of American Drama and Theatre, Theatre History Studies as well as other professional publications for Actors Theatre of Louisville in addition to serving as the editor of The Auteur, the quarterly online publication for the Association for Theatre in Higher Education. His latest article, published in Theatre Topics, analyzed the controversial National Manifesto Competition, and he contributed a chapter to the book Angels in American Theatre (edited by Robert A. Schanke). While working as a professional dramaturg, he worked alongside numerous playwrights including Tony Kushner, David Henry Hwang, Naomi Wallace, and Anne Bogart, and he served as the Theatre History Consultant for the Guthrie Theatre. At Vanderbilt, he has also directed many productions, including The Bacchae, The Caucasian Chalk Circle, and Assassins.
MLAS 260 66
The Opera
Professor Joy Calico (joy.calico@vanderbilt.edu)
Tuesday evenings 7:00pm-9:30pm
Blair 2133
First Class: January 15th
COURSE DESCRIPTION: Who’s Afraid of Opera? Face your operaphobia head-on in this course, where we will study four works from the standard operatic repertoire (Handel, Mozart, Rossini, and Verdi), so that students come away with knowledge and a set of skills that can be applied to any other opera they might encounter. Students will read the work of leading opera scholars; analyze at least one production of each opera on DVD; and learn to listen to opera more effectively. Please note that the ability to read music is not a prerequisite. We’ll investigate some of the hot topics in the opera world today, such as opera on film, radical productions of standard repertoire, and the delicate casting question of the castrato. We’ll also see how the process of producing live opera works in real life, shadowing Nashville Opera as they stage Verdi’s Il Trovatore in April. And did I mention the optional fieldtrip to the Chicago Lyric Opera to see some of today’s hottest singers in Rossini’s Barber of Seville? What’s not to like?!
Course Books:
- Thomas Kelly, First Nights at the Opera (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2004).
- See selected bibliography for other
Tentative Schedule:
January 15 |
“It ain’t over ‘til the fat lady sings” UNIT ONE: Handel’s opera seria, Julius Caesar (1724) What is opera seria, and what should I expect when I go see one? Discussion topics:
How individual singers influenced the music written for them |
January 22 |
Handel’s Julius Caesar (1724)
Handel’s operas represent a particular type of opera known as opera seria, an Italian genre popular in the late 17th and 18th centuries. Fortunately for us, Handel’s operas are enjoying a huge renaissance right now; Julius Caesar was staged at Houston Grand Opera in 2003, and at both the Metropolitan Opera in NYC and the Lyric in Chicago in 2007. Multiple productions mean we have lots to talk about. First of all, there are casting problems (more on those next week, if we can wait that long). Tonight we will talk about the business of opera in Handel’s day in London, baroque notions of dramaturgy, and what you are hearing in terms of instruments, forms, vocal style. What are your initial impressions? |
January 29 |
more Julius Caesar
Since the role of Julius Caesar originally would have been sung by a castrato, how do we cast that role today: a woman in drag? A man singing falsetto? Transpose the part for a lower male voice? This opens up lots of questions about how normative concepts of gender, sex appeal, and sexuality in the baroque differ from those we have today. We’ll look at and listen to excerpts from other productions of this opera that handle the issue differently than the one we’ve been viewing. How does that change your experience of the title character? What about your perception of the title character’s interaction with Cleopatra? Discuss Roger Freitas’s work on this. UNIT TWO: Rossini’s comic opera, Barber of Seville (1916)
|
February 5 |
Rossini’s Barber of Seville (1816)
Fast forward a century: the castrato is OUT, the tenor is IN. What else has changed about Italian opera since Handel? (We have skipped Mozart to accommodate the Chicago Lyric opera schedule, but will come back to him in March; never fear.) Italian opera now has a comic subgenre, and Barber is the best example of this. How does a composer communicate humor, as opposed to the pathos we saw in Handel? |
12 February |
more Barber
How did we end up with the version we now think of as The Barber of Seville? Gossett is a very experienced editor and his preface explains the nearly two-century old process of transmission, accretion, revision, and recreation that led to the opera text we have today. Hilary Poriss focuses on the singing lesson scene in Act II, and a practice that now seems completely foreign to us but was quite common in Rossini’s day: singers who substitute their favorite aria for the one provided in the score. The favorite aria comes from another opera and may be written by a different composer altogether; the text may have nothing to do with this dramatic situation. What gives?! |
February 16 |
Optional fieldtrip opportunity: attend performance of Barber of Seville at the Chicago Lyric Opera |
February 19 |
UNIT THREE: The role of the stage director in your opera-going experience Non-literal productions of canonical operas
Calixto Bieito’s production of Puccini’s Madame Butterfly is staged in a brothel, when the libretto clearly states that the action takes place in and around a Japanese home; furthermore, he changed the ending so that Butterfly kills her child and Suzuki instead of committing suicide. |
February 26 |
Special guest Clemens Risi from the Free University in Berlin and Brown University talking about nonliteral productions of canonical operas
|
March 4 |
no class – spring break |
March 11 |
UNIT FOUR: Mozart’s dramma giocoso Don Giovanni (1787)
Mozart’s Don Giovanni (1787)
Many an expert has described Mozart’s drama giocoso as the perfect opera. It is jam-packed with exquisite music, and its story taps into all manner of anxiety circulating during the Enlightenment: how should servants and masters interact? How should men and women interact? Which is really better, instant gratification or eternal salvation? Mozart’s librettist, Lorenzo DaPonte, was a fascinating character in his own right: a brilliant writer constantly running from debt collectors and men whose wives and daughters he had seduced, DaPonte ended up in New York, where he founded the Italian department at Columbia University. Don Giovanni’s story is almost that interesting. |
March 18 |
More Don Giovanni: opera and/as/on film
Discuss the concept of opera ON film and opera AS film, as opposed to videos of live performances. View and compare scenes from different productions of Don Giovanni, including those by Peter Sellars and Calixto Bieito, and a film version by Joseph Losey. What happens in the unholy union of these two media – not just live theater on celluloid but live OPERA on celluloid, when music manipulates the experience of time in a way that is incongruent with that of film? |
March 25 |
Don Giovanni’s women
Catherine Clement argued that opera thrives on the humiliation and death of women. This is most true of nineteenth-century opera, but there is no arguing with the fact that after Handel’s time, the treatment of women in opera plots grew increasingly misogynistic. Abbate answers Clement’s claims by pointing out that the plot is not the reason people go to the opera; they go to the opera to hear gorgeous music exquisitely sung – and female characters tend to get the best music. Should we care what happens to the characters as long as the music is beautiful and the singer is up to the challenge? What about the women in Don Giovanni? We’ll examine the ways in which Zerlina, Donna Elvira, and Donna Anna are treated by Mozart and DaPonte, and then by various directors in different productions. UNIT FIVE: What is Italian Romantic opera, and what should I expect when I go see one? This unit will shake out once I’ve been able to coordinate some things with personnel at Nashville Opera |
April 1 |
Verdi’s Il Trovatore (1853)
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April 8 |
more Trovatore
I hope we will be able to attend a dress rehearsal of the Nashville Opera’s production of Il Trovatore during this evening’s class time. |
April 10 or 12 (your choice) |
Attend Nashville Opera production of Il Trovatore |
April 15 |
Debrief Verdi, Wagnerian postscript |
April 22 |
Conclude Wagner discussion, wrap-up |
Assignments:
Requirements and assessment
- prepared and engaged attendance in class
- attendance at one performance of Nashville Opera’s production of Il Trovatore
- listening/viewing journal
- two formal response papers (your choice of two of the four operas – details forthcoming in first class)
Select Bibliography:
- Other readings will be available electronically through the library website or posted on OAK, and there may be the occasional handout.
- Listening: Each complete opera will be available for listening via streaming audio on OAK.
- Viewing: Because opera is essentially THEATER, students will need access to the following productions on DVD. They will be on reserve in the music library, but it may be simpler for students to purchase their own copies, or for students to share the expense by purchasing and viewing in groups. IMPORTANT: Please note that, unlike films, each production of an opera on DVD is unique. It is important that all members of the class view the same productions as a shared point of reference. (Available from Amazon.com)
- Handel, Julius Caesar. William Christie conductor, David McVicar director. Stars Sarah Connolly, Danielle de Niese, Angelika Kirchschlager. BBC/Opus Arte, 2006.
- Rossini, Barber of Seville. Gianluigi Gelmetti conductor, Emilio Sagi director. Stars Juan Diego Flórez. London Decca, 2005.
- Mozart, Don Giovanni. Nicholas Harnoncourt conductor, Jürgen Flimm director. Stars Cecilia Bartoli and Rodney Gilfrey, with the Zurich Opera chorus and orchestra. Arthaus Musik, 2002.
- Verdi, Il Trovatore. TBA
Course Instructor:
Joy Calico (Ph.D., Duke University) teaches opera history, art music of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and a humanities course on music and other arts that have been considered dangerous. Her research has focused primarily on twentieth-century music and politics, particularly in the Soviet bloc and the United States; radical stagings of canonical operas; and the reception of Arnold Schoenberg’s music in postwar Europe.
Her book Brecht at the Opera will be published by University of California Press in spring 2008, a project for which she received research funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service), and the American Academy in Berlin, among others. Her work has appeared in Cambridge Opera Journal, Musical Quarterly, Modern Drama, Opera Quarterly, and several anthologies published here and in Germany. She earned an undergraduate degree in vocal performance, and sings in two groups in Nashville (Christ Church Cathedral choir, Collegium Vocale).
MLAS 260 67
New Testament
Professor Amy-Jill Levine (amy-jill.levine@vanderbilt.edu)
Mon., Wed., Fri., 11:10am-12:00pm
Divinity G23
First Class: January 7th
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This course offers an introduction to the materials documenting the origins of Christianity, to the social, literary, ideological, and theological contexts in which they emerged and which they reflect, and to the various critical methodologies employed in interpreting them. Specific topics addressed include Jesus of Nazareth, the Gentile mission and the growing separation of Church and Synagogue, the relationship of Jesus' followers to the Roman Empire, and the development of Christian apocalyptic literature.
Requirements include a mid-term and a final exam, a term-paper, and participation in Discussion Sections. No prerequisites.
Course Instructor:
Amy-Jill Levine is E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Professor of New Testament Studies at Vanderbilt University Divinity School, Graduate Department of Religion, and Department of Religious Studies in Nashville, TN. She is a self-described "Yankee Jewish feminist who teaches in a Christian divinity school in the buckle of the Bible Belt." Holding a B.A. from Smith College, an M.A. and Ph.D. from Duke University, and an honorary Doctor of Ministry from the University of Richmond, Dr. Levine has been awarded grants from the Mellon Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the American Council of Learned Societies. She has held office in the
Society of Biblical Literature, the Catholic Biblical Association, and the Association for Jewish Studies. Her most recent publications include The Misunderstood Jew: The Church and the Scandal of the Jewish Jesus (HarperSanFrancisco), The Historical Jesus in Context (Princeton), and the fourteen-volume edited series, The Feminist Companions to the New Testament and Early Christian Writing (Continuum).