WGSS 334
Sex and Psyche: A Cultural History of Fin-de-Siècle Europe Spring 2014
Division II
Cross-listed HIST 334
This is not the current course catalog

Class Details

This course will introduce students to some of the most significant and exciting social, artistic, intellectual, and political developments in fin-de- siècle Europe (1870 to 1914). “Fin-de-siècle” is a concept that denotes not only a historical period–the end of a century–but refers to a consciousness of living in a time of accelerated change and crisis. Intellectuals and artists of the decades we will be examining were preoccupied with “degeneration,” loss of innocence, meaning, morality, and the inner self. They were simultaneously fascinated and horrified by technological innovation, emergent political and ideological currents, and the challenges to traditional values and identities posed by them. After a survey of political upheavals during the European fin-de- siècle, the course will focus on three metropolises consecutively: Vienna, Paris, and St. Petersburg. Through analyses of historical literature, novels, music, visual art, and the seminal texts of psychoanalysis we will explore how the self, public life, gender relations, sexuality, and aesthetics were conceived and re-imagined in each city, and bring to light the sensibilities and culture they shared.
The Class: Format: discussion
Limit: 25
Expected: 20-25
Class#: 3723
Grading: yes pass/fail option, yes fifth course option
Requirements/Evaluation: evaluation will be based on class participation, an oral presentation, two short critical essays based on class readings, and a final research paper
Prerequisites: none; open to first-year students with instructors permission
Enrollment Preferences: determined by instructor
Distributions: Division II
Notes: This course is cross-listed and the prefixes carry the following divisional credit:
HIST 334 Division II WGSS 334 Division II
Attributes: HIST Group C Electives - Europe and Russia

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