Wednesday’s class

Don’t forget that tomorrow’s reading is Jean-Paul Sartre, Nausea, p 1-90.

Also, FYI, class will have to end at 9:30 pm tomorrow night.

– Prof. Steer

Blog posts & essay proposals

In light of missing last week’s class and some confusion regarding blog posting due dates, here is a revised schedule:

(wk 2)Jan 16 and (wk 4) Jan 30 — past due

(wk 5) Feb 6 moves to –> Feb 13 (if you already posted last week’s blog, that’s great; if you would like to edit your post, go ahead anytime before Wednesday at midnight; if you haven’t posted this one, do so before Wednesday at midnight)

(wk 6) Feb 13 moves to –> Feb 27

The rest of the blogs stay on the dates listed in the syllabus: weeks 8 (March 7), 10 (March 19), (April 2) 12.

** please note that I’ve extended the date for week 8 slightly so that you may write about the surrealist night at NAC.

Your proposal is due this week – February 13th — and we’ll have to stick to that date so we don’t fall behind. Please let me know if you have any questions about the format. This is taken from the syllabus:

Proposal: this is a two-page document in which you propose your object(s) of study (the texts and the ideas) and the course of action you plan to use in your paper. It should a paragraph or two that describes a topic, research/analysis question, tentative thesis, possible arguments and possible evidence. The second page will be a properly formatted bibliography, using Chicago or MLA style.

If you have questions, I’ll be in my office tomorrow (Feb 11th) afternoon and on MSN.

– Prof. Steer

Exciting lecture

If you’d like to know more about visual representation in the modern period and how it has been used in revolutionary art movements like surrealism, come and see my lecture at Rodman Hall this Tuesday (January 29) at 7pm. It’s free! And it might be good prep for our evening of surrealism on March 5.

– Prof. Steer

Let’s see the authors!

Thanks to all of you for a great class on Wednesday and for your first blog posts! If you didn’t sign your name to your post, please do so, so that I might give credit to the right people. It’s easy. Just click the little edit button under the title of your post, type in your name, click “save” and voila. Oh, and if you add tags to your post, people from the wider world might read it and even comment. Exciting!

Remember that this week we are reading Nietzsche’s Thus Spoke Zarathustra, all of “First Part” and a portion of “Fourth and Last Part,” from number 13. On the Superior Human until the end of the book. Page numbers, according to the Oxford edition stocked in the bookstore, are 9-68 and 249-287. There are explanatory notes at the end that may be useful in sorting out Nietzsche’s numerous references.Happy reading!

Nietzsche by Edvard Munch, 1906.

I asked you to look at Manet’s Olympia for next week, but I think we will leave that until we read Baudelaire. Finally, I have changed the syllabus / reading schedule. Take a look.

– Prof. Steer

A Few Things….

announcements

• I’ll give you the password for the “documents”section next week in class. This is where I’ll post .pdfs of slides or readings or other items under copyright, if necessary.
• remember to email me your 5 discussion questions by noon on the Tuesday of the week you are responsible for leading the discussion.
• I’ve changed the dates for assignments on the blog — refer to this rather than your paper copy. A revised copy of the syllabus is available on the link below, if you would like a print copy.
• syllabus 4P10
• I’ve added a section called “important dates” to the “about the course” page
• under blogroll, in the right-hand column, I’ve posted a link to blogging basics. Take a look at this before you blog if you are unsure about blogging, the lingo, or “netiqette” (internet etiquette)

That’s all for now…happy blogging!

– Prof. Steer

Welcome….

Welcome GBLS students to the 4th year modernity seminar blog. To find general information about the course, click the tab at the top of this page. There are several sub-pages that you can access by clicking the links in the right hand column. You will find information about course requirements, the reading schedule and course policies. Familiarize yourself with this blog, as you will be posting on it soon.

We’ll start with these guys….

–Prof. Steer