Rhetoric 230: Machines and Organisms in Early Modern Thought
Instructor: Prof. David Bates
This seminar will take a close look at how four early modern figures conceptualized human cognition with respect to both the natural body of the organism and the artificial prosthetic of machine technology. Our goal will be to rethink major philosophical works via close readings of selected passages on how human thinking is produced and
French 245: Sur le vif : The Art of Life
Instructor: Prof. Nicholas Paige
Nineteenth-century “realism” is one important strand of mimetic discourse, but far from the only one. The interest in the lifelikeness of representations — especially of depicted humans — has a much longer history, arguably still with us today. Primarily textual in emphasis though intermedial in conception, this class will examine the social stakes of portraiture
Spanish 223: Major Poets of the Golden Age
Instructor: Prof. Ignacio Navarrete
An overview of poetry and poetics that emphasize issues of visualization. Our focus will be on poetry from the early modern period, but we will cover most of the poetry on the Peninsular section of the General Examination reading list. Poets and related topics will include Santillana (oral vs. written performance, the origins of the
Phil 290: Du Châtelet’s Foundations of Physics
Instructor: Prof. Kristin Primus
This seminar will be devoted to understanding Émilie du Châtelet’s contributions to natural philosophy. We will study her Institutions de Physique (1740) alongside works by Descartes, Locke, Wolff, Leibniz, and Newton. This course fulfills an elective requirement for the DE in REMS.
Italian 235: Decolonizing the Republic of Letters: Literature and Violence from Columbus to Vico
Instructor: Prof. Diego Pirillo
In dialogue with post-colonial theory, indigenous studies and global history, this seminar interrogates literary and philosophical texts in light of the current debate on the decolonization of knowledge and education. After tracing the Renaissance discourse about conquest and empire triggered by Columbus and the Iberian globalization, we’ll focus on the controversy around slavery and the