History 280B: The Invention of Religion in Early Modern Europe
Instructor: Ethan Shagan
Since the work of Talal Asad in the 1990s, scholars have endlessly repeated the claim that the analytical category of “religion” was invented in early modern Europe. This assertion is demonstrably false; “religion” has been invented many times, and the modern category continues to evolve. But it does identify an important truth: early modern Europe
French 230A: Pascal’s Pensées, from manuscript to aura: inquiries into the history and reception of a canonical text
Instructor: Déborah Blocker
This seminar is an in-depth investigation of Blaise Pascal’s most famous work, the Pensées, or Thoughts, first printed in 1670 as Pensées de M. Pascal sur la religion et sur quelques autres sujets, qui ont esté trouvées apres sa mort parmy ses papiers. Though left unfinished at Pascal’s death in 1662, the work, once published,
English 203: Jacobean Drama
Instructor: David Landreth
We’ll immerse ourselves in the playgoing culture of London in the first two decades of the seventeenth century, when three of England’s greatest playwrights–Jonson, Shakespeare, and Middleton–rose to the heights of their powers. We’ll study how different venues and innovative techniques helped to shape audience engagement, and we’ll think particularly about the distribution of affect