ENGL 2100 - Close Encounters of the Cultural Kind - FALL 2020
Course Welcome
Welcome to section 09F of ENGL 2100: Literature and the Humanities. The focus of our readings for this section is on what happens when cultures interact with one another.
We'll begin with the age of European colonization in the 18th century, one of the most obvious and sustained periods of cultures interacting in history. The intellectual current that spurred this move toward the domination of other cultures was known as The Enlightenment, or The Age of Reason.
We'll then move to the 19th century, and look at texts from the Romantic period, where the cultural encounters become internal, between classes and genders within the same society.
The Modernist period, beginning in the 20th century, saw a renewed interest in European colonization, but a growing awareness that European values were not necessarily appropriatre for every culture in the world.
Finally, the Contemporary period (which is defined pretty broadly in literature), sees a much fuller appreciation of the independence of world cultures, recognizing that each must be considered on its own terms.
The links below will take you to the course syllabus and schedule, where you'll get all the fundamentals of the course