32110

WiSe 22/23: A Revolutionary Culture: Sources of America's Political Imaginary

Winfried Fluck

Comments

In American self-descriptions, the early republic has long been presented as the story of a glorious beginning founded on democratic ideals. The revisionist scholarship of the last decades has put a question mark on this story and has added important new dimensions. This lecture course will draw on the revisionist scholarship of recent decades to correct and complement earlier narratives and introduce new perspectives into the understanding of the period. Among the topics covered will be: The American Enlightenment I: The Political Contract; The American Enlightenment II: The African American Enlightenment; The Founders and Slavery; Questions of Political Ideology: Liberalism and Republicanism; The Public Sphere of the Early Republic; The Role of Women; Expansion, Conquest and Native Americans; Success and Virtue: The Protestant Ethic and the Beginnings of Capitalism; Classicism and the Arts: Architecture and History Painting; The Changing Role of Literature: Satire, Sentimental Novel and Gothic Novel. ----- Registration: All participants must be registered via Blackboard and Campus Management before the first session. If you cannot register online, please contact the department’s secretary Regina Götz (culture@fki.fu-berlin.de) before the beginning of the term; or if you would like to participate, but cannot attend the first session, please contact me (winfried.fluck@fu-berlin.de). Course Material: A detailed syllabus for the course will be available at the beginning of the winter semester. Students are expected to read a key text for each session. The major reading material will be posted as PDF documents on Blackboard. Credits: This is a lecture course (Vorlesung), there are no graded term papers (Modulprüfungen) in this course. close