COURSE OUTLINE
Course Title : EL 50 (European Cultures and Civilizations)
Course Description : Europe’s contribution to world cultures, civilizations, and
languages
Credit : 3 units
Objectives
1. To broaden intellectual and cultural horizons by exposing the students to diverse European cultures and to study how European cultures and languages contributed to the development of modern civilization.
2. To raise cross-cultural awareness through the study of multi-cultural diversity and eventually develop a deeper appreciation of one’s own culture.
3. To better appreciate language as a manifestation of culture and as an expression of cultural concepts, encouraging students to draw on knowledge learned from other disciplines.
As a GE course, it fulfills the following objectives of the RGEP: 1) broadening of intellectual and cultural horizons; 2) cultivation of awareness of various disciplines; and 3) integration of students’ knowledge and skills.
Methodology
The class will be conducted through overview lectures by the professor and panel reporting by students arranged in groups to discuss the topics included in the course work. The reading list will be a combination of printed (book) materials and materials available on the web, especially those from European sites. To complement the lectures and the reports, film sessions featuring English-language movies on Europe or European movies with English subtitles will be included in the list of class activities.
Coverage
I. Introduction: Sightseeing in Europe (Going Virtual, Going Print)
II. Concepts of Culture and Language
III. Linguistic Geography - Defining “Europe”: borders, languages, etc.
IV. Greco-Roman Concepts: Laying Down the Cultural-linguistic Foundations of Europe
V. Middle Ages: Latin’s Influence in the Development of Western European Languages
VI. Il Quattrocento (The Renaissance) and the Diffusion of Italian in the Western World
VII. Industrial Revolution: The Language of Scientific and Technological Advances
VIII. 20th Century: From Fin-de-siècle to l’informatique
IX. The Language of European Convergence: From Community to Union
X. The Philippines Meets Europe
Suggested Readings
Aughterson, Kate. ed. Renaissance Woman: A Sourcebook. Constructions of Femininity in England. London: Routledge. 1995
Berlanstein, Lenard R. ed. The Industrial Revolution and Work in the Nineteenth Century Europe. London: Routledge.1992.
Clout, Hugh; Blacksell, M.; King, R.; Pinder, D. Western Europe: Geographical Perspective. 2nd ed. New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1989.
Fiero, Gloria K. On the Threshold of Modernity: The Renaissance and the Reformation. Vol.3 series of The Humanistic Tradition. Dubuque, IA: Wm. C. Brown Communications, Inc., 1992.
Frankforter, Daniel A. The Medieval Millenium: An Introduction. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, Inc., 1999.
Koenigsberger, H.G. Medieval Europe 400-1500. series: A History of Europe, New York: Longman, Inc., 1987.
Le Goff, Jacques. Intellectuals in the Middle Ages. Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishers.1993.
Neville, Peter. The Holocaust. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1999.
Porter, Roy. ed. Rewriting the Self: Histories from the Renaissance to the Present. London: Routledge. 1997.
Stromberg, Roland N. Europe in the Twentieth Century. 4th ed. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1997.