Victorian Avant-Garde (CAH 4300)
Spring Semester 2016
Thursday 9:40-12:30, Flagg Building,
Room 105
Associate Professor Casey Smith, PhD
Office Hours: TBA
Email: kcs@gwu.edu
Office Hours: TBA
Email: kcs@gwu.edu
Victorian Avant-Garde
(Note: This syllabus is subject to
change.)
Course Description
The second
half of the 19th century was a period of extreme technological, social, and
cultural upheaval. During these years, traditional ideas about art, design,
literature, and journalism were challenged by new ways of thinking that seeded
the ground for more radical changes in the 20th century. The class will focus
on close and critical readings of primary artworks and texts in Washington-area
libraries, archives, and museums. Visits are scheduled for the Rare Book and
Special Collections Department of the Library of Congress and the National
Gallery of Art. Topics include: The Great Exhibition of 1851, the
Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, the Arts and Crafts Movement, Aestheticism, and the
Revival of Printing. Key figures include: John Ruskin, Dante Gabriel Rossetti,
Julia Margaret Cameron, Elizabeth Siddal, William Morris, W.E. Godwin, Walter
Pater, J.M.W. Whistler, Aubrey Beardsley, and Oscar Wilde. Along with weekly
readings and short written responses, there will be one long-form seminar essay
and presentation due at the conclusion of the semester, as well as two short
review essays and two brief presentations.
Learning Outcomes
As a result of completing this course,
students will:
+ Have a solid foundation in 19th
century British art and culture
+ Understand the history, theory, and
practice of Proto-Modernism in the UK
+ Be able to apply ideas and thoughts
into other realms of enquiry and practice
+ Learn the value of disciplined
risk-taking and successful collaboration
+ Experience the intellectual pleasure
of understanding and articulating complex ideas
+ esire to share their newly-gained
knowledge through art, writing, and other creative forms
Required
Texts
Barringer, Tim. Reading the Pre-Raphaelites. (New Haven: Yale UP, 2012)
Sweet, Matthew. Inventing the Victorians. (London: Faber & Faber, 2001)
Many supplemental texts will be
provided via url links from www.victorianweb.org and other sources such
as Googlebooks and Hathitrust.
You will also need a portable storage
device such as a flash-drive or hard-drive.
The books are available for purchase
from online distributors such as Amazon or eBay. You can also order them at
Bridge Street Books at 2814 Penn. Ave NW. The books will be on the class reserve
shelf at Gelman Library and on Study Shelf #1507 at the Library of Congress,
MRR, (Alcove 3, Deck 7)
Grading & Assessment
We will be writing frequently in this
course, both during class and out of class. The combination of different types
of assignments will reinforce the goals and objectives described above. We’ll
also complete other in-class activities that aren’t strictly writing-based. All
of these in-class exercises are required but they will rarely be graded.
Detailed information sheets will be distributed during the course of the
semester that will give you firm directions and expectations for each
assignment. In like manner, grading rubrics will be thoroughly explained. At
any time, let me know if you have questions about grading and assessment: kcs@gwu.edu. The week-by-week reading and
assignment schedule (attached) is subject to change. All reading and writing
assignments must be completed on time. I may change or add assignments during
the semester if it seems appropriate to do so. Because this is a seminar/workshop,
attendance and participation in class discussions are vital. Please let me know
by email in advance if you are unable to attend class.
- Participation,
including contribution to discussion and feedback given to peers: 20%
- Essay and
Presentation on Inventing the
Victorians: 20%
- Essay and
Presentation on Reading the
Pre-Raphaelites: 20%
- Final
Seminar Paper and Presentation: 40%
The class is designed on a 100 point
scale. We will go over the grading rubric for each assignment in detail during
class, but don’t hesitate to ask if you have questions at any point during the
semester.
Class
Blog
Field
Trips
We will visit the Hornbake Library at
UMD-College Park in week 11, and possibly the Delaware Art Museum in
Wilmington.
Attendance
Policy
Attendance is required. Please notify
me beforehand, if possible, if you have to miss a class, arrive late, or leave
early, and you will not be penalized (otherwise, as per the Student Handbook,
three tardies equal one absence; more than three absences are grounds for failure). Please notify me one week in advance if you
will need to be excused for a religious holiday. Missing a class does not
excuse you from completing the assignment for that class.
Other
Class Policies
This is a long class and we will
always provide a break approximately half-way through. Food and drinks are
allowed in class as long as they are not smelly, noisy, or otherwise
disruptive. Cell phones must be off (unless you have some emergency situation,
in which case step out of the class). Laptops are encouraged (but no casual
surfing, facebook, etc.)
Honor
Code
See GW Student Handbook.
Important: You may not copy and paste
information from the internet for your papers. If you use an idea which you got
from another source you must cite that source in your paper. Failure to do so
is plagiarism, and may result in an automatic failing grade for the
course. We will be talking about this issue at length.
Writing
Center
I recommend that you consult with peer
tutors in the Writing Center in Gelman Library. They will also offer workshops
on writing a thesis statement and citation methods, so watch for these this
semester.
Victorian Avant-Garde Weekly Schedule*
(Please note: On occasion we’ll be reading short
articles and essays not listed below)
January 14: Week 1
Course Introduction: What does the word or term
“Victorian” mean to us today? What does avant-garde mean? Why do these terms seem
oxymoronic? In-class writing and discussion.
January 21: Week 2
Public Spectacle, Advertising, and Journalism
Read: Inventing
the Victorians, (ix-70)
January 28: Week 3
Crime, Vice, and Drugs vs. Good Manners and Home
Decor
Read: Inventing
the Victorians, (71-154)
February 4: Week 4
Childhood, Sex, and Pornography
Read: Inventing
the Victorians, (155-232)
February
11: Week 5
è First Essay Due (5-7 pages); Brief
Presentations
February
18: Week 6
“Rebellion and Revival”
Read: Introduction and Chapter 1 of Reading the Pre-Raphaelites
February
25: Week 7
“Truth to Nature”: “Modern Life”
Read: Chapters 2 and 3 of Reading the Pre-Raphaelites
March 3: Week 8
“Art, Religion, and Empire”: Pre-Raphaelites and
Aesthetes
Read: Chapters 4 and 5 of Reading the Pre-Raphaelites
March 10: Week 9
[Class meets at the Library of
Congress, Rosenwald Room]
Photography: From Invention to Ubiquity
Read: Final chapter of Reading the Pre-Raphaelites
SPRING
RECESS
March 24: Week 10
è Second Essay
Due (5-7 pages); Brief Presentations
March 31: Week 11
Lewis Carroll Spotlight; Visit to Hornbake Library
at UMD-College Park for Alice
exhibition
Read: TBA
April 7: Week 12
William Morris & JM Whistler
Read: Selections from News from Nowhere and The
Gentle Art of Making Enemies
April 14: Week 13
Aubrey Beardsley & Oscar Wilde
Read: Selections from Under the Hill and The
Picture of Dorian Grey
April 21: Week 14
First Group of Final Presentations
April 28: Week 15
è Final Seminar
Paper Due (15 pages); Second Group of Presentations; Class Wrap-Up
* This schedule is subject to change
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