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Fall semester seminar & topic in fall 2008 Winter/spring short-term seminars
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What
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Short-term seminars at the Newberry in winter/spring 2008 History and Philosophy of Identity
Bryant Ragan, History, Colorado College Block 6: February 18 - March 12, 2008 |
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The issue or problem of “identity” emerged with modernity. Whereas pre-modern people often found themselves embedded in extended families or family-like groups and took solace in “higher” rational or spiritual life, modern peoples have become attuned to fluid personal and group ties, relatively doubtful of rational or spiritual transcendence, and eager to break burdensome ties, move elsewhere, and “find themselves.” But finding oneself has turned out to be simultaneously challenging and problematic. For much of the modern period, many Western peoples found themselves truly to be citizens, nationalists, rationalists, pragmatists -- and especially members of nuclear families. But what of the “others” -- the “irrational” women, the “lesser” natives, the sexual “deviants” the stateless communities, the people uncomfortable with modern family life? And what of the dominant postmodern Western self who finds within a rich yet unpredictable existence caught in a shifting global order? |
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Our course will explore the meanings of and problems associated with personal and group identities across time and space, building on the notion that modernity is both liberating and, often, confusing. After a brief introduction to historical and philosophical approaches to identity, students will develop their own research projects exploring one aspect of the problem of identity using the rich resources of the Newberry Library. No prerequisites other than a curiosity about identity and an interest in developing one’s own research project. |
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