Program in Cultures, Civilizations, and Ideas Professor: Dr. Andrew J. Ploeg
Humanities 112: Modernity Email: aploeg@bilkent.edu.tr
Spring 2021 Skype Screen Name: ploe4030
Skype Office Hours: Thursdays 12:30-
14:30, and by appt.
Course Description
While Humanities 111 is dedicated to the study of ancient and classical civilizations of the Near
East and the Mediterranean, its sequel, Humanities 112, explores the development of Western
thought. Antiquity and modernity are often seen as opposites, but on the basis of our work in
Humanities 111, we will be able to discern a more complex relationship between the two. As did
a number of the thinkers that we will read, we, too, will look simultaneously to the past and to
the future to attain a more dynamic understanding of the laws that govern the ordering of the
world from a Western perspective. All the while, we will keep in mind that we are working with
ideas, and that even a “Western perspective” is an idea. The emergence, development, benefits,
and problems of this very idea is the subject of debate in multiple fields today. While some
consider it undeniable that it is Western civilization that prevailed over other civilizations and
that gave rise to current problems of profound global and local significance, others point out that
“civilization” is a word that was first used no earlier than the eighteenth century to identify
specific patterns of thinking and behavior. Articulating some of these patterns as rights, norms,
and laws of Western civility will become one of our central tasks in Humanities 112.
This course is comprised of five clusters, based on particular themes. Each of these themes
speaks to the global focus of the course on the tension between modernity and tradition, on the
ideas that different people implemented at different times in order to etch a meaningful and
worthy existence. Our task will be to examine the ideas implemented and the problems to which
they gave rise, while we compare what different texts propose to be “meaningful” and “worthy.”
On a more global scale, we will attend primarily to the principles utilized by peoples to order
their world. By what rules, norms, and laws did they abide? Who had rights, what rights were
these, and how were they acquired? Who created and enforced the law? Which rules, norms, and
laws were adopted, renounced, or broken? These are some of the questions that we will engage
as we analyze the writing, but also the painting and music of “modernity,” and investigate further
the development of Western cultures and civilization.
Course Outcomes
HUM 112 is designed as an opportunity for you to:
advance your ability to read, understand, analyze, and critique complex texts
develop your critical thinking skills, proficiency in textual analysis, and argumentation
techniques
expand your understanding of conceptual paradigms associated with the term
“modernity”
study distinct philosophical and literary frameworks in order to gain a critical familiarity
with patterns that define historical periods and change
practice and improve your ability to communicate effectively both verbally and in writing
further your ability to write cogently and succinctly on particular topics and under
specified time limits.
