Soka University of America
Core 200-11 (1014), Spring, 2017
TuTh 1:00PM-2:30 PM Gan202
#core2sua
CORE II
The spirit of the corrupt mob said to the objects: I am yours, take me! and hurled itself into the river of objects, let itself be swept along by them and perished in the flood.
G.W.F. Hegel
INTRODUCTION TO THE COURSE
This course examines how the central questions posed in Core I continue to be addressed in a contemporary context. Through readings on the environment, historical development of human societies, current issues of social inequality, as well as personal and group identities and relationships, Core II explores some of the major issues facing humanity today.
Thomas Piketty’s Capital in the Twenty-First Century (2013) ushered in a wave of articles around the world that gave legitimacy to what millions of people had been discussing for years- the steadfast growth of inequality in their communities. The consequence of the income gap between the wealthy and the poor is felt with greater intensity today, as we witness the rise of repressive regimes around the globe. In this course, we will be exploring inequality and state-repression as a way to reflect upon the strengths and weaknesses of our social institutions. I hope the readings I have chosen will help us develop theoretical approaches to analyze the root causes of the increase in inequality and its dreadful consequences.
RECOMMENDED BOOK
Hobsbawm, Eric. Age of Extremes: The Short Twentieth Century: 1914-1991. New
York: Vintage, 1996.
LABOR
● Daily class reflections: You must buy a pack of flashcards and bring them with you to every class. At the end of each class period, I will give you 10 minutes to reflect on the reading/s and discussion. On your flashcards, please write down a few notes on the topic of discussion and/or transcribe one or two quotes from the readings (make sure you include first and last name of the author, title of the essay or book, and page number).
● Complete common readings and any additional readings assigned specifically to you
● Attendance and participation at film screenings
● 3 Short Papers
● Abstract and outline of your final presentation
● Final presentation
● Final Paper
ABBREVIATIONS
CR Common Readings- Every student needs to do the reading and prepare for
class discussion
ARS Assigned Reading to 1 student: The student who is assigned the reading
must prepare a 10-minute presentation on the reading and prepare to
engage with other readings or films scheduled for that day.
COURSE SCHEDULE
Tuesday, February 7th 1:00- 2:30 p.m.
Inoue, Asao B. “Reading as a Mindful Practice.” (CR) 3 pages
Yates, Michael D. “Measuring Global Inequality.” Monthly Review. (CR) 9
pages
Lenin, Vladimir. “Communism and the East: Theses on the National and Colonial
Questions.”Lenin Anthology. (ASR) 4 pages
Thursday, February 9th
Singer, Peter. “Common Objections to Giving.” The Life You Can Save: Acting
Now to End World Poverty. (CR) 10 pages
Stiglitz, Joseph E. “Inequality Is Not Inevitable.” (pgs 300-305). The Great
Divide: Unequal Societies and What We Can Do About Them. (ARS) 18 pages
Screening (in class): The Queen of Versailles. Dir. Lauren Greenfield, 2012.
Saturday, February 11th
Extra credit opportunity: Brothers Hypnotic. Dir. Reuben Atlas and Sam
Pollard, 2013. Black Box Theater, 5:30 p.m.
Tuesday February 14th
Rousseau, Jean Jacques. “A Dissertation On The Origin And Foundation Of The
Inequality Of Mankind: First Part.” (9-23) Discourse on Inequality.
(CR) 15 pages
Rousseau, Jean Jacques. “A Dissertation On The Origin And Foundation Of The
Inequality Of Mankind.” (23-38) Discourse on Inequality.(ARS) 15
pages
Thursday February 16th
Kaplan, Jerry. “America, Home of the Brave.” Humans Need Not Apply: A Guide
to Wealth and Work in the Age of Artificial Intelligence. (CR) [Last
chapter in the PDF] 20 pages
Lyotard, Jean-Francois. Universal History and Cultural Differences. The
Lyotard Reader. (ARS) 5 pages
Prompt for First Short Paper
Tuesday February 21st
Engels, Friedrich. “Competition,” “Irish Immigration,” and “Results.” The
Conditions of the Working Class in England (CR). 25 pages.
Proudhon, Pierre-Joseph. “A Self-Portrait,” and “Property is Theft.” No Gods
No Masters, ed. Daniel Guerin. (ARS). 9 pages
Lenin, Vladimir. “Two Resolutions on Party Policy.” Lenin Anthology (ARS). 4
pages
First Short Paper Due- Inequality.
Thursday February 23rd
Washington, Booker T. Chapters I, VI, VIII, X. Up From Slavery (CR). 25
pages.
Community Cinema Screening. 7 p.m. Pauling 216: The Bad Kids, dir. Keith Fulton & Lou Pepe. This is a mandatory screening!
Tuesday February 28th [away Conference]
Baldwin, James. “Preface to the 1984 Edition,” “Many Thousands Gone.” Notes
on a Native Son. (CR). 16 pages.
Screening in class: I’m Not Your Negro. Dir. Raoul Peck, 2016. [if
available] if not, James Baldwin: The Price of The Ticket. Dir. Karen Thorsen. 1990
Thursday March 2nd [away Conference]
Khatchadourian, Raffi. “Edward Burtynsky’s quest to photograph a changing
planet.” The New Yorker, December 19th & 26, 2016. (CR)
Hayek, F.A. “Individualism and Collectivism.” The Road to Serfdom. (ARS) 5
pages.
Prompt for Second Short Paper.
Tuesday March 7th [away Conference]
Dewey, John. The Live Creature. Art As Experience. (CR). 10 pages.
Screening (watch on your own): Land Without Bread. Dir. Luis Buñuel, 1933.
Wednesday, March 8th [away Conference]
Mandatory event!!
Sancutary in the Age of Crimmigration. Gues Speaker, Ana Muniz.
6:00-7:00 p.m. Pauling Hall 216.
Thursday March 9th [away Conference]
Second Short Paper Due- Analysis of Land Without Bread.
Assignment, pick a movie on reserve in the library and watch it over the weekend.
La hora de los hornos [The Hour of the Furnaces]. Dir. Grupo de Cine
Liberación. 1st part only. [on reserve in the Library]
The Battle of Algiers. Dir. Gillo Pontecorvo, 1966.
The Exterminating Angel. Dir. Luis Buñuel, 1962.
Nostalgia for the Light. Dir. Patricio Guzmán. 2000 [on reserve in the
Library]
The Selfish Giant. Dir. Clio Barnard, 2013. [on reserve in the Library]
Up the Yangtze. Dir. Yu Chang, 2007. [on reserve in the Library]
Ici et Ailleurs. Dir. Dziga Vertov Group (Jean-Luc Godard), 1976. [on reserve
in the Library]
Tuesday March 14th
Marti, Jose. Selected Writings. (CR). 5 pages.
Flores Magon, Ricardo et. al. Reading of the Mexican Revolution. The Mexico
Reader. (ARS). 10 pages.
Thursday March 16th
Anna Muniz Talk.
Nietzche, Friedrich. “Book One,”. The Gay Science (selection). (CR). 23 pages.
Tuesday March 21st
Spring Break
Thursday March 23rd
Spring Break
Luxemburg, Rosa. “The Junius Pamphlet The Crisis in German Social Democracy.” Rosa Luxemburg Reader. (CR) 15 pages.
Tuesday March 28th
Menchú, Rigoberta.”An eight-year old agricultural worker,” “Death of her
little brother..,” “A maid in the Capital,”. I, Rigoberta Menchu: An Indian Woman in Guatemala. (CR). 23 pages
Black Lives Matter Statement: Guiding Principles. (ARS) 3 pages
Garza, Alicia. “A Herstory of the Movement.” 4 pages
Thursday March 30th
Du Bois, W.E.B. 1. Our Spiritual Strivings. 3. Of Mr. Booker T. Washington and Others. The Souls of Black Folk (CR). 11 pages. Screening (in class): Now. Dir. Santiago Alvarez.
Tuesday April 4th
Outlaw, Lucius T. (Jr.) “Against the Grain of Modernity: The Politics of Difference and the Conservation of ‘Race’.” On Race and Philosophy. (CR) 23 pages.
Biko, Steve. Foreword. “Black Souls,” “The Definitions…” I Write I like. (ARS) 12 pages.
Thursday April 6th
Arendt, Hannah. Chapter 5.”The Political Emancipation of the Bourgeoisie.”
The Origins of Totalitarianism. (CR) 35 pages
Arendt, Hannah. Chapter 11. “The Totalitarian Movement.” The Origins of
Totalitarianism. (341- 364) (ARS) 24 pages
Arendt, Hannah. Chapter 11. “The Totalitarian Movement.” The Origins of
Totalitarianism. (364-388) (ARS) 25 pages
“Totalitarianism in the Age of Trump: Lessons from Hannah Arendt,” The
Guardian. February 2, 2017.
Tuesday April 11th
Améry, Jean. At The Mind’s Limits. (CR). 21 pages
Screening (in class): Night and Fog. Dir. Alain Resnais, 1956.
Thursday April 13th
Klemperer, Victor. “1935.” I Will Bear Witness: A Diary Of the Nazi Years
(1933-1941). (CR). 20 pages
Screening (in class): Triumph of the Will. Dir. Leni Riefenstahl, 1935.
Prompt Third Short Paper
Tuesday April 18th
West, Cornel. “Race And Modernity.” The Cornel West Reader. (CR). 34 pages
Thursday April 20th
Fanon. “Colonial War And Mental Disorders.” The Wretched of the Earth.
(249-280) 31 pages (CR)
Fanon. “Colonial War And Mental Disorders.” The Wretched of the Earth.
(280-310) 31 pages (ARS)
Screening (in class): Concerning Violence: Nine Scenes from the
Anti-Imperialistic Self-Defense. Dir. Goran Hugo Olsson, 2014. [Kanopy streaming]
Community Cinema Screening. 7 p.m. Pauling 216: National Bird, dir. Sonia Kennebeck. This is a mandatory screening!
Tuesday April 25th
Desnoes, Edmundo. “Inconsolable Memories. A Cuban View of the Missile Crisis.” (CR). 3 pages.
Screening (in class): The War Game. Dir. Peter Watkins, 1965.
Thursday April 27th
Screening (in class): Enron: The Smartest Boys in the Room. 2nd part.
Third short paper due.
Tuesday May 2nd
Pachedo, José Emilio. Battles in the Desert. 19 pages (CR)
Thursday May 4th
Baudrillard, Jean. “Catastrophe Management.” “The Dance of Fossils.” The Illusion of the End. (CR). 6 pages.
Outline of Final Paper due (1-2 pages)
Tuesday May 9th
Student Presentations
Thursday May 11t
Student Presentations
Tuesday May 16th
Study Day
May 17th- 23rd (Final Exams)
Final essay due by midnight (Date to be announced)
Bibliography
Arendt, H. (1979). The Political Emancipation of the Bourgeoisie. The origins Of Totalitarianism (pp. 122-157). San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
Baldwin, James. “Preface to the 1984 Edition,” “Many Thousands Gone.” Notes on a Native Son. (CR). 16 pages.
Baudrillard, J. (1994). The illusion of the end. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
Biko, S., & Stubbs, A. (1979). I write what I like. New York: Harper & Row.
Desnoes, Edmundo. (2004) “Inconsolable Memories. A Cuban View of the Missile Crisis.” Duke Press.
Dewy, John. (1934) The Live Creature. Art As Experience. The Penguin Group.
Du_Bois, W. E. (1961). The souls of black people: essays and sketches. Greenwich (Conn.): Fawcett Publications.
Engels, F. (1886). The condition of the working class in England. Great Britain: Penguin Books.
Fanon. (1963). “Colonial War And Mental Disorders.” The Wretched of the Earth. Grove Press.
Flores Magon, Ricardo et. Al. (2003) Reading of the Mexican Revolution. The Mexico Reader. Duke Press.
Garza, Alicia. (October 7, 2014). A History of the #BlackLivesMAtter Movement by Alicia Garza. The Feminist Wire. Retrieved from http://www.thefeministwire.com/2014/10/blacklivesmatter-2/.
Guérin, D., & Sharkey, P. (2005). No gods, no masters. Edinburgh, Scotland: AK Press.
Hegel, G. W. F. (1977). Phenomenology of Spirit. London: Oxford University Press.
Inoue, A.B. (n.d). Reading as a Mindful Practice [Scholarly project].
Kadourian, Raffi. “Edward Burtynsky’s quest to photograph a changing planet.” The New Yorker, December 19th & 26, 2016
Kaplan, J. (2015). Humans need not apply: a guide to wealth and work in the age of artificial intelligence. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Khatchadourian, R. (2016, December 19). Edward Burtynsky’s quest to photography: a changing planet. The New Yorker, 80-87.
Klemperer, V. (1999). 1935. I will bear witness: a diary of the Nazi years 1933-1941 (pp. 108- 145). New York: Modern Library.
Lenin, V. I., & Tucker, R. C. (1975). The Lenin Anthology. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.
Luxemburg, R., Hudis, P., & Anderson, K. (2004). The Junius Pamphlet: The Crisis in German Social Democracy. The Rosa Luxemburg reader (pp. 313-341). New York: Monthly Review Press.
Lyotard, J. F. (1989). Universal History and Cultural Differences. In A. Benjamin (Ed.), The Lyotard Reader. Cambridge: Basil Blackwell.
Martí, J., Allen, E., & Echevarría, R. G. (2002). José Martí: selected writings. New York: Penguin Books.
Menchú, R., & Burgos-Debray. E. (1984). I, Rigoberta Menchú: an Indian woman in Guatemala. London: Verso.
Outlaw, L.T. (1996). On race and philosophy. New Yorker: Routledge.
Pacheco, José Emilio. (2001). Battles in the Desert. Ediciones Era.
Proudhon, Pierre-Joseph. (2005). “Self-Portrait,” and “Property is Theft.” No Gods No Masters. AK Press.
Rousseau, Jean Jacques. “A Dissertation On The Origin And Foundation OF The Inequality Of Mankind: First Part.”
Singer, Petter (2009). Common Objections to Giving, The Life You Can Save (pp. 21-41). New York: Random House.
Stiglitz, J. E. (2015). The great divide: unequal societies and what we can do about them. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.
Washington, B. T. (2010). Up from slavery, an autobiography. New York: New American Library.
West, Cornel. (1999). “Race And Modernity.” The Cornel West Reader. Basic Civitas Books.
Yates, M. D. (2016, November 1). Measuring Global Inequality. Monthly Review. Retrieved from http://monthlyreview.org
Tomás Crowder-Taraborrelli 