Tanya Luhrmann
Liz Nickrenz
The reading group will be meeting approximately every 2nd and 4th Wednesday during
the
spring quarters if people are interested. We will meet in the Judd 313 from 5-7 pm.
Here's the schedule thus far:
9/27: Organizational meeting
de Tocqueville, Alexis
1966
Democracy in America. George Lawrence, trans. [French original: De la dŽmocratie
en
AmŽrique.
1835.] New York, Harper & Row.
An earlier translation by Henry Reeve (1899) is available online: http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/DETOC/toc_indx.html
Selections:
Vol 1:
Social
Condition of the Anglo-Americans.
The
Principle of the Sovereignty of the People of North America.
What
are the Advantages which American Society Derives from a Democratic Government?
Unlimited
Power of the Majority in The United States, and its Consequences.
Causes
which Mitigate the Tyranny of the Majority in The United States.
Vol 2 Section 1:
Philosophical
Method of The Americans.
Of
the Principal Source of Belief Among Democratic Nations.
The Example of the Americans does not Prove that a Democratic
People can have no Aptitude and no Taste for Science, Literature, or Art.
Why
the Americans are more Addicted to Practical rather than Theoretical Science.
In
What Spirit the Americans Cultivate the Arts.
Volume 2 Section 2:
How the Americans Combat Individualism by the Principle of
Self-Interest Rightly Understood.
That the Americans Apply the Principle of Self-interest Rightly
Understood to Religious Matters.
Of
the Taste for Physical Well-being in America.
Peculiar
Effects of the Love of Physical Gratification in Democratic Times.
Why
Some Americans Manifest a Sort of Spiritual Fanaticism.
Why
the Americans are so Restless in the Midst of their Prosperity.
How the Taste for Physical Gratification's is United in America to
Love of Freedom and Attention to Public Affairs.
How
Religious Belief Sometimes Turns Americans to Immaterial Pleasures.
How
Excessive Care for Worldly Welfare may Impair that Welfare.
How, When Conditions are Equal and Skepticism is Rife, it is
Important to Direct Human Actions to Distant Objects.
10/11: Second Session
Riesman, David.
1950. The Lonely Crowd: a study of the changing American
character.
New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
10/25: Third Session
Hofstadter, Richard
1963.
Anti-Intellectualism in American Life. New York: Vintage. Parts I, II, III.
11/08: Fourth Session
Hofstadter, Richard
1963. Anti-Intellectualism in American Life. New York: Vintage. Parts IV, V.
12/06: Fifth Session
Bellah, Robert N., Madsen, Richard, Sullivan, William M., Swidler, Ann, and Tipton, Steven M. 1985).
1985. Habits of the heart: individualism and commitment in American life. Berkeley, CA:
University of California Press. We will all read the intro, conclusion, and the chapter on religion.
Each participant will also read and summarize one other chapter.
Some shorter readings will be available on Chalk.
Created 2006 Oct 01.
Last updated 2006 Nov 30.