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1Liberal Studies 302B

Historical Dimension of Liberal
Studies

Course Description
Historical Dimension of Liberal Studies is a two-semester course that traces the
development of modes of thought and forms of expression in the three core areas of liberal
studies: the natural sciences, the social sciences, and the humanities and arts. Liberal Studies
302A traces these developments from the ancient Greeks to the High Renaissance. Liberal
Studies 302B continues from the age of Mannerism, Machiavelli, and Copernicus in the
sixteenth century and ends with the age of Darwin, Marx and Nietzsche at the end of the
nineteenth century. The historical developments of the twentieth century are covered in Liberal
Studies 303, 304 and 305.

Instructor
Kevin Lambert
Office: H223-G
Hours: TR 1:00-2:00 and by appointment
Tel: (310) 749-2758
e-mail: klambert@fullerton.edu

Required Texts
Available at Campus bookstore or online:
- Bowler and Morus, Making Modern Science: A Historical Survey
- Alex Callinicos, Social Theory: A Historical Introduction

Course Objectives for LBST 302B

Students will learn the development of the modes of thought and forms of expression in natural
philosophy, social/political philosophy and the arts and humanities from the Renaissance to the
19th century

Learning Goals
Students who successfully complete the requirements for 302B will be able to:

1. Explain the impact of the Protestant Reformation.

2. Demonstrate an understanding of the achievements of High Renaissance art and music.

3. Demonstrate an understanding of the impact of the Counter-Reformation on art and music.

4. Explain chief features of the Scientific Revolution, such as its philosophies, methods, major
figures and its historical significance.

5. Explain the contributions of social contract theorists to political theory in the 17th and 18th
centuries.
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6. Explain the primary ideas of the Enlightenment and the resulting impact on social and political
theory, the arts and humanities, and the natural sciences. 

7. Explain the historical significance of the social and political revolutions of the 18th and 19th
centuries.

8. Explain the significance of the process of industrialization.

9. Explain the essential concepts of 18th- and 19th-century Liberalism.

10. Explain the primary ideas and concepts of Marxian theory.

11. Identify and explain the primary developments in the arts and music from the 17th to the 19th
centuries, including the Baroque, Neoclassical/Classical, and Romantic periods, and their
relationship with contemporaneous political and intellectual contexts

12. Explain the major innovations that resulted in the development and emergence of geology,
physics and evolution.

Course Requirements
Examinations will occur at the end of each of the three segments of the course. Each
exam will last one hour and fifteen minutes and consist of six essay questions – two from the
humanities and arts, two from the social sciences, and two from the natural sciences. Questions
will be drawn from a list of twelve questions – four for each of the disciplines – that will be
distributed a week prior to the examination. In grading answers to the essay questions, the
instructors will pay attention both to the content and to the quality of the writing. The best
answers will consist of three to four paragraphs each with a clearly stated topic sentence and
supporting evidence. The evidence should include specific visual, audio or textual materials that
exemplify the ideas presented by the topic sentence. Students should avoid fuzzy prose,
disjointed phrases without connecting sentences, and incorrect spelling of important names and
concepts. Better grades will go to students who express themselves clearly, concisely and with
correct grammar and punctuation. Outlines or lists of facts are not acceptable. Students will be
assessed with +/- grades. Students will receive letter grades that will be converted to a 4-point
scale according to which A = 4, A- = 3.75, B+ = 3.25, B = 3, B- = 2.75, C+ = 2.25, C = 2, C- =
1.75, D+ = 1.25, D = 1, D- = .75 and F = 0 for purposes of averaging final grades. These six
scores – one for each essay – will be averaged for the exam score. In turn, the three exam scores
will be averaged for the final grade in the course. There will be no extra credit.

Disabilities
Students with a documented disability are entitled to accommodations and should consult
the Disabled Student Service Office, UH 101, (714) 278-3117. Information also is available at
www.fullerton.edu/disabledservices. Prior to each exam, students who are taking exams through
the Disabled Student Services office should contact the instructors with the appropriate forms.
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Make-up Exams and Incompletes

Students who, because of ill health or unexpected circumstances, are unable to take either
the first or the second examination on the day scheduled may be allowed to take a make-up.
They must, however, contact the instructor within twenty-four hours of the scheduled
examination, provide appropriate documentation, and arrange to take the make-up within one
week of the scheduled exam. Students who, because of ill health or unexpected circumstances
are unable to take the third (final) examination may request an incomplete. They must, however,
contact the instructor within twenty-four hours of the final and provide appropriate
documentation. Students who are granted an incomplete must complete their work by the last
day of instruction the following semester. In the absence of a request for an incomplete,
students’ grades will be tabulated by inserting zeros for any missing examinations.

Academic Integrity
Acts such as cheating on exams, plagiarizing another’s work, insufficient citation, or
helping someone else to commit such an act, are considered academic dishonesty. Academic
dishonesty will not be tolerated. You should review and be familiar with the CSUF policy as
stated in UPS 300.021 http://www.fullerton.edu/senate/documents/PDF/300/UPS300-021.pdf.
Plagiarism in this class will result in a failing grade on the assignment for a first offense and for
the class as a whole for a second offense.
Students with Disabilities
Students with a documented disability are entitled to accommodations and should consult the
Disability Support Services Office, UH 101, (657) 278-3117. Information also is available at
http://www.fullerton.edu/DSS/.

Emergency Procedures: http://prepare.fullerton.edu/campuspreparedness/

Withdrawal from Class

Be sure to read the University’s withdrawal policies:
http://catalog.fullerton.edu/content.php?
catoid=2&navoid=113&hl=withdrawal+policies&returnto=search
Note that authorization to withdraw after the end of the second week of instruction shall be
granted for only the most serious reasons i.e., a physical, medical, emotional or other condition
that has the effect of limiting the student’s full participation in the class. Such reasons must be
documented by the student. Poor academic performance is not evidence of a serious reason for
withdrawal.

Classroom Etiquette
Students are expected to arrive at class on time and to remain in their seats until the class
is finished. Before class begins, please turn off your pagers and cell phones and tend to the work
of the class. You may tape record lectures if you like. Laptops may be used for classroom work,
but you may not use them for games/e-mail etc. Be particularly careful to turn cell phones
completely off before an examination begins. If a medical or emergency reason requires that you
use a cell phone or pager please notify the instructor prior to the beginning of class.
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Schedule of Classes and Reading Assignments

Week 1
8/25 Introductions

8/27 Renaissance Politics

"The Renaissance," Michael Curtis, The Great Political Theories vol. 1 (New York:
Avon Books, 1981), 215-29. (T)

Week 2
9/1 The High Renaissance and Artistic Expression
Hugh Honour and John Fleming, " The High Renaissance in Italy," The Visual Arts: A
History, sixth Edition (Prentice Hall), 479-494. (T)

9/3 The Reformation

T. A. Morris, Europe and England in the Sixteenth Century, 5-16, 56-67; 76-83. (T)

Week 3
9/8 Astronomy and the Scientific Revolution
Bowler and Morus, pp. 23-33

9/10 Galileo, Kepler and the Place of Natural Philosophy

Colin Ronan, “Galileo Galilei,” Man Masters Nature, 39-50 (T)

Week 4
9/15 Baroque Art
John Rupert Smith, "Baroque Art" (T)

9/17 Absolutism and the Divine Right of Kings

James I, from The True Law of Free Monarchies; or, The Reciprocal and Mutual Duty
Betwixt a Free King and His Natural Subjects (Norton Anthology of English Literature
(http://www.wwnorton.com/college/english/nael/17century/topic_3/truelaw.htm) (T)
J. P. Sommerville, "Jean Bodin and Absolutism,"
(http://faculty.history.wisc.edu/sommerville/283/283%20session04.htm) (T)

Week 5
9/22 Review

9/24 EXAMINATION 1 Questions are due

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Week 6
9/29 The Social Contract
Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan (excerpts), Curtis, Great Political theories vol. 1., 329-37.
Additional readings on Titanium

10/1 The Art and Music of the New Secular Powers

Svetlana Alpers, The Art of Describing, pp. xvii-xxvii (Additional readings on Titanium)

Week 7
10/6 The Rise of Mechanical Philosophy
Bowler and Morus, pp. 33-5
Peter Dear, "Descartes Builds a Universe," Revolutionizing the Sciences (Princeton Univ.
Press 2001), 80-100 (T).

10/8 The Rise of Experimental Natural Philosophy

Bowler and Morus, pp. 103-111.
Excerpt from Voltaire’s Letters on London: “On Descartes and Newton.”
(T)

Week 8
10/13 The Enlightenment and the French Revolution
Callinicos, Chap. 1.
Rousseau: The Social Contract, Curtis, 2: 18-34

10/15 The Enlightenment in Britain and Germany

Callinicos, Chap. 1.
Adam Gopnik, “Market Man”
Immanuel Kant, “What is Enlightenment?”

Week 9
10/20 Artistic Developments in the 18th Century: Rococo, Neoclassicism and the
development of classical music
Readings will be posted on Titananium

10/22 Music in the 18th Century: The Classical Period

Reading available on Titanium

Week 10
10/27 Review

10/29 EXAMINATION II Questions are due

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Week 11
11/3 Hegel and Idealism
Callinicos, Chap 2.

11/5 Romanticism and the Arts

Reading available on Titanium

Week 12
11/10 19th Century Conservatism and Liberalism
Callinicos, Chap. 3.
Malthus, John Avery, Progress, Poverty and Population (London: Frank Cass, 1997), 55-
75

11/12 From Romanticism to Realism in the Arts

Reading available on Titanium

Week 13
11/17 Marx and Marxism
Callinicos, Chap. 4
Karl Marx, The Communist Manifesto

11/19 Steam Engines, Time, and the Conservation of Energy

Bowler and Morus, pp. 79-101

Thanksgiving Break 11/24; 11/26

Week 14
12/1 The Darwinian Revolution
Bowler and Morus, pp. 111-163

12/3 Social Darwinism

Callinicos, chap 5.
Additional Readings available on Titanium

Week 15
12/8 French Impressionism 1860-1880s

12/10 Review
Readings available on Titanium

FINAL EXAM QUESTIONS DUE IN FINAL WEEKS, DATE TBA