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Politics 495
THE UTOPIAN IMPULSE
Senior Politics Honors Seminar
University of San Francisco Professor Robert Elias
Course Description
This seminar provides a history and analysis of Utopian thought. It addresses questions such as: What is Utopian thinking? Why did it emerge, and why has it remained with us through modern times? How has utopian thinking changed throughout different eras? What explains the appeal and the rich tradition of Utopian writing, and particularly Utopian novels? What religious, geographic, political, social, economic and technological developments have influenced Utopian thought? What distinguishes Utopias and Dystopias? What can we learn from each? What’s the relationship between Utopias and movements such as feminism, socialism, bohemianism, and environmentalism? How do we regard Utopias in the postmodern era? What are the dangers of Utopias? What are the dangers of not having Utopias, and of the decline of Utopian thinking?
This is the Honors course for the Politics Department. Thus, besides examining the history and literature of Utopias, the purpose of this seminar will be to allow (and indeed, require) students to develop and write a Senior Thesis. Students will learn how to compose a major research project for which they will choose some Utopian theme (broadly defined). These Theses will be compiled and published by the Politics Department in our annual publication. In light of this extra research component, the course will be worth 4 credits. The first two-thirds of the course will be devoted to exploring the Utopian theme. The last one-third of the course will be devoted to the development and writing of the Senior Theses; thus, for the last month of the course, you will be proposing your topic, reporting on your progress, and providing constructive feedback for your classmates.
Assigned Reading
Krishan Kumar, Utopianism
Ian Tod & Michael Wheeler, Utopia: An Illustrated History*
Edward Bellamy, Looking Backward
Kirkpatrick Sale, Rebels Against the Future
Jack London, The Iron Heel
Aldous Huxley, Island
Ernest Callenbach, Ecotopia
Marge Piercy, Woman on the Edge of Time
Russell Jacoby, The End of Utopia
* Purchase from instructor on first day of class
Reference
To help you develop the skills for doing political research, and for preparing your Senior Thesis, please consult the following book, which is on overnight reserve at the Gleeson Library:
Gregory Scott, The Political Science Student Writer’s Manual**
Course Outline
WEEK ONE: INTRODUCTION (28 August)
What’s Utopia Got to Do With It?
Human Nature: Good, Bad or Just Ugly?
Designing A More Ideal World?
WEEK TWO: THE MEANING OF UTOPIA (4 September)
Elements
Boundaries
Practice
READING: Krishan Kumar, Utopianism
VIDEO SERIES: Lost Horizon
Class Video: Gulliver’s Travels
WEEK THREE: THE HISTORY OF UTOPIA (11 September)
Earthly Paradise and the City of God
The Republic
Citadels of Science
The People’s Farm
Utopia in the New World
With or Without the State?
Utopia or Oblivion?
READING: Ian Tod/Michael Wheeler, Utopia: An Illustrated History
VIDEO SERIES: Brave New World
Class Video: Affluenza
WEEK FOUR: LOOKING FORWARD—UTOPIAN FUTURES (18 September)
(A) The Utopian Novel: Bellamy’s Year 2000
READING: Edward Bellamy, Looking Backward
VIDEO SERIES: Memoirs of A Survivor
WEEK FIVE: LOOKING BACKWARD—WORK AND TECHNOLOGY (25 Sept.)
Industrial Revolutions
Luddites and Neo-Luddites
Preserving Work & Community
Technology: Savior or Slavery?
The Politics of Nostalgia
READING: Kirkpatrick Sale, Rebels Against the Future
VIDEO SERIES: Metropolis
Class Video: The Luddites
WEEK SIX: DYSTOPIAS—WARNINGS & NIGHTMARES (2 October)
The Dystopian Novel: London’s “Iron Heel”
Capitalism vs. Socialism vs. Communism?
Consumer Society: Freedom vs. Slavery?
Consciousness: Democracy vs. Thought Control?
Foreign Policy: Development vs. Domination?
READING: Jack London, The Iron Heel
VIDEO SERIES: Animal Farm
Class Video: Global Village, Global Pillage
WEEK SEVEN: REAL-WORLD UTOPIAN COMMUNITIES (9 October)
Utopian Hopes—Communal Experiments
READING: HANDOUT on real-world Utopian Communities
VIDEO SERIES: Mondregon
Launching A Utopian Research Project
READING: from Scott & Garrison, Introduction (Handout/Reserve)
WEEK EIGHT: SPIRITUAL UTOPIAS—NEW WORLD VALUES (16 October)
The Utopian Novel: Huxley’s Nirvana
Utopia’s Quest: Individual vs. Community?
READING: Aldous Huxley, Island
VIDEO SERIES: Road Scholar
Class Video: Siddhartha
WEEK NINE: FEMINIST UTOPIAS/DYSTOPIAS (23 October)
The Ambiguous Utopia: Piercy’s Genderless World
Utopia: Romantic Love?
(C) Dystopia: Women as Breeding Machines?
READING: Marge Piercy, Woman on the Edge of Time
VIDEO SERIES: Handmaid’s Tale
WEEK TEN: ECOLOGICAL UTOPIAS—NEW ENVIRONMENTS (30 October)
The Utopia Novel: Callenbach’s Green Alternative
Utopias: From Shangri-La to Planned Communities
READING: Ernest Callenbach, Ecotopia
VIDEO SERIES: Truman Show
Class Video: A Dream Called Disney World
WEEK ELEVEN: THE FUTURE OF HOPE? (6 November)
(A) The End of Ideology
(B) Mass Culture and Anarchy
From Utopia to Myopia
READING: Russell Jacoby, The End of Utopia
VIDEO SERIES: Mindwalk
Thesis Proposal Due Today!
WEEK TWELVE: RESEARCH ROUDTABLE (13 November)
(A) Doing Political Research
(B) Proposing Research
READING: Scott, “Organizing the Research Process” (Handout)
VIDEO SERIES: Fahrenheit 451
Thesis Proposal Presentation Due Today!
WEEK THIRTEEN: RESEARCH ROUNDTABLE (20 November)
The Research Process
Progress Updates
READING: Scott, “Internet Resources” (Handout/Reserve)
VIDEO SERIES: Roger & Me
WEEK FOURTEEN: RESEARCH ROUNDTABLE (27 November)
The Writing Process
Progress Updates
` READING: Scott, “Writing for Communication” (Handout/Reserve)
WEEK FIFTEEN: RESEARCH ROUNTABLE & CONCLUSION (4 December)
Putting It All Together
Progress Updates
THESIS DUE: Friday, 14 December
COMMUNICATIONS
(Please feel welcome to visit my office. If you cannot make my office hours, let me know and we'll make other arrangements)
(4) Your Email Address: Please give me your email address during the first class. I will want to regularly communicate with you between classes, so please check your email messages frequently!
GRADING & REQUIREMENTS
To do well in the course, you must demonstrate that you’ve completed and understood all the assigned readings. You must also view all of the assigned videos. Besides these things, the requirements are as follows:
Class Attendance/Participation 20%
Reading Response-Reports 10%
Video Attendance/Reports 10%
Utopia Theme Presentation 1 5%
Utopia Theme Presentation 2 5%
Thesis Proposal Presentation 5%
Senior Thesis 45%
(1) Class Participation
Attendance at the seminar is REQUIRED. More than one absence will
jeopardize your final grade. Assigned readings must be completed before the class period during which it will be discussed. You should have thought about the readings beforehand, and then come to each class prepared to ACTIVELY Participate. The classroom environment will be open and informal, and thus conducive to a free exchange of ideas and opinions.
(2) Reading Response-Reports
To help stimulate class discussion, you should submit in writing, for each class, a one (1) page (typed)(you can write more if you’d like) Response Report, which provides your observations about that week’s reading. Use these papers during class and then submit them to me at the end of each class.
(3) Video Attendance/Reports
To supplement the course readings, students are also Required to view
the movies in the Video Series, which is attached to the course (the meeting time for which will be mutually agreed upon). Please see the videos listed in the course outline above, and also on the flyer attached below. We will discuss each video in the class following its showing. For each video, you should complete the one (1) page question sheet (use the back if needed) that I’ll distribute to you beforehand. The completed Video Reports should be turned in to me after the class discussion.
(4) Utopia Theme Presentations
The literature on Utopias is vast. Some of it will be examined by the
assigned books but there are many other utopian themes to explore. I will provide you with an extensive list of themes, which will have two purposes: First, you can use it to get ideas for your Senior Thesis. Second, I will have available, for each of these themes, published articles. You should chose two (2) of these themes by the beginning of the SECOND CLASS. I will then give you one article for each of these themes. On a rotating basis (I’ll establish a schedule for you), students will be asked to give two (2) short presentations of 5-8 minutes each (PLEASE TIME YOURSELF BEFOREHAND) based on the themes you’ve chosen and the articles you’ve read. Please craft your presentations to clearly illuminate your theme, to provide your own evaluation, and to stimulate a brief class discussion of your topic. We’ll explore one of these supplemental Utopian themes each class, through 6 November. In the end, this process will give us a much better appreciation of the richness of the utopian literature
(5) Thesis Proposal Presentation
(a) During the first two-thirds of the semester, you should be working to develop your theme for your Senior Thesis. You should devise a theme AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, and no later than our class on 6 November. That’s the Deadline for submitting your proposal to me in writing. The sooner you submit your proposal, the sooner I can give you feedback on your idea.
(b) For our first Research Roundtable (on 13 November), you should be prepared to give a 10 minute presentation of your Thesis Proposal. After each student presentation, the instructor and the other students will provide constructive feedback on your theme. You may consult with me at any time in devising your proposal. In subsequent weeks, students will refine their proposals and report their progress on researching and writing their Theses. This will provide a supportive environment for the task ahead of you.
(6) Senior Thesis – You’ll be asked to write a thesis of at least 25 typed pages. It should be an integrative essay, which demonstrates a serious and sustained effort to develop, argue and defend a theme related to the course’s subject matter (Utopias), and to use a methodology appropriate to the topic you’ve chosen. If all goes well, the Senior Thesis should provide you with a memorable and meaningful intellectual experience to close out your undergraduate career. I will work closely with you in developing your essay, providing you with detailed critiques of your proposals and early drafts. Other students in the course will provide feedback, as well. Assuming that each student’s essay achieves the appropriate standard of excellence, all the essays from the course will be published as a book by the Politics Department at the end of the semester. Two of last year’s Senior Theses won awards, and both will be published in the journal, Peace Review. Your thesis will be due on Friday, 14 December.
PLAGIARISM POLICY – Please carefully read the sections in the Student Handbook (The Fogcutter) or in the Politics Department Handbook dealing with Academic Honesty. In the event of plagiarism, defined as “intentionally or knowingly representing the words or ideas of another as one’s own in any academic exercise,” the assignment for which plagiarism occurs will result in a “zero.”
RESEARCH SOURCES – You’ll receive from me an illustrative (but certainly not exhaustive) bibliography of books on utopia. In addition, please consult the journal, Utopian Studies Quarterly, at Gleeson Library. This journal provides a wide variety of articles on utopian thinking (for a complete index of these articles, see http://www.utoronto.ca/utopia/article_authors.html). These sources will suggest the many utopian themes available for developing your Thesis. There’s a much bigger literature on utopias beyond these sources; you should delve into it further once you’ve chosen your Thesis theme.
RECOMMENDED ALTERNATIVE MEDIA - You should break the habit of relying on conventional American media for how you understand the world. Contrary to the commercials ("Read Time and Understand"), if you rely on Time (or twins such as Newsweek, U.S. News & World Report, the Times, (either one), the Chronicle, etc.), you probably won't really understand at all. For periodicals with an alternative perspective on the U.S. and the world, read The Nation, EXTRA!, The Progressive, Z Magazine, The Utne Reader, Mother Jones, The Humanist, Radical America, Socialist Review, The Village Voice, Bay Guardian, New Internationalist, In These Times, Ms. Magazine, On the Issues, Tikkun, Catholic Worker, Sojourners, Peace Review (published at USF; see me for information), (all available in libraries and good SF, Marin & Berkeley bookstores). Also, listen to KPFA radio (FM 94) for alternative news & political affairs.
We should view this course as a joint responsibility. I'm very happy to have you in the class; I'll contribute as much as I can to making this a thought-provoking and stimulating subject matter. This will work best if you fulfill your own responsibility to take the course seriously, and to contribute as much as you can. Take advantage of this opportunity; be "active" learners.
NOTE: INCOMPLETES ARE STRONGLY DISCOURAGED
.
THE UTOPIAN IMPULSE
Senior Politics Honors Seminar
University of San Francisco Professor Robert Elias
Course Description
This seminar provides a history and analysis of Utopian thought. It addresses questions such as: What is Utopian thinking? Why did it emerge, and why has it remained with us through modern times? How has utopian thinking changed throughout different eras? What explains the appeal and the rich tradition of Utopian writing, and particularly Utopian novels? What religious, geographic, political, social, economic and technological developments have influenced Utopian thought? What distinguishes Utopias and Dystopias? What can we learn from each? What’s the relationship between Utopias and movements such as feminism, socialism, bohemianism, and environmentalism? How do we regard Utopias in the postmodern era? What are the dangers of Utopias? What are the dangers of not having Utopias, and of the decline of Utopian thinking?
This is the Honors course for the Politics Department. Thus, besides examining the history and literature of Utopias, the purpose of this seminar will be to allow (and indeed, require) students to develop and write a Senior Thesis. Students will learn how to compose a major research project for which they will choose some Utopian theme (broadly defined). These Theses will be compiled and published by the Politics Department in our annual publication. In light of this extra research component, the course will be worth 4 credits. The first two-thirds of the course will be devoted to exploring the Utopian theme. The last one-third of the course will be devoted to the development and writing of the Senior Theses; thus, for the last month of the course, you will be proposing your topic, reporting on your progress, and providing constructive feedback for your classmates.
Assigned Reading
Krishan Kumar, Utopianism
Ian Tod & Michael Wheeler, Utopia: An Illustrated History*
Edward Bellamy, Looking Backward
Kirkpatrick Sale, Rebels Against the Future
Jack London, The Iron Heel
Aldous Huxley, Island
Ernest Callenbach, Ecotopia
Marge Piercy, Woman on the Edge of Time
Russell Jacoby, The End of Utopia
* Purchase from instructor on first day of class
Reference
To help you develop the skills for doing political research, and for preparing your Senior Thesis, please consult the following book, which is on overnight reserve at the Gleeson Library:
Gregory Scott, The Political Science Student Writer’s Manual**
Course Outline
WEEK ONE: INTRODUCTION (28 August)
What’s Utopia Got to Do With It?
Human Nature: Good, Bad or Just Ugly?
Designing A More Ideal World?
WEEK TWO: THE MEANING OF UTOPIA (4 September)
Elements
Boundaries
Practice
READING: Krishan Kumar, Utopianism
VIDEO SERIES: Lost Horizon
Class Video: Gulliver’s Travels
WEEK THREE: THE HISTORY OF UTOPIA (11 September)
Earthly Paradise and the City of God
The Republic
Citadels of Science
The People’s Farm
Utopia in the New World
With or Without the State?
Utopia or Oblivion?
READING: Ian Tod/Michael Wheeler, Utopia: An Illustrated History
VIDEO SERIES: Brave New World
Class Video: Affluenza
WEEK FOUR: LOOKING FORWARD—UTOPIAN FUTURES (18 September)
(A) The Utopian Novel: Bellamy’s Year 2000
READING: Edward Bellamy, Looking Backward
VIDEO SERIES: Memoirs of A Survivor
WEEK FIVE: LOOKING BACKWARD—WORK AND TECHNOLOGY (25 Sept.)
Industrial Revolutions
Luddites and Neo-Luddites
Preserving Work & Community
Technology: Savior or Slavery?
The Politics of Nostalgia
READING: Kirkpatrick Sale, Rebels Against the Future
VIDEO SERIES: Metropolis
Class Video: The Luddites
WEEK SIX: DYSTOPIAS—WARNINGS & NIGHTMARES (2 October)
The Dystopian Novel: London’s “Iron Heel”
Capitalism vs. Socialism vs. Communism?
Consumer Society: Freedom vs. Slavery?
Consciousness: Democracy vs. Thought Control?
Foreign Policy: Development vs. Domination?
READING: Jack London, The Iron Heel
VIDEO SERIES: Animal Farm
Class Video: Global Village, Global Pillage
WEEK SEVEN: REAL-WORLD UTOPIAN COMMUNITIES (9 October)
Utopian Hopes—Communal Experiments
READING: HANDOUT on real-world Utopian Communities
VIDEO SERIES: Mondregon
Launching A Utopian Research Project
READING: from Scott & Garrison, Introduction (Handout/Reserve)
WEEK EIGHT: SPIRITUAL UTOPIAS—NEW WORLD VALUES (16 October)
The Utopian Novel: Huxley’s Nirvana
Utopia’s Quest: Individual vs. Community?
READING: Aldous Huxley, Island
VIDEO SERIES: Road Scholar
Class Video: Siddhartha
WEEK NINE: FEMINIST UTOPIAS/DYSTOPIAS (23 October)
The Ambiguous Utopia: Piercy’s Genderless World
Utopia: Romantic Love?
(C) Dystopia: Women as Breeding Machines?
READING: Marge Piercy, Woman on the Edge of Time
VIDEO SERIES: Handmaid’s Tale
WEEK TEN: ECOLOGICAL UTOPIAS—NEW ENVIRONMENTS (30 October)
The Utopia Novel: Callenbach’s Green Alternative
Utopias: From Shangri-La to Planned Communities
READING: Ernest Callenbach, Ecotopia
VIDEO SERIES: Truman Show
Class Video: A Dream Called Disney World
WEEK ELEVEN: THE FUTURE OF HOPE? (6 November)
(A) The End of Ideology
(B) Mass Culture and Anarchy
From Utopia to Myopia
READING: Russell Jacoby, The End of Utopia
VIDEO SERIES: Mindwalk
Thesis Proposal Due Today!
WEEK TWELVE: RESEARCH ROUDTABLE (13 November)
(A) Doing Political Research
(B) Proposing Research
READING: Scott, “Organizing the Research Process” (Handout)
VIDEO SERIES: Fahrenheit 451
Thesis Proposal Presentation Due Today!
WEEK THIRTEEN: RESEARCH ROUNDTABLE (20 November)
The Research Process
Progress Updates
READING: Scott, “Internet Resources” (Handout/Reserve)
VIDEO SERIES: Roger & Me
WEEK FOURTEEN: RESEARCH ROUNDTABLE (27 November)
The Writing Process
Progress Updates
` READING: Scott, “Writing for Communication” (Handout/Reserve)
WEEK FIFTEEN: RESEARCH ROUNTABLE & CONCLUSION (4 December)
Putting It All Together
Progress Updates
THESIS DUE: Friday, 14 December
COMMUNICATIONS
(Please feel welcome to visit my office. If you cannot make my office hours, let me know and we'll make other arrangements)
(4) Your Email Address: Please give me your email address during the first class. I will want to regularly communicate with you between classes, so please check your email messages frequently!
GRADING & REQUIREMENTS
To do well in the course, you must demonstrate that you’ve completed and understood all the assigned readings. You must also view all of the assigned videos. Besides these things, the requirements are as follows:
Class Attendance/Participation 20%
Reading Response-Reports 10%
Video Attendance/Reports 10%
Utopia Theme Presentation 1 5%
Utopia Theme Presentation 2 5%
Thesis Proposal Presentation 5%
Senior Thesis 45%
(1) Class Participation
Attendance at the seminar is REQUIRED. More than one absence will
jeopardize your final grade. Assigned readings must be completed before the class period during which it will be discussed. You should have thought about the readings beforehand, and then come to each class prepared to ACTIVELY Participate. The classroom environment will be open and informal, and thus conducive to a free exchange of ideas and opinions.
(2) Reading Response-Reports
To help stimulate class discussion, you should submit in writing, for each class, a one (1) page (typed)(you can write more if you’d like) Response Report, which provides your observations about that week’s reading. Use these papers during class and then submit them to me at the end of each class.
(3) Video Attendance/Reports
To supplement the course readings, students are also Required to view
the movies in the Video Series, which is attached to the course (the meeting time for which will be mutually agreed upon). Please see the videos listed in the course outline above, and also on the flyer attached below. We will discuss each video in the class following its showing. For each video, you should complete the one (1) page question sheet (use the back if needed) that I’ll distribute to you beforehand. The completed Video Reports should be turned in to me after the class discussion.
(4) Utopia Theme Presentations
The literature on Utopias is vast. Some of it will be examined by the
assigned books but there are many other utopian themes to explore. I will provide you with an extensive list of themes, which will have two purposes: First, you can use it to get ideas for your Senior Thesis. Second, I will have available, for each of these themes, published articles. You should chose two (2) of these themes by the beginning of the SECOND CLASS. I will then give you one article for each of these themes. On a rotating basis (I’ll establish a schedule for you), students will be asked to give two (2) short presentations of 5-8 minutes each (PLEASE TIME YOURSELF BEFOREHAND) based on the themes you’ve chosen and the articles you’ve read. Please craft your presentations to clearly illuminate your theme, to provide your own evaluation, and to stimulate a brief class discussion of your topic. We’ll explore one of these supplemental Utopian themes each class, through 6 November. In the end, this process will give us a much better appreciation of the richness of the utopian literature
(5) Thesis Proposal Presentation
(a) During the first two-thirds of the semester, you should be working to develop your theme for your Senior Thesis. You should devise a theme AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, and no later than our class on 6 November. That’s the Deadline for submitting your proposal to me in writing. The sooner you submit your proposal, the sooner I can give you feedback on your idea.
(b) For our first Research Roundtable (on 13 November), you should be prepared to give a 10 minute presentation of your Thesis Proposal. After each student presentation, the instructor and the other students will provide constructive feedback on your theme. You may consult with me at any time in devising your proposal. In subsequent weeks, students will refine their proposals and report their progress on researching and writing their Theses. This will provide a supportive environment for the task ahead of you.
(6) Senior Thesis – You’ll be asked to write a thesis of at least 25 typed pages. It should be an integrative essay, which demonstrates a serious and sustained effort to develop, argue and defend a theme related to the course’s subject matter (Utopias), and to use a methodology appropriate to the topic you’ve chosen. If all goes well, the Senior Thesis should provide you with a memorable and meaningful intellectual experience to close out your undergraduate career. I will work closely with you in developing your essay, providing you with detailed critiques of your proposals and early drafts. Other students in the course will provide feedback, as well. Assuming that each student’s essay achieves the appropriate standard of excellence, all the essays from the course will be published as a book by the Politics Department at the end of the semester. Two of last year’s Senior Theses won awards, and both will be published in the journal, Peace Review. Your thesis will be due on Friday, 14 December.
PLAGIARISM POLICY – Please carefully read the sections in the Student Handbook (The Fogcutter) or in the Politics Department Handbook dealing with Academic Honesty. In the event of plagiarism, defined as “intentionally or knowingly representing the words or ideas of another as one’s own in any academic exercise,” the assignment for which plagiarism occurs will result in a “zero.”
RESEARCH SOURCES – You’ll receive from me an illustrative (but certainly not exhaustive) bibliography of books on utopia. In addition, please consult the journal, Utopian Studies Quarterly, at Gleeson Library. This journal provides a wide variety of articles on utopian thinking (for a complete index of these articles, see http://www.utoronto.ca/utopia/article_authors.html). These sources will suggest the many utopian themes available for developing your Thesis. There’s a much bigger literature on utopias beyond these sources; you should delve into it further once you’ve chosen your Thesis theme.
RECOMMENDED ALTERNATIVE MEDIA - You should break the habit of relying on conventional American media for how you understand the world. Contrary to the commercials ("Read Time and Understand"), if you rely on Time (or twins such as Newsweek, U.S. News & World Report, the Times, (either one), the Chronicle, etc.), you probably won't really understand at all. For periodicals with an alternative perspective on the U.S. and the world, read The Nation, EXTRA!, The Progressive, Z Magazine, The Utne Reader, Mother Jones, The Humanist, Radical America, Socialist Review, The Village Voice, Bay Guardian, New Internationalist, In These Times, Ms. Magazine, On the Issues, Tikkun, Catholic Worker, Sojourners, Peace Review (published at USF; see me for information), (all available in libraries and good SF, Marin & Berkeley bookstores). Also, listen to KPFA radio (FM 94) for alternative news & political affairs.
We should view this course as a joint responsibility. I'm very happy to have you in the class; I'll contribute as much as I can to making this a thought-provoking and stimulating subject matter. This will work best if you fulfill your own responsibility to take the course seriously, and to contribute as much as you can. Take advantage of this opportunity; be "active" learners.
NOTE: INCOMPLETES ARE STRONGLY DISCOURAGED
.
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