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ENGL151
Thinking the Unthinkable: Writing About the Nuclear Dilemma
ENGL151 SP
| Section | Class Size | *Available | Times | POI | Prereq |
|---|
| 1 | 12 | 0 | Times: M...... 1:10PM-4:00PM; | Yes | No |
*The number of spaces listed as available is based on class seats open for
the Blue Add phase of registration. Some seats may be taken in previous
phases while others may be held out for subsequent phases of registration.
(Last Updated on Tue Aug 10 05:00:21 EDT 1999
)
The course will inquire into the intellectual labryinths,
the emotional riddles, and the moral traps in which the
nuclear dilemma has enmeshed American and human
understanding and imagination in the last half century.
After acquainting ourselves with the basic physical facts of
the peril, we will examine it through the lenses of high
strategy, philosophy, fiction, memoirs, poetry, and film.
We will inquire into the tone, the strengths and
weaknesses, and the underlying assumptions of each of these
approaches to the question. Our own underlying assumption
will be that we are pursuing from many angles an unfinished
inquiry into an unresolved dilemma, not presenting finished
truth. Among other questions, we will ask: What does it
mean--and what should it mean--to each person that the
species is capable of destroying itself? Why do direct
cinematic renderings of nuclear war make such a small
impression? Why are jokes more successful? Why did Gabriel
Garcia Marquez say that it "eludes even the
clear-sightedness of poetry"? What is the status of the
dilemma today? What is the relationship of the difficulty
to other forms of what Hannah Arendt has called "radical
evil"?
MAJOR READINGS
HIROSHIMA, John Hersey
THE MAKING OF THE ATOMIC BOMB, Richard Rhodes
DISTURBING THE UNIVERSE, Freeman Dyson
THINKING THE UNTHINKABLE, Hermann Kahn
Poems by Robert Penn Warren, Joseph Brodsky, Richard Wilbur,
William Wordsworth, others
THE FATE OF THE EARTH, Jonathan Schell
THE ABOLITION REVOLUTION, Jonathan Schell (forthcoming)
THE ARCHITECT OF DESIRE, Susannah Lessard
THINKING, Hannah Arendt
HIROSHIMA IN AMERICA, Robert Jay Lifton
ON THE BEACH, Nevil Shute
LOS ALAMOS, Joseph Kanon
Films: DR. STRANGELOVE, AMAZING GRACE AND CHUCK, THE ATOMIC
CAFE
THE ATOMIC BOMB: THE CRITICAL ISSUE, Barton J. Bernstein,
ed.
EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS
Two essays-one short, one
long. No exam. Class preparation and participation are
important. Letter grades.
ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS and/or COMMENTS
Short sample of
writing, or statement of reason for wishing to be in the
class, or of interest in subject. By 4:00 pm, January 18,
1999 to Sheila Kelleher. Class list posted on department
bulletin board by first day of class.
Unless preregistered students attend the first class meeting
or communicate directly with the instructor prior to the
first class, they will be dropped from the class list.
NOTE: Students must still submit a completed Drop/Add form
to the Registrar's Office.
COURSE FORMAT: Seminar
REGISTRATION INFORMATION
Level: UG Credit: 1.00
Gen Ed Area & Dept: HA ENGL
Prerequisites:
None
- Section 01
- Schell, J
- Times: M...... 1:10PM- 4:00PM;
- Grading Mode: A/F
- Registration Preference (1 high to 6 low, 0=Excluded) Sr: 1, Jr: 1, So: 1, Fr: 1
- No Major Preference Given
- Permission of Instructor Required.
Last Updated on MAR-22-1999
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