Faculty: David Simpson received his PhD in English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University and has served on the faculty in English and humanities at Columbia and Northwestern. His academic interests include classical and Renaissance literature, media studies, American culture, professional communication, and intellectual history. A former member of the Chicago Board Options Exchange, he has served as a consultant in business writing and technical stock-market analysis and has written articles and reviews on topics ranging from jazz and cinema to slang and cyberculture. He has served on the visiting faculty at SNL since 1990. 

Course Description:  A course in literature, art, technology, and cultural history. Students will review and discuss popular current attitudes toward Nature, mechanization, and industrial and electronic technology--especially as those attitudes are embodied or foreshadowed in classic works of American literature. Our contemporary attitudes, it will be suggested, are largely the product of an interplay or dialogue between two rival cultural traditions: a "Utopian" or "classical" tradition, which is favorable to technology (and which is reflected in our enthusiasm for inventions, our pride in U.S. engineering achievements, and our admiration for machine power), and an "Arcadian" or "romantic" tradition, which is antagonistic to technology (and which is illustrated by our affection for natural beauty and wildlife and our concern for the environment). It appears that these two conflicting traditions are also responsible for the emergence and continuing popularity of two well-known American stereotypes--the idle loafer and nature lover (as exemplified by Rip Van Winkle, Huck Finn, or Henry David Thoreau) and the enterprising hustler, super-salesman, gadget-maker, or fix-it-man (a type celebrated from Ben Franklin to Henry Ford). 

AL-3  Can evaluate works of art or literature in terms of their form, content, or style.
AL-4  Understands the philosophical and cultural dimensions of "leisure" and can demonstrate its relationship to quality of life.
AL-H Can interpret the work of artists or writers within an historical or social context.
PW-B  Understands and can explain the developing relationship between technology and a society or culture.
A-1-C Can analyze artistic works or texts in terms of form, content, and style. 
A-1-E  Can interpret  the work of writers or artists within an historical or social context.
A-3-D Can assess the assumptions and implications of a significant thinker's ideas about work or leisure.
S-3-A Can understand different perspectives on the relationship between technology and society, and describe the scientific principles underlying technological innovations.

  Students taking the course for AL-H or A-1-E competence will write a 6-8 page essay discussing the career, artistic achievement, and social or historical significance of a prominent American author, composer, artist, or film-maker.

Students taking the course for AL-4 or A-3-D competence will write a 6-8 page essay on the role of leisure and recreation (or work and vocation) in the view of an important American philosopher, artist, social critic, business enterprise, or religious organization.

 Students taking the course for AL-3 or A-1-C credit will complete a take-home examination (part essay, part objective) testing their their ability to define and apply important aesthetic and critical concepts (e.g., genre, neo-classicism) and literary terms. (For a partial list of terms and sample applications, see the Glossary.) 

 Students enrolled in the course for PW-B or S-3-A credit will write a 6-8 page essay discussing the origin and development and the social, economic, environmental, or cultural consequences of a new invention or technology. Sample topics: the development and impact of photocopying technology, or the economic and ecological effects of a particular type of farm equipment or industrial technology. 

• To familiarize students with significant developments in the history of technology from the industrial revolution to the present.
• To introduce students to a selection of major figures and recurrent themes in American art and literature.
• To make students more aware of the origin and complexity of modern political, environmental, and social issues relating to the growth of technology.

Required Texts:

    Thoreau, Walden. 
    Whitman, Leaves of Grass. 
    Twain, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court. 
    Vonnegut, Cat’s Cradle. 

Recommended:

    Emerson, "Nature" and Selected Essays. 
    Adams, The Education of Henry Adams. 

Format: Informal lecture/discussion. 

Evaluation Methods:  One test, two essays (see "Competence Criteria"). Essays will be evaluated primarily on content. However, to receive a grade of "A," student essays must exhibit superior organization and style. (For style and format guidelines, click here.) 

 Note: All students enrolled  in this course are responsible for knowing and upholding the university's policy on academic integrity as outlined in the DePaul Student Handbook. 

Week 1 (Sep 9).  Technology, Culture, and the Idea of Progress.

 Assignments:   AL-H/A-1-E paper assigned. (Due 10/28.) 
 Readings:   No assigned readings; supplementary material will be distributed in class. 
 Discussion:  Is worldwide economic and social progress a myth, a temporary trend, or an inevitable historical process? 

Week 2 (Sep 16).  America: "Stupendous Scene" or "Wild and Savage Place"? Romanticism and the Discovery of Scenic Beauty. 

Assignments: AL-4/A-3-D paper assigned. (Due 9/28.)
 Readings:   Whitman, "Starting from Paumanok"; Bryant, "Sonnet: To an American Painter," "Monument Mountain," "The Prairies." 
 Discussion:  Has technology made America ugly? 

Week 3 (Sep 23).  Machines as Symbols, Cultural Icons, and Objects of Art. 

 Assignments:   PW-B/S-3-A essay assigned. (Due 11/4.) 
 Readings:   Thoreau, "Sounds" (Walden, Chapter 4). Whitman, "To a Locomotive in Winter." 
 Discussion:  Can trains, tractors, and bombs be beautiful? In other words, can industrial designs be considered fine art? 

 Readings:  Thoreau, "Where I Lived, and What I Lived For" (Walden, Chapter 2). Whitman, "Song of the Exposition." 
 Discussion:  Has today’s hi-tech society become too complicated and fast-paced? Has it made less advanced societies seem more attractive than they actually are? 

Week 5 (Oct 7).  Prometheus, Daedalus, Faust, et.al.: Images of the Scientist/Inventor in Myth, Literature, and Popular Culture.

 Assignments:   AL-3/ A-1-C exam distributed. (Due 11/4.) 
 Readings:   Whitman, "Song of Occupations." Twain, A Connecticut Yankee. Vonnegut, Cat’s Cradle. 
 Discussion:  Are mad scientists, crazy inventors, and nerdy engineers still the dominant images of technical professionals in American popular culture? If so, why? and to what effect? 

Week 6 (Oct 14).  Modern Machines--Tools for Human Liberation or Weapons of Doom?

  Readings:   Whitman, "Song of the Broad-Axe." Twain, A Connecticut Yankee. Vonnegut, Cat’s Cradle. 
 Discussion:  Swords vs. Plowshares: Does technology lead to peace and prosperity or to oppression and war? 

 Recommended videos: 1984; Until the End of the World; 2001: A Space Odyssey; Forbidden Planet.

Week 7 (Oct 21). Technology and Democracy. 

 Assignments:   AL-1 essay due. 
 Readings:   Twain, A Connecticut Yankee. Vonnegut, Cat’s Cradle. 
 Discussion: Is the U.S. now (or will it soon be) ruled by scientific experts and technocrats? Is advanced technology inherently democratic--placing power in the hands of more and more people? Or is it essentially totalitarian--concentrating power in the hands of scientific-corporate elites? 

Week 8 (Oct 28).  Columbus, Western Technology, and Manifest Destiny.

 Assignments:   AL-1 and AL-4 papers due. 
 Readings:   Whitman, "Prayer of Columbus"; "Passage to India." Vonnegut, Cat’s Cradle. 
 Discussion:  What have been the consequences--both positive and negative--of the European conquest and settlement of  the Americas? What should be the role of technically advanced societies vis-a-vis less advanced or primitive cultures? 
 Recommended videos: The Emerald Forest;  The Mission;  1492: The Conquest of Paradise. 

Week 9 (Nov 4).  The Millennium and Beyond: The Role of Science-Fiction in a Technological Society. 

 Assignments:  PW-B essay, AL-3 exam due. 
 Readings:  Twain, A Connecticut Yankee. Vonnegut, Cat’s Cradle. 
 Discussion:  Progress or Apocalypse?--On the evidence of recent sci-fi films, novels, and TV shows, is the future going to be better or worse? 

Week 10 (Nov 11). Summary and Review. 

 Assignments:   Last class meeting. 
 Readings:   Whitman, "So Long." 
 Discussion:  What are some of the important technical and evironmental issues that Americans must face in coming years? Can art, poetry, and imaginative fiction help us meet the challenge?