IDC 4050H: Utopias and Dystopias

“Throughout the ages the Utopias reflect the anxieties and discontents amidst which they are produced. They are, so to speak, shadows of light thrown by darkness.”

--H.G. Wells, Australian Radio Address January 19th, 1939

Map of Utopia by Ambrosius Holbein for the 1518 edition of Thomas More’s Utopia from Wikimedia Commons

Course Policies and Information

Professors

Dr. David Hoffman, Associate Professor, School of Public AffairsPhone: (646) 660-6783 Office: 917b 135 East 22nd St.E-mail: David.Hoffman@baruch.cuny.edu Office Hours:

Dr. Douglas Muzzio, Professor, School of Public AffairsPhone: (646) 660-6781                            Office: 135 E. 22, 815E-mail: dmuzz@aol.com                   Office Hours: Wed 2-4; Thurs 10-noon

Class DescriptionAs H.G. Wells said in a 1939 radio address, “Throughout the ages…Utopias reflect the anxieties and discontents amidst which they are produced.”  To study the history of utopian and dystopian thought is to study the hopes and fears that have driven revolution, reform, and social and political innovation for millennia.  Through the study of utopian literature and practice, this course will explore issues in governance, economics, human rights, and sustainability, as well as examine fundamental questions about human nature and happiness.  We will explore these issues in utopian and dystopian literary works, such as Plato’s Republic, Gilman’s Herland, Zamyatin’s We, Callenbach’s Ecotopia, and LeGuin’s The Dispossessed.  We will also study utopian and dystopian themes in film and music, as well as actual attempts to create utopian societies, especially on the small scale.  Students will be encouraged to see works of literature and experiments in the utopian tradition as taking part in an ongoing conversation about how to organize a fulfilling and sustainable life.  Learning Goals: By the end of this class students will have gained a knowledge of how utopian/dystopian literature has both reflected and spurred on attempts to improve real communities. They will also have developed their capacities to write critically about literature and to envision better possible futures.

Required Texts: All books are available at the campus bookstore unless otherwise noted.

All students will be required to obtain each of the following works (in the order used):Additional Readings Handout—to be distributed in class.Gregory Claeys and Lyman Tower Sargent, eds., The Utopia Reader. NYU Press, 1999. Charlotte Perkins Gilman: Yellow Wallpaper & Herland., Create Space, 2010/1915.James Hilton, Lost Horizon. Harper Collins, 1933.Eugene Zamiatin, Natasha Randall, trans., We. Random House, 2006/1924.Aldous Huxley, Brave New World. Harper Collins, 1932.William Golding, Lord of the Flies. Perigee Books, 1959.Ernest Callenbach, Ecotopia. Bantam, 1975.Ursula K. LeGuin, The Dispossessed. Harper Collins, 1974.

Elective Novels (Choose One):

Each student will be required to read one of the following. Do not purchase before the first class:

Thomas More: Utopia (1516)—part of Three Early Modern Utopias, Susan Bruce, ed. Oxford University Press, 1999.

Ignatius Donnelly: Caesar’s Column (1890)H.G. Wells: The Time Machine (1895)Jack London: The Iron Heel (1908)Isaac Asimov: Foundation (1951)Frederik Pohl and Cyril M. Kornbluth: The Space Merchants (1953)Robert Heinlein: Stranger in a Strange Land (1961)Aldous Huxley: The Island (1962)Stanislaw Lem: The Futurological Congress (1971)W.H. Hudson: A Crystal Age (1897)Ursula K. LeGuin: The Word for World is Forest (1972)Lois Lowry: The Giver (1993)Cormac McCarthy: The Road (2007)William Gibson: Neuromancer (1984)Max Barry: Jennifer Government (2003)

Assignments and Grade Weightings:

Participation & Minor Assignments 10%Report & Presentation on Elective Novel 15%Report & Presentation on a Real Utopian Community 10%Utopia Construction Group Presentation/Description 10%Utopian/Dystopian Narrative and Commentary 10%Paper on a Utopian/Dystopian Theme 20%Final Paper 25%

Participation Grade: Class discussion is at the heart of the seminar experience. So naturally it is expected that every student make meaningful contributions to the discussion during every class meeting. To obtain a good participation grade you must bring the text under discussion to every class. Make sure that you have read the material assigned and have completed any assignments that are due. Be prepared to contribute to the discussion. Say what you have to say in a way that is respectful of others. At the end of the term, Professor Hoffman and Professor Muzzio will jointly determine a class participation grade for each student. This grade will be based on the quality and consistency of class contributions, the quality of minor assignments, and scores on any reading quizzes that may be given.

Attendance: Because writing instruction proceeds by sequential writing activities, your consistent attendance is essential. There is a strict attendance policy. Every unexcused absence may result in the lowering of your final grade. If you are absent without excuse more than three times, you are going to be dropped from the course and/or given a failing grade. Grounds for excused absence are documented cases of illness or family emergency, observance of religious

holidays, and attendance at scheduled college sports competitions. The sports exception applies only to matches and games; practice and preparation are not covered. Submit excuses before you miss class.

Assignments: All assignments must be typed to be accepted as complete unless otherwise noted. You are responsible for keeping an electronic copy of all your work at all times.

Late Work: Both presentations and written assignments are part of a carefully developed course sequence. A brief glance at the schedule will demonstrate that written assignments build on each other, and that presentations are synchronized with course content. Consequently, any lateness poses a serious threat to the progress of the class. If an emergency occurs and you cannot meet a due date, please contact us as soon as possible so that we can set a new due date and re-work your schedule in the course. When there are no extenuating circumstances, grading penalties will be imposed on late work.

Completion of Work: You must complete all assignments to pass the course.

Writing: Spelling, grammar, organization and word choice are all factors in the grading of written assignments, in addition to content.

Presentations: All presentations should be delivered in the extemporaneous mode. You may make use of notes and an outline, but you MUST NOT READ the presentation word for word. Delivery is a factor in the grading of presentations.

Academic Honesty: Do not plagiarize or cheat. Cheating and plagiarism are serious offenses. The following definitions are quoted from the College's Academic Honesty website:

Cheating is the attempted or unauthorized use of materials, information, notes, study aids, devices or communication during an academic exercise. Examples include but are not limited to:

Copying from another student during an examination or allowing another to copy your work

Unauthorized collaborating on a take-home assignment or examination Using unauthorized notes during a closed book examination Using unauthorized electronic devices during an examination Taking an examination for another student Asking or allowing another student to take an examination for you Changing a corrected exam and returning it for more credit Submitting substantial portions of the same paper to two classes without

consulting the second instructor Preparing answers or writing notes in a blue book (exam booklet) before

an examination Allowing others to research and write assigned papers including the use of

commercial term paper services

Plagiarism is the act of presenting another person's ideas, research or writing as your own:

Copying another person's actual words without the use of quotation marks and footnotes (a functional limit is four or more words taken from the work of another)

Presenting another person's ideas or theories in your own words without acknowledging them.

Using information that is not considered common knowledge without acknowledging the source.

Failure to acknowledge collaborators on homework and laboratory assignment

Plagiarism or cheating will result in a failing grade on the affected assignment or test.  On your second offense, you will fail the course. We are required by College policy to submit a report of suspected academic dishonesty to the Office of the Dean of Students. This report becomes part of your permanent file.

See www.baruch.cuny.edu/academic/academic_honesty.html for Baruch College’s official policy on academic honesty.

Preparation Time: You should budget about three hours of preparation for every hour of class.

Additional Resources: If you have any disability that requires some modification of the class, please let us know and that modification will be made.

Utopias and DystopiasClass Schedule

Introduction; Ancient UtopiasThursday, August 28th

I. IntroductionA. Utopia and the Paradox of PerfectionB. Definitions of Utopia, and Devices of Utopian FictionC. Why Study Utopias and Dystopias?D. The Arc of the Class

II. Ancient UtopiasA. Paradise Lost: Looking Back for PerfectionB. Strange New Worlds: Comparative Dystopias from the Odyssey to Star Trek

Whole Class Will Read:“Introduction” (pp 1-5) in The Utopia Reader (henceforth UR)Additional Readings Handout (henceforth ARH), “Utopia and the Paradox of Perfection”

(pp 1-4)Handout on Utopian and Dystopian Themes in Popular Music with YouTube links“The Golden Age” and “Earthly Paradises” (UR, pp 6-13)ARH, “Ancient Futures, Comparative Dystopias of the Ancient World” (pp 5-10)

Video: Star Trek Opening Credits

Classical Utopias; Utopias of FaithThursday, September 4th

I. Plato and the Ideal StateII. Utopias of Faith

Whole Class Will Read:Excerpts from Plato’s Republic and Aristophanes’ Ecclesiazusae (UR, pp 27-59)ARH, Excerpt from Plato’s Republic (pp 11-13)“The Prophets” and “The Millennium” (UR, pp 59-60 & 66-8)ARH, “Utopias of Faith” (pp 15-23)“Monasticism” and “The Cockaigne” (UR, pp 68-76)

Utopian/Dystopian Music Assignment Due, be prepared for discussion

Utopias of the (European) Age of DiscoveryThursday, September 11th

I. The New World and the Myth of the Noble Savage II. Utopia: Thomas More’s MasterworkIII. Francis Bacon and the Promise of the New Science

Whole Class Will Read:Michel de Montaigne: Of the Cannibals (1580) (UR, pp 99-103)Jonathan Swift: Gulliver’s Travels (1726) (Excerpt) (UR, pp 141-52)Excerpt of More’s Utopia (UR, pp 77-93)Francis Bacon: The New Atlantis (1627) To be Posted.

Presentation on Elective Novel:Thomas More: Utopia (1516)

Film Review Presentation(s)

Lost Worlds: Rediscovering Utopia in the Age of ColonialismThursday, September 18th

I. Erewhon: Samuel Butler’s Satirical UtopiaII. Herland: Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s Parthenogenic Utopia

Whole Class Will Read:Excerpt of Erewhon (UR, pp 229-40)Charlotte Perkins Gilman: Herland (1915)

Utopia Construction Group Work Session

Thursday, October 2nd Lost Horizon: The Last Rediscovery

Whole Class Will Read:James Hilton: Lost Horizon (1933)

Utopia Construction Group Work SessionFilm Review Presentation(s)

American Utopian Experiments before WWIIThursday, October 9th

I. “…to live deep and suck out the marrow of life…”: Thoreau’s One Man UtopiaII. American Religious Utopian Communities in the Nineteenth CenturyIII. American Social Utopian CommunitiesIV. Building the Worker’s Paradise: Utopian Aspects of Welfare Capitalism

Whole Class Will Read: “Where I Lived and What I Lived For” from H. D. Thoreau’s Walden (ARH, pp 31-40)“Communal Societies as Utopias” (UR, pp 182-227)

Presentations: On Shaker Societies; The Amana Colonies; Oneida; New Harmony; Fourtierism; The Disston Saw Works in the Tacony section of Philadelphia;

Johnson City, New York, etc.

Utopia Construction Group Work Session

Socialist Utopianism in LiteratureThursday, October 16th

I. Marx and EngelsII. Bellamy vs. Morris: Industrial or Agrarian Socialism?III. Caesar’s Column: Donnelly’s Sugar-Coated DespairIV. The Time Machine: Well’s Sly Commentary on Class WarfareV. The Iron Heel: Socialist Dystopia

Whole Class Reads:Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, excerpt from The Communist Manifesto (UR, pp 227-8)Excerpts from Edward Bellamy’s Looking Backward (UR, pp 240-73)Excerpts from William Morris’ News from Nowhere (UR, pp 273-91)Halper and Muzzio, “The Republic in the Metropolis” (2011) (To be Posted)

Video: Clip from Metropolis (1927)

Presentations on Elective Novels:Ignatius Donnelly: Caesar’s Column (1890)H.G. Wells: The Time Machine (1895)Jack London: The Iron Heel (1908)

Film Review Presentation(s)

Utopia Construction Group Work Session

Totalitarian States and Their Dystopian CritiquesThursday, October 23rd

I. Socialism Gone Wrong: Hitler, Stalin and MaoII. We: Zamiatin’s Phenomenology of Discontent

Whole Class Reads: Eugene Zamiatin: We (1924)

Video: Clip from 1984; clip from Brazil

Utopia Construction Descriptions DueFilm Review Presentation(s)

Thursday, October 30th Huxley’s Brave New World: The Cost of Stability

Whole Class Reads:Aldous Huxley: Brave New World (1932)

Presentation on Elective Novel:Lois Lowry: The Giver (2003)

Utopia Construction PresentationsFilm Review Presentation(s)

Post-War Visions of UtopiaThursday, November 6th

I. When Retro-Future Wasn’t Retro: How the Future Looked at Mid-CenturyII. The New Scientific Utopias: Skinner’s Walden Two and Asimov’s Foundation III. The City as Utopia and DystopiaIV. Utopian Experiment in 20th & 21st Centuries

Whole Class Reads: Excerpts from Walden Two and “Walden Two Revisited” (UR, pp 372-98)Excerpts from The Death and Life of Great Cities (1961, to be posted)Halper & Muzzio, “Hobbes in the City: Urban Dystopias in American Cities” (2007) (To be Posted)

Videos: Opening Credits of The Jetsons (1962); Excerpt from “To New Horizon” (GM World Fair Exhibit, 1939)

Presentations: Communal Experiments of the 1960’s; The Port Huron Statement (1962); the Monsanto House of the Future at Disneyland; the Israeli kibbutz; Biosphere II; Los Horconos, MN; Twin Oaks, VA; The Ahwahnee Principles and the New Urbanism

Presentations on Elective Novels: Isaac Asimov: Foundation (1951)Frederik Pohl and Cyril M. Kornbluth: The Space Merchants (1953)Robert Heinlein: Stranger in a Strange Land (1961)Aldous Huxley: The Island (1962)Stanislaw Lem: The Futurological Congress (1971)

Film Review Presentation(s)

Green UtopiasThursday, November 13th

Whole Class Will Read: Ernest Callenbach: Ecotopia (1975)

Videos: The “Crying Indian” Ad, Jacques Cousteau, Greenpeace footage Presentations on Elective Novels: W.H. Hudson: A Crystal Age (1897)

Ursula K. LeGuin: The Word for World is Forest (1972)

Film Review Presentation(s)Paper on Utopian/Dystopian Theme Due

Post-Apocalyptic DystopianismThursday, November 20th

Whole Class Will Read:William Golding: Lord of the Flies (1959)

Videos & Website: La Jetée (1962); Daisy Ad (1964); Clip from The Day After (1983); The Georgia Guidestones

Presentation on Elective Novel:Cormac McCarthy: The Road (2007)

Film Review Presentation(s)Utopian/Dystopian Narrative Due

The Dispossessed: Critical Masterwork of the Utopian Tradition

Thursday, December 4th

Whole Class Will Read: Ursula K. LeGuin: The Dispossessed (1974)

Destination Unknown: Cyberpunk Dystopias

Thursday, December 11th I. What is Cyberpunk? (Weak-State Dystopias, Hacker as Hero, Wet Technology) II. Weak-State Dystopias: Snow CrashIII. The Hacker as Hero: Neuromancer & The MatrixIV. Wet Technology: “The Girl Who Was Plugged In” & “One Night in Television City”V. Freedom within the Grid: Hakim Bey’s Temporary Autonomous Zones

Videos: “Anarchy in the UK,” Video, Sex Pistols (1978—song recorded 1976)Clip from Blade Runner; clip from The Matrix

Whole Class Will Read:James Tiptree, Jr. “The Girl Who Was Plugged In” (To be posted)Neal Stephenson, Snowcrash, excerpt (pp 1-18) (To be posted) Paul Di Filippo, “One Night in Television City” (To be posted) Hakim Bey, “Pirate Utopias” and “Waiting for the Revolution”

(To be Posted)

Presentations on Elective Novels:William Gibson: Neuromancer (1984)Max Barry: Jennifer Government (2003)

Film Review Presentation(s)Final Paper Due