1:00-2:15P     TR     WH101

A portion of the above section reserved for majors
Above section carries culture studies credit
Above section meets with WEUR W405 and W605

Between the end of the First World War and Hitler's seizure of power
there occurred in Paris and Berlin a cultural explosion that altered
our notions of art and reality and that have shaped our way of viewing
the world ever since. Using in-class films and images extensively
augmented by original sources on the Internet, we will explore this
era, focusing on the artists and intellectuals who produced this rich
cultural heritage.  In the first part of the course we will consider
the pre-1914 experiments of French artists such as Henri Rousseau and
Eric Satie, the assault of Dadaist and Surrealists on Western concepts
of reality, and the theater of Antonin Artaud.  Next we will move to
Berlin to study the impact of the First World War on German culture,
the development of Expressionism in painting and film, the new
architecture of the Bauhaus, the radical politicization of German
culture, and the final victory of Nazi art.  In the third section of
the course we return to Paris to see the role that the American
expatriates of the 1920s played in all of this creativity, focusing on
John Dos Passos, Gertrude Stein, Ernest Hemingway, and Henry Miller.

At the end of each section of the course there will be a take-home
exam, as well as several smaller assignments.  In addition to their
individual work, students will work in teams to explore images and
texts from the period.  Students without a strong grounding in modern
culture are encouraged to take the course, since they should emerge
with a good understanding of some of the most important aspects of
twentieth century culture.  Those who already have some knowledge of
the topic should be able to expand and deepen their grasp of the
period, and all students will have been able to experience at first
hand the vibrant writing, films, and images of the period.

For more information on the course, please check the website at:
http://www.indiana.edu/~pb20s.