Course Syllabus

Semester & Location:	Summer 2024, Session 2 - DIS Copenhagen
Type & Credits:	Elective Course - 3 credits
Major Disciplines:	Philosophy, Literature
Prerequisite(s):	None
Minor Disciplines:	Ethics, Religious Studies
Study Tour:	The French Riviera/Provence
Faculty Member:	Nan Gerdes, please contact via Canvas Inbox
Time & Place:	Time: see below in the course summary and in the course calendar Room: V23-401 (Vestergade 23, room 401)

Description of Course

Learning Objectives

Together, we will be aiming to: (1) enter into dialogue with European philosophical, literary, and artistic traditions that have grappled with existential questions; (2) acquire academic skills in navigating and interpreting philosophical works, novels, and artworks; (3) develop abilities in nuancing and articulating our own views and positions in dialogue with those of others; (4) build a deeper understanding of how mind, body, intellect and creativity connect with different types of natural landscapes; (5) relate our particular lived experience of the search for the good life to universal philosophical concepts that elucidate the human condition.

Faculty

Nan Gerdes, Ph.D. (University of Copenhagen, 2017) in Comparative Literature, works academically in the intersections between philosophy, literature and other kinds of art. Postdocs at University of Copenhagen, Roskilde University and Aarhus University. With DIS since 2018.  

Readings 

All readings are printed, either as a hard copy or as a handout

• Beauvoir, Simone de. The Ethics of Ambiguity. New York: Open Road, 2018 (selections, hard copy).
• Beauvoir, Simone de. The Prime of Life. London: Penguin Books, 1965  (selections; study tour readings)
• Brinkmann, Svend. "Living Well and Living Right". In Hill et al. Critical Happiness Studies. Oxon & New York: Routledge, 2020, pp. 131-143 (handout).
• Camus, Albert. The First Man. London: Penguin Books, 2001 (selections; study tour readings)
• Camus, Albert. The Myth Of Sysyphus. London: Penguin Books, 2000 (selections, hard copy)
• Camus, Albert. The Plague. London: Penguin Books, 2020 (selections; study tour reading) 
• Gosetti-Ferencei, Jennifer Anna. On Being and Becoming: An Existentialist Approach to Life. New York: Oxford University Press, 2021 (selections, handout)
• Kaag, John. Hiking with Nietzsche: On Becoming Who You Are. New York: Farrar, Straus and Grioux, 2018, ISBSN  9787-1-78378-494-3 (selections; handout)
• Kierkegaard, Søren. Either/Or, I and II. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1987 (selections, handout).
• Kierkegaard, Søren. The Concept of Anxiety. London: W.W. Norton, 2015 (selections, hard copy).
• Kierkegaard, Søren. The Lily of the Field and the Bird of the Air. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2016 (selections, handout)
• Nietzsche, Friedrich. The Birth of Tragedy. London: Penguin Books, 1993 (selections, hard copy, study tour reading)
• Nietzsche, Friedrich. Thus Spoke Zarathustra. London: Penguin, 2003 (selections, hard copy, study tour reading)
• Witt, Emily. "A Six-Day Walk Through the Alps, Inspired by Simone de Beauvoir." The New York Times Style Magazine, October, 13 2013 (study tour readings)

Artists 

• Niels Hansen Jakobsen
• Auguste Rodin
• Jean Gautherin
• Marc Chagall

Study Tour to the French Riviera/Provence

On this week-long study tour, our classroom moves to the French Riviera and Provence along the southern coast of France, as we follow this course’s authors, thinkers, and artists in search of the good life. People drawn to the Mediterranean are, like their “Nordic” counterparts, known for cultivating the art of living, though in contrasting ways. Some writers saw northern Europe as the land of the cold "philosopher kings," while Mediterranean civilization embodied for them the pursuit of well-being. While modern humans can seem out of touch with lived life, bound up in representational modes of thinking and instrumental ways of engaging the world, southern France inspires a rare ability to capture a raw and genuine experience of bodily encounter with the world.

Our pilgrimage starts in the beautiful Alpes-Maritimes city of Nice, originally founded by the Greeks, and refuge to artists and thinkers since the nineteenth century. Next, our private bus takes us westward towards idyllic coastal towns and secluded mountain villages and sanctuaries to visit the sites where nineteenth- and twentieth-century philosophers, writers, and artists sought solitude and rejuvenation, where they lived and wrote, and, not least, where they loved and died.

Please remember to pack the following for the tour:

• The Study Tour Reader
• Notebook and pencils
• Shoes that are appropriate for moderate hikes
• Small backpack (for water bottle, snacks, notebook, pencils and readings)
• Sun protection (sunscreen, sunglasses, hat)
• Water bottle
• Swim wear
• Small towel
• Entertainment for bussing

Approach to Learning

We use the Socratic method in this course, which includes a close study of texts and persistent exploration of concrete life, always with a goal of raising everyday experience to a reflective level. We will employ an array of short lectures, student presentations, dialogue between partners, small group activities, full-class discussions, and assignments out and about. Our approach involves working together to mutually question assumptions, clarify positions, and help each other give birth to new thoughts and ideas. The focus is not so much on final answers as on good questions that open up further possibilities for inquiry. We are complementing our work in the classroom with a number of outdoor activities.

 

Expectations of Participants

Active participation in all activities is essential for the success of the course. In each meeting, whether in the classroom or on tour, you are asked to raise questions in relation to the assigned texts or other material, to respond to your peers’ contributions, and to collaborate in group work. Full preparation before meetings includes close textual readings, note-taking, writing of discussion posts (see below), and reflection on possible directions for our dialogue once we are together.

Students with accommodations should reach out to faculty within the first 3 days of their arrival.

If you miss 2 classes (excused or unexcused) Academic Support at DIS will be notified. 

You should do all preparations for all classes, also classes you miss. If you miss a class, reach out to another student from class to hear if you can see their notes. Also go over the slides from class (and other material if relevant) in the 'Slides from Class' folder in 'Files.'

On our study tour you will participate in a group with other students. Each group is responsible for leading one of our reading sessions. As responsible for a reading session, you and your group will coordinate the session, read the reading thoroughly, select passages to be read out loud, and prepare questions to discuss with the other students about the text.

 

Classroom Etiquette

Dialogue involves candid questioning. Thus, the feedback we give one another may be penetrating and challenging, but it will truly thrive only where it also achieves respect and charity. A helpful measuring bar is to consider our procedure as tending toward questioning rather than asserting.

Note that attendance in all classes, field studies and the study tour is mandatory. Academic Support at DIS will be notified if you have more than one unexcused absence.

To aid learning and dialogue, computers and phones are not allowed in the classroom or during course related activities unless you have accommodations. Failure to comply will affect your participation grades. You may of course use the camera on your phone to take pictures when appropriate, for instance on our study tour, or use devises if this is a required part of a learning activity. You will be provided with a notebook for handwritten notes.

 

Evaluation

No previous experience in the discipline of philosophy is required, and you will be receiving guidance in the learning process. Nevertheless, the class aims to challenge you (whatever your starting point) to apply yourself in developing your fluency in the genre, both intellectually and creatively. The purpose of the course assignments is to deepen and nuance your understanding of particular topics that deeply interest you, while acquiring tools for philosophical thinking useful across life.

Discussion Posts

In preparation for each class, you are asked to contribute to a discussion thread on Canvas. After having engaged with the assigned material, but before we meet in class, you will post your reflections on the reading in paragraph form (ranging from 1–3 substantial paragraphs each time). This is a great opportunity to read the contributions of your peers as well. The discussion posts serve as preparatory work for your final paper.

Final Paper

The final paper (5-7 pages + a reference page) will draw from and comprise content from your own discussion posts. The paper is an opportunity for you to bring together your reflections on the various themes we have touched upon throughout the course – into one paper. While the content of your final paper can overlap with your previous submissions (what you wrote in your discussion posts), you must write a unique introduction and conclusion, edit the paper for clarity, and update your reflections wherever relevant. Include a unifying idea, addressed in the introduction and conclusion, and emphasized throughout wherever relevant.  

 

Grading Breakdown

Assignment	Percent
Attendance & Participation:	25%
Study Tour participation	25%
Discussion Posts:	30%
Final Paper:	20%

Academic Regulations  

Please make sure to read the Academic Regulations on the DIS website. There you will find regulations on: 

• Course Enrollment and Grading  
• Academic Expectations and Honor Code 

 

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