THE SYLLABUS
In the absence of debt-inducing higher education and degree-seeking, this syllabus is comprised of the works I studied, and through which the basis for my own work was formed.
The goal was to discover the root of inequality in society, address the present state of racial, economic, educational inequalities in society, and how to effectively dismantle the power structures that in exist in every facet and institution of society in order to achieve a more-perfect future. Too is the goal then to understand the selfishness of humankind (selfish acts), the continued subservience to authority in this context, and the endless need for humankind’s dominance over nature (especially in the context of Climate Change) on both an individual and societal level.
I acknowledge that this is in no way a “complete” list – exhaustive, or entirely comprehensive – it is only what I have been able to read, watch, and internalize thus far, and what has left an impact on me and my work. I acknowledge that, for certain subjects especially, I have only just scratched the surface. It is a start.
Please reach out with any additional materials and things not currently included, or with any qualms you might have with any of the selections or their categorization.
Note: The contents of the section under each subheading are alphabetized.
Humanity’s Relationship with Nature
Fiction
Powers, Richard – The Overstory
Nonfiction
Stafford, Fiona – A Long, Long Life of Trees
Films
Deliverance – Borman, John, Director
Aguirre: The Wrath of God – Herzog, Werner, Director
1. The ego as unique to humans (as separate from nature)
2. The human need to “conquer” Nature
Okja – Joon-ho, Bong, Director
Princess Mononoke – Miyazaki, Hayao, Director
1. Human violence as the antithesis to the natural harmony found in nature
2. Violence (against nature and other humans) as the result of greed
Walkabout – Roeg, Nicholas, Director
1. How our relationship with nature informs our worldview (see also:
Companion piece: Stormboy (film, 1976 – Safran, Henri, Director
On Authority
Fiction
Kafka, Franz – The Trial
Companion piece – The Trial (film, 1962 – Welles, Orson, Director)
Mueller, Herta – The Land of Green Plums
Mueller, Herta – The Appointment
Nonfiction
Chomsky, Noam – Manufacturing Consent
Fromm, Erich
Hobbes, Thomas – Leviathan
Newton, Huey P. –
Film
On Revolution
Fiction
Nonfiction
Lenin, V.I. – State and Revolution
Luxembourg, Rosa – Reform or Revolution
Reed, John – 10 Days That Shook the World
Film
Reds – Beatty, Warren, Director
Racism in the United States and Beyond
Fiction
Baldwin, William – If Beale Street Could Talk
Companion piece: If Beale Street Could Talk (film, 2018 – Jenkins, Barry, Director)
Gaines, Earnest, J. – A Gathering of Old Men
Nunez, Elizabeth – Beyond the Limbo Silence
1. Understanding the identity of place
Nonfiction
Baldwin, William – The Fire Next Time
Cleaver, Eldridge – “Post-Prison Writings and Speeches”
1. Race relations in the 1970’s, i.e. race relations post MLK and Malcolm X; the continuing fight for equality in a “new” era
Cruse, Harold – “Rebellion or Revolution”
Kendi, Ibram X – How To Be Antiracist
Kylte, Ethan J. & Roberts, Blain – Denmark Vesey’s Garden
Poetry
Giovanni, Nikki – “Black Feeling, Black Talk, Black Judgment”
Smith, Danez – “Homie”
Walcott, Derek –
Theater
Nottage, Lynn – Intimate Apparel
Companion Piece: Fabulation (Nottage, Lynn)
Wilson, August – Jitney
Wilson, August – Fences
Tempest
Film
Do The Right Thing – Lee, Spike
Music
Scott Heron, Gil
Economics & Economic Inequality
Fiction
A side-by-side comparison of:
Dreiser, Theodore – An American Tragedy
Tolstoy, Leo – Crime and Punishment
1. How economic inequality and class differences drive desperation, and subsequent violence
2. An exploration of the phrase “at any cost” in terms of survival in a capitalist society
Nonfiction (General)
Orwell, George – The Road to Wigan Pier
1. The working class, how it has changed
2. The continued fight against the “old men” in charge
Orwell, George – Down and Out in Paris and London
Marx, Karl – Capital, 1&2
Marx, Karl & Engers, Karl – The Communist Manifesto
German History
The Holocaust – what we have learned (and what we have not) from the rise and fall of the Third Reich:
Note: These are texts, etc. that deal specifically with the historical event, and not the philosophy or works of those who lived in/around that time, which have been sorted into their respective sections throughout the Syllabus.
Fiction
Isherwood, Christopher – The Berlin Stories
Nonfiction
Frank, Anne – The Diary of Anne Frank
Frankl, Viktor – Man’s Search for Meaning
The Death of Democracy
Larson, Eric – In the Garden of Beasts
Wiesel, Elie – Night
Philosophy (Moral)
Fiction
Nonfiction
Smith, Adam – A Theory of Moral Sentiments
Weisel, Elie – Dawn
Film
Apocalypse Now – Coppola, Francis Ford (director)
Theater
Goethe, Johann – Faust
1. Discussion of a/the “soul” as a/the basis for morality
Poetry
Gibran, Khalil – The Prophet
Philosophy (Political)
Fiction
Nonfiction
Paine, Thomas – “Common Sense”
Parenti, Michael – Black Shirts and Reds
Philosophy (Existential)
Fiction
Camus, Albert – The Plague
Nonfiction
Camus, Albert – “The Myth of Sisyphus”
Film
Postmodernism
Fiction
Miller, Henry – Tropic of Cancer
Irvine, John – The 158 Pound Marriage
1. The unreliable narrator role in shaping the sympathies of the reader
Nonfiction
Jameson, Fredric – Postmodernism, or,
Film
8 1/2 – Fellini, Federico (director)
Symbiopsychotaxiplasm, Take 2 – Greaves, William, Director
Companion piece: Symbiopsychotaxiplasm, Take One – Greaves, William, Director
Taxi Driver – Scorsese, Martin, Director
1. The city as a character; “place” as a living thing
Music – Part One (early)
Glass, Phillip
Cage, John
Music – Part Two (recent)
Food and Culture
Fiction
Nonfiction
Bourdain, Anthony – Kitchen Confidential
Companion piece – Parts Unknown, No Reservations (television series)
Fischer, M.F.K. –
Notes of a Young Black Chef
Film
Like Water for Chocolate
A Cook, A Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover – Greenaway, Peter, Director
1. Food at the center of life
2. The relationship between food and sex
3. The notion of “manners” – i.e. social etiquette – and dining in public: the performance vs. the clandestine and happens behind closed doors
- What we choose to show in full display and in secret; how does the film break these barriers through nudity,
- Discussion of role reversal – man and woman, food and sex
Moonstruck – Jewison, Norman (director)
Spirited Away – Miyazaki, Hayao, Director
Native America History & Culture
Fiction
Orange, Tommy – There, There
Nonfiction
Film
Smoke Signals
Reservation Dogs (television series)