How do you Feel? The History of Emotions

Catalog description

This course is an introduction to the history of emotion. How do we feel, and how do we know what we feel? How did concepts like shame, pride, wonder, happiness, or grief change over time? Are emotions primarily the result of neurological processes, or are they learned and performed within culturally determined social constructs? And finally, what are the politics of emotional expression from the point of view of racial, religious, and gender differences? We will explore these questions and more through readings on the theory and history of emotion, various media sources, and pre-modern as well as modern literature. IMPORTANT: This course has been taught both in person during the regular academic year and and during the summer as an online course, and will only be offered as an online summer class for the next several years.