The “American Renaissance,” a period of tremendous literary activity that took place in America between the 1830s and 1860s represents the cultivation of a distinctively American literature. The student will begin this course by looking at what it was in American culture and society that led to the dramatic outburst of literary creativity in this era. The student will then explore some of the period’s most famous works, attempting to define the emerging American identity represented in this literature. Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to: discriminate among the key economic, technological, social, and cultural transformations underpinning the American Renaissance; define the transformations in American Protestantism exemplified by the second Great Awakening and transcendentalism; list the key tenets of transcendentalism and relate them to romanticism more broadly and to social and cultural developments in the antebellum United States; analyze Emerson’s place in defining transcendentalism and his key differences from other transcendentalists; analyze competing conceptualizations of poetry and its construction and purpose, with particular attention to Poe, Emerson, and Whitman; define the formal innovations of Dickinson and their relationship to her central themes; describe the emergence of the short story as a form, with reference to specific stories by Hawthorne and Poe; distinguish among forms of the novel, with reference to specific works by Hawthorne, Thompson, and Fern; analyze the ways that writers such as Melville, Brownson, Davis, and Thoreau saw industrialization and capitalism as a threat to U. S. society; develop the relationship between Thoreau’s interest in nature and his political commitments and compare and contrast his thinking with Emerson and other transcendentalists; analyze the different ways that sentimentalism constrained and empowered women writers to critique gender conventions, with reference to specific works by writers such as Fern, Alcott, and Stowe; define the ways that the slavery question influenced major texts and major controversies over literature during this period. This free course may be completed online at any time. (English Literature 405)

In this unit we examine the Royal Pavillion at Brighton, and its relationship to nineteenth century romanticism and exoticism. We begin with a biographical discussion of the Prince of Wales, afterwards Prince Regent and eventually King George IV, to whose specifications the Pavillion was built. With the help of video and still images we take a tour of the Pavillion, examining the exterior then a series of interior rooms as a visitor in the 1820s may have experienced them. Besides this we look at contemporary aesthetic, cultural and political reactions to the building, its contents and its social millieu.

The period between the Renaissance and the Modern Era are referred to as the long 18th and 19th centuries, meaning that they span from around 1680-1830 and 1775-1910 - a time in which so many literary movements and cultural changes took place. In this course, the student will examine these formative cultural and literary developments such as the Enlightenment and Restoration Literature; the Rise of the Novel; Romanticism; and the Victorian Period. The student will identify and contextualize the principal characteristics of each of these movements/developments by reading representative texts. Upon completion of this course, students will be able to: identify the major literary trends of the 18th and 19th century, from Restoration comedy and satires through Victorian poetry and prose; outline the major developments in philosophical thought during the Enlightenment and identify these strains of thought in works like Voltarie's Candide; identify the factors that led to the rise of the novel as a literary form; identify the specific traits that characterize early sentimental, Gothic, and picaresque novel; describe the political factors that led to the popularity of Romanticism; describe the shift in thought that led to the split between Romanticism and Enlightenment; identify the themes, conventions, and tropes of Romantic poetry; define and explain the significance of the term/concept of Ňthe Romantic imagination; define the political, social, and economic factors that led to the surge in popular Victorian fiction; explain the significance of poetic experimentation in the 19th century works of writers like Tennyson, Hopkins, and Browning. (English Literature 203)

Spark visits photographer Roman Loranc as he captures arresting images of the Central Valley landscape. This Educator Guide is about photography, landscape photography and Romanticism as a creative approach in art making.

This course provides an introductory survey of the Western classical tradition, exploring music as a phenomenon of both sound and culture. The focus of this course is the development of aural skills that lead to an understanding and appreciation of music; making use of live performances and streaming audio available on the Internet, the student will listen to and explore some of the most important and influential repertoires and genres of music that emerged in the last four centuries. Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to: Identify aesthetic qualities and compositional processes by studying and listening to significant works of music in both live performances and recorded media; Explain the historical and/or cultural contexts of musical works studied in this course; Demonstrate an aural ability by identifying specific forms, genres, musical techniques, and historical styles of Western classical music; Describe subjective reactions to musical examples and analyze specific expressive qualities that evoke responses; Write about music analytically and effectively, using vocabulary, language and a style appropriate to the discipline and expressing ideas clearly. (Music 101)

In this course, we will study important movements and some influential artists in Western art history. It begins with the Proto-Renaissance in Italy in the 13th century and continues through to the late 20th century, providing a framework for considering how and why certain artistic movements emerged in certain places at certain times. Upon successful completion of this course, student will be able to: identify the major styles of works of art in the West from the Italian proto-Renaissance through contemporary art; explain how political, social, and religious ideas inform art styles and images; explain prevalent artistic and architectural techniques developed through the period covered; eiscuss formal aspects of works of art in terminology basic to the field; recognize important artworks and describe them in terms of their form, content, and general history of their creation. (Art HIstory 111)

Centers on historical eras in which the form and function of media technologies were radically transformed. Includes consideration of the "Gutenberg Revolution," the rise of modern mass media, and the "digital revolution," among other case studies of media transformation and cultural change. Readings in cultural and social history and historiographic method.

A literary critique of Samuel Taylor Coleridge's "Rime of the Ancient Mariner." Guilt, metaphysics, nature, and supernatural events are the dominant tones that communicate the Romanticist paradigm in the "Mariner." In Parts One through Seven, one of the tones mentioned above can be sensed by the reader, enhancing the Romantic qualities of the poem.

A survey of developments in Western musical style from 1810-1910. Thirty composers discussed including the Romantics Schubert, Berlioz, Chopin, Schumann, and Liszt; and the post-Romantics Wagner, Verdi, Brahms, Strauss, Farwell, and Mahler. Required reading, score-reading, and listening assignments.