This course examines how the idea of "the modern" develops at the end of the 18th century in European philosophy and literature, and how being modern (or progressive, or hip) became one of the crucial criteria for understanding and evaluating cultural change. Are we still in modernity, or have we moved beyond the modern to the postmodern?
really enjoyed the course. When are they going to d a course on late existentialist thinkers? Some of the readings were unavailable.
I loved this course! Learnt so much, adored the reading and writing. Professor Roth made tricky concepts clear and his enthusiasm and passion were contagious.
An amazing course!!!! A very charismatic, knowledgable, and pleasant professor!!! Thank you, Mr Professor!!!
This is a great philosophy course because you get written assignments, which is necessary in any philosophy course in my opinion.
Great Course. Enjoying it, expanding my knowledge and thinking. Taking my time and repeat most of the lectures.
it really offered an insight into philosophical movements and works as well as an overall view on the evolution of Enlightenment ideas and their impact on modern thought
A very good way to start thinking about our times. I learned a lot about authors and reflected much during the course. Was really worth every class!
The course is ultimately wonderful to comprehend a unique insight into the literary traits of the PostModern Era. Thanks a lot .
surprised by the focus on literature, art and architectureteacher does good job of explaining concepts and reviewing-summarizing
Excellent course from an accomplished scholar, presents insights about his subject matter from all different points of view.
It was a wonderful experience to know about modern and post modern developments in European world. This has developed in me curiosity to dwell in to Indian Philosophical concepts and doctrines.
In my opinion, one of the best Mooc on liberal arts. Felt like being part of a real class all along. Best wishes to Prof. Michael and his team at Wesleyan. Greetings from India 🇮🇳
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Phenomenal instructor, great material, and I loved the reading. This was a challenging course, and that's needed more in online courses like this. Changed the way I look at the world.
It is one of the best courses in Liberal Arts that I have ever taken. Not only did it offer me the opportunity to catch up with what I hadn`t studied in my student days, but offered me the opportunity to see the world from different perspectives. Thanks to the clear, well-explained and sometimes humorous lectures by Professor Michael Roth, I was able to grasp every bit of the course. Thank you Professor Roth. I was also fortunate to have met classmates from different strata of the society and nationalities whose contributions, through the various assignments we did, have tremendously helped me go through the course with accolades.
I would like to recommend this course to anyone who really wants to understand what Modernism and Postmodernism is about
I would, however, like to suggest that the certificate awarded by Wesleyan University have the university`s original crest on it like the one issued by university of London for Teaching EFL/ESL Reading etc. Though what matters is the substance of the course, I also believe that making the certificate more appealing to employers` eyes will enhance the certificate holders` chance of employment.
It was a wonderful experience to know about modern and post modern developments in European world. This has developed in me curiosity to dwell in to Indian Philosophical concepts and doctrines.
I advice NOT to take this course.
Why: the professor is never there to read your assignments. He leaves that totally to other students like yourself, to grade your written assignments, and, they do not read and give you a RANDOM grade in 2 seconds.
Don't take it, you will waste sooo much time on this one.
An excellent follow-up to Part 1. The range of thinkers considered invites interesting connections in the development of intellectual history in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The lectures draw out some of these connections explicitly, but others are left for you to wonder about and discover (with delight) for yourself, in particular through the assignments.
The only challenge is accessing the texts for Part 2 - unlike in Part 1, not all the texts are either available online or in print, buying some of the texts is expensive, or requires much searching to find out-or-print copies. However, this is not a reflection on the course material itself, which is beautifully presented, stimulating, and thought-provoking long afterwards.
A five-star rating for a five-star course. I've actually completed parts 1 and 2 and I cannot praise both parts too highly. Professor Roth, President of Wesleyan College was an excellent lecturer and imparted his knowledge with great enthusiasm. I learned a lot and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
One negative point on the Coursera side: I'm still waiting for my first and fifth assignments to be assessed. In the case of the first assignment, that goes back to April.
The course for you If you want to find out how philosophy is relevant to the way we live in this complex and ever changing world. A brilliant on-line course. I got to the end of it with lots of regret; Michael Roth is such an engaging guide. I chose not to complete the written assignments which is why this will show I didn't complete the course. But I did in fact study all the material and it was great.
Sad to see it end. I loved this course. I thought Professor Roth was a great guide. As I've completed Part 2 I am tempted to go listen to the lectures all over again. This hooked me on MOOCs. 6 stars.
A challenging and insightful course from which I learned and experienced many new ideas
The instructer is not fluid, a "mentor" is devoid of critical thinking in communicating through the discussions section, the peers are reviewing haphazardly while "mentors" offer their own essays (from the past?) where they use material outside of the course readings which may sound plagiarizing after that long warning in each introductory section for writing assignements.
Mr Roth is woefully unprepared for this course, his assessments of the several artists and thinkers he explores are deeply and distressingly flawed - and why would he repeat in a classroom, with unbecoming histrionics, the same lesson he's just delivered from his office
Not as advertized and way too much peer rating stuff--we do all the work the instructor does little or none--too much peer raqting stuff which I despise. And there seems to be no way to un-enroll.
I found this course a little stretched and unstructured, with not a clear point of discussion and end goal.
This has been my first time back in the academic world after a long hiatus and my first ever experience of philosophy and I have really loved the journey. I have learned so much (and also now "know what I do not know"), but I have also taken away an enriched knowledge of philosophical principles and thinkers and some new concepts to embed into my life... wide ranging new goals from Kant's "dare to know" to Emerson's "joyful presentness"; Baudelaire's call to "make life beautiful" and Woolf's guide to find beauty and intimacy in the everyday. I have loved Professor Roth's passionate lectures and entertaining delivery; his concepts of the "really real" and the lens of his space-time glasses; loved the wide-ranging reading and being introduced to new writers; and also loved the way that the different strands were combined at the end of the course, through the contemporary thinkers and concepts and the eclectic and positive messages for the future ending with Appiah's "happy globalism". A huge thank you to Professor Roth for being so generous with his time and putting so much of his own personality and enthusiasm into this excellent learning journey.
This course (Part 1 and 2) provides an in-depth review of different ways of thinking about the world as described in literature and media arts. As such, it is valuable as a check on the certainty we all want to feel about our ideas and notions. It allows us to recognize that there are many facets to each life, that each life is an experiment. Sometimes the ideas discussed are way out there and possibly part of the lunatic fringe. The course closes the loop back to reality with discussion of pragmatism, the anchor that checks bad ideas.
I was impressed with the range of class reading and writing assignments that enabled the students to express their ideas in written form.
Finding Coursera has literally transformed my existence as a retiree, no less, and this course has been fascinating with Michael Roth as course leader excellent throughout. What a Pandora's Box of delights now awaits me here in the future - I've just started on my second course!! Many thanks to whomsoever put this organisation together. Just Brilliant.
Excellent learning opportunity. Dr. Roth can certainly capture the attention. I loved his particular way of interpreting the readings and giving new meaning to them. I would love to take further courses on this. As an Architect, I would especially be interested in the ways in which he can throw light on the effects of these worldviews on Architecture.
It was a pleasure completing this course and listening to Mr. Roth. It is beautifully structured and perfectly intertwined with applications in Literature and Arts. To summarize, I'd say it is easy enough for a non-philosopher like me to embark and yet intellectually challenging to keep you excited.
The course does a wonderful job of tracing modernity, postmodernity and pragmatism thought over the years. Loved how Michael weaves together literature and art into the course of explaining how these ideas have shaped our world. I wish I could have taken this course in person. Highly recommended.
The materials presented in this course can be a way to know more about thinkers. Basic familiarity helps us to use some of the theories that are suitable for comparative study. I am grateful to the dear professor who presented the material in a comprehensible manner and with excellent examples.