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School of History · ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences
This course has been replaced by HIST3228 from 2025 onwards. For more information, please visit https://cass.anu.edu.au/recent-changes-cass-programs The era of the Enlightenment played a key role in shaping the world in which we now live. The eighteenth century saw the rise of new ideas about science, politics, religion and social life that challenged existing beliefs and social systems, from Europe to the Americas and parts of Asia and Africa. The legacies of the Enlightenment remain an ongoing topic of celebration and dispute. This course assists students to explore the Enlightenment in its historical context. Going beyond the traditional history of ideas, we will examine the major thinkers of the period within the framework of the national and international cultures that shaped their thought. We will consider the social origins of the Enlightenment; changing relationships between philosophers, the state and the public; competing visions of social and political life amongst Enlightenment thinkers; and the long-term legacy of the Enlightenment as a whole.
Research Essay of 2,500 words
Learning outcomes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Exam of two hours duration, scheduled during final examination period OR synthetic essay to be completed during exam period
Learning outcomes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Oral and/or written contribution to class activities
Learning outcomes 1, 2, 3, 4
130 hours of total student learning time made up from: a) 36 hours of contact over 12 weeks: 24 hours of lectures and 12 hours of tutorial and tutorial-like activities; and b) 94 hours of independent student research, reading and writing.
Weekly tutorial reading will be made available to students in electronic form. Preliminary Reading Students seeking preliminary reading for the course might look at: D. Edelstein, The Enlightenment: A Genealogy (Chicago: Chicago University Press, 2010) M. Fitzpatrick et al. (eds.), The Enlightenment World (Abingdon: Routledge, 2004) I. Kramnick, The Portable Enlightenment Reader (Penguin: New York, 1995) A. Pagden, The Enlightenment and Why it Still Matters (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015)