Full Description
Whether you skipped college or need a refresher or supplement
to what you learned, humanities professor Joseph Manca shows how a
college-level liberal arts education can be essentially free and accessible in
'Free Thinking: How to Educate Yourself in the Liberal Arts'.
Professor Manca provides listings and commentaries to help you study and enjoy
high-quality texts, works of art, films, and classical music.
The
book lays out a curriculum that, like college, one can follow over four years,
or at your own pace. The chapters are arranged—not along the lines of
traditional academic departments—but more like life itself, with categories
such as love and desire, utopia and dystopia, and our relationship to the
natural world. This is not a traditional Canon, but is instead a lively listing
of stimulating fiction, nonfiction, and important artworks and music.
Contents
CONTENTS
Ch. 1: A
Framework for Knowledge: Letters, Art, Film, Music 7
YEAR ONE
Ch. 2: The
Curriculum Begins: Learning French 14
Ch. 3: Toward
Mastering the English Language 17
Ch. 4: Global
Art History: Texts and Some Primary Sources 47
Ch. 5: International
Film and Music 71
Ch. 6: Insights
into the Human Mind 86
Ch. 7: Love
and Desire 125
Ch. 8: Readings
in French 141
YEAR TWO
Ch. 9: Learning
German 144
Ch. 10: Epistemology
and Metaphysics 146
Ch. 11: Learning
from Autobiography 161
Ch. 12: History
and Revolutions 179
Ch. 13: Politics
and the Structure of Society 219
Ch. 14: Readings
in German 246
YEAR THREE
Ch. 15: Learning
Latin 250
Ch. 16: The
Economy, Trade, and Society 257
Ch. 17: Well-being
and Ethics 270
Ch. 18: Individual
Lives and Achievements: Biography and Fiction 292
Ch. 19: Gentility:
Speaking and Acting Well and Kindly 304
Ch. 20: Religious
Culture: Foundational Texts 323
Ch. 21: Readings
in Latin 336
YEAR FOUR
Ch. 22: Learning
Italian 340
Ch. 23: Religious
Culture: Later Texts 343
Ch. 24: Utopias
and Dystopias 353
Ch. 25: Social
Criticism and Satire 368
Ch. 26: Global
Art History: More Primary Sources, Aesthetics,
and
Criticism 379
Ch. 27: Humans
and the Natural Environment 406
Ch. 28: Travel
Accounts 422
Ch. 29: Readings
in Italian 434
Summary list of the readings, with short
titles 436
