LAPI 929 (PITC*307) Age of the Masses

Division of Liberal Arts

3 credits 45.0 hours
900 level undergraduate course

Age of the Masses: From Versailles to September 1, 1939, focuses on the aftermath of WWI and looks at the period as one where the dissolution of old social orders led to the emergence of the crowds as catalysts in the tensions between liberalism, conservativism and socialism. Students will look at essays, poems, films, and listen to music. The most extensive part of the course, however, will consider the work of three poets, Cesar Vallejo, W.H. Auden, and Bertolt Brecht to analyze the ways in which each of these writers commented on central historic events, while exploring the tensions between art and wider social concerns, ultimately testing the humanistic assumptions inherent to all works of art against historical reality.

Prerequisites LACR*210 or one HUMS course

This course is not repeatable for credit.