| Academic Unit: |
Department of Common Courses - Core Program |
| Mode of Delivery: |
Face to face |
| Prerequisites: |
None |
| Language of Instruction: |
English |
| Level of Course Unit: |
Undergraduate |
| Course Coordinator: |
- - |
| Course Objectives: |
This course introduces students to key figures in the existentialist movement from the late 19th century to the mid-20th century. It provides historical and philosophical context for examining central themes in the course texts. Additionally, the course aims to foster critical evaluation and philosophical engagement with the material. |
| Course Contents: |
The Existentialism is a philosophical, literary, and artistic movement which problematizes and investigates human freedom and its possibility in general. The course focuses on the prominent figures of the movement from late 19th century till mid 20th century from philosophy and literature. The concepts of subjectivity, inwardness, autonomy, authenticity and inauthenticity, individuality, political liberty, rebellion, social identity, and consciousness will be the terms that will be analyzed through close readings of the texts by Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Sartre, Dostoevsky, Camus, Simone de Beauvoir and Kafka. |
| Learning Outcomes of the Course Unit (LO): |
- 1- develop familiarity with the philosophical and historical background of the existentialism movement
- 2- reflect about the meaning of human agency and existence
- 3- develop critical reading skills and learn to engage with texts that require deep reflection
- 4- show ability to write short response papers that demonstrate personal reflection on the relevant topics (on the assigned texts / about the movies that will be assigned)
- 5- develop ability to understand and assess different perspectives about the questions discussed.
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| Planned Learning Activities and Teaching Methods: |
Teaching: Lecture and discussion – 3 hours / week Learning: Synchronous and asynchronous reading and writing tasks completed both individually and in groups. |
| Week | Subjects | Related Preperation |
| 1 |
Introduction to Syllabus and Course Objectives What is existentialism? |
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| 2 |
Kierkegaard: Fear and Trembling; Problema I & II. |
Reading the assigned texts / writing a short response paper before the lecture (students are required to write 2 response papers in total during the term) |
| 3 |
Nietzsche: On the Genealogy of Morals; First Essay |
Reading the assigned texts / writing a short response paper before the lecture (students are required to write 2 response papers in total during the term) |
| 4 |
Heidegger: Being and Time; “The Possible Being-a-Whole of Daisen and Being-Toward-Death”. |
Reading the assigned texts / writing a short response paper before the lecture (students are required to write 2 response papers in total during the term) |
| 5 |
Dostoevsky: Notes from the Underground; Part I: Underground |
Reading the assigned texts / writing a short response paper before the lecture (students are required to write 2 response papers in total during the term) |
| 6 |
Kafka: The Metamorphosis |
Reading the assigned texts / writing a short response paper before the lecture (students are required to write 2 response papers in total during the term) |
| 7 |
J-P. Sartre: Existentialism Is a Humanism. |
Reading the assigned texts / writing a short response paper before the lecture (students are required to write 2 response papers in total during the term) |
| 8 |
Simone de Beauvoir: The Ethics of Ambiguity, “Ambiguity”. |
Reading the assigned texts / writing a short response paper before the lecture (students are required to write 2 response papers in total during the term) |
| 9 |
A. Camus: The Myth of Sisyphus “An Absurd Reasoning, Absurdity and Suicide”. |
Reading the assigned texts / writing a short response paper before the lecture (students are required to write 2 response papers in total during the term) |
| 10 |
Paul Tillich: Excerpts from The Courage to Be (1952) |
Reading the assigned texts / writing a short response paper before the lecture (students are required to write 2 response papers in total during the term) |
| 11 |
Viktor Frankl: Man’s Search For Meaning (1946) “The Case for a Tragic Optimism” (pp. 161- 179) |
Reading the assigned texts / writing a short response paper before the lecture (students are required to write 2 response papers in total during the term) |
| 12 |
Poster Presentation |
Students present their works by deciding their teammates and topics |
| 13 |
Movie Analysis “Awaking Life” – Relating the movie’s content to the texts that were studied |
Reading the assigned texts / writing a short response paper before the lecture (students are required to write 2 response papers in total during the term) |
| 14 |
In class response/ Final Paper |
Reading the assigned texts / writing a short response paper before the lecture (students are required to write 2 response papers in total during the term) |
At Kadir Has University, a Semester is 14 weeks; The weeks 15 and 16 are reserved for final exams.
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES (LO) AND PROGRAM QUALIFICATIONS (PQ)
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PQ5 |
PQ6 |
PQ7 |
PQ8 |
PQ9 |
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| LO3 |
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| LO4 |
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| LO5 |
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Contribution: 1 Low, 2 Average, 3 High
