645: Topics in Dutch Culture: Laag Land of Hoog Water?
Lec 1, MWF 1:20, Taylor
German 314 or consent of instructor
The Low Countries are famous for their close relationship with thewater: windmills, dikes, and Hans Brinker's silver skates are among the
most persistent popular symbols of this "edge" of Europe– at least
since "Hollandmania." This course will provide a thorough introduction
to the Low Countries, their history and their contemporary culture, by
focusing on their love/hate relationship to the water. The water means
danger, and thus dikes (and-allegedly-the need to cooperate), but also
trade, opportunity, beauty, and a resolute openness to the world. We
will discuss what terps and polders are – but also the more recent idea
of the "polder model," and which aspects of Dutch culture it has come
to honor and criticize. We will look at the meaning of water in Dutch
history and geography; at its effects on economic, military, and
political life; at its treatment in art and literature; its times of
greatest damage (floods, including 1953) and Dutch responses (polders,
windmills, the Delta plan, environmentalism). We will discuss the
Hanseatic cities of the Netherlands, topics in 17th Century art, water
as defense strategy, the V.O.C. (Dutch East-India Company), land
reclamation, the Eleven-Cities skating race, (photos of) contemporary
landscapes, and Dutch views of what all these mean.
Learning Outcomes:
In a more general sense, this course inquires into knowledge of human
cultures in relation to the physical and natural world in which those
cultures develop. Students will have opportunities to work toward
acquiring essential learning outcomes such as critical and creative
thinking, oral and written communication, inquiry and analysis,
intercultural knowledge, and ethical reasoning.
