Free Thinking

Joseph Manca is a Professor of ArtHistory and the Nina J. Cullinan Professor of Art and Art History in the Schoolof Humanities of Rice University. He received his Ph.D. from ColumbiaUniversity, and for decades has taught core humanities courses and art historyclasses. His published books include the award-winning ‘George Washington’s Eye’(2012; Johns Hopkins University Press) and ‘Shaker Vision’ (2019; University ofMassachusetts Press). He currently serves at Rice as Director of UndergraduatesStudies in Art History.‘There is noprecedent for a work like this. It is scholarly and down to earth at thesame time.  This is an impressive and well-researched study that is bothintellectual and useful. It certainly will be useful, above all, forgeneral readers or those unable to participate in a traditional collegecurriculum.’- Christiane L. Joost-Gaugier, Ph.D. Harvard University,Professor Emerita of Art History, University of New Mexico

• CONTENTS Ch. 1:           AFramework for Knowledge: Letters, Art, Film, Music 7 YEAR ONECh. 2:           TheCurriculum Begins: Learning French      14Ch. 3:           TowardMastering the English Language       17Ch. 4:           GlobalArt History: Texts and Some Primary Sources          47Ch. 5:           InternationalFilm and Music     71Ch. 6:           Insightsinto the Human Mind   86Ch. 7:           Loveand Desire     125Ch. 8:           Readingsin French          141 YEAR TWOCh. 9:           LearningGerman   144Ch. 10:         Epistemologyand Metaphysics 146Ch. 11:         Learningfrom Autobiography   161Ch. 12:         Historyand Revolutions  179Ch. 13:         Politicsand the Structure of Society    219Ch. 14:         Readingsin German        246 YEAR THREECh. 15:         LearningLatin       250Ch. 16:         TheEconomy, Trade, and Society       257Ch. 17:         Well-beingand Ethics      270Ch. 18:         IndividualLives and Achievements: Biography and Fiction         292Ch. 19:         Gentility:Speaking and Acting Well and Kindly          304Ch. 20:         ReligiousCulture: Foundational Texts          323Ch. 21:         Readingsin Latin  336 YEAR FOURCh. 22:         LearningItalian     340Ch. 23:         ReligiousCulture: Later Texts   343Ch. 24:         Utopiasand Dystopias     353Ch. 25:         SocialCriticism and Satire        368Ch. 26:         GlobalArt History: More Primary Sources, Aesthetics, andCriticism         379Ch. 27:         Humansand the Natural Environment 406Ch. 28:         TravelAccounts     422Ch. 29:         Readingsin Italian 434Summary list of the readings, with shorttitles         436