Scribner Seminar Program
Course Description

Darwin, Dickens, Marx

Instructor(s): John Brueggemann, Sociology

An examination of the lives, ideas, and influence of Charles Darwin, Charles Dickens, and Karl Marx. This course explores Victorian London, the context in which these three figures generated their most important work. Along the way, we will peer through the lenses of biology, literature, and sociology, comparing and contrasting these disciplinary perspectives. We will study the biographies of all three men and the circumstances in which they became the icons known to the world today. We will visit their homes and final resting places in London and consider how their memories were constructed over time. Students will read both primary and secondary texts and write reflective essays on related themes.