考虑到课堂教学的实际情形，教材以不同西方文化相关主题为脉络，从文理之分、脑与心、性别的差异、东方与西方、历史的版本、全球民族等议题切入，以辩论、小组讨论与故事新编等活动为依托，结合课后包括影视剧、纪录片、小说与文献在内的文化文本赏析，形成对文化从表层现象到深层原理的把握。
Unit One Three Key Terms for Western Literature & Art 1
I Culture 2
II Western 8
III Contemporary 11
Unit Two Science and the Humanities 19
I Defi ning Human Knowledge 20
II The Rise of Western Humanism 25
III Humanism in Crisis 30
Unit Three Brain and Mind 41
I The Field of Psychology 42
II Sigmund Freud 46
III From Freud Onward 49
Unit Four Ethics and Aesthetics 61
I Ethics Since Antiquity 62
II Aesthetics in Theory and Practice 67
III The Postmodern Ethical and Aesthetical Turns 72
Unit Five Sex and Gender 83
I Interpreting the Difference 84
II The Feminist Movements 90
III Gender Troubles 95
Unit Six East and West 103
I Approaching China 104
II Politicizing the Orient 111
III A Case of Encounter: The Chinese American 115
Unit Seven History and Histories 123
I The Traces of History 124
II Historicism 127
III Small Narratives and New Historicism 130
Unit Eight Nations and the Globe 141
I Formation of Nations 142
II Going Global 146
III Beyond Globalization 151
