|
INTD 100:10
Whittier College, Fall 2002
MWF 9–9:50
Practicing the Liberal Arts
Dr. Paul Kjellberg
Wardman Residence Hall 105
phone: ext. 4404
pkjellberg@whittier.edu
Office hours: MWF 2:30–4
Required texts:
Plato, Symposium
Other readings
available on web-page and/or distributed in class. There will be a
one-time $20 charge for copying costs, with the left over money
reimbursed at the end of the course.
Course Outline:
What things can you learn from
someone else and what do you have to figure out for yourself? What do
you really need to know? What do grades mean? How do you know how well
you are really doing? These are questions you will find yourself
asking this year. Everyone at college wonders about these things, even
the faculty. Asking questions like these is part of a liberal
education because it is only by asking questions yourself that you can
start finding your own answers.
This seminar will look at some people
like you who sought an education by asking questions and, in the
course of searching for answers, ended up educating much of the world.
We will examine great teachers and their writings. Some of them, I
will introduce you to, like Socrates, Confucius, and John Woolman.
Others, you will find and introduce to me and the rest of the class.
We will examine what they taught, how they taught it, and what lessons
we can learn from them for our own lives.
Most of the readings for this class
are selections from longer works. To save you the cost of buying the
whole book, readings are available on line and in photocopies. Get a
three ring notebook to keep them in. Students in the past have asked
that I distribute the assignments as you need them instead of all at
once at the beginning of the semester. So that is what I will do,
unless you ask me to do otherwise.
This is a writing class. One lesson
we learn from Frederick Douglass is that anyone can learn to write
well, no matter what their background, so long as they realize how
important writing is. (It is what separates the masters from the
slaves, the key to freedom.) But we are going to come at writing
backwards, by working on editing. You will write first and final
drafts of three different papers. You will get a grade on the first
draft, and each of you will also be assigned to edit someone else’s
paper and will get a grade on how much it improves. This will give you
practice both in writing and in working with other people.
For each of the four readings there
are three sets of questions, which you can download from the course
web site. The first set are Reading Questions about what the authors
actually say. The second set are Understanding Questions about the
reasoning behind what the authors say. The third set are Thinking
Questions: they are about what you think.
A lot of this work will involve the
computer. You will need the computer both for college and for life
after college. There are plenty available all over campus. So if you
don’t have your own, I encourage you to find one you can use as soon
as possible.
There will be in-class oral
presentations and out of class research assignments. All assignments
will be letter-graded though they will not all count the same: the
papers and editing are worth more than the questions and
presentations. You can earn extra credit by keeping a commonplace book
of great quotations from the assigned reading, from outside reading,
or from anywhere you like.
On Wednesday, October 30, at 6 p.m.,
we will have dinner at Hartley House. Please write it down on your
calendars!
Since we will be doing a lot of group
work, everyone needs for you to be here on time every day. Assignments
in the syllabus are due on the date they are listed. All assignments
should be perfect—according to the instructions, on time, with no
errors. Hard copies of written assignments should be typed and
stapled, with your name, the course number, and the date in the upper
right-hand corner and an appropriate title or heading so that I’ll
know what it is. (I know. Missing staples and spelling mistakes are
not a big deal. But neither is leaving your fly open or having ketchup
on your lip. It is just because these things are so trivial that there
is no reason not to get them right every single time.) Shaquille
O’Neal quotes Aristotle that true excellence is not an occasional act
but a habit developed over a long period of time. Make professionalism
in your work a habit every day and you won’t have to worry about
remembering it when the time comes (just like your fly).
Work you can honestly be proud of is
in the B range. Ordinary work for you is a C. I give A’s when you
raise the bar by doing better than you thought you could. This sounds
like I am a hard grader, but I am not. All of us can do much better
than we know and it would be unkind of me to accept anything less than
your full potential. Analects 14.7.
Schedule:
Orientation week: Read the
excerpts from Frederick Douglas, Narrative of a Slave's Life,
and Grace Llewellyn's Teenage Liberation Handbook: How to
Quit School and Get a Real Life and Education. A good education
can set people free, but a bad one can make them stupid. So the
question is, how do we get the first and avoid the second?
Fri., Sept. 6: For class: Read this
syllabus.
In class: Who is a good teacher
you had? What did they teach you? How did they teach it? Why
was it important? Discuss as a class for a while and then break into
numbered groups. Write a paragraph. Summarize your thoughts in one
sentence to present to the class. Jenni Steen will discus the syllabus
and explain the commonplace books.
First week
Mon., Sept. 9: For class: Read The Apology and be prepared to
discuss the Reading Questions. Consult the handouts for historical
background. Start thinking about your assignment for Wednesday.
Bring $20 for copying costs.
In class: Diagonal groups will
discuss the Reading Questions.
Wed., Sept. 11: For class: Write a paper describing a great
teacher that you have had. Be sure to explain what they taught
it (Facts? Skills? Something else?), how they taught it (Did
they lecture or teach by example? Did they explain it to you or make
you figure it out for yourself? Were there tests? Papers? Grades? How
did you know that you were learning?), and why it mattered (Can
a good teacher teach anything? Or does it have to be something
important? What’s important?). 1000 word minimum. If you have trouble
writing a paper that long, see "General Advice on Writing Papers" and
"When you can't think of what to say" on the course web site.
In class: People say September 11 changed everything. How? How did it
change what want or and expect out of school?
Fri., Sept. 13: For class: Prepare to hand in Reading
Questions. (See above for format guidelines.)
In class: Hand in Reading
Questions. Today we will met with Ann Topjon in the library who will
talk about doing library research. See the assignment for Monday,
9/16.
Second week
Mon., Sept. 16: For class: Prepare to discuss the Thinking
Questions. Do some research in the library until you find out
something helpful about Socrates, Plato, Athens, Greece, or anything
that sheds light on The Apology. Give it an informative title,
write it up with proper bibliographic citations, and e-mail it to me
to post in the "Background information for The Apology" folder
on the web page. (Or bring it to me on a disk if your e-mail is not
working yet.)
In class: Be prepared to give a 1
minute presentation of what you found out in the library. Reverse
diagonal groups will discuss the Thinking Questions. How important is
historical context in understanding Socrates? Do you need notes like
the ones to 19c, 28e, and 41?
Wed., Sept. 18: For class: Prepare to hand in the Thinking
Questions and to discuss the Response Questions.
In class: Hand in the Thinking
Questions. Miscellaneous groups will discuss Response Questions. Be
ready with your answer to Thinking question 9.
Fri., Sept. 20: For class: Read The Symposium up
through Agathon's speech. Prepare to hand in the Response Questions.
Be prepared to speak for three minutes for a grade on whether you
think Socrates would have been a good teacher for you and why or why
not.
In class: Hand in the Response
Questions.
Third week
Mon., Sept. 23: For class: Read Socrates' speech in The
Symposium.
In class: Margaret Weatherford, a
professional editor, will talk to you about proofreading and copy
editing.
Wed., Sept. 25: For class: In your lettered groups,
proofread and copyedit the papers of the people numbered above and
below you, using the proofreading symbols shown on the web page. (So
if you are A2, proofread the papers of A1 and A3. If you are C4,
proofread the papers of C3 and C1.) Finish reading The Symposium.
In class: Ms. Weatherford will
talk about substantive editing.
Fri., Sept. 27: For class: Edit the paper of the other
person in your lettered group (that is, the person whose paper you did
not proofread).
In class: Return and discuss
papers.
Fourth week
Mon., Sept. 30: Revise your paper. Hand in the original,
the revised version with the name of your editor written on it, and
all the editorial comments. You will be graded on the original paper
and your editor will be graded on the improvement between the original
and the final. Turn in your commonplace book for extra credit. In
class, I will explain how I think The Apology connects to
The Symposium and what Alcibiades does or does not learn from
Socrates. Be prepared to talk about your answers to the Thinking
question 9 and Response Questions 3 and 7.
Wed., Oct. 2: For class: Read The Analects and be
prepared to discuss the Reading Questions. You may want to consult the
handouts for historical background.
In class: Diagonal groups will
discuss the Reading Questions.
Fri., Oct. 4: For class: Hand in
Reading Questions. Read the Internet Research guide
at http://www.lib.mtu.edu/jrvp/instruction/wkshopseminar/seminar/tutorial.htm
In class: Whittier's web-master,
Tatiana Shabelnik, will give us a lesson on internet research.
Fifth week
Mon., Oct. 7: For class: Prepare to discuss Thinking
Questions. Do some research on the internet until you find out
something helpful about Confucius, Confucianism, ancient China, or
anything that sheds light on The Analects. Give it an
informative title, write it up with proper bibliographic citations,
and send it to me to post in the "Background information for The
Analects" folder on the web page.
In class: Reverse diagonal groups
will discuss the Thinking Questions. Be prepared to give a 1 minute
presentation of what you found out on the web.
Wed., Oct. 9: For class: Prepare to hand in the Thinking
Questions and to discuss the Response Questions.
In class: Hand in the Thinking
Questions. Miscellaneous groups will discuss Response Questions. Ask
me any questions.
Fri., Oct. 11: For class: Prepare to hand in the
Response Questions and think of something you want to talk about in
class.
In class: Hand in the Thinking
Questions. We can talk about Confucius, class, or anything else you
want.
Sixth week
Mon., Oct. 14: For class: Even numbered people read The
Great Learning. Odd numbered people read The Doctrine of the
Mean.
In class: Evens and odds meet to
discuss their readings. Lettered groups meet to share their readings.
Then we all discuss the connection between The Analects, The
Great Learning, and The Doctrine of the Mean.
Wed., Oct. 16: For class: Be prepared to speak for three
minutes for a grade on whether you think Confucius would have been a
good teacher for you and why or why not. Turn in your commonplace book
for extra credit.
Fri., Oct. 18: Midsemester break
Seventh week
Mon., Oct. 21: For class: There is a company called
Disaster Associates that analyzes plane wrecks and collapsed buildings
to see what went wrong and how we can learn from it. Write a paper
doing the same thing with a really bad teacher you have had. 1500 word
minimum. If you have trouble writing a paper that long, see "General
Advice on Writing Papers" and "When you can't think of what to say" on
the course web site.
In class: Be ready to give a three
minute summary. Numbered groups meet to distribute papers.
Wed., Oct. 23: For class: Do a complete edit on the paper
of the person two letters behind you in your numbered group.
In class: Meet with the person you
are eidting.
Fri., Oct. 25: For class: Revise your paper.
In class : Hand in both the
original and the revised versions. We can talk about anything you
want.
Eighth week
Mon., Oct. 28: For class: In your reader, read the selections from
John Woolman and hand in your Reading Questions. Prepare to discuss
the Thinking Questions in class.
In class: Miscellaneous groups
discuss Thinking Questions.
Wed., Oct. 30: Do some research in the library or on the
internet until you find out something helpful about Woolman,
Quakerism, slavery, or anything that sheds light on Woolman.
Give it an informative title, write it up with proper bibliographic
citations, and post it in the "Background information for John Woolman"
folder on the web page.
In class: Thinking Questions due.
Quiet day.
6:00: Dinner at Hartley House,
where Professor Susanne Weil will talk about modern day Quaker
practices.
Fri., Nov. 1: Response Questions due. Be prepared to
speak for three minutes for a grade on whether you think Woolman would
have been a good teacher for you, why or why not. Turn in your
commonplace book for extra credit.
Ninth week
Mon., Nov. 4: For class: Read the selections from Cooper's history of
Whittier and Coffin’s “The Whittier Idea.” Hand in the Reading
Questions. Prepare to discuss the Thinking Questions in class. Read
the background reading on the Whittier Idea.
In class: Miscellaneous groups
discuss Thinking Questions.
Wed., Nov. 6: For class: Surf around on the net for ways
other colleges have of making their education useful. Give it an
informative title, write it up with proper bibliographic citations,
and post it in the "Background curricular information" folder on the
web page. Thinking Questions due.
In class: Professor Rafael Chabran
will visit to talk about the Whittier Scholars Program.
Fri., Nov. 8: Response Questions due. Be prepared to
speak for three minutes for a grade on what you think are the
advantages and disadvantage of the Whittier idea for a student like
you.
Tenth week
Mon., Nov. 11: Final project: Write a minimum of 2000 words
on one of the following topics. First drafts are due on Friday but
think of possible topics to discuss in class today.
1) Expand your
first paper about a great teacher you have had: What did they teach?
What did you learn? How did they guide and motivate you? Why was it
importnat? (See the original assignment.)
2) Expand your
second paper about a really bad teacher. What does this example of
failure tell us about what it means to teach well?
3) Write a
paper about a great learning experience you have had that didn't
involve a teacher. (One surfer last year wrote about the wave.)
Describe the situation: What did you learn? What motivated you? What
guided you? In the absence of grades, how did you know when you were
making progress? In the absence of a diploma, how did you know when
you were done?
4) Wriate a
paper about a bad learning experience you have had that didn’t involve
a teacher. What can we learn from it?
Write about anything
you want so long as it is vaguely related to the course. Check with me
first to make sure it is not too weird.
Wed., Nov. 13: Individual meetings with me.
Fri., Nov. 15: First drafts due. You can ask anyone you
want to edit it for you and you can edit as many as you want. You will
get credit for each paper you edit. (This is to reward the people who
have developed reputations as good editors.)
Eleventh week
Mon., Nov. 18: Return the edited papers and discuss.
Wed., Nov. 20: Individual meetings with me.
Fri., Nov. 22: Send final versions to me to post on
web.
Twelfth week
Mon., Nov. 25: For each of the remaining class meetings,
everyone will be asked to read three of the papers on the webpage.
Each of you will be assigned someone else’s paper to present in class
for fifteen minutes for a grade. I suggest you try to summarize the
main point as clearly as possible and then prepare some discussion
questions to help figure out what we can learn from it. When your
paper is being presented, please do not speak. But by listening to
what people say you can learn which points came through clearly and
which did not to use for an optional further revision due at the
final.
Wed., Nov. 27: Presentations.
Fri., Nov. 29: Thanksgiving
Thirteenth week
Mon., Dec. 2: Presentations
Wed., Dec. 4: Presentations
Fri., Dec. 6: Presentations
Fri., Dec. 13 (!), 10:30–12:30
The final exam will include editing
work and some essay questions about learning and teaching. Optional
revisions of your final projects and commonplace books are also due.
|
