The major Questions for Inquiry II are:
- What is the good, and how do we attain it?
- What should we make our ultimate concern?
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Inquiry I, the first course in the two semester sequence of the First Year Program, has several goals.
- To give all first-year students at Westminster College some common, shared experience.
- To communicate and clarify the benefits of a general liberal arts education.
- To stimulate thinking about important questions and ideas.
- To engage students in a search for answers.
- To develop skills necessary for effective thinking, writing, and speaking.
- To broaden students' understanding of what it means to learn in a liberal arts context.
The subject of the first semester's course is individuals
as they identify and understand themselves in several ways-what we will
call the self. The course readings and strategies engage students in learning
as they think through the major questions and ideas.
The skills emphasized in the first semester's course are
- analysis
- comparison
- classification
- understanding causality
- Develop multiple answers to the central questions.
- Develop additional generalizations for the central topics of the course.
- Develop basic skills.
- Express ideas in written and non-written forms.
- Develop an understanding of the ways that people from diverse cultures and different orientations express ideas and answer basic questions.
Attendance
Students are expected to attend all class meetings and plenary meetings. After three absences, the final grade will be lowered by five points for each absence.
Linkages
Students take writing and oral communications as complementary courses with Inquiry. All three courses have been planned together so the skills developed in one course are practiced and reinforced in the others.
Library Orientation
Students will be scheduled for orientation sessions during the semester. These sessions will coincide with assignments that require research into library resources and occur outside regular class times.
Journal
Students will keep a response journal for recording their responses to readings, class discussions, plenaries. The journals offer the opportunity to reflect, develop responses, and raise questions. The journals will be collected every other week.
Assessment of the journal will include assessment of your technical writing skills. To help you with that, here are some notes on common and avoidable errors in student writing. Please read them carefully. I am sure that you will find them helpful (and remember I am grading your journals with this in mind.)
During the first year, students will keep a portfolio of their development in Inquiry. Periodically, students and faculty will assess the progress of their work and skills development. Students will support their evaluations with documents from Inquiry and other courses.
The assessment portfolio records your growth in the inquiry Course. You should keep a hard copy in your course binder, but another copy will be filed on the R:/inq101i/assignmt folder. Around the middle of the semester (c. October 17th) and again near the end of the semester (December 8th), you will submit your portfolio with the following contents:
- A copy of the answers to the four course questions with my comments on them as they were returned to you. Along with this you will write a brief (c. 100 words) commentary on how your answers to the first two questions may have changed since your first draft.
- A self-evaluation of your own ability at the course skills listed on the syllabus. You should attach a copy of one piece of graded work, I recommend a paper from your writing class, but if there is no suitable paper, a section of your journal will suffice. Again the professor’s comments should accompany the paper or entry. You should use that piece of work as evidence to support your self-evaluation.
- A statement on the role of the physical self and the thinking or mental self in shaping individual identity will be in the portfolio for its first (October 17th) submission. A statement on the role of other "selves" will be in the December submission.
Grades are assigned using the +/- system:
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Class participation and Journals.............. 30%
Portfolio.................................................10%
Papers and Projects...............................30%
Exams/Quizzes.....................................30%
Inquiry 101I will meet on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 9:20 to 10:20 in Old Main 201.
Dr. Rennie will be available in his office in Patterson 126 on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 3:00 until 4:00 and on Tuesday and Thursday from 9:00 until 11:00 and by appointment.
Week 1.
Friday, 8/29
Distribution of schedule and general orientation
Week 2.
Section One: Dimensions of Our Identity (Skills and Goals)
Generalization: The Perception of Identity is Incomplete.
Monday, 9/1
Write essay on four major questions.
Analyze "The Allegory of the Cave."
Generate a list of the dimensions of identity
Wednesday, 9/3
Set up identity model to be used for comparison at
the end of the semester.
Compare "The Blind Man and the Elephant" with "The Allegory of the Cave"
Continue to generate dimensions of identity.
Friday, 9/5
Analyze Csikszentmihalyi, "The Veils of Maya"
Week 3.
Generalization: Identity is contextual.
Monday, 9/8
Compare Andersen, "The Emperor's New Clothes" with
ideas in "The Veils of Maya."
Wednesday, 9/10
Compare ideas in the section readings and explain
how they extend our concept of identity.
Friday, 9/12
Exercise in integrating texts read with concept of
identity.
Analyze Csikszentmihalyi, "World of the Genes"
Week 4.
Section Two: The Physical Self (Skills and Goals)
Generalization: Identity is determined by genetic processes.
Monday, 9/15
Compare Compher, "Genetics and Homosexuality" with
"World of the Genes"
Wednesday, 9/17
Analyze Sacks, "The Disembodied Lady"
Friday, 9/19
Analyze Sacks, " Water Babies"
Compare the Self-portraits of various artists / Initiate Bulletin Board project in which students describe principles of male and female identity as linked to their bodies (four groups: men on men, women on women, men on women, women on men)
Week 5.
Generalization: Identity is influenced by our reaction to our body.
Monday, 9/22
Bulletin Board Discussion reflecting on the relationship
between gender and physical identity
Wednesday, 9/24 Analyze McLorg and Taub, "Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia"
Friday, 9/26
Analyze Greer, "Stereotypes"
Week 6.
Generalization: Identity is influenced by the community's reaction to our body
Monday, 9/29
Oral presentations of Bulletin Board project
Wednesday, 10/1
In class Exam which draws on "lessons learned" from
the readings and summary of bulletin board discussion.
Friday, 10/3 Analyze Ackerman, " The Painter's Eye. " See website.
Week 7.
Section Three: The Thinking Self (Skills and Goals)
Generalization: There are multiple dimensions to thinking.
Monday, 10/6
Analyze Gardner, "Human Intelligence Isn't What We
Think It Is" by classifications in Sternberg , "The Triarchic Theory of
Human Intelligence"
Wednesday, 10/8
Dr. Rennie will be off-campus at a seminar on the
college-wide use of laptop computers. Our class will join with the section
of Inquiry 101 taught by Prof. Barbara Faires in Hoyt 166 for a class on
"exploring the limits of sensing and thinking-- the paintings of Escher
and the writings of Suzuki, "To Polish a Tile" (Zen)"
Friday, 10/10
Explore the narrator's search for causes in Olsen,
" I Stand Here Ironing"
Week 8.
Generalization: A major function of thinking is the construction of order.
Generalization: Patterns of thinking are a function of group membership.
Monday, 10/13
Study causation in Evans-Prichard, "The Notion of
Witchcraft Explains Unfortunate Events"
Wednesday, 10/15
Exercise in which students articulate the varieties
of group identity they have and classify group identities
Friday, 10/17
Analyze causation in Bettleheim, "The Child's Need
for Magic"
Student assessment of the course so far.
Week 9.
Generalization: A major function of thinking is relating our identity to the world.
Generalization: Patterns of thinking change as a function of growth and development
Wednesday 10/22
Discussion of Mid-term assessment and preparation
for the exam.
Friday, 10/24
The Assessment Portfolio
and Journal are both due in by the end of today.
The Exam assignment includes a self-evaluation of how students have made
and plan to make personal/academic choices and explaining the impact of
the readings and group work on the way personal choices are made. The self-assessment
part of this assignment will be incorporated into the portfolio and the
question of the impact of the readings will be incorporated into the journal.
Assignment: Identify a group with which one identifies and explain
how that identification may affect choices (for example, of courses or
programs in the future). Then evaluate if such choices are desirable or
beneficial. The 1997 class decided to complete this assignment in the form
of short in-class presentation which will will be given on Monday November
3rd.
Week 10.
Section Four: The Spiritual and Creative Self
(Skills and Goals)
Generalization: The "humanness" of identity is often expressed in the spiritual and creative realms.
Monday, 10/27
Compare Creation
Myths and Swimme, "The Universe is a Green Dragon"
Wednesday, 10/29
Analyze Nelson, " The Psychological and Social Origins
of Autobiographical Memory"
Friday, 10/31
Study causation in Walker, "Beauty: When the Other
Dancer Is the Self"
Week 11.
Generalization: Human identity is in part constructed by storytelling.
Generalization: Creativity and spirituality are the bases of differences in identity.
Monday, 11/3
Class Presentations: Identify a group with which one
identifies and explain how that identification may affect choices in the
future. Then evaluate if such choices are desirable or beneficial.
Wednesday, 11/5
Compare Western concepts with those in Lao-tzu, "Thirty
Spokes" and "Man of Highest Power"
Analyze Edwards, "Your Brain: The Right and Left of
It"
Friday 11/7
Carry out exercises in "Drawing on the Right Side
of the Brain". Journals due.
Week 12.
Generalization: Creativity and Spirituality Develop Throughout One's Life.
Monday 11/10
Analyze Maslow, "Defense and Growth"
Wednesday, 11/12
Analyze Woolf, "The Profession of Women"
Friday 11/14
In class exam
Week 13.
Section Five: The Social/Ethical Self (Skills and Goals)
Generalization: An individual's identity is largely socially constructed.
Monday, 11/17
Analyze LeGuin, "The Question of Sex" and compare
sexual identity in the X culture with that in ours.
Wednesday, 11/19
Explain Henry V's actions in Shakespeare, 1 Henry
IV, Act 3, scene 2.
Friday 11/21
Bulletin
Board discussion of Trevor-Roper, "How the Scots Invented Themselves."
This discussion will be open until Tuesday, 11/25.
Internet Resources: (Thanks to Dr. Sandra Webster)
From the Celtic Net-
History of the Kilt in Scotland
John Wash's -
How to Wrap a Great Kilt
SCOTLAND
- From the Department of Geography, University of Edinburgh.
Please note that your next journal entry will not be due until Tuesday, 11/25, the last day of classes before Thanksgiving break (for which I certainly give thanks).
Week 14.
Generalization: Individual identity is a source of conflict.
Monday, 11/24
This class will be held in Hoyt 150 combind with Dr.
Sandra Webster's section of Inquiry. Explore how the characters in Williams'
"The Use of Force" handle conflicts.
Journal entries due. Your journal should include entries on:
- The comparison of sexual identities on LeGuin's Gethen and in our own culture.
- Your model of the growth of personal identity.
- The Bulletin Board discussion of Trevor-Roper's article.
- Monday's Class on William Carlos William's piece.
- As well as your usual day-to-day journal entries.
Week 15.
Generalization: Individuals often make ethical decisions which conflict with social pressures.
Monday 12/1
Explain causation in McMurtry, "Kill 'Em! Crush 'Em!
Eat Em Raw!"
Wednesday, 12/3
Compare how Jacob and Esau (Genesis 27:1 - 33:20) and Prodigal
Son (Luke 15:11-32) resolve conflicts
Friday 12/5 Discuss Rennie on Kant's Categorical Imperative
Week 16
Generalization: Individuals
become of the source of social change.
Monday 12/8
Wednesday 12/10
Last Day of classes, Thursday 12/11
Friday 12/13
Analyze Atwood, "Pornography"
Identify the conflicts expressed by King in "I have
a dream"
The Final Exam will be submitted electronically. For
details click here.
NOTES:
The classes will meet in plenary sessions twice each
month. At these meetings, students will hear from special speakers or have
student presentations. All plenaries will be held in the Chapel between
11:00am and 12:00 noon.
Thursday, September 11:
Patrick McCarthy, Professor of Biology:
Ways of knowing: How we know what we know
Thursday, September 25:
Verena Bozenhart-Viehe, Associate Professor of History:
Identities in Paint: Self-Portraits by Famous Artists
Thursday, October 9:
Cancelled!
Thursday, October 16:
Peggy Cox, Associate Professor of Art:
Walking Vast: An Artist's Personal Journey
Thursday, October 30:
Douglas Starr, Associate Professor of Music:
Charles Ives' Songs as Childhood Memories and Creative Identity
Thursday, November 13:
James Perkins, Professor of English:
Turning Personal Experience into Fiction
Thursday, November 20:
To be Arranged
Thursday, December 4:
Bryan Rennie, Assistant Professor of Religion and Philosophy:
Why Should I? The Categorical Imperative of Immanuel Kant.
The generalizations for dimensions of identity are
listed in each section of the schedule. These generalizations should be
explored and challenged not simply accepted as true. Students will
be asked to generate additional generalizations in their journals.
Using others' ideas and words without proper documentation
constitutes plagiarism. Plagiarism will be penalized by failure in the
assignment or the course.
Section One: Dimensions of Our Identity
Section Goals:
Identify the dimensions of identity.
Determine how the reading assignments provide insights as to how all the dimensions of our identity are not readily apparent.
Section Skills
Analysis
Comparison
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Section goals:
a. To recognize that our physical identity is composed of biological factors, our perceptions of those biological factors and the way others react to our bodies.
b. To engage in exercises in for insights into how our physical identity interacts with biological and social factors.
c. To reflect on the lessons learned about our bodies from the reading assignments.
Section Skills:
Analysis
Comparison
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Section Three: The Thinking Self
Section goals:
a. To realize that our identity is enmeshed in a variety of thought processes including sensing and reasoning.
b. That we use these thought processes to make inferences about reality
c. To study how thought processes are the bases for the growth of our identity
d. To apply these processes to the analysis of the growth of our personal identity
Section Skills:
Analysis
Classification
Causation
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Section Four: The Spiritual and Creative Self
Section goals:
- To recognize that identity is a dynamic linkage between being created and creating
- To understand that creativity is linked to cultural factors and skill development
- To seek possible links between the spiritual and creative identity
- To create an artistic composition which can extend identity expression beyond language
Analysis
Comparison
Causation
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Section Five: The Social/Ethical Self
Section goals:
a. To understand how social contexts exert major control over our identity
b. To show how conflicts inevitably arise between self and community
c. To see that to behave ethically often leads to conflicts
Section Skills:
Conflict Management
Analysis
Causation
Comparison
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