HON 201 Syllabus

new see final weeks (posted 13 Mar 2010)

It is not so very important for a person to learn facts. For that he does not really need a college. He can learn them from books. The value of an education in a liberal arts college is not the learning of many facts but the training of the mind to think something that cannot be learned from textbooks.

(Albert Einstein, 1921, in response to Thomas Edison’s opinion that a college education is useless)

Without education we are in a horrible and deadly danger of taking educated people seriously.

(G. K. Chesterton)

In much wisdom is much vexation, and those who increase knowledge increase in sorrow.

(Ecclesiastes 1.18)

Health is merely the slowest possible rate at which one can die.

(Anonymous)

Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.

(William Butler Yeats)

You must unlearn what you have learned.

(Yoda [Star Wars V: Empire Strikes Back])

The unexamined life is not worth living.

(Socrates [Plato, Apology, 38a])

Westminster's Honors page

Westminster College
HON 201: Honors Seminar
Spring Semester • 2010

Welcome!

Welcome to the Honors Seminar, a course required of sophomore Honors Scholars in the All-College Honors Program!

Fulfilling two semester hours, the Honors Seminar is a gateway course to the research component of the Honors Program. More specifically, our goals will be:

•	to provide a sense of community among Honors Scholars
•	to provide the opportunity for senior and junior Honors Scholars to mentor sophomores toward their research and writing
•	to cultivate active engagement in co-curricular lectures on campus and through leading discussions
•	to promote participation in the honor society Omicron Kappa Sigma through coordinating co-curricular events, planning student meetings, and organizing and presenting Honors forums

Like other components of the Honors Program, the Honors Seminar demands self-motivation and active contribution to group activities, especially class discussions.

Requirements and evaluation for the course

Evaluation

For my criteria for evaluation of assignments go to Evaluation and read the information carefully.

NB: If you have any questions regarding any assignment, please 1) ask in class for the benefit of others or 2) make an appointment to see me.

Assigned readings

Assigned readings should be completed before the classes for which they are assigned. Occasionally I may assign additional readings, but these will ordinarily be short. You must come to class ready to engage in discussion and peer critique. The primary focus of the course will be on discussing the assigned readings in class regarding issues of research goals and methods.

Critique exercises

You will submit 2 critique exercises:

1)

a critique paper (2–3 pages) on the movie The Last Samurai (2003) consisting of your critical reflection on the movie with special consideration of (1) the theme of cross-cultural experience and (2) the assumptions and implications the movie suggests, both explicitly and implicitly (e.g., how does the movie engage the history of "Western" films dealing with different cultures)

NB: Do not read any reviews of The Last Samurai until after you have submitted your own.

2)

a reflection paper (2–3 pages) responding to a review of The Last Samurai. OR a critique (2–3 pages) of Anthony Bloom's book (see Required books below), i.e., a claim or argument in the book, not the the whole book

Incorporate, as much as possible, your reflections on liberal arts education and on themes from Honors Inquiry. Follow the guidelines for Written assignments.

Participation

You are expected to participate actively (1) in class discussions as well as (2) in planning and attending co-curricular activities for the larger campus (including leading discussions). Your engagement in the class and in the activities will constitute the major part of your final participation evaluation.

About half of your participation grade will be based on your leading a discussion. You will present a discussion starter during the semester covering

•	the main idea(s) of the assigned readings (you and your partner can decide on the specific focus of your presentation),
•	your critique or response to it (including references to previous readings)—this should be the focus of the presentation—and
•	critical questions, challenges, discoveries, insights, etc. to initiate class discussion.

You should aim for 10–15 minutes. You're expected to have read the text(s) carefully and be able to share the penetrating questions or issues you dealt with in your reading, preparation, or even further research. NB: you don't necessarily have to understand everything before class, but you should demonstrate that you prepared and that you're familiar with the major issues in the text(s).

Remember that questions are more valuable than answers. You should include or suggest challenges, discoveries, insights, questions, etc. for class discussion. See my Evaluation page under Presentations for evaluation criteria (ignore "Communication Skills" section of the evaluation sheet). If you'd like to use "smart" equipment, let me know as soon as possible.

Grades

Grades will be assigned as fairly as possible. See my Evaluation page under Grades for more information. The final grade for the course will consist of the following:

•

participation (about half from discussion)

60%

NB: participation is a significant part of this course.

See my Evaluation page under Participation

for more information and instructions.

•

2 critique exercises

40%

NB: If you have any questions about how you're doing in the course, please make an appointment to see me.

Required books
•	Booth, Wayne C., Joseph M. Williams, and Gregory G. Colomb. The Craft of Research. 3rd ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2008.
•	Bloom, Allan. The Closing of the American Mind. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1987.

*Recommended books ( = highly recommended)**
	Anderson, Walter Truet. Reality Isn't What It Used to Be: Theatrical Politics, Ready-to-Wear Religion, Global Myths, Primitive Chic, and Other Wonders of the Postmodern World. San Francisco: HarperOne, 1992.
*	Kuhn, Thomas S. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. 3rd ed. Chicago: University Of Chicago Press, 1996.
	Levitt, Steven D. and Stephen J. Dubner. Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2006.
	Naugle, David K. Worldview: The History of a Concept. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans, 2002.
*	Percy, Walker. Lost in the Cosmos: The Last Self-Help Book. New York: Picador, 1983.
	_______. Signposts in a Strange Land. New York: Picador, 1991.
*	Strunk, William, Jr., and E. B. White. The Elements of Style. New York: Macmillan Publishing, 1979. (See my Resources page under Miscellaneous for the first edition of Strunk.)

Resources to consider
	See my Resources page for McGill, AV & Web resources.
	R-drive: for helpful materials, check not only the course folder.

Keeping in touch

During the semester check your e-mail regularly for the latest messages from me regarding course matters (e.g., changes in the syllabus). Also visit this page for updates to the syllabus, as well as my homepage for other information and resources related to the course. I will make myself available outside the class time and the office hours. I'll be more than glad to help you out when you're stuck while doing an assignment. Or if you have any questions, concerns, complaints, and even compliments, I will do my best to take the time to listen and offer my response. Please feel free to make an appointment any time about any course matters. Keep in mind that I'm here to help you learn. So, again, welcome to the Honors Seminar!

C o u r s e S c h e d u l e

Tuesdays 1800–1930 PH 132

Date

Assignments

• = required

> = recommended

bold = primary focus text for presentation & class discussion

Class / topics

red bold = important deadline

HON 201: Honors Seminar

Week 1

Jan 26 T

•Course syllabus (including Evaluation link; review requirements, expectations & criteria for grading—ask Qs, if you have any)

•Copy all relevant course webpages to your hard disk or diskette

•Fisher: Effective Learning (also in Inquiry 111)

•Booth: Preface, Part 5 (skim appendix)

•Bloom: Forward, Preface, Introduction

>How to Ace College

>Tips for writing papers

>Do you know how to think? (a self-exam)

•Introduction to Honors Seminar

•Adam and Eve

•Context & perspective

Week 2

Feb 2 T

•Booth: Preface, Part 5 (skim appendix)

•Bloom: Forward, Preface, Introduction

•Research and critical interpretation

•Adam and Eve

•Context & perspective

•What do you see?

Week 3

Feb 9 T

•Booth: chs. 1–2

•Bloom: Part 1

•Reading & thinking critically (NB: helpful for reading texts & writing research paper)

•Discussion: Armentrout & Edder
•Research and critical interpretation

Week 4

Feb 16 T

•Booth: chs. 3–4

•Bloom: Part 1

•Miner: Body Ritual Among the Nacirema

•Bohannan: Shakespeare in the Bush

•Rachels: The Challenge of Cultural Relativism

>Reading & thinking critically (NB: helpful for reading texts & writing research paper)

>Weep: Higher Education Among the Nacirema

•Discussion: Fawcett & Foertsch
•Research and critical interpretation

Week 5

Feb 23 T

•Booth: chs. 5–6

•Bloom: Part 1

•Movie: The Last Samurai (NB: do not read any reviews until after submitting your own)

>

Reading & thinking critically (NB: helpful for reading texts & writing research paper)

•The Last Samurai critique paper due Mar 1 (R-drive; file name = "last name critique.doc"; see example of file name on R-drive)

•Discussion: Gorman & Hanes

•How should we read a "text"?

Feb 26

Movie night with the Nas 7:48-ish

directions on the R-drive (view in MS Word: in menu, click View>Print Layout) or click here

Week 6

Mar 2 T

Mar 6–16 (break)

•Booth: chs. 7–9

•Bloom: Part 1

•Reviews of The Last Samurai: e.g., reviews or reviews (NB names of the newspapers); IMDB (viewer reviews at bottom)

>Reading & thinking critically (NB: helpful for reading texts & writing research paper)

•Discussion: Killmeyer & Leonard

•How else can we read a "text"?

Week 7

Mar 18 R

•Booth: chs. 10–11

•Bloom: Part 2

•Yet another review of The Last Samurai: Caveat lector: read several other reviews (see week 6) before reading this one.

>Reading & thinking critically (NB: helpful for reading texts & writing research paper)

>Tips for writing papers

•The Last Samurai reflection paper due Mar 18 (R-drive; file name = "last name reflection.doc"; see example of file name on R-drive)

•Discussion: Miller & Schmidt

Week 8

Mar 23 T

•Booth: chs. 12–14

•Bloom: Part 2

•Discussion: Sinagoga & Soltys

Week 9

Mar 30 T

Apr 2–5 (break)

•Booth: chs. 15–17

•Bloom: Part 2

•Junior mentor: Adam Griffith

•Discussion: Tomb & Yost

Week 10

Apr 6 T

•Bloom: Part 2

•Discussion: Killmeyer & Leonard

Week 11

Apr 13 T

•John J. Donohue III and Steven D. Levitt, "The Impact of Legalized Abortion on Crime" (cf. "Further Evidence that Legalized Abortion Lowered Crime: A Reply to Joyce" & Freakonomics, chap. 4: "Where Have All the Criminals Gone")

vs.

•John D. Mueller, "Dismal Science" (click on "view as PDF" for the print version)

•Dawkins: Science, Delusion and the Appetite for Wonder

>Reading & thinking critically (NB: helpful for reading texts & writing research paper)

•Research and critical interpretation

Week 12

Apr 20 T

•Bloom: Part 3

•Guest faculty: Prof. Throckmorton (Biology)

Week 13

Apr 27 T

•Bloom: Part 3

•Movie critique: The Island of Dr. Moreau (tentative)

•Senior mentors:

Alexandra Alfieri (Neuroscience)

Amanda Ehrhardt (English)

Amanda Gentzel (Computer Science)

Natasha Kassim (Biochemistry & Political Science)

Week 14

May 4 T

•Bloom: Part 3

•Guest faculty: Prof. Martin (History)

May 11 T

Reading Day

Final week

May 13 R

•Bloom: Part 3

Think about Bloom's argument(s).
What do you think?

•Critique of Allan Bloom's book due May 13 (R-drive; file name = "last name Bloom critique.doc"; see example of file name on R-drive)

•Final class: 1830–2100 (regular classroom)

•Final thoughts (Or: Anything and everything you've wanted to ask Prof. Na but were too afraid or busy to ask)

•Quo vadis?

Have a great summer!

Westminster's Honors page