newNB Dec 1 (posted 11 Nov)

 

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])

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Evaluation


Resources


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 Honors Inquiry 111 (section SJ): Life Examined

Fall Semester • 2008 

 

 Welcome!

Welcome to Westminster College, to the All-College Honors Program, and to Honors Inquiry 111, the Honors version of Inquiry 111 designed for Honors Scholars!

 

Inquiry 111 introduces first-year students to liberal arts education and to equip them with skills essential to their success at college and in the wider world. For more information about the First-Year Program, read the "Introduction to the First-Year Program" in the textbook Inquiry 111. Read also about the Westminster Plan.
 Outcomes and Objectives

There are three outcomes and objectives of Inquiry 111:

 

  1)
articulate and practice the values and methods of liberal arts education through opportunities to
• study liberal arts practices and theories
• recognize the greater expectations associated with college-level work and develop appropriate critical thinking and information literacy skills
• consider moral and ethical responsibilities we have to various communities as a result of our education
  2) engage, experience and explain different ways of knowing through opportunities to
• examine and compare each of the Intellectual Perspectives as ways of knowing
• recognize and respect different worldviews
• challenge our own assumptions to promote inquiry and intellectual growth
  3) pursue interdisciplinary study and discussion of important issue through opportunities to
• investigate and discuss significant or controversial issues from multiple cultural and intellectual perspectives
• engage diverse views of common readings and issues
• participate in an active learning community sharing a first-year experience

 

In pursuit of these Inquiry aims, the Honors Inquiry will proceed at an accelerated pace with higher expectations for assignments, level of analysis, and class discussions. Like other components of the Honors Program, the Honors Inquiry demands self-motivation and active contribution to group activities, especially class discussions. As we cultivate the appreciation of reading, writing, and exploring different ideas, you can expect this course to be full of challenging, enlightening, exciting, frustrating, and rewarding experiences.

 Requirements and evaluation for the course

Overview

See the "Introduction to the First-Year Program" in Inquiry 111 for information on

• Attendance Requirements (See my Evaluation page under Participation for my attendance policy.)

• Absences from Examinations

• Academic Integrity (NB Westminster's Academic Integrity Policy; also see my note on plagiarism)

• Co-curricular Activities

• Computer & Network Orientation

• The Learning Center

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 are essential and should be completed before the classes for which they are assigned—use your best judgment to divide the readings evenly for each week. Occasionally I may assign additional readings, but these will ordinarily be short. You must come to class with at least 2 written questions or comments you have about the readings (see Participation). The primary focus of the course will be on discussing the bolded assigned readings in class (see schedule below). Although you will not be responsible for the other assigned readings (for discussions or exams), skimming through them would be very edifying.

 

In the schedule below is a link for a variety of recommended "readings" (e.g., articles, movies). Although they are not required readings, you may find them helpful, humorous, stimulating, useful, etc.

Presentation

You will prepare a 10-minute PowerPoint presentation of

•

the main idea(s) of the reading assignment (see the Assignments column in the course schedule below),

•

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.

See my Evaluation page under Presentations for evaluation criteria. Submit your PowerPoint presentation on the R-drive before coming to class to present (Assignmt>Presentation; file name = "last name presentation.ppt").

 

All students will fill out an evaluation sheet, which will be 1) used to offer peer critique to the presenter and 2) collected by me to review students' critical ability and participation.

Group

debates

You will participate in several group debates in which one group will present the merits of a particular reading and its arguments or insights, while the other group will present its shortcomings and limits. Your group's preparation and performance in class will determine a part of your course participation grade.

Co-curricular activities

You will attend or participate in 3 co-curricular activities (you're encouraged to attend more). They can be plays, speeches, campus events, community service, etc.

•

newOne must be the Sandra Steingraber lecture on Oct 7 (see schedule below);new

•

One must be a performance art (e.g., visual, musical, theatrical, oral); and

•

The other one is up to you to choose from among the opportunities available throughout the semester (ask me if you're not sure something qualifies as a co-curricular activity).

 

Within 5 class days after the co-curricular activity you must submit a co-curricular activity reflection paper (1–2 pages) consisting of

•

a short summary (1 paragraph) describing the event (e.g., the date and place of the activity, what it was, what happened, who attended) and

•

your critical reflection on it and its significance, especially for Inquiry 111 (this should be the substantial portion of the paper showing how you see the connections between Inquiry themes and the co-curricular activity).

Incorporate, as much as possible, your reflections on liberal arts education and on the Inquiry readings (including the summer reading) as they relate to your paper. Follow the guidelines for Written assignments. Save your paper on the R-drive thus: file name = "last name co-cur 1.doc" (see example on R-drive).

Research paper

You will write a research paper (8–10 pages) on a topic of your choice that deals with epistemology. Make an appointment for the second week to discuss your topic with me. Whatever your topic and thesis, make sure that connections with Inquiry themes and materials are evident in your final work. As an Honors Scholar, you are expected to learn the discipline of continual research, writing, and editing throughout the semester. You may find the Tips for writing papers helpful.

•

You must submit (on the R-drive) and discuss with me the following two preliminary assignments, the quality of which may affect your final paper grade. Make an appointment as early as you can (see schedule below) to bring a hard copy of each of these for discussion.

 

1) Proposal: Submit in one file
 

1.1) a paragraph stating your proposal for research and
 

1.2) a preliminary bibliography that includes at least 10 secondary sources (besides course textbooks or reference books) you found to be promising for your paper, including 5 periodical articles.

 

NB: Electronic sources count only if you provide evidence that they are scholarly sources.

 

Use the Chicago Manual of Style (or Turabian) for the bibliography.

Submit your proposal as early as possible in the semester, so that it can be approved for you to begin work.

 

2) Draft: Submit in one file
 

2.1) a clear introductory paragraph that includes the thesis of your paper,
 

2.2) at least two sample paragraphs, and
 

2.3) your revised bibliography (or works cited).

•

The paper should represent original work (i.e., your own thoughts), not a mere digest of other people’s opinions. Your own reading and re-reading of the relevant texts, as well as review of other materials, are fundamental to the task—a "text" can be written works, art works, music, plays, movies, interview, research results, poll data etc. I want to know what you discover in your engagement with the text(s), whether or not you agree with the authors or the opinions presented in class, including mine.

 

Focus on honing your ability 1) to argue for your opinions and conclusions persuasively and 2) to support them with evidence from texts (especially primary sources) and other relevant sources.

•

Your final bibliography (or works cited) must contain at least 8 sources used in your paper, including 4 periodical articles. NB: Electronic sources count only if you provide evidence that they also exist in print form.

 

Use footnotes or endnotes to document your sources following the Chicago Manual of Style (or Turabian). Learn the automatic footnote function of your word processor.

•

Follow all the instructions given on my Evaluation page under Written assignments.

Terms

Throughout the semester, you will be responsible for learning significant terms covered in our texts or in class (see the “terms” file on the R-drive). You will be responsible for the definitions. Use 1) the course texts, e.g., index, 2) the resources listed in Resources to consider below, or 3) any other appropriate sources of information. The terms may constitute a part of any quiz or exam.

Quizzes

&

exams

There will be 2 short quizzes (ca. 20 minutes) and 1 longer quiz at midterm (ca. 40 minutes). They will cover the materials in the course you will have learned by the time of the quizzes, including the reading assignments and terms.

Grades

Grades will be assigned as fairly as possible. See pp. xii–xiv in the Inquiry textbook grade descriptions. See my Evaluation page under Grades for more information. The final grade for the course will consist of the following:

•

paper

25%

NB: participation is a significant part of this course.

See my Evaluation page under Participation

for more information and instructions.

•

participation (including debates)

15%

•

presentation(s)

10%

•

3 co-curricular reflection papers

30%

•

quiz #2

10%

•

quiz #1 & 3

10%

 

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

 Required books

•

Inquiry 111. Littleton: Tapestry Press, 2008.

•

Westminster College's Library Handbook.

•

Booth, Wayne C., Joseph M. Williams, and Gregory G. Colomb. The Craft of Research. 2rd ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2008.

•

Lansens, Lori. The Girls. 2rd ed. New York: Back Bay Books, 2005. [summer reading]

•

Schwehn, Mark R. and Dorothy C. Bass, eds. Leading Lives That Matter: What We Should Do and Who We Should Be. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2006.

 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.
* Bloom, Allan. The Closing of the American Mind. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1987.

 

Cunningham, Lawrence S. and John J. Reich. Culture & Values: A Survey of the Humanities. Alternate Volume. 6th edition. Belmont: Wadsworth, 1990.
* 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 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. Please feel free to make an appointment any time about any course matters.

 One last word …

Regardless of how demanding all of this is, I’m pretty much a nice guy. I promise to be as fair as possible. I recognize that you’ll be very busy this semester pursuing various obligations and passions. I understand. I have my passions too, e.g., my wonderful family, music, philosophy, nature, mountain biking, fixing things, food. But I’m also very passionate about education, both yours and mine—I don’t just mean the business of acquiring knowledge, but more importantly the total development of honorable human beings. I don't require you to share my excitement about all the things we'll cover, but I do expect you to complete the requirements for the course. To help you do that as well as you can, 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. Keep in mind that I'm here to help you learn. So, again, welcome to Westminster's Honors Program and to Honors Inquiry 111!

C o u r s e   S c h e d u l e

MWF 12:50–13:50          OM 213


Date


Assignments

• = required

bold = primary focus text for presentation & class discussion

highlight = R-drive file

 


Class / topics

red bold = important deadline

Week 1

 

Aug 27 W

Aug 29

Sep 1

•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

 

•Inquiry preliminaries (Inquiry, v–xiv)

•Fisher: Effective Learning (also in Inquiry text)

•Newman: The Idea of a University (excerpt)

•Westminster College: Mission Statement

 

•Begin reading (skimming) Booth; finish before proposal submission

•Think about the research paper

•Introduction to Honors Inquiry 111 & Liberal arts education

 

•Optical conditioning

•Optical illusion

•World-view (R-drive/NaFiles)

 

•Reminder: bring your written Qs & Cs to each class (see Participation)

 

Recommended readings

Week 2

 

Sep 3 W

Sep 5

Sep 8

•Schwehn & Bass: Preface, Introduction, Prologue

 

•Academic Integrity Policy (Also in Inquiry text & on R-drive)

•Knight: LIberal Arts Gave Me a Liberal Dose of Life Lessons

•Holden: Scientific Misconduct

•Kreyche: Integrity (Also in Inquiry text)

•Plato: Allegory of the Cave (take notes showing analysis of the allegory): draw the cave described in the allegory

•Jones: Questions and Answers
•Andersen: The Emperor's New Clothes

•Plato: Allegory of the Cave
 •Parable of the Blind Men and the Elephant
•Calandra: Angels on a Pin
 •Csikszentmihalyi: Veils of Maya (focus esp. on the "World of the Genes")

•Intro to Honors Inquiry 111

•Integrity & cultural ethos

•Nature of knowledge

•Growing pains, growing gains

•Video: "What is Philosophy?"

•What's worth knowing?

•Multitude of perspectives:

Can a physicist & a mystic see together?

Can a biology major & a philosophy major talk?

•Seeing is believing?

Sep 14 Su

Honors Scholars cookout at the Nas' 6:00 P.M.-ish

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

Week 3

 

Sep 10 W

Sep 12

Sep 15

•Schwehn & Bass: Authenticity: Taylor

 

•Csikszentmihalyi: Veils of Maya (focus esp. on the "World of Culture")

•Schwehn & Bass: Authenticity: Stanton

 

•Csikszentmihalyi: Veils of Maya (focus esp. on the "World of the Self")

•Miner: Body Ritual Among the Nacirema

•Bohannan: Shakespeare in the Bush

•Rachels: The Challenge of Cultural Relativism

•Taking Sides: Herskovits: "Cultural Relativism and Cultural Values" & Pojman: "Ethical Relativism: Who's to Judge What's Right and Wrong?" (study questions)

•Qs to Ask & Propaganda Alert (NB: helpful for debate & writing research paper)

 

•Finish Booth before proposal submission

•Video: “Does Morality Depend on One's Culture?” (NB: take notes for class discussion)

•Seeing through (despite) veils?

•Debate: Rachels

What's convincing about his arguments?

What's not so convincing?

Sep 18 R

"Eating Outside the Bun" excursion: India

Destination: Sri Venkateswara Temple (Pittsburgh, Pa.) & India Garden (or another Indian restaurant)

meet at McKelvey entrance at 1715

Week 4

 

Sep 17 W

Sep 19

Sep 22

•Presentation evaluation: be ready to offer each presenter good critique (focus is on the applied biblical interpretation evident in the presentations)

 

•Schwehn & Bass: Virtue: Aristotle

 

•Shapiro: Liberal Education, Moral Education

•Newman: The Idea of a University (excerpt)

•Westminster College: Mission Statement

•Menkiti: Person and Community in African Traditional Thought

•Gioia: Words (also in Inquiry text with intro)

•Genesis: The Tree of Knowledge

•Scudder: Learning to See

•Going institutional: the purpose of liberal arts education

•Presentation: Walker (Shapiro)

•Quiz 1 (Sep 19)

•Seeing (our/other) cultures

•Epistemology and language

•The genesis of the human condition

•Presentation: ? (Gioia)

•Information literacy instruction (NB: meet in McGill Memorial Library on Sep 22) 

Week 5

 

Sep 24 W

Sep 26

Sep 29

•Schwehn & Bass: Vocation

 

•Mill: Democratic Participation and Political Education

•Kennedy: Inaugural address

•Hughes: Let America Be America Again

•Fisher: Effective Learning (also in Inquiry text)

•Winthrop: A Model of Christian Charity

•Luke: The Good Samaritan (also Cotton Patch: Lk 10.25–37)

•Letter from clergy

•King: Letter from Birmingham Jail

•George: from The Clash of Orthodoxies

•Last date for proposal submission: Sep 29 (R-drive; file name = "last name proposal.doc"; see example of file name on R-drive)

 

•Information literacy instruction (NB: meet in McGill Memorial Library on Sep 24 & 26)

 

•Liberal arts education: what to do . . .

•Presentation: ? (Mill)

•Presentation: ? (Luke)

•Presentation: Soltys (King)

Week 6

 

Oct 1 W

Oct 3

Oct 6

•Schwehn & Bass: 1 (Are Some Lives More Significant Than Others?): Lewis

 

•Copland: What to Listen for in Music

•Cox: Strategies for Looking

•Scudder: Learning to See

•Fisher: Effective Learning (also in Inquiry text)

•Einstein: Science and Religion (NB Einstein's claim: "No amount of experimentation can ever prove me right; a single experiment can at any time prove me wrong."); see also this or this

•Dawkins-McGrath debate (23 Mar 2007): Part 1; Part 2 (also 7 part video)

•McGrath-Atkins debate (27 Mar 2007; 1hr 19min)

•Qs to Ask & Propaganda Alert (NB: helpful for writing research paper)

•Dawkins-McGrath debate (23 Mar 2007): Part 1; Part 2
 •Qs to Ask & Propaganda Alert (NB: helpful for writing research paper)

•The other arts in liberal arts

•Presentation: Tomb (Copland)

•The complementary roles of science & religion?

•"Debate/discussion": Dawkins v. McGrath

•Presentation: ? (Einstein)

•No class Oct 6 (review course materials & work on presentations & papers)

 

•Debate: Dawkins v. McGrath

 

 

 

 

Oct 7 T

•Environmental Speakers Series: Sandra Steingraber: "Perspectives on the Environment"

Orr Auditorium at 1900

NB: This is a required co-curricular activity.

Week 7

 

Oct 8 W

Oct 10

 

Oct 11–14 (break)

 

Oct 15

•Schwehn & Bass: 2 (Must My Job Be the Primary Source of My Identity?)
  Russell Muirhead from Just Work
  Dorothy L. Sayers "Why Work?"
  Robert Frost "Two Tramps in Mud Time"
  Margaret Piercy "To be of use"
  H. G. Wells "The Door in the Wall"
  Abraham Joshua Heschel from The Sabbath
  William Wordsworth "The World Is Too Much with Us"
"Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey"
(cf. Dana Gioia's poem "Words" (week 4)
  Gilbert Meilaender "Friendship and Vocation"

•Oct 8: discuss Honors Program matters

 

•Presentation: ? (Sayers)

•Oct 10: read Prof. Perkins story in the Inquiry reader before attending his talk in Witherspoon at 12:50

 

•Presentation: ? (Wells)

•Presentation: Schmidt (Wordsworth)

Oct 16 R

"Eating Outside the Bun" excursion: Korea

Destination: Sushi Kim (Pittsburgh, Pa.)

meet at McKelvey entrance at 1730

Week 8

 

Oct 17 F

Oct 20

Oct 22

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