Samford University  UCCP102 Spring 2014

Dr. Ken Kirby; (205)726-4033; rkkirby@samford.edu; http://www2.samford.edu/~rkkirby

Div. N. 307; office hours:  M,W,F 9:30-10:20 a.m.; T,W,H 1:00-3:00 p.m.

 

Our Texts:

Rosemary Fisk, John Mayfield, and W. J. Wallace, eds., SU Core Texts Reader, Vol. 2
 Ibrahim Fawal, On the Hills of God
Henry James, The Turn of the Screw
John Milton, Paradise Lost

Course Objectives:
1. Develop critical reasoning skills through reading significant texts and evaluating different viewpoints and arguments
2. Develop the ability to investigate an issue and construct a well-reasoned and coherent viewpoint
3. Learn to communicate ideas and arguments clearly and persuasively through written and spoken means
4. Understand the world through multiple perspectives and different world views
5. Explore religious and moral dimensions of critical issues
6. Appreciate how different disciplines advance understanding of cultures and civilizations and recognize the interconnectedness of the disciplines
7. Become a part of the larger academic community

 

Assignments and Grading: There will be three one-hour exams at 15% each, and the final exam, partially comprehensive, will be 20%.  You will prepare a report (1000-1200 words) and give an oral presentation, perhaps in the form of a debate with classmates, on a specific unit in the course (15%).  Class participation and journals together will count for 20%.  Grade scale is the standard A (93-100), A- (90-92), B+ (87-89), B (83-86), B- (80-82) etc.

 

Attendance, Late Work, Plagiarism: Daily participation is part of your grade, and each class is designed to address issues that you will be asked to write about on exams and papers, so you should try to attend all sessions.  If you exceed six unexcused absences you will receive a grade of FA in the course.  Exams and papers are due at the beginning of class on the due date, and unexcused late work will be accepted at penalty of one letter grade for each class period that the work is late. Plagiarism is representing the work of others as your own, or using the words or ideas of others without properly documenting them.  Any form of plagiarism can result in your failing the course and being placed on probation. You must respond to assignments in this course with original work; you may not submit papers that you submitted in other courses.

 

Statement on Inclusive Language:  Language–how it is used and what it implies–plays a crucial role in Samford University’s mission to "nurture persons."  Because verbal constructions create realities, inclusive language can uphold or affirm those whom we seek to nurture, while exclusive language can damage or defeat them.  We therefore actively seek a discourse in our university community that supports the equal dignity and participation of men and women; we seek to avoid verbal constructions that diminish the equal dignity of all persons. 

 

Students with Disabilities:  Samford University complies with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act.  Students with disabilities who seek accommodations must make their request through Disability Support Services (phone 726-4078)  in Couseling Services on the lower level of Pittman Hall.  A faculty member will only grant reasonable accommodations upon notification from the Advisor for Students with Disabilities.

The Communication Resource Center (CRC) offers free tutoring for Samford students in oral, written, and mediated communication, as well as support for developing and improving critical reading skills. The CRC is in Brooks 222. Hours are posted at the start of each semester at http://www/samford.edu/crc.  Appointments are not required.

 

General Course Policies:  UCCP102 complies with all policies in the Samford Student Handbook. You are expected by now to be familiar with these policies. All electronic devices must be turned off during class. Check your Samford e-mail regularly--I sometimes forget to say things and class and will e-mail you about them after class has been dismissed.

Schedule of Assignments:

Jan 27   Course intro.; THE SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION

Jan 29   Galileo (55-61) in Core Texts Reader; bring journal entry to class
Jan 31   Darwin (312-327, both selections; this looks ahead to the 19th Century); perspectives on Genesis 1-3 (read this in your favorite translation of the Bible and bring the Bible to class)


Feb  3    (Looking ahead to the Enlightenment and Romanticism) Austen, Sense and Sensibility (film, entire week)


Feb 10  PROTESTANT REFORMATION AND THE COUNTER-REFORMATION. Luther, both selections (7-18)

Feb  12  From Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent (44-48); introduction to Paradise Lost (bring text to class)
[Feb 13 Convo - "Calvinism: Myths and Realities" 10:00 a.m., helpful for the Protestant Reformation but not required]

Feb  14  Milton, Paradise Lost, read from Book I - Argument, lines 1-391, scan 392-559 (more than you ever wanted to know about demons), read 559-end


Feb 17   Paradise Lost, Argument only from Book II and III (no journal comments on the arguments), all of Book IV (you may scan lines 142-285 as Satan enters and explores Paradise)

Feb 19   Paradise Lost, Argument only from Book V, VI, VII, all of Book VIII

Feb 21   Paradise Lost, all of Book IX
 
Feb 24  Paradise Lost, all of Book X (scan 235-459, Satan's return to Hell to tell of his "victory" over God and Creation)
Feb 26  Paradise Lost, Argument only from Book XI, read Argument of Book XII and lines 270-end

Feb 28  ENLIGHTENMENT and Romanticism - Locke, from Second Treatise on Civil Government (153-166) (not on Exam 1)

Mar  3  Reports/debate on Paradise Lost and the Reformation/Counter-Reformation; review

Mar  5  Exam I (15%, Scientific Revolution and Protestant Reformation only)

Mar  7   Wollstonecraft (230-241)


Mar 10  19TH CENTURY, Romanticism - Wordsworth, "Tintern Abbey" (261-266)
Mar 12  Poe, "The Raven" (link on my web page), from "Philosophy of Composition" (handout)
Mar 14  Dickinson, poems (handout)


Mar 17  19TH CENTURY, Industrialism, Economic and Social Change - Davis, "Live in the Iron Mills" (see link on my CP102 web page)
Mar 19   Marx, Communist Manifesto (see link on my CP102 web page), "Preamble," Parts I and II
Mar 21  Marx, Manifesto, Parts III and IV; reports/debates on Industrialism

Mar 24-28  SPRING BREAK


Mar 31  Smith, from An Inquiry . . . Wealth of Nations (181-192)

Apr   2  Exam 2 (15%)

Apr   4  20TH CENTURY - Eliot, "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"


Apr  7   James, The Turn of the Screw (1-32)

Apr  9  James,TofS, 33-66

[Apr 10 Convo - "The Roots and Internal Conflicts of our Secular Age" 10:00, helpful for Sartre but not required]
Apr 11  James, TofS, 66-end

Apr 14  Exodus (film, in class); begin reading On the Hills of God

Apr 16   finish Exodus
Apr 18   Hills - 1-100


Apr 21   EASTER MONDAY - no class

Apr 23   Hills
Apr 25   Hills


Apr 28   Reports on Israel/Palestine; reports on James
Apr 30   Finish Hills; journals due
May  2   Exam 3 (15%)
May  5   Sartre (283)
 May  7  Hughes (349, all selections and handout)

May  9  Review for final

Final exam as scheduled (8:00 a.m. Mon., May 12)

Journals
During weeks 1-13 of the course you will have 26 reading assignments and two films in class.  For full credit on the journal, you must complete 20 or more journal entries on the readings and one each on the films.  The journal entry must consist of a short summary of the author's ideas and a subjective response from you about the author's ideas--your personal reaction to the author's ideas, and/or a remark on how these ideas relate to the other readings and reports in the course.  Do not include comments from the introductions to the author in our Core Texts Reader or the "Argument" introductions to books of Paradise Lost; do not include comments from summary notes or general reference sources; rather, read and react to the text.  Write your journal entry before coming to class, and bring the journal with you to class every time we meet; I will occasionally ask you to report on your journal entries.

Reports/debates on critical perspectives
For one of the units or major authors in the course, you will write a paper and give an oral report or participate in a debate on assigned outside readings. Your task is to understand, summarize, and present to the class the ideas in the outside reading as they relate to our class discussions of the primary works in the course. The paper must be 1000-1200 words in length (about two pages) and may be no more than 20% direct quotation from the assigned reading.  You will give an oral report of about four minutes to the class as part of a panel of students who are reporting on that unit; or, as a group, you may also choose to have a short debate on the topic.  The class and I may have questions and comments for discussion based on your report, and some of your exam questions could come from these reports and discussions.  The specific authors and texts for these reports (some of which are on reserve, Davis Library circulation desk) are as follows: