Course Description: The aim of this course is to introduce you to a number of texts of different styles organized under the title "Humanities." The texts we are going to cover this semester range from novels to scholarly articles. We will attempt to understand, interpret and evaluate these texts. This course may be thought at two levels.  First, we will read a number of texts in order to learn them and appreciate their content. They will introduce us to different disciplines such as history and literature. They will give us a sense of America's history and society as well as its cultural diversity. Therefore, these texts are valuable in themselves.  They will provide us with intellectually challenging ideas, and passionate opinions, that are (or ought to be) significant for us. Secondly, this course is designed to provide you with a number of skills that you will need throughout your education at (and after) Earlham. These skills are reading and interpreting a text, developing an argument, writing a paper, and participating in discussions. At this level our goals are to grasp ideas expressed in texts, to respond thoughtfully to texts and ideas, to recognize the characteristics of several different genres, to write clear, graceful, error-free prose, to develop a distinctive style and voice of one's own, to become sensitive writers, not restricted by a single formula, and be able to write in accordance with the texts we respond to.
    As the name implies, this course studies humans and their culture. An important dimension of this course is to allow us to learn more about ourselves. Learning our history, our tradition, and our culture enables us to know more about ourselves as individuals. This course is designed to make us reflect upon our lives in terms of different texts we encounter.
In order to understand the nature and aims of this course, please see "The Humanities Program at Earlham College" http://www.earlham.edu/~hum/

Required Texts: (Available in Earlham College bookstore)
Toni Cade Bambara, "The Lesson"
Montaigne, "Of Cannibals"
Willa Cather, Death Comes for the Archbishop.
Plato, Crito.
John Locke, The Second Treatise on Government
Bernard Lewis, Cultures in Conflict: Christians, Muslims & Jews in the Age of Discovery
David  M. Oshinsky, Worse Than Slavery"Parchman Farm and the Ordeal of Jim Crow Justice.
An Earlham, Humanities Reader: Hearing the Miami People:
    Gerard Hopkins, "A Mission to the Indians from the Indian Committee of Baltimore Yearly Meeting to Fort Wayne, in 1804."
    A Citizen of Baltimore, "The Life of Elisha Tyson, the Philanthropist."
    Vine Deloria, Jr., "American Indians in Historical Perspective," "The Evolution of Federal Indian Policy Making."
Louise Erdrich, Love Medicine.
 

Course Requirements and Evaluations: You are expected to write two 2-3 page, six 4-5 page papers.
Your papers must be double spaced and typed in 12 point font (There should be approximately 250-300 words per page).
Your papers are expected to explicate and interpret the texts that we read in this course. There is no need to do additional research beyond these texts.
Papers must always be turned in at the beginning of the class on the day they are due. If you skip a class in order to finish your paper (or for any other reason) your paper will be regarded as late. In order to be fair to students who pass in their papers on time, late papers will be graded down one notch (e.g. A to A-) for each day late (including weekends). You are responsible for making copies of your essays.

Starting with your second paper, you will work with a classmate in order to read and improve each other's papers. You are expected to read his or her paper seriously and give constructive comments. You will need to cooperate with your partner, but you must write your paper by yourself. You will have an opportunity to revise each paper in light of the comments that I and/or one of your classmates (your partner/reader) provide. You may improve your grade up to one letter- grade, if you revise your paper (i.e., from B+ to A+).

Since you will be writing your papers on the texts we read in this course you do not need to use secondary sources.
Plagiarism, [i.e., copying or paraphrasing the ideas and language of others (without acknowledging the source) from a book, from an article, from the Internet, etc., and thus implicitly presenting them as one's own] will not be tolerated. You will receive an F for that assignment, and may be subject to academic disciplinary action. For further clarifications on plagiarism, read The Humanities Handbook (pp. 26-28) and The Student Handbook under "Procedures and Penalties for Academic Violations." Plagiarism can be deliberate or accidental. It is your responsibility to know what plagiarism is and avoid it. If you are not clear about plagiarism you should discuss it with me.

Your grade will be calculated according to the following distribution:
1st Paper:  0%
2nd Paper: 5%
3rd Paper: 10%
4th Paper: 15%
5th Paper: 10%
6th Paper: 10%
7th Paper: 10%
8th Paper: 10%
Class Participation, Attendance, Peer Review and Quizzes: 30%

There will be no final exam.  In fact there will be no "exams" in this course.  However, there may be quizzes in order to make sure that all students complete their readings on time.  There will be no make-up for these quizzes.
In order to pass this course you are also required to complete a library assignment. Our library liaison will help you in this assignment.
Each student will meet with me individually within the first two weeks of classes. These meetings will give me an opportunity to get to know each of you.  We will also meet between October 15-17 in order to discuss the course, and assess progress.

Class Participation: The success of this course depends heavily on your contribution. In order for all of us to have a successful course your individual contribution will be needed. Consequently, you should feel a responsibility not only to me and to yourself (for the sake of your grade), but also to your classmates in this course. You have to come to class prepared having read the assigned readings, having written the assigned paper and ready to answer questions. If you miss more than three classes you will lose 30% of your grade (i.e., your entire participation grade).  If you miss more than six classes you will fail this course regardless of your grade.

Office hours are for students to discuss ideas, assignments and questions. You are encouraged and welcome to come by my office or make appointments for times other than scheduled office hours. You should take advantage of office hours and appointments not simply to discuss your papers (you are obviously welcome to do that too) but also to understand ideas, and texts discussed in class, or simply to discuss your ideas.

Our sessions will start at 1:00 pm. Students are expected to come on time. Walking into the classroom while the session is in progress is extremely disruptive for everybody; so is walking out while the session is in progress. I ask you not to do these.

Any student with a documented disability (e.g., physical, learning, psychiatric, vision, hearing etc.) who needs to arrange reasonable accommodations must contact the instructor and Disability Services Office (Academic Support Services) at the beginning of the semester. Accommodation arrangements must be made during the first-two weeks of the semester.

Calendar: There may be some modifications to this calendar. It is your responsibility to be aware of these changes. These changes will be announced in class. If you miss a class you should make sure that you are informed about the assignments for the next session.

Week 1:
August.30: Administrative/Introduction

Week 2:
September 3-6: Toni Cade Bambara, "The Lesson" First Paper (on Bambara)

Week 3:
September 10-13: Montaigne, "Of Cannibals" Second Paper (on Montaigne) First Version

Week 4:
September 17-20: Willa Cather, Death Comes for the Archbishop, Second Paper (on Montaigne) Final Version
        books I-IV(136 pp)

Week 5:
September 24-27: Cather, Death Comes, books V-IX (160pp), Third Paper (on Cather) First Version
September 29: Tribes of the Ohio Valley Fall Festival (attandance stronly encouraged)

Week 6:
October 1-3 John Locke, The Second Treatise on Government, Third Paper (on Cather) Final Version
Charles Lecture 1, October 3: Bill Lawson (attandance required)
Charles Lecture 2, October 4: Bill Lawson (attandance required)

Week 7:
October 8-11: Plato, Crito, 4th Paper (on Locke and Plato) First Version

Week 8:
October 15:  No Class:  Library assignment; Student conferences,  4th Paper (on Locke and Plato) Final Version
October 18: No Class: Midsemester break

Week 9:
October 22-25: Bernard Lewis, Cultures in Conflict: Christians, Muslims & Jews in the Age of Discovery, 5th Paper (on Lewis) First Version

Week 10:
October 29-November 1: Oshinsky 'Worse than Slavery, ' pp.vii-155. 5th Paper (on Lewis) Final Version

Week 11:
November 5-8: Oshinsky, 'Worse than Slavery,' pp. 156-255, 6th Paper (on Oshinsky) First Version
 

Week 12:
November 12-15: An Earlham Humanities Reader: Hearing the Miami People  (EHR: HMP)
        Hopkins, "A Mission to the Indians...from Baltimore Yearly Mtg to FtWayne in 1804"
        A Citizen of Baltimore, "Life of Elisha Tyson, the Philanthropist" 6th Paper (on Oshinsky) Final Version

November 17-25 Thanksgiving Break

Week 13:
November 26-29: Deloria, "American Indians in Historical Perspective", and "The Evolution of Federal Policy in 20th Century"
7th Paper (on Hopkins, A Citizen of Baltimore, Deloria) First Version

Week 14:
December 3-6: Erdrich, Love Medicine, pp.  1-193, 7th Paper (on Hopkins, A Citizen of Baltimore, Deloria) Final Version

Week 15:
December 10-13: Erdrich, Love Medicine, pp. 194-367,  8th Paper (on Erdrich) First Version
December 17: 8th Paper (on Erdrich) Final Version

Back to Homepage.