INTRODUCTION

COURSE OBJECTIVES

In addition to these college-wide objectives, it is hoped that students will develop a life-long and joyous habit of self and cooperative education. The syllabus represents only the starting point for the intellectual romp to follow. For a four credit course like this one, students can expect to dedicate eight to 12 hours per week to research, reading and study. Planning for this will give you plenty of time to complete the required work AND delve further into issues that interest you, skulk about the library, surf the net, argue with group members, etc. Please bring the fruits of your play to class for the rest of us to enjoy.

Course Policies:

Regular class attendance is required. Instructors will keep records of class participation, the quality of which will be graded and comprise a percentage of the final grade.

End-of-class brief essays on in-class discussion may be occasionally assigned and will count toward the final grade. These essays cannot be made up.

Beginning with brief writing assignments, the course will increasingly require more polished essays and research papers. Late papers will have a one-letter grade reduction per day. No paper can be accepted if it is dually submitted to meet a requirement in another course.

In-class presentations by individuals or in groups will be graded.

Enhancement activities, such as museum assignments, special films, campus-wide lectures, plays, and concerts will be assigned. Attendance at these will count as part of the course requirement.

There will be no extra credit given for supplementary work.

Grades in the course can range from A through F. A grade of "I", for incomplete, can only be given for emergency conditions such as missing the final exam due to illness. Students must have completed all course work by the last day of class to be eligible to take the final exam.

Academic dishonesty is described in the brochure distributed by Student Affairs and the Student Handbook. Violation of this policy can result in severe sanctions as great as termination from the University. Proper citations must be provided when borrowing ideas or language in written work.

Students are asked to respect the integrity of one another by adhering to civility in discourse, gender-neutral and non-racist language.

Course Requirements

Exams: There will be an exam at the end of the second (Roman-numeralled) section of the course.

Bibliographies:  Students are expected to conduct independent research throughout the semester.  Each week students will submit an annotated bibliography of the outside material they have read for that week.  Bibliographies may not exceed one physical page, but should include full citation, evaluation, 1-10 rating and recommendation to other students.  Students must engage in at least one three week period of intense study of a theme chosen in consultation with the instructor.  For those three weeks, bibliographies should address the same them but be drawn from different volumes.

Presentations:  Each small group will be responsible for leading discussions.  Groups and dates will be assigned early in the semester.   Leaders should develop discussion questions that promote analysis of the text, illuminate connections with course themes and other texts used in the course, and inspire full participation by the class.  Presenters should not spend more than five minutes presenting background materials nor present mere summaries.  Presenters will be evaluated on their ability to start meaningful discussion, ability to incorporate other students' comments, effectiveness of communication (e.g. eye contact, enunciation, enthusiasm, visual or aural aids ), coordination with other group members, and creativity.   Students should submit a written copy of their discussion questions or activity outline.
 
Quizzes: Each week will start with a short reading quiz.

Participation: Students are responsible for full participation in the class. This includes making thoughtful contributions to class discussions. Additionally, some class time will be dedicated to group activity and plenary reports of that activity. The readings in this syllabus represent a framework, the bare minimum of required. Students are expected to identify, digest, and present issues and ideas from outside reading.  A tally of the number of positive contributions made by each student will be kept and used as an aid in calculating class participation grades.  Students who are reticent about public speaking may gain points via discussion held over the electronic mail system.

Final: There will be a comprehensive written final exam.

Grades: In ascending order,

greater than 60%= D-	greater than 63.3%= D	greater than 66.6%= D+
greater than 70%= C	greater than 73.3%= C	greater than 76.6%= C+
greater than 80%= B-	greater than 83.3%= B	greater than 86.6%= B+
greater than 90%= A-	greater than 93.3%= A

Themes of interest: We will be discussing the significance of (primarily) Western culture as both an intellectual event and as a force shaping the world. There are many themes that we might use as lenses to bring some aspect of our study into sharper focus. We will discuss the listed themes. Students may wish to keep these themes in mind as they read and organize their reading notes around them. Anyone may introduce additional themes or refine one of these.

• the relationship between the individual and collectivities.
• culture clash and perceptions of civilization.
• sex roles: what does it mean to be a man or woman?
• interaction between ideas and material culture.
• orientation toward metaphysics.
• power

Introduction

I.  Science, Faith, and Reason

II. Revolution and Romanticism

III.  Industrialization and Social Reform

  IV. The Modern Era: Dawning of the Global Village