Adapted from image (c) Piotr Gryko under Creative Commons attribution/share alikeHumanities 160:
Mystery of Humanity—Birth, Sex, and Death
Fall 2009 Professor Colleen Boyle
Room B-2 devushka99@gmail.com
9:40 – 11 a.m. PS-117, x4289
Section 8627 Office hours: 12:40 – 1:30 p.m.
Introduction
In what ways are humans unique among beings, and in what ways are we similar to other beings? What is the process by which we interact with and perceive the world, and how does this shape our experiences and view of ourselves? How does culture affect our perception and interaction with the world? To what extent are human qualities universal, and to what extent are we irreconcilably different from one another, either as individuals or as members of a culture? What duties do we owe ourselves by virtue of our humanity? What do we owe to others? These are all questions that we wrestle with as we struggle to find out place in the world as human beings.
Course Description
This course examines the uniqueness of humans, drawing from multiple disciplines and focusing on five life events and questions: birth, death, gender and sex, marriage, and the question of how to live a good life. It will look at cultural impact and possible universal human qualities.
Course Goals
By the end of the course, the student will have learned
1. How disciplines like biology, psychology, cognitive science, philosophy, religion, the creative arts, and law contribute indispensably to our understanding of ourselves as humans and our attempts to discover what it is to live a fulfilled human life.
2. To develop concise, detailed 1-2 page papers in which they explore an issue raised in class presentations and discussion, present a clear point of view on the issue, and present their own carefully developed ideas in support of that point of view.
3. To word together effectively in groups to develop and clearly present an extended consideration of a topic raised in lecture and class discussion.
4. To begin to synthesize, compare, and critically evaluate the contributions of different disciplines to our exploration of human nature and meaning.
5. To have a more sensitive understanding of the ways in which grappling with the issues raised by the humanities helps us to develop a more engaged, perceptive, and nuanced life.
Required Books
Materials to be handed out in class or accessed on-line. Copies of the readings are also available on reserve in the library. See the schedule (attached) for details.
Requirements
1. Students should come to class regularly and be prepared to discuss the assigned reading, the previous class lecture, and the issues raised by both. Being prepared means being able to reiterate the central points of the reading or other assignment, to point out questions that call for further study, and to respond respectfully and intelligently to other students.
2. We will have a short quiz on the assigned reading at the beginning of every class meeting. The quizzes make up 10% of your grade, so be sure to keep up with the reading and come to class on time!
3. Students will complete the following assignments:
Three 1-2-page short essays: 20%
Midterm Examination: 15%
Final Examination: 15%
Group Projects: 25%
Participation: 15%
Daily Quizzes 10%
3. All projects should be submitted on time. Late projects will be graded down by 1/3 of a grade for every day of lateness, including weekends. If you must miss class because of a serious illness or emergency, contact me right away so that we can arrange an extension to the project.
4. It is essential for success in the course that you complete all assignments and readings on time, that you set aside time to engage with the assignments seriously and openly, and that you come to each class prepared. Group projects, daily quizzes, and participation together count for 55% of your course grade, so you cannot pass the course if you have excessive absences. Contact me if you must miss any portion of the class because of an emergency or illness to schedule a make-up assignment. You should be prepared to spend 4 – 6 hours outside of class each week working on reading, writing and other homework assignments, reviewing notes, completing projects, and working with your group.
Standards
For this course, it doesn’t matter if your grammar is imperfect. It does matter that you approach all of your projects with honesty, openness, clarity, and rigor; that you approach the issues raised by your reading, class discussion, and lectures with all of your intelligence and sensitivity, and that you genuinely try to incorporate your deepening understanding into your own projects and group work. You should express yourself as clearly and concisely as possible in your essays and answers. It does not matter what position you choose to defend in your work. It does matter that you clearly present your position, think carefully about your reasoning, and take account of issues and arguments we have covered in class.
The following are general grading standards: A an excellent, detailed account of the issue assigned, demonstrating an unusual level of
sensitivity in the attempt to grapple with the assigned project, and making use of careful and original reflection and a strong attempt to engage the issue.
B a good grasp of the issue, demonstrating sensitivity in the attempt to grapple with the assigned project, and making use of some original reflection and an attempt to engage the issue.
C a basic grasp of the issue, demonstrating some sensitivity in the attempt to grapple with the assigned project, with little evidence of original reflection or attempt to engage the issue.
D failure to grasp the issue, demonstrating little sensitivity in the attempt to grapple with the project; demonstrates a low level of knowledge gained from reading, lecture, and discussion.
F no attempt to engage the assigned project; demonstrate a very low level of knowledge gained from reading, lecture, and discussion.
Slight variations will be indicated with a +/-
Group Projects
A major component of your grade will be the group projects you’ll work on throughout the semester. Your grade for group work will be comprised of two equal parts: one will be the overall quality of the group project itself; the second part will be the level of your own participation in the creation of the content of your group’s project. You will be expected to attend every in-class group meeting, to participate actively in those meetings, to have your own contribution to the group project prepared on time, and to work cooperatively and constructively with your fellow group members. Failure to do so will be reflected in the individual portion of your group project grade.
Plagiarism and Academic Integrity
The standard penalty for violations of academic integrity in this course will be an F grade for the course. Such violations include cheating on an exam, helping someone else to cheat, resubmitting a paper written for another class, and plagiarism. Plagiarism is the representation of someone else’s words or ideas as one’s own. The most egregious cases of plagiarism are easy to avoid because they are so obviously dishonest:
• turning in someone else’s paper as your own
• allowing someone else to turn in a copy of your paper as his or her own
• downloading a paper from the internet and altering it a little to fit the class
• employing a “research service”
Be warned: instructors are quite adept at recognizing cases of plagiarism.
Other cases of plagiarism are more subtle. Sometimes students plagiarize unwittingly, out of carelessness or ignorance of the standards for attributing ideas to their sources. However, ignorance is no excuse. You are responsible for knowing the standards and taking care to follow them.
Whenever you make use of another’s words or ideas in a paper, you must give proper credit. Usually this means inserting a footnote or a parenthetical reference. If you’re not sure how to give a proper reference, consult a style guide or your instructor. Your instructor can also answer questions about when you must give a reference. If in doubt, play it safe.
You must provide a reference not only when you use the exact words of another, but also when you paraphrase her words, summarize her ideas, or borrow her metaphors.
When you do use someone’s exact words, be sure to mark them as such, either by putting them in quotation marks or by setting them off from the main text and indenting them on both sides. Be careful not to change the wording at all in a direct quotation; if you must change it, use square brackets
When you paraphrase, state the author’s ideas in your own words. Don’t just rearrange the words in the sentence and replace some of the words with synonyms. Note: even though you’re using your own words, you still need to give a reference, since the idea is not yours.
You may not work with anyone else on any of the assignments unless I specifically instruct you to do so. All of your written work must be original and unique.
Etiquette
During the class period, please turn off all non-medical electronic devices. Yes, that means your laptop and your phone, even for texting. For emergency contact, please instruct your contact to call police services. Private conversations are not appropriate during class.
We will be discussing a variety of sensitive issues in the course. You may hold passionate beliefs about some or all of those issues. Please remember to always treat the opinions and beliefs of your classmates with dignity and respect, even when you strongly disagree with those opinions. You may be asked to leave the class if you fail to treat any of your colleagues with civility.
Be respectful of the class and of your colleagues. You are not forced to attend class; therefore, if you would prefer to engage in other activities such as checking email, texting your friends, chatting with friends, or surfing the web, please do so elsewhere. Many students make enormous personal sacrifices to attend college; please don’t disrupt their class. You will be asked to leave if you’re disrupting class. While you are in the classroom, you are expected to make a genuine attempt to engage with the classroom activities.
Disabled Students Programs and Services
The Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Section 504, requires Contra Costa College to make all programs accessible to qualified individuals with learning, physical, or psychological disabilities. Students who would like to receive accommodations for their learning, physical, or psychological disabilities should contact the Disabled Students Programs & Services (DSPS) office (in the Student Services building) and schedule an appointment. (510) 235-7800 ext. 7220.
Please feel free to come see me in my office or to send me an email is you have a disability you think I should know about, or if there’s anything else I should know about.
Schedule Spring 09
This schedule is provisional and subject to change. Students are responsible for keeping abreast of changes, which will be announced in class.
All homework and essay assignments should be typed.
Assignments should be completed for the day on which they’re listed.
Introduction
8.18 Introduction: What are the Humanities?
Birth
8.20 Homework: read “Defining the Moral Community” by Maryanne Warren. In class: Humans and Persons.
8.25 Community Practices and Rituals of Birth.
8.27 First Short Paper due: what communities do you identify with? What values do those communities hold? Group work in class – create your own community celebration of birth.
9.1 Group work in class – create your own community celebration of birth.
9.3 Group presentations in class – community celebration of birth.
9.8 Group presentations in class – community celebration of birth.
Love
9.10 Homework: read excerpt from Love, Law, and Civil Disobedience. In class: the ethics of love.
9.15 In class – group brainstorm and class discussion: what is love?
9.17 Love as Valuing the Relationship.
9.22 Movie (Normal).
9.24 Movie continued; freewrite and discussion in class.
9.29 Homework: bring in your favorite description or expression of love.
Sex
10.1 Meanings of Sex.
10.6 Homework: read “Like a Virgin” by Hannah Blanke. Group project in class: make a quiz.
10.8 Homework: read “Disgust and Group Oppression” by Martha Nussbaum. In class - lecture: the Nude in Art.
10.13 Second Short Paper due! Write up of your cultural object: choose an example of some object of culture (a film, magazine, game, book, etc.) that reflects a particular view about sex. Write a 1- to 2-page paper describing all of the ideas you can think of reflected in the example. Bring your object into class. Group work in class.
10.15 Group work continued.
10.20 Group presentations in class.
10.22 Midterm Review. Midterm review sheet handed out.
10.27 Midterm
Gender
10.29 Homework: read “From Mama’s Boy to He-Man” by Stephen Ducat. What is it to be male? Sex, gender, and society.
11.3 Homework: read “Excerpts from Remarks at the Science of Gender and Science” by Elizabeth Spelke. What is it to be female? Sex, gender, and society.
11.5 Group work in class: how does your gender affect your view of yourself and your life?
11.10 Group work in class continued.
Marriage
11.12 Homework: read “What is Marriage For?” by E.J. Graff. What does marriage mean? What has marriage meant?
11.17 What is Marriage for? continued.
11.19 Third Short Paper due! Family arrangements in other cultures. In-class: discussion and presentations.
11.24 Grade update and counseling
11.26 No class: Thanksgiving
12.1 Homework: read “The Fundamental Right to Marry” by Evan Gerstmann. Equal Protection and the Right to Marriage.
Death
12.3 In class: freewrite and discussion.
12.8 Lecture: Death in Art.
12.10 Final Exam Review; take-home final exam handed out.
12.17 Final Exam due in my office, PS-117, no later than 11:10 a.m.
