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HON 150 - Classical World View
Purpose: The purpose of this course is to acquaint beginning honors students with the cultural achievements of classical antiquity. This course shall focus exclusively on the ancient Greeks. The reason for this is threefold. In the first place, it cannot be denied that the Greeks are the forebears of western civilization. Their philosophy, politics, art, and literature have greatly influenced succeeding generations and succeeding cultures. The twentieth century philosopher Alfred North Whitehead once remarked that all philosophy has been, in a sense, a mere footnote to Plato. Much of what we are today we owe to the ancient Greeks, and the search for our intellectual roots at least ought to begin with them. Secondly, in so many areas of human intellectual enterprise, the Greeks found themselves to be without predecessors. They were writing on a clean slate, or so they believed. As a consequence, we do not have to understand other cultures before we approach the Greeks. In fact, much of Greek literature is preoccupied with analyzing the accomplishments of Greek' culture, and that makes our task much easier. Finally, the Greeks were the first to promote the concept of a liberal education. And the inquiry into the meaning of a liberal education is a particularly apt starting point for the beginning honors student. That is why Plato's Republic stands at the core of this course. For within this most famous of all Platonic dialogues is a discussion of the purpose of a liberal education, the content of a liberal education, and the kind of student who would be most likely to benefit from such an education. back to top
Attendance Policy: Class time will be used for lectures, student presentations, and discussion. Attendance is mandatory. All excused absences are to be confirmed in advance of the class meeting either by note or email. The email subject title must be in the form: "HON-150 attendance <dd/mm> <Lastname>". Absences must present a rationale. Confirmation of an excused absence will be made by the instructor by email prior to the class meeting. Without a prior confirmation, the absence counts as unexcused. A maximum of two unexcused absences are permitted during the semester. If, for any reason, a student misses a class where he/she is scheduled for a presentation that absence is counted as unexcused. Each unexcused absence over the maximum allowable will deduct 1/2 letter grade from the final course grade. Assignments: Students may expect a wide variety of assignments, some quite surprising. Assignments must be completed and ready to hand in either before the due date or when the class commences on the due date, not during class. Otherwise the assignment is late and will be devalued accordingly. The email subject title for any emailed assignments must be in the form: "HON-150 project 00x <Lastname>". Some assignments, indicated beforehand, cannot be submitted late without failure. Research Paper: There will be one five-page formal research paper on a pre-Socratic philosopher. A ten-minute PowerPoint presentation of the paper is required. Papers may not be read. Presentations may be interrupted with questions. Journal: Each student will keep a reading journal online. For each class session, the student will be given a reading and writing assignment. The written assignment will be emailed to the instructor prior to the class with the subject title "HON-150 journal <dd/mm> <Lastname>". If something prevents the written assignment from being emailed, a disk copy is to be handed to the instructor at the start of the class. The journal entries will be posted on the student's personal web site on a single journal web page in the order in which they were assigned. The web site must be updated each weekend. It is important that these assignments be done individually, without the employment of outside references (that includes any of the standard digests and commentaries -- Cliff Notes, Monarch Notes, etc. -- which shall be construed as plagiarism). Class Notes: At the beginning of each class, two students from each section will be assigned to take notes. These students need not actively participate in class discussion, though they may do so if they choose. After class, the two students are expected to consult on the notes and are encouraged to work together on-line. The students are required to submit identical sets of notes to the instructor by email before the next class session. Class notes need to be submitted with the subject title "HON-150 notes <dd/mm> <Lastname>". These notes will be posted on the class web site for review. If, in the opinion of one partner, the other fails to contribute substantially to the notes, the notes may be submitted individually. If the instructor received two different sets of notes, the instructor will evaluate them both and determine which, if either, is the official set of notes and which of the two students is to receive credit. He may not give credit to both. Class Preparation: Each day before the discussion begins, two students will be responsible for introducing new background material. A flip of the coin will decide which student goes first. The student who goes second must introduce some material not covered by the first student and not merely repeat what has already been covered. Discussion/Message Board: Students are required to participate in the online discussion at least once a week. Students will respond to the most recent prompt. When five students have responded to a specific prompt, it is the duty of the student who has logged on to provide a new prompt before leaving the board. All prompts must be explained by the proponent; it is unseemly to pose a question and run away without offering an explanation of why this might be an important question. Collaborative Project: Each student will be assigned to a cross-sectional group for the purpose of completing a group project. The class project will consist of creating a virtual Greek city online with each group reconstructing a site. Students will be responsible for filing individual reports on their contributions and evaluating participation within the group as well as evaluating the work of other groups. Examinations & Grading: There will be no midterm examinations, but one comprehensive take-home written essay will be given at the end of the term. There may also be a final comprehensive oral examination. For the oral, the questions will be provided in advance. Some projects may receive grades from outside evaluators. Journal entries, contributions to the class web site, and participation will be factored into the overall grade. Weighting of the various grade components will be determined by the instructor sometime shortly before the grades are due. The class grading curve will be unavailable until the final week of the term. Accordingly, it will be difficult to know precisely where an individual student stands. Students wishing to know what grades they have accumulated may consult the instructor privately. The instructor will notify any students who may be receiving grade of C or lower for a midterm grade prior to midterm and will counsel those students shortly thereafter (possibly contracting for a grade). *Note: for email subject titles, <dd/mm> translates into the date and month, e.g. 10/11 for October 11. <Lastname> is your last name. "<" and ">" do not belong in the subject title, but indicate that you must make a substitution. 00x translates into project number, e.g. 003 for the third project.
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