There is no frigate like a book
To take us lands away. --Emily Dickinson

15698 / Wednesday / 0079 Manoogian, Campus / 6:00-9:40 p.m.

Contact Information for Class Instructor

Moti Nissani

Department of Interdisciplinary Studies

5700 Cass, Rm. 2134 AAB

Telephone: 248-427-1957 (home)

E-mail: aa1674@wayne.edu

Class Webpage: www.is.wayne.edu/mnissani/cr/

Text: Coursepack sold in class ($12—some readings, and additional videos/music links, are also available online at: http://www.is.wayne.edu/mnissani/cr/content.htm).

Other Webpages of Interest:

· Instructor’s: www.is.wayne.edu/mnissani/

· Department of Interdisciplinary Studies: www.clas.wayne.edu/IS/

· Wayne State University: www.wayne.edu/

Grading

· Short research papers (25 pages total): 35%

· Final (questions given in advance): 30%

· Attendance 20%

· Participation and oral presentations: 15%

For Oral Presentations, you’ll need to give me an exact copy of your outline before you give your presentation.

Late Assignments and Re-Writes:  All papers submitted on time may be (unless you received an A or A- on the first draft) re-submitted anytime throughout the term (but no later than April. 10, 2007) for a higher grade. In that case, the final grade for that assignment will be the average of the grades for the original and revised drafts. If you submit hard copies, please attach the first instructor-edited draft to the final, clean draft. If you submit electronically, please submit your corrections, in green font, on the same document you received from your class instructor

Assignments submitted after the due date will be marked down 10%.

Attendance will be graded by hours missed in workshops and plenary sessions: 0 hours missed = A+; 2 hours=A; 4=B+; 8=B-; 12=C-; 14=D; ³16=E.

Attendance grade is a performance grade, and it does not take into consideration the causes of absence, of arriving late, or of leaving early. Coming in late or leaving early on any day or weekend will be factored into the attendance record. There is no need to advise your instructor in advance of prospective absences and their causes.  So if your house caught on fire, your car broke down, and all three of your children got married on the particular day of class, your instructor will be both sad and happy for you—and give you a zero attendance grade for that week. If you miss more than 12 hours of class time, you cannot receive a passing grade in this class. The reason for this is simple: a good part of the learning takes place in class, so, the less you attend (for whatever reason), the less you get out of this class!   I understand that things happen—and that is why we offer a make-up option (submitting extra assignments).

Picking up Extra Points:

1. You can pick up a 5% mark-up of your final grade with a perfect attendance score (never once missing a class, coming in late, leaving early).
2. You can pick up another 5% mark-up by being constructively critical in class or in your papers, taking your instructor and readings to task. In particular, if you catch me once in making a substantive, unequivocal (can’t argue about that) error (not about grades, or location of class, or time, but about the material we talk about in class and read at home), you get that 5% right away.

Grading Policy

A =   Excellent (A equivalent to 4.00 HPA; A-  equivalent to 3.67)

B =   Good (B+ 3.33 HPA; B  3.00; B-  2.67)

C =   Average (C+  2.33 HPA; C  2.00; C-  l.67)

D =   Poor (D+ 1.33 HPA; D 1.00; D-  0.67)

F =   Not acceptable ( F = 0.00 HPA). “F” replaces the former “E” grade.

I =   Requirements not met fully (at least 70% of the work completed with no need to attend further classes).  At the end of year, the University automatically converts an "I" into an "F." Extensions past academic one year will no longer be possible.

W = Student-initiated withdrawal from classes in three possible categories: WP (Withdrawal Passing), WF (Withdrawal Failing), and WN (Withdrawal Never  Attended). The old “X” grade has been eliminated. Students who do not complete coursework and who do not request a course withdrawal prior to the final exam will receive a failing grade of “F” under the new University-wide policy.

Grade Appeals: The ISP formal policy applies if a student disagrees with an instructor’s grade (see <http://www.is.wayne.edu/Policies/Grade%20Appeal%20Process.htm)>. The
appeal policy has two steps. First, talk with the instructor to see if the dispute can be resolved informally. If the first step fails, speak to the Department Chair, who will refer the matter to the IS Academic Standing Committee. Students may also consult the WSU Bulletin section on the Ombudsperson.

The Final Tests will take place on the 15^th week and will be entirely made up of the study questions that we’ll be given to you in advance. To do well in this test, and to get the most out of this class, you will need to attend all sessions, take notes, and read assigned material before class.

Make-ups: If you missed an assigned class presentation or assignment and want to avoid a ZERO for this part of your final grade, or if you missed a class and do not want your attendance grade to suffer, you can make up by giving us a sophisticated class presentation on a children book of my choice. Consult class instructor for details.

Two Writing Rules

There are two cardinal rules for writing in this class, aimed at bringing out and sharpen your own voice:

Closed Book Rule. Each and every writing and speaking assignment in this class must follow the closed book rule. For example, by summary of a short story I mean: Read the story as many times as you need to remember it well. Then, close the book and retell that story in your own words, the way you remember it. When done, and only when done, compare your version to the book’s for accuracy. Or, to take another example, by interpretation of a film I mean: watch the film, and explain in writing the point that the screenwriter and director are trying to make, and do not consult the internet for somebody else’s opinion about a film. I want to hear and help you develop your own voice.

Eighth-Grader Rule. Your main task, in each and every assignment, is to convince the reader or listener that you understand what you are talking about. To accomplish this goal, paradoxically, you must imagine that you are writing for an intelligent eighth grader who knows and understands nothing about the subject. So, use words that come naturally to you. Don’t try to impress anyone, but to communicate and explain. If she understands what you are talking about, you get an A; if she doesn’t, then probably you don’t, and you get a D or an F.

Plagiarism Advisory

The whole idea of going to college is for you to assert yourself, speak with your own voice, present your own views, bring your pertinent life experiences to bear on the topic or project you chose, make mistakes and learn from them. Obviously, you will obtain a great deal of information and opinions from others, but these will only be minor bricks in the edifice that you will build. That means that you can’t simply take someone else’s words or ideas and call them your own. When the words are someone else’s, you put them in quotes and give the source (see Documenting Scholarly Essays, pp. 131-133). You always write with closed books, closed internet, closed everything. When the ideas are someone else’s, you give that person credit. We are happy to work with people who are still searching for their authentic written voice, and we can help them find that voice—but only if they want to find it.

General Education Requirements

Wayne State is committed to imparting well-rounded education to all its undergraduates. To achieve this goal, the university created a set of requirements (e.g., mathematical proficiency, a minimum of one course in the life sciences) that must be met by each undergraduate. ISP 4760 satisfies the writing-intensive requirement.

Incompletes

Instructors are not permitted to give incomplete grades, barring documented cases of medical, family, or work-related unavoidable hardships. If you are going to miss 3 or more classes, the final, or fail to submit the major research paper, you can either withdraw from the class or receive an F.

Course Description and Objectives

Interacting with texts of all kinds and researching information can expand our horizons, liberate us, and safeguard our well being. Such activities give us more real choices and protect us from scoundrels and psychopaths. Reading and researching well should occupy center stage in any decent educational program, kindergarten to Ph.D. But, what typically goes under the name of education, in this world of ours, is often a waste of time, because it suppresses our natural curiosity, because it is not taught for its own sake, because it is authoritarian, because it seeks to dazzle us. The people who control our lives do not want us to think well and critically, or to be able to secure information on our own, and they make sure, through a variety of strategies (e.g., school boards comprised of businessmen, meaningless tests they control, grading 3^rd graders), that we don’t. We were made to memorize the multiplication table, leaving us to figure out on our own what multiplication is and what it is good for. We are made to memorize presidents’ names, but are rarely told that most presidents were servants of big business and enemies of the American (and the world’s) people. It is not easy to break away from this stifling authoritarianism, to reawaken our curiosity, but we can at least try by:

Þ Relying on the guided-discovery approach, which is based on the idea that we better understand things we discover ourselves.

Þ Interactive learning. We can’t possibly assimilate a 4-hour lecture. We learn by interacting with the material, listening to many people, talking ourselves.

Þ Discussing things that we are naturally interested in, and that are relevant to our own lives

Þ Challenging our belief systems. I’ll gladly answer your questions, if I happen to know the answers. But, more often than not, I’ll question your answers. This is my conception of good teaching—helping you escape the box. (My sincere apologies if anything I say, or imply, or ask you to read, offends you or makes you uncomfortable. I’m only asking you to consider and understand—not accept—alternative ways of seeing things. Once you understand what the out-of-the-box person says, you are strongly encouraged to dissent, disagree, find flaws, criticize).

à This class is consciously interdisciplinary, which means that, in any given class we may touch upon diverse, seemingly unrelated, topics. Moreover, although you’ll acquire some useful information in this class, this is not the main goal. The main goal is improving your reading listening, critical thinking, and research skills and making your more curious. At first, this broad scope and focus on skills development and motivation might appear disconnected, fragmented, strange. Soon enough you’ll get used to this style, perhaps even not wanting it any other way.

Repeats of Courses: Two rules apply. (1) Students may only repeat the same class twice. To repeat the same class a third time, an advisor must grant approval.  (2) Students may only have 3 total repeats of all of their classes. To repeat a fourth class, an advisor must grant approval.  Here is an example:  a student could repeat the following three separate classes: MAT 1800, ENG 1010, and PHY 2310. An advisor would have to approve the student to repeat a different class.

Policy on Course Conduct

v No one has to agree with anyone about anything, but we are going to treat everyone in this classroom, and their views, with dignity, respect, and an open mind.

v No cell phones may be used in the classroom. If you need a cell phone for emergencies, put it on “vibrate” or a similar feature and either answer during breaks or leave the room to respond.

v No laptops may be used while class is in session.

v Be considerate of others by placing all trash in appropriate containers and by not carrying on conversations during class.

Academic Success Center (2100 UG Library, 313.577.3165)

This center provides tutoring and supplemental instruction. It can significantly improve your chances of doing well in college.

Special Needs Students

If you are disabled, I shall be eager and happy to help you in any way I can. In addition, the Office of Educational Accessibility Services is as an advocate for disabled students. The Office is at the Student Center Building, Room 583, phone: 313-577-1851; Voice: 313-577-3365 (TTY).

Senior Seminar I: Fall 2007	15698 / Wednesday / 0079 Manoogian / 6:00-9:40 p.m.
First Class	Wed Sep 5
Last Day for Withdrawing from Class and Getting a Full Refund	Mon Sep 17
Degree Applications Due	Fri Sep 28
NO CLASS	Wed Nov 21
Last Class	Wed Dec 12
Final Exam	Wed Dec 19

He ate and drank the precious words,

His spirit grew robust;

He knew no more that he was poor,

Nor that his fame was dust.

He danced along the dingy days,

And this bequest of wings

Was but a book! What liberty

A loosened spirit brings!

--Emily Dickinson

Here is tentative weekly schedule, or, more accurately, a set of possibilities. We may decide to introduce changes as we go along. The most important thing to me is that you are engaged in our readings and discussions. For instance, if we get involved in a debate that is going very well, we shall put our weekly agenda on the back burner. So, if you miss a session, don’t automatically assume that what’s in the schedule is what we did. Instead, send me or a classmate an e-mail first, to find out how the schedule might have changed.

Emily Dickinson

Woodie Guthrie

Martin Luther King

Charles Floyd

Sept. 5, 2007 (Week 1): ????Questioning???? Our Answers

Technical

· Coursepack sale (volunteer treasurer is needed; receipts available)

· Revising class roster on my laptop (volunteer computer operator is needed)

· A look ahead: schedule, readings, coursepack, syllabus

· Format: no scared or sacred cows

· How to survive, and get the most out of, this class

Today’s Goals

· 5 levels of interacting with texts: Contextualizing, Retelling, interpreting, critically evaluating, assimilating

· Interacting with texts: Carrying out additional research

· Interacting with ourselves: Questioning our answers. The greatest block to intellectual, moral, and spiritual progress is our inability to question our beliefs. Deep down we say to ourselves: “Who, ME wrong? ME brainwashed? Other people, sure, they could be wrong, and if they disagree with me, most likely they are wrong.” But it’s almost impossible for us to apply this to ourselves.

Recurring Features in Every Class:

· Show & Tell

· This Week on the Internet

Labor Day Celebration:  Bring Back the Eight-Hour Day: Lyrics Music

Writing & Discussion Questions:

1. First writing assignment for this class: Let’s listen to and read this song, close our books, and try to figure out what the singer/writer is telling us. The song is actually an argument trying to convince us to do what? To understand his argument, we’re given several reasons and background information. What are they?

2. The next part of your writing assignment: This song was written about 10 years ago. Does it apply to today? Have things improved, stayed the same, got worse?

3. Now stop. We’ve right here more than 10 Americans. Let’s conduct a survey. How many hours do they work? Is their situation now better or worse than their parents’? Are they addicted to commercials and needless consumer junk (are they laying up for themselves “treasures upon earth where moth and rust doth corrupt and thieves break”)? Would they want to bring back the 8-hour-day?

4. Please submit this formal assignment at the end of this class.

5. Research component: The last part of your paper, due next week, is this: A brief history of the 8-hour-day in America.

6. Class discussion only: Why working Americans losing ground? What are the larger forces in American society that are taking leisure away from us?

Optional Activities (time permitting):

Pretty Boy Floyd

1. Retelling

2. Interpretation

3. Mock trial of Pretty Boy Floyd--30 minutes or less; we need a judge, prosecutor, secret ballot box (better than the one in Ohio, I hope); we’ll all, at the end, serve as the jury.

This Land is your Land

1. Prior to listening, please hand me a written answer: What’s this familiar song about?

àNow: Let’s listen to an old Bruce Springstein’s performance of this song, and read the lyrics in the coursepack: http://youtube.com/watch?v=1yuc4BI5NWU&mode=related&search=

2. Class presentation, answering questions:

· Was my written answer wrong?

· Why was it wrong?

· How did Moti (your instructor, pronounced Mo—more without the r, and Tea as in a cup of tea) know in advance that I’d be wrong? Magic?

Discussion of essay: One Day You’re Gonna Wake Up, America (http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article17651.htm)

Martin Luther King

Please answer in writing, without talking to anyone or consulting notes: What did MLK stand for?

Now, let us, each of us, read aloud what we have written, and I’ll compile a composite profile of the man’s ideals.

Let us now listen to him talk, taking notes about what he himself said he stood for.

And, to understand the speech better, I carried out some additional internet research. Let’s read that too.

Class Discussion:

· What picture of MLK emerges from this speech, articles?

· Compare your beliefs, beliefs of class as a whole, to the real MLK.

· Why are so many people wrong about something so simple? I mean, we have a national day commemorating King’s birthday, and yet what we say of him is akin to saying that Albert Einstein was only a violinist, or like saying that Michael Jordan was only a baseball player (both were, but just saying that about them misses something important)

· How could I predict what you, a stranger, won’t know about MLK?

· Who killed MLK?

Write by next week: Answer to research question above (A brief history of the 8-hour-day in America). Note: All late assignments are marked down 10%

Read by next Week:

Þ Interdisciplinarity: What, Where, Why?

Þ The Blind Men and the Elephant (John Godfrey Saxe)

Þ

The Stub-Book (Pedro Antonio de Alarcón)

Þ A Sound of Thunder (Ray Bradbury)

Tentative final exam questions (to be revised later):

1. Summarize, support, and argue with the argument of “Bring back the 8-hour day.”

1. Retell and interpret Pretty Boy Floyd (min.: 70 words)
2. Lessons I’ve learned from This Land is Your Land and MLK exercise, following this outline: Title / My name. I. Introduction. II. Discrepancy between what most Americans believe about the song and what the song writer’s intended it to say. III. Discrepancy between the real King and the media-concocted King. IV. Have I made the same error (don’t rationalize, now, but look at what you have written). V. Why was I/we so off base? VI. Personal lessons to my own life. (min.: 350 words).

John Godfrey Saxe

Pedro Antonio de Alarcón

Ray Bradbury

Sept. 12 (Week 2): Interdisciplinarity

Show & Tell

Remembering 9/11: Loose Change (excerpts only) / Remembering Pat Tillman

We’ll continue with a discussion of the readings, answering in writing as many of the questions below as we can.

3. What is interdisciplinarity?

4. Where do you find it?

5. What is it good for (here rely on the article, Saxe’s poem, Alarcón’s story )?

6. Retell The Stub-Book

7. Defend the statement: The Stub-Book is an example of interdisciplinarity

8. Retell A Sound of Thunder

9. Defend the statement: To really understand Bradbury’s story, we must know something about the disciplines of psychology, history, biology, physics, and chaos theory—to mention a few

⇨Please hand your answers to the questions to class instructor.

By next week:

Read: Elephant Ear (Aiken)

Read: She Sings Me to Sleep with Laughter (White)

Read: Excerpts from An Open Heart (Dalai Lama)

Joan Aiken

Dalai Lama

Don White

Sept 19 (Week 3): We Can Change

· Show & Tell

· This Week on the Internet

Class Discussion and Writing Workshop

Þ Elephant’s Ear

Þ She Sings me to Sleep with Laughter

Þ Open Heart (Tibetan Buddhism)

Þ Bread and Tulips (film)

Test and discussion question

10.Compare and contrast Elephant Ear to Bread and Tulips.

Please hand in your written essay to class instructor.

Next Week

Þ Bring to class: One or more bible(s)

Þ Prepare a class presentation on your favorite Dr. Seuss (anything except The Zax), or Shel Silverstein, or other children’s poem (or song—I’ll have a CD-tape player here). Your presentation should consist of the following:

§ Giving me a copy of your outline before your talk

§ Reading well (rehearse at home please) (or singing) the poem to the class

§ Applying the 5 levels to it: context, retelling, interpretation, critical evaluation, meaning to you

§ Sharing with us the results of additional background research, if necessary (dictionary, background information your listener may need to understand your presentation)

§ Anything else?

Parting reflections by each participant: Have I learned anything worth while today?

Shel Silverstein

Dr. Seuss

John Prine

The Eagles

Sept. 26 (Week 4): Children’s Poetry / The A, B, C of Text Interpretation

Show & Tell

This Week on the Internet

Your class presentation: A children’s poem or song

Today, I’d like to draw your attention to the fact that text interpretation is, at times, pretty straightforward. At other times, it’s complex, uncertain, or imaginative.

Dr. Seuss’s The Zax. Here, the point is transparent enough.

Your Flag Decal Won’t Get you into Heaven Anymore: Here, interpretation is more demanding, but doable. First, let’s be clear about a few minor points:

What kind of magazine is Reader’s Digest? Who does it belong to? Does it provide news, or, rather, a clever defense for just one mean tenet: Let those who have plenty of money have more, and let the rest of us shift for themselves? Have they ever been guilty of mentioning the dirty word class—let alone question the world’s criminally heartless maldistribution of poverty, and civil rights, and educational opportunities, and environmental rights?

So, who is this guy, the narrator of this song? Is there anything inside his brain, once you clear away the fireworks of chauvinism, the fog of Fox news, the smokescreens of Reader’s Digest? Can he think for himself?

Does the narrator believe his country’s propaganda system?

What are the pearly gates?

Who is Betsy Ross?

This is an old song: Has anything changed since?

The flags caused the narrator’s death, blocking his view. What is the meaning of this? What is Prine trying to say here?

Prine says our wars are dirty. Are they? Vietnam is too old, so let’s look instead at Iraq. Is Iraq a dirty war? Let’s go around, and try to dig up some dirt on this war, using our collective consciousness as a base.

Is heaven crowded with our victims? How many Iraqi children have we killed so far? How many Iraqi prisoners have we killed so far? How many have we tortured? How many people have been arbitrarily arrested, spent years in jail, with no legal counsel or trial? How would you feel if China, say, took over our country, stole our oil, razed our cities, tortured our young men? Do the Iraqis want us there? What is our reason for being there?

Prine says that “Jesus don’t like killing, no matter what the reason for.” Is this good English? What’s the point of using substandard English?

Carrying out additional research, an example

We usually listen to a song, listen to a professor, talk to someone, stumble on some fundamental truth, but go on, as if nothing happened. This is normal, for we’ll go crazy if we try to analyze and question everything. But sometimes we need to take hold of ourselves and REALLY listen. Here is an example of what we could do.

Let us think it’s possible that although we go to church every Sunday, we have no idea what Christ said and stood for (the MLK syndrome we met earlier). So, let’s form pairs, and divide the gospel according to Matthew among us, with each of us taking hold of a couple of chapters. In each case, the assignment is simple: Collect any verses that are relevant to this question: What does Jesus have to say about wars, and fighting back, and violence? Did he himself practice what he preached? Each pair will present the relevant material, chapter and verse, and from that we shall try to distill Jesus’ philosophy. This, in turn, will enable us to decide whether Prine is kidding, or dead serious, about Jesus.

Once we clear that hurdle, we’ll have a discussion (30 minutes or less): Should the USA get out of Iraq?

Hotel California

Sometimes, though, interpretation is even more difficult, either because we can’t figure out what the writer is trying to say, or because we see something in her work she herself doesn’t. To illustrate this ambiguity, let’s look at Hotel California. If you go to the internet, you’ll see that the question of this song’s meaning is of great interest to some people. One such interpretation can be found in your coursepack, following the song. But don’t read it, yet. Instead, let your imagination soar, trying to figure out the meaning of the song, and sharing your insights with us.

Final Test Question

10. Essay: Defend the statement: Some literary works can be readily interpreted, while others cannot. Please illustrate your answer.

Next Week

Þ Prepare to teach class: one of 11 Final questions (question to be assigned in class)

Oct 3 (Week 5): Final Preparation / Class Research Paper

· Show & Tell

· This Week on the Internet

Final: Presentations of 11 questions, each followed by instructor’s and participants’ comments

Pass Away the Time in Venezuela: Summary and interpretation

VENEZUELA
(John Jacob Niles)

I met her in Venezuela
With a basket on her head.
If she loved others she did not say
But I knew she'd do to pass away
To pass away the time in Venezuela.
To pass away the time in Venezuela.

I bought her a beautiful sash, a sash of blue
A beautiful sash of blue.
Because I knew that she would do
With all the tricks I knew she new
To pass away the time in Venezuela.
To pass away the time in Venezuela.

An when the ship, the ship put out to sea
The ship put out to see.
And she was taking leave of me
I said, "Cheer up. There'll always be
Sailors ashore on leave in Venezuela.
Sailors ashore on leave in Venezuela."

Her lingo was strange, but the thought of her beautiful smile,
The thought of her beautiful smile.
Will haunt me and taunt me for many a mile
For she was my girl and she did for a while
To pass away the time in Venezuela,
To pass away the time in Venezuela.

I. Venezuela: Geographical and Historical Background:

II. Slide show: A ride through South America.

III. Our Research Question:

Whatever Happened in Venezuela on April 14, 2002. Who is nearer the truth about a Venezuela "Coup": 

The Associated Press (NY Times) . . . 255-7

OR

The Tehran Times?  . . . 258-260

A more detailed outline of your research paper will be provided in class.

Oct. 10 (Week 6): Class Research Paper (cont.)

Show & Tell

This Week on the Internet

The Revolution will not be Televised:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gRUrQCTtNI

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2116247536148640415&sourceid=searchfeed

OR: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5832390545689805144&q=genre%3Anews+is%3Afree

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5832390545689805144&q=%22revolution+will+not+be+televised%22&hl=en

Oct. 17 (Week 7): Class Research Paper: Conclusion

àLocation: Computer Lab

Show & Tell

This Week on the Internet

Research Paper: Conclusion: What really happened (and who told the truth: TT or NYT)? Award-winning film. In-class research of paper documents, computers.

Overall conclusion: Can you trust the media?

Read by next week: (and ask yourself: what’s the writer’s point?)

Þ Star Beast (Nicolas Stuart Grey)

Þ The Wretched Stone(Chris Van Allsburg)

Þ The Good Example (Vicente Riva Palacio)

Rockwell’s Self-Portrait	Hogarth’s Self-Portrait	Harry Chapin
Antonio Vivaldi	Chris van Allsburg		Vicente Riva Palacio

Michael Smith

Oct. 24 (Week 8): Difficulties in Interpretation (cont.)

Show & Tell

This Week on the Internet

Þ Rockwell’s the Gossips vs. Hogarth’s Scholars Listening to a Lecture

Þ Cat in the Cradle vs. The Dutchman

Þ Vivaldi’s Spring

Þ Star Beast

Þ The Wretched Stone

Þ The Example

Test Question

11. Offer and defend your interpretation of one short story above (i.e., Beast, Wretched, Example) and of one other piece (i.e., Gossips, Scholars, Cat, Spring)

Read by next week

The Fight (Wright)

The Lottery (Jackson)

Stanley Milgram

Richard Wright

Shirley Jackson

Stan Rogers

0ct. 31 (Week 9): Human Nature

Show & Tell

This Week on the Internet

Milgram setup: What would you expect?

Obedience (film)

The Lottery: Why is this story so unsettling?

But there is a bright side to us too: Mary Ellen Carter

Discussion or Class Presentations: Are people inherently cruel and unkind?

To justify your view, use supporting and counter examples from your own life, politics, and history.

Looking back on and evaluating what we have accomplished so far

Discussion: Structuring the next 6 weeks. Anything you would like to see changed? Added? (It’s your education, after all). I left Weeks 11-12 open. Is there anything in particular you’d like to take a critical look at? Any wonderful piece of literature you want to see included?

Test questions

12. Retell: Wright, Jackson, Obedience film

Prepare for next week

A lesson plan for teaching the class something, derived from a play or a movie you saw, a short story, a book, a newspaper article you read, something you learned from your grandma. Or you can take one of the topics we covered earlier and re-visit it. Minimum length of your lesson: 5 min. Max.: 10 min. Don’t forget to give me a copy of your outline before you start!

Gloria Naylor

Nov. 7 (Week 10): Books on Tape: The Two (first installment) Class presentations: Your turn to teach us something! Wonders of Books on Tape (note: I’m deliberately using books on tape for this assignment, not a movie—why?): The Two Discussion topics: 1. Who is responsible for the death? 2. Naylor is trying to tell us something here: What could that be? For an update, click here.

Test topics and questions: None, if you have been here today. If not, an essay responding to The Two.

Read for next week

The Drinking Party (excerpts; Plato)

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave (excerpts, Chaps. IX, X—pay special attention to his views on religion).

(Pitts)

Leonard Pitts, Jr.

Socrates: The scorning lover

Alcibiades: The scorned lover

Frederick Douglas

Nov. 14 (Week 11): Sexual and religious preferences

Show & Tell

This Week on the Internet

Book on tape: The Two: Listening and class discussion

Reading aloud: A Civil War between Gays and Blacks (Leonard Pitts): Now, this little essay is pretty demanding, so let us be absolutely clear first about what Pitts is saying. To do so, we’ll try another tack: reading aloud again, together, and writing a summary of the main points on the blackboard.

Cultural influences: Fragments from Plato’s symposium (in ancient Greek, the word symposium meant drinking party). This is pretty straightforward, depicting a typical episode in the life of Athenians. Guiding questions:

Where is Athens?

Is it landlocked?

The events descried here happened when?

Who is Socrates?

What language did he speak?

What do we owe Socrates’ countrymen (watch out, I was strongly tempted to teach a class about these people, but decided not to even though it would have been far more interesting to me than what we’re doing now. But you do need critical reading more than Greek history).

But let’s get back to sex. What does these excerpts tell us about sexual preferences among these people? Who slept and fell in love with whom? What is the point I’m trying to make here about the nature of sexual preferences?

Now, we’re finally ready for a serious debate (30 min. or less, I’m taking time): Whose side are you on, Pitts and Naylor, or Kwame Fitzpatrick and George Bush?

Frederick Douglass on religion: Let’s crystallize his views in our own words.

Background discussion: Which religion was the black person’s only friend? Who made the underground railroad possible? Who founded the first anti-slavery chapter in the USA? What was his religion? (How come NO ONE here knows the answer, but everyone knows that ????? is the Lone-Star state?).

Class discussion and Test Question

14. Retell The Two (if you don’t remember this, check out The Women of Brewster’s Place from any library and read the story)

15. Concisely summarize Pitts’ views on blacks and gays

Douglass is pretty clear about religion, but this takes courage, for religious people have been known to burn and crucify those who disagree with them. Others are more subtle in their objection. Let’s listen to an old children’s song, the Unicorn, and try to figure out what the writer may be trying to tell us.

And let’s take the time to give another religion a cursory look (Tibetan Buddhism).

Next week: November 21, 2007: NO CLASS (Happy Thanksgiving!)

Somerset Maugham

Nov. 28 (Week 12): Show & Tell This Week on the Internet I. Book on Tape: Mr. Know-All II. Conversations with a Critical Thinker: Discussion III. Writing an essay—an illustration with one of our final test questions.

Dec. 5, 12 (Week 13,14): Open

Dec. 19 (Week 15): Final Examination

Class Gateway

Moti Nissani's Homepage

Dept. of Interdisciplinary Studies