HMXP 102: The Human Experience Spring 2009

Dr. Leslie Bickford

Bancroft 207

Office Phone: 323-4564

E-mail: bickfordl@winthrop.edu

Web: http://faculty.winthrop.edu/bickfordl

Office Hours: MW 12-2 & by appointment

GOALS:

• Engage in serious consideration of various ways of defining and understanding the “self.”
• Accomplish the above by reading material thoroughly and reflectively and by making connections between the material and your understanding of yourself and other selves.
• Share your reactions and understanding with your classmates and learn to understand and appreciate other perspectives by listening carefully and communicating clearly.
• Gain an understanding of the ways in which knowledge—of oneself and other selves—is constructed, including the value and the limitations of such constructions.
• Learn to develop and communicate ideas by reading carefully, listening intensely, and writing and speaking clearly.

All of these will take place in an environment where the teacher is not present as an expert to convey important information, but rather as a co-learner who explores the topics with the students.  Student preparation and participation are therefore essential for the class to succeed.  Readings, discussions, and papers should all come together to help you clarify your thinking about key questions, such as

1. What is the role of education in your life?  What is your responsibility toward educating yourself?  What is the state’s responsibility?
2. What is personal responsibility, and how do we come to achieve a sense of it?
3. Where do we come from, and why are we here?
4. What is the role of nature in your life?  What do we as a society owe to nature?  How do we define what is natural?
5. What is the role of the community in your life?  Into which communities are you born, and which communities can you choose?  What does the individual owe to the community?  What does the community owe the individual?
6. What is your ultimate concern?  How does it shape your life?  Your sense of self?

TEXTBOOKS:

• Sinn, Jeffrey, et al, Eds. The Human Experience: Who Am I? 5th  ed.
• Harris, Muriel.  Prentice Hall Reference Guide to Grammar and Usage

GRADING:

Grades will be based on a standard ten point scale (90-100= A, 80-89= B, 70-79=C, 60-69=D, and 59 or lower=F).  You are welcome to talk with me at any point in the semester about your grades and should feel comfortable doing so.  The assignments and their respective weights are as follows:

·         Participation and engagement: 10%  This includes demonstrating understanding of the assigned readings, asking thoughtful questions, making critical comments, listening carefully to others, demonstrating curiosity about new ideas, being on time, and maintaining a positive attitude.  Contributions to class discussion should focus on the ideas being discussed and the logic behind your reactions to them.

·         Class discussion leader for a day: 10% Next week, you will all sign up for a day to lead class discussion on a certain reading.  You should investigate that reading carefully and fully and come to class on your assigned day ready to stimulate discussion with at least five insightful questions or ideas.  Make sure to get the class discussing, not just summarize the reading for us.

·         Movie Clips: 5%  Each of you is responsible for bringing in a 5-10 minute clip of a movie, TV show, or song that speaks to the issues of ONE of the units we discuss.  Please email me at least three days in advance with the movie, show or song, as well as how you see it fitting into our class discussion.  I will also need the information to create an MLA Works Cited entry for the source to post on the website so others might use your clip in their papers.  I’ll give you some examples myself as the semester progresses.

·         Group presentation: 15% I will assign you to a group in which you will work to find and analyze ideas on a certain topic through such pop culture sources as movies, song lyrics, and TV shows.  At the end of the semester, you will be responsible for a brief presentation that summarizes the topic’s appearance in the sources you have chosen, connects that topic to the readings from our text, and engages the class in a discussion about the topic.

·         Papers: 60% You will write four papers.  The first will count 10%, the second and  third will count 15% each, and the fourth 20%.  The assignment for each paper will be made well in advance of the due date, and you will have a minimum of two weeks to write each paper.  Each paper is due in hard copy to me at the beginning of class on the due date and must be submitted electronically through Turnitin.com by 12:00 that evening.  I will not read a paper until it is turned in through Turnitin.com.  You may revise the first three papers for a new grade, which will then be averaged with the original grade for that paper.  The original graded paper should be turned in with the revision. 

LATE PAPERS:

Papers are due at the beginning of class on the dates specified on the course calendar.  Late papers will be penalized one letter grade; papers that are more than 24 hours late will receive the grade of 0.  Papers turned in electronically (through email or turnitin.com) by the time due will not count as late, but I must have a hardcopy to grade.  Revisions of all of the first three papers are due a week from the date I hand them back to the class graded, so make sure I get a hardcopy in time to grade yours or you’ll lose the right to revise it.

PLAGIARISM:

I will not tolerate any form of plagiarism.  I will provide each of you with a handout describing the correct use of borrowed information before you incorporate any outside information into a paper.  Until then, please see your student handbook or your Prentice Hall Reference Guide, p.346.  A paper containing any un- or misdocumented material will earn an F at best and a 0 at worst.  Second offenses or extremely serious cases of plagiarism will result in a failing grade for the course. An excellent way to avoid potential problems with plagiarism is to bring drafts of papers to my office before the due date so that you and I may go over them.

ATTENDANCE:

Absences will lower grades for class participation.  Four absences will reduce your final grade in the class by 10%.  Six absences will mean you fail the course.  Students who must miss class should take full responsibility for all material covered during their absence.

AID & ENCOURAGEMENT:

Please remember that I am available to meet with you not only during my scheduled office hours but also by appointment.  The Writing Center, located in Bancroft 220, also offers FREE assistance to any and all students who want help with writing.  Please call ahead for an appointment.

STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES

Winthrop University is dedicated to providing access to education.  If you have a disability and need accommodations, please contact Gena Smith, Coordinator, Services for Students with Disabilities, at 323-3290, as soon as possible.  Once you have your Professor Notification Form, please tell me so that I am aware of your accommodations well before the first paper.