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Hum
1110
Syllabus
(Course Summary) |
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Welcome to Hum 1110! This web page is a
traditional syllabus. It summarizes the course. Please use
this page primarily for checking out the course beforehand. Once
you start the course, please rely on the other pages of this web site
for fuller, more detailed information about assignments, grading,
points, etc. To see more information about the author, including
contact information, go to
www.RichardJewell.org.
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Additional Syllabus Information from the IHCC
Administration
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Welcome to
"HUM 1110—The Ancient World to the Renaissance" as taught by
me--Richard Jewell, your instructor. This four-credit course has an
assumed workload of about twelve hours per week:
approximately eight hours for homework and four hours for classtime activities.
The Inver
Hills Community College Web Site describes this course as follows:
“Hum 1110 The Ancient
World to the Renaissance”: 4 credits; 4 classroom hours/week….
Examines written works, art, architecture and music from Greece,
Rome, the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, e.g. Plato, Greek drama, the
Acropolis, Roman satire, Etruscan art, Dante, the Mediaeval Cathedral,
Shakespeare, Michelangelo, Machiavelli.
I sometimes offer
both face-to-face (physical classroom) or
fully-online (Internet) sections. For the four classroom hours per
week, the face-to-face ("F2F") section
takes place in a physical classroom about 2/3rds of the time and in an online
environment (a Web discussion board) about 1/3 of the time. The
fully-online ("FOL") section is a Web and Internet class that can be
taken by anybody in the world with regular access to email and the Web.
Both sections also involve some individual travel to several arts events and
activities such as local plays and/or museums.
I'd like to make this course not only interesting and
helpful to you, but also enjoyable. I would
like you to participate as actively in the class as possible, whether you are
taking the face-to-face ("F2F") or fully-online ("FOL")
section. In fact, part of your
grade is based on your active participation, so have fun, talk out and up about
class subjects in class and/or online, ask questions, and offer your input, especially when you are
engaged in interaction with other students in the class. The more you put into this class,
the more you'll enjoy it and the more rewarding you'll find it.
I also would like to make sure that all the materials, discussions and activities that are part of this
course are accessible to you. If you would like to request accommodations or other services, please contact
me as soon as possible. It is also possible to contact the Disability Services Office, L-224; phone,
651/450-8628; TTY, 651/450-8369.
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The
humanities are a wonderful and exciting field of study. They ask--and
sometimes answer--questions about what the meaning is of culture, society, the
arts, and life itself. This field covers
a number of disciplines--literature, philosophy, the arts, architecture,
religion, and other disciplines all are part of it. There are two courses
introducing the humanities at Inver Hills--this one is the first of the
two--that offer an historical approach. Thus we will
use the process of history as a background to explore the existence and meaning of
the humanities. We also will limit ourselves to a Western perspective: in
this course, we will discuss, primarily, European and to some extent Middle
Eastern roots of our culture, society, and arts. We will cover early
civilization, Greece, Rome, Judaism and early Christianity, the medieval ages,
and the renaissance.
I
will keep you busy with plenty of reading and writing this term. However,
most of the reading should be interesting, and most of the
writing will just be rough-draft, quickly-written writing for which you simply
receive a checkmark of credit if you do it. There are no objective tests,
and there is one graded written project at the end of the course.
Will the grading be tough? If you're willing to put
in the time and do all the assignments, the grading won't be particularly
difficult. My assumption is that most of you will work hard and earn an
average or above-average grade. There also will be a lot of group work.
Why use it? It's a highly efficient method for many people in exploring more
deeply and meaningfully their connections to the subject matter. (It also
is good training for your future professional jobs, where group work has become
a predominant way of working.)
Here are the kinds of class activities you can expect to be doing from week to
week for your attendance grade:
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FOL
(Fully Online) Section
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one evening of 1st class meeting in person (required of
everyone within two hours' drive of IHCC)
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3-5 evenings to visit theatres, museums, or architectural
sites. These generally will take place on Thursday evenings in or
around the Twin Cities as a group, but individuals may opt to choose their
own places and/or times that fit with the course content.
Students at a distance may visit such places in their own
cities.
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one individual consultation in person with me to discuss your
final paper (optional--may be replaced by extra online or other work).
(You also may visit me in my office as often as you like.)
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small-group work--several meetings, activities, and bulletin-board
reports (can be done in person, by
telephone, or online in a chat room)
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ONLINE: roughly, about two online class hours per week on a class
bulletin/discussion board (required)
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Your
online portion of the class breaks down something like this:
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FOL
(Fully Online) Section
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online discussion board: three different types of classes: (1) "Questions"--your
reflections upon questions I ask about the Humanities, the class, and/or
museum/play visits; (2) "Groups"--your reports of your small-group
meetngs; and (3) "Readings"--your thoughtful ideas and feelings
about your weekly textbook readings. Some of
your online work will consist of making initial statements, and some of it in
responding to each other's statements.
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Web reading: The syllabus, schedule, and assignment
materials all are on this Web site, as is one of your textbooks.
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Email: I'll sometimes send out messages to all of you as a
group.
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Humanities Web links: This is optional, but most of you probably
will use it at least some: a Web page called "Links to the Humanities" that
lists a wide variety of humanities sites on the Web. You may use it for
some of your weekly homework assignments.
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TEXTBOOKS
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(1) Required: Jewell, Experiencing the Humanities free on
the Web (you may read it on the Web or print it from the Web): just click on
"Humanities Textbook: Experiencing the Humanities" in the
buttons above.
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(2) Required: Internet email account and access to the course Web
site (start at http://Richard.Jewell.net,
click on "Course Web Site," and then click on "Humanities
1110."
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(3) Required--Choose just one of
"Set A," "Set B," " or "Set C" from the bookstore
or online sellers/renters--do not
buy two or three sets--as follows:
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Set A
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Lamm,
The Humanities, Vol. I, 10th ed.
(a thick book); &
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Fiero,
The Humanistic Tradition, Book 3, 6th (or 4th or 5th) ed. (a slender book)
For more details, see "Homework."
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Set A
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Witt, et al., The Humanities, Vol. I, 7th ed.
(a thick book); &
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Fiero,
The Humanistic Tradition, Book 3, 6th (or 4th or 5th) ed. (a slender book)
For more details, see "Homework."
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Set B
For more details, see "Homework."
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WORK LOAD
How much work is a typical college class? 3 cr. = 9 hrs./wk.; 4 cr. = 12
hrs./wk. That includes both class and homework. I'd like to ask you for your
commitment this semester to the expected amount of time for work. The Inver
Hills (and national) standard is three hours of work (two of homework and one of
class time) per week for every college credit, to receive an average grade. This
class is a four-credit class, so please plan on spending
at least twelve hours per week on class and homework: four on class and
eight on homework.
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How many assignments are there? A lot. However, most of them are short and
relatively easy. I'm asking for just one graded paper--at the end of the
semester. Almost all the other assignments are weekly, and they include a
number of short, rough-draft, quickly and even sloppily written papers done
either by pen or by computer printout: just neat enough for me to read them, not
revised, and written as quickly as you can. You'll get a check mark for
doing them and receive a grade at the end of the term for how many check marks
you've received. These papers are lab practice in a biology course: they
will show me you've done the readings and help you practice the humanities and
think about them more. I am doing these kinds of assignments instead of
having several objective tests or several graded papers because I believe that
in the long run, you'll learn more from writing on a weekly basis about what
you've read.
All papers must be on time. Late papers are
not accepted because most of them help you prepare for class discussions and
activities. Most assigned papers for any given week always will be due on
Wednesday of that week, online or on campus (for night classes, papers will be
due at the time you show up for class).
DETAILS ABOUT WEEKLY
PAPERS
Please remember that you may write these as "lab"
papers--in very rough-draft form--without worrying about grammatical usage,
spelling, or punctuation:
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Class Journals: your letters to me, in effect, about
yourself and the course, 300 w. each. Due at beginning, middle, &
end of term.
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Comments
on course book readings: your responses to the assigned textbook readings,
150 w. each, with at least 50+ w. on each chapter or literary reading.
Due every week, Weeks 2-14.
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Practice Activities: your rough-draft, academic practice of
the humanities (e.g., writing a paper) about one of the subjects and times
discussed in Lamm’s or Fiero's book (but you must do the actual reading
itself, or other activities, from outside the required
Lamm or Fiero readings). Due all but one week in Weeks 3-14.
You may make up missed attendance by doing extra
writing. No makeup is allowed of missed writing assignments.
However, you may complete extra-credit writing for a higher attendance grade to
help counterbalance a lower weekly-papers grade (or simply to raise your overall
grade).
DETAILS ABOUT GRADED
TERM PAPER (The Final Project)
To see specific instructions about the term paper requirements, please click
here:
Final
Project.
This final project may be a continuation or revision of one or more of your
weekly papers, or something new. It will consist of three
drafts. You may use any appropriately academic sources you choose to
develop the final project, as long as you choose a subject and time period that
was covered in the Lamm and/or Fiero historical textbooks (i.e., you must choose
an historical subject as covered in Lamm/Fiero).
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GRADING FOR THE SEMESTER
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35%: attendance or equivalent
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20%: Final Project Paper
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45%:
weekly rough-draft papers
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plus or minus up to 1-2 letter
grades from the above for participation, attitude, attention, hard work
WEEKLY PAPERS
This portion of your grade will be determined by how
many of your weekly, rough-draft, non-graded assignments you turn in. Each
assignment will be worth one or more check marks or "X's" of credit. If, by the
end of the semester, you have 90-100% of your possible X's of credit, you'll
receive an "A" for weeklies; 80-90%, a "B"; etc. (+'s and -'s will be used).
See "Attendance" below for more details.
ATTENDANCE
Attendance in is very important. Why? Much of what
you learn will be developed through your interactions with others. That is
what much of our online classes is about: expressing your ideas, giving feedback
to others, and getting it from them. In addition, four weeks (or the
equivalent) of our classes will be spent in hands-on, practical application of
the humanities: actually going to humanities places and events such as museums,
theaters, and/or architectural sites to see, hear, and sometimes even touch
cultural/social events. I ask that you attend online class regularly (or
do substitute work when you miss), and that you try to attend the cultural
events with the class or on your own.
However, if you are willing to do extra work outside
of class, you can also treat this course as a sort of semi-independent study by
regularly doing "makeup" work. Attendance is developed from how many times
you participate, and for how long, in the discussion boards, in on-campus
meetings or museum or play visits, or equivalent make ups of those. You
also can earn extra credit.
Grading system: Grading for
the semester is based on 100 X's (100 points or 100%) being equal to an A+.
The X's you can earn are divided as follows:
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45 X's
(or points): weekly homework papers
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35 X's
(or more): attendance and/or extra credit
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20 X's:
final paper (up to 20)
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Participation, attitude, attention, hard work--can slightly lower or raise
final letter grade
You
earn X's by completing the work. In attendance, an "X" (or a "V")
is about 70 min. of work. The same is true for extra credit - about 70
min. of work per X. In weekly homework, most assignments are worth 1 X
each, with a few being equal to 2 X's. By the end of the term, your
total X's will determine your grade as follows:
100 (or more) X's = A+
90-99 X's = A
80-89 X's = B
70-79 X's = C
60-69 X's = D
0-59 X's = F
Basically, you can determine your grade by how many X's you earn. The
method of doing well in this class is to earn as many X's as you can, depending
on what grade you want.
Lateness/Leaving Early: If you are 15 min. late to arrive or early to leave
a physical-classroom class, you'll lose half a credit
for that class hr.
Make up: You may make up 1 missed class hr. by doing 1 hr. of extra
Practice Activities, or 1 hr. of combined reading and Comments on a directly
related reading that is not in Lamm (or that we skipped in Lamm). You
also can make up 1 missed class hr. by watching 2 hrs. of directly
related videos, plays, movies, and TV; by listening intensively to music
(not while doing something else) of the periods we're covering; looking at
art books; etc.--I'm open to suggestions--and then
summarizing/explaining/commenting on what you've read, seen, or done for
100+ words per 2 hrs.
DISABILITIES
I am committed
to supporting
the learning of
all students in
my class. If you
have already
registered with
Office of
Accessibility
Resources and
have your Letter
of
Accommodation,
please meet with
me early in the
course to
discuss, plan,
and implement
your
accommodations
in the course.
If you have or
think you have a
disability
(learning,
sensory,
physical,
chronic health,
or mental
health), please
contact the
Office of
Accessibility
staff to learn
more about the
services and
supports
available for
students with
disabilities at
Inver Hills. OAR
staff can be
reached at
651-450-3884, by
visiting the
office in the
Learning Center
(L207) or by
visiting the
website at
www.inverhills.edu/LearningSupport/AccessibilityResources/
index.aspx.
RESOURCES FOR FINANCIAL CHALLENGES
Any student who
faces financial challenges securing their food or housing and believes this
may affect their performance in the course is urged to contact the
counseling department for support. The phone number is 651-450-3864 and
email is
counseling@inverhills.edu. Furthermore, please notify me if you are
comfortable in doing so. This will allow me to help connect you personally
with the counseling department.
MOBILE PANTRY
The Mobile Pantry is brought to Inver through a
partnership with The Open Door Pantry. Students can select FREE food for
themselves and their family members. The food includes FRESH fruit and
vegetables, deli items, dairy items, meat, eggs and also some other
nonperishable items. Students can also get things like DIAPERS or formula
for their children or other personal hygiene items! The Mobile Pantry is on
campus Wednesday afternoons 12-2:30. There are no income requirements or
limitations. All students are eligible. If you have questions or would like
to sign up for this resource please call our counseling appointment line at
651-450-3508 or email us at
counseling@inverhills.edu and ask to make an mobile pantry intake
appointment with a counselor.
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I hope you enjoy the class. If there's anything I can do to help you enjoy
it more--alternatives, help with understanding something, etc.--come see me,
email me anytime, or call me from 9 am-9 pm. My phone number, email
address, and other info are at the beginning of this syllabus.
Fully-Online Section: See How To Start Online.
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