Humanities Website
II. COURSE DESCRIPTION AND PREREQUISITES:
Catalog Description: The Western Humanities Tradition: An exploration and analysis of major ideas and questions in the humanities, as these have been expressed in works from the ancient past to the modern world. A student cannot have credit for both this course and HON 251. Prerequisite: ENG 104, or 105 or equivalent.
III. COURSE OBJECTIVES:
Upon completion of HUM 211, students should be able to
1. demonstrate a familiarity with a variety of significant works from the humanities as these engage transhistorical ideas and questions.
2. express in writing how works in the humanities engage each other in addressing enduring ideas and questions,
3. analyze how various texts express or challenge one or more enduring ideas within and across cultural-historical boundaries.
IV. CONTENT OUTLINE:
The course readings are divided into three units:
The Ancient World
The Middle Period
The Early Modern Period.
V. INSTRUCTIONAL ACTIVITIES:
Class activities include brief in-class writing exercises, discussion of readings and background lectures. In addition, out of class writing exercises will often be required.
VI. FIELD, CLINICAL, AND/0R LABORATORY EXPERIENCES:
Collegiate and cultural events, films and forums are provided. Students may write up their responses to these events for extra credit. Students are encouraged to use the Internet as well.
VII. TEXTS AND RESOURCES:
Texts:
3-volume Bedford Anthology of World Literature
Ibsen, Henrik, A Doll's House
Molière, Tartuffe
Stevenson, Robert Louis, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Voltaire, Candide
Some materials are on the Humanities Web Site. See link above.
Some materials related to the texts are on other sites. See links by these texts.
Resources:
Students may use computers to surf the Internet and to type their papers.
Students are encouraged to communicate with the professor via e-mail about their papers and attendance.
The Racer Writing Center offers free, one-on-one assistance with all aspects of writing, at any stage in the writing process, and for any class a student may be taking. To make an appointment, please call 809-2267 or drop by the center in the northeast corner of Waterfield Library. To make the best use of your time there, please bring a copy of your assignment with you. The Writing Center will not proofread (mark corrections on) papers or talk with you about grades.
Racer Writing Center
VIII. EVALUATION AND GRADING PROCEDURES:
There will be 1 exam, both essay and objective, plus 2 typed papers, at least 750 words, on interpretive, analytic, or comparative topics. All essays must be written on at least one assigned Humanities work.
Extra papers, including major overhauls of poor essays, may be handed in for extra credit. All essays must be revised. Satisfactory minor revisions will get a check, more extensive revisions a check plus or double plus. Each paper and exam will be counted equally. This unit is 75% of the grade.
Quizzes and optional extra-credit assignments, such as written evidence of attendance at previously approved university and community events, count a total of 10%. Each quiz and piece of written evidence will count 10 points towards the 10%. Alternatives to missed quizzes may be handed in provided the absences are excused and the professor approves.
Students are required to participate in an online activity that will be used to assess the Humanities Program in 2013-2014. Students will receive extra credit points for this exercise. More information will be provided at the start of the semester.
The final exam, both essay and objective, counts 15%.
Essay grades are based on style, content, organization, spelling and grammatical accuracy, handling of any appropriate research material, as well as promptness. Papers late without excuse will be marked down one step of a grade (e.g., A to A-, B+, etc.) for each class period after the due date.)
Papers that are too short must be augmented to the proper length and then will be marked down one step of a letter grade for each class period after the original due date. Papers and exam essays not on the assigned works or topics will not be graded. Revised versions on the assigned topics will be marked down one step of a letter grade for each class period after the original due date.
A=90-100, B=80-89, C=70-79, D=60-69, E=0-59
Students must complete all the work to receive a passing grade in the course.
IX. ATTENDANCE POLICY:
Students are expected to attend each class meeting. The course policy for excused absences is consistent with the policy published in the current Undergraduate Bulletin. Regular class attendance is vital to academic success.
The official Humanities absence policy will be enforced. The course grade will be lowered one-third of a letter grade for each unexcused absence over three. To avoid the grade penalty, students must offer plausible excuses, preferably authorized written ones, whenever they miss classes. All students must be aware that missing more than 25% of scheduled class sessions (10 classes) without excuse will result in automatic failure of the course.
X. ACADEMIC HONESTY POLICY:
Murray State University takes seriously its moral and educational obligation to maintain high standards of academic honesty and ethical behavior. Instructors are expected to evaluate students’ academic achievements accurately, as well as ascertain that work submitted by students is authentic and the result of their own efforts, and consistent with established academic standards. Students are obligated to respect and abide by the basic standards of personal and professional integrity.
Violations of Academic Honesty include:
Cheating - Intentionally using or attempting to use unauthorized information such as books, notes, study aids, or other electronic, online, or digital devices in any academic exercise; as well as unauthorized communication of information by any means to or from others during any academic exercise.
Fabrication and Falsification - Intentional alteration or invention of any information or citation in an academic exercise. Falsification involves changing information whereas fabrication involves inventing or counterfeiting information.
Multiple Submission - The submission of substantial portions of the same academic work, including oral reports, for credit more than once without authorization from the instructor.
Plagiarism - Intentionally or knowingly representing the words, ideas, creative work, or data of someone else as one’s own in any academic exercise, without due and proper acknowledgement, with sources specifically cited as stated. [This particularly pertains to students citing without attribution Jean Anouilh’s Antigone to be found on line and a movie or video version of Dante's Inferno.]
Instructors should outline their expectations that may go beyond the scope of this policy at the beginning of each course and identify such expectations and restrictions in the course syllabus. When an instructor receives evidence, either directly or indirectly, of academic dishonesty, he or she should investigate the instance. The faculty member should then take appropriate disciplinary action.
Disciplinary action may include, but is not limited to the following:
1) Requiring the student(s) to repeat the exercise or do additional related exercise(s).
2) Lowering the grade or failing the student(s) on the particular exercise(s) involved.
3) Lowering the grade or failing the student(s) in the course.
Humanities 211-1 students suspected of violating academic honesty will be called to a meeting with the instructor. If the student is unable to conter the evidence of the violation, the assignment in question will receive a grade of zero points. Any subsequent violation of academic honesty will incur failure of the course.
If the disciplinary action results in the awarding of a grade of E in the course, the student(s) may not drop the course.
Faculty reserve the right to invalidate any exercise or other evaluative measures if substantial evidence exists that the integrity of the exercise has been compromised. Faculty also reserve the right to document in the course syllabi further academic honesty policy elements related to the individual disciplines.
A student may appeal the decision of the faculty member with the department chair in writing within five working days. Note: If, at any point in this process, the student alleges that actions have taken place that may be in violation of the Murray State University Non-Discrimination Statement, this process must be suspended and the matter be directed to the Office of Equal Opportunity. Any appeal will be forwarded to the appropriate university committee as determined by the Provost.
XI. NON-DISCRIMINATION POLICY AND STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES:
Statement of Non-Discrimination: Murray State University endorses the intent of all federal and state laws created to prohibit discrimination. Murray State University does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, religion, age, veteran status, or disability in employment, admissions, or the provision of services and provides, upon request, reasonable accommodation including auxiliary aids and services necessary to afford individuals with disabilities equal access to participate in all programs and activities. In particular and without limiting the preceding and pursuant to and consistent with the requirements of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and its regulations 34 CFR 100 et seq.; Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and its regulations 34 CFR 104; Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, 20 USC 1681 et seq., and its regulations 34 CFR 106 et seq; and the Age Discrimination Act of 1975 and its regulations 34 CFR 110, Murray State University does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, handicap, or age in its educational programs and activities. This non-discrimination in education programs and activities extends to employment and admissions and to recruitment, financial aid, academic programs, student services, athletics, and housing. Murray State is required by Title IX and 34 CFR part 106 not to discriminate on the basis of sex and the prohibition against sex discrimination specifically includes a prohibition of sexual harassment and sexual violence. For more information contact the Executive Director of Institutional Diversity, Equity, and Access/ Murray State University Title IX Coordinator, Murray State University, 103 Wells Hall, Murray, KY 42071 Telephone: (270) 809-3155 Fax: (270) 809-6887; TDD: (270) 809-3361; Email: msu.titleix@murraystate.edu
Students with Disabilities: Students requiring special assistance due to a disability should visit the Office of Student Disability Services immediately for assistance with accommodations. For more information, students should contact the Office of Student Disability Services, 423 Wells Hall, Murray, KY 42071. 270-809-2018 (voice) 270-809-5889(TDD).
PART 1: THE ANCIENT WORLD
W Aug 15 Introduction to the Course and Its Themes: Self, Other, Community
F Aug 17 Introduction to the Ancient World (pp. 1.1-14) Introduction to Homer, Odyssey (Bk. 1) (pp. 1.277-85, 420-434)
M Aug 22 Homer, Odyssey (Bks. 5, 9, 10) (pp. 1.482-494, 529-560)
W Aug 24 Homer, Odyssey (Bks. 11, 12) (pp. 1.560-593)
F Aug 26 Homer, Odyssey (Bks. 19, 21-22) (pp. 1.687-704, 716-743)
M Aug 29 Sophocles, Oedipus Rex (pp. 1.891-897, 899-952)
W Aug 31 Sophocles, Antigone (pp. 1.952-998). [Do not confuse this play with Jean Anouilh’s Antigone to be found on line at Sparks Notes.]
F Sep 2 Aristophanes, Lysistrata (pp. 1.1044-1048, 1.1044-1082)
M Sep 5 Labor Day: No Class
W Sep 7 Sappho (pp. 1.791-793); "It's No Use," "Sleep, Darling," "Don't Ask Me What to Wear," "Lament for a Maidenhead," "He Is More than a Hero," "You Know the Place: Then," "I Have Not Had One Word from Her," (pp 1.794-798);
Catallus (pp. 1.1164-1168); 2. "Sparrow, O, Sweet Sparrow," 3. "Dress Now in Sorrow, O All," 5. "Come, Lesbia, Let Us Live and Love," 11. "Furious, Aurelius," 51. "He Is Changed to a God," 101. "Dear Brother, I Have Come" (pp. 1168-1174)
F Sep 9 Plato, Allegory of the Cave (pp. 1.1083-1088, 1111-1116);
ESSAY 1 DUE
M Sep 12 Plato, Apology and Phaedo (pp. 1.1089-1110)
W Sep 14 Aristotle, from Metaphysics and Poetics (pp. 1.1149-1155)
F Sep 16 Hebrew Texts (pp. 1.127-139): Genesis Excerpts (pp. 1.140-161). Do NOT use the Koran version of Genesis.
M Sep 19 Bhagavad Gita (pp. 1.1488-1511)
W Sep 21 Confucius, Analects Excerpts (pp. 1.1591-1600)
F Sep 23 EXAM
M Sep 26 Epicurus, "Letters to a Friend" (pp. 1.1633-1635)
PART II: THE MIDDLE PERIOD
W Sep 28 Introduction to the Middle Ages (pp. 2.2-14); New Testament: Sermon on the Mount (pp. 2.15-27; 1.35-44)
F Sep 30 The Thousand and One Nights Excerpts (pp. 2.435-467);
M Oct 3 Capellanus, The Art of Courtly Love Excerpts (pp. 2.611-627); Courtly Love Lyrics (pp. 2.628-635); Faraj, "Chastity" (pp. 2.646-647), Ha-Levi, "The Apple" (p. 2.252), Guillaume IX, "Now, When We See the Meadows Once Again" (pp. 2.658-669), De Ventadorn, "My Heart Is so Full of Joy" (pp. 2.661-663)
W Oct 5 Capellanus, The Art of Courtly Love Excerpts (pp. 2.611-627); Courtly Love Lyrics (pp. 2.628-635); Faraj, "Chastity" (pp. 2.646-647), Ha-Levi, "The Apple" (p. 2.252), Guillaume IX, "Now, When We See the Meadows Once Again" (pp. 2.658-669), De Ventadorn, "My Heart Is so Full of Joy" (pp. 2.661-663)
F Oct 7 Fall Break: No Class
M Oct 10 Marie de France, "The Lay of Chevrefoil" (pp. 2.670-677);
"Lanval";
"Bisclavret"
W Oct 12 Dante, Inferno (pp. 2.678-686) Canto 1 (pp. 2.689-94), Cantos 3-5 (pp. 2.699-713), Cantos 11-13 (pp. 2.735-748); Canto 34 (pp. 2.844-848
F Oct 14 Boccaccio, The Decameron Excerpts (pp. 2.849-877
M Oct 17 Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales, "General Prologue" (pp. 2.878-904)
Midterm Grades Due
W Oct 19 Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales, "Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale" (pp. 2.904-932);
PART III: THE RENAISSANCE
F Oct 21 Introduction to Early Modern Period (pp. 3.1-16); Petrarch (pp. 3.67-71), Canzoniere: 1. "Oh, You in These Scattered Rhymes," 3. "It Was the Very Day," 148. "Not Tiber" (3.80-83); European Love Lyrics (pp. 3.85-90); Shakespeare, Sonnets: 18. "Shall I Compare Thee?," 116. "Let Me Not to the Marriage of True Minds," 129. "Th'Expense of Spirit," 130. "My Mistress' Eyes" (pp. 3. 104-106); Donne, "The Good Morrow," "A Valediction Forbidding Mourning," "Batter My Heart, Three-Personed God" (pp. 3.107-113), Marvell, "To His Coy Mistress" (p. 3.115)
ESSAY 2 DUE
M Oct 24 Pico, On the Dignity of Man Excerpts (pp. 3.467-470); Machiavelli, The Prince Excerpts (pp. 3.120-139);
W Oct 26 Cervantes, Don Quixote, pt. 1, ch. 1 (pp. 3.257-266), pt. 1, ch. 8 ( 3.271-276), pt. 2, ch. 5 (pp. 3.304-308), pt.2, ch. 30 (pp. 3.320-323)
F Oct 28 Montaigne, "Of Cannibals" (pp. 3.209-224); Castiglione, The Book of the Courtier Excerpts (pp. 3.171-174)
M Oct 31 Shakespeare, The Tempest (Acts 1-3) (pp. 3.489-544)
W Nov 2 Shakespeare, The Tempest (Acts 4-5) (pp. 3.544-564)
F Nov 4 Milton, Paradise Lost (pp. 3.575-576); (Bk. 1) Excerpts (pp. 3.576-587)
M Nov 7 Milton, Paradise Lost (Bk. 9) (pp. 3.630-647)
PART III: THE ENLIGHTENMENT TO THE MODERN PERIOD
W Nov 9 Molière, Tartuffe, Acts I-V
F Nov 11 "Challenging Orthodoxy" (pp. 3.661-665), Copernicus, On the Revolution of Heavenly Bodies Excerpt (pp. 3.684-689); Galileo and Kepler, Correspondence Excerpts (pp. 3.690-694)
M Nov 14 Hobbes, Leviathan Excerpts (Chaps. 13, all; 29, up to "Nor does this happen in monarchy only," continue with "Nor does this happen in monarchy only" up to "And as false doctrine," continue with "Lastly, when in a war," to the end); Locke, Second Treatise on Government Excerpts (Chaps. 2, pars. 4, 6, 7, 8, 11, 13, 14; 3. pars. 17, 21; 4, pars. 22, 23; 19, pars. 222, 225, 227, 229, 240, 241-243); Jefferson, et al, Declaration of Independence
(Humanities Website)
W Nov 16 Voltaire, Candide
F Nov 18 Ibsen, A Doll's House
M Nov 21 Stevenson, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
W Nov 23 Thanksgiving: No Class
F Nov 25 Thanksgiving: No Class
M Nov 38
Faulkner, "A Rose for Emily"
Faulkner, "A Rose for Emily" Read by Louie Crew
Emeritus Professor at Rutgers University
Gilman, "The Yellow Wallpaper"
W Nov 30 Glaspell,"A Jury of Her Peers"; Jackson, "The Lottery"
F Dec 2 Camus, "The Guest"; Kasaipwalova, "Betel Nut Juice Is Bad Magic for Airplanes" (Handout); Review
M-F Dec 7-12 FINAL EXAMS: Given During Regular Exam Times.
XII. OTHER REQUIRED INFORMATION
MWF 10:30
FH207
Office: FH7B10
Office Hours: MW 11:30-12:30
T 1:30-5:30
TH 9:00-11:00 via email
Office Phone: 809-4712
E-mail: hroulston@murraystate.edu
Website: http://www.helenroulston.com
Humanities Website
