Reasoning & Writing in the College
CAS 105

Spring 2005

General Description: Each section description is based on the general CAS 105/105E course description developed by the Interdisciplinary College Writing Commiteee.

**Courses address issues of diversity

Writing about:

Writing about Cultural Studies

Environmental Conceptions
Ryan Harper, Department of English
MWF 11:00 – 11:50  CRN 73121

Most of us hear the term “environment” often enough to accept it as a normal component of social and political discourse, but what does it really mean?  What does it stand for? It often seems to be associated with some concept of “nature” or the “natural world,” but what is this “natural world” and how exactly does it relate to the “environment”? Is this “environment” of common discourse intended to be a purely ecological construct, or does it have geographical, social, cultural, physical and economic components as well? In this course we will explore such questions through both weekly readings and student responses to them. Readings will include poetry, essays, excerpts from novels and historical studies by several writers including Edward Abbey, David James Duncan and William Cronon. Three short papers and one longer paper will be required, and all assignments will include revisions, peer feedback and self-assessment exercises.

SPORTS BODIES: Athletics and Popular Culture
Peter Hobbs, Visual and Cultural Studies
TR 12:30 – 1:45  CRN 12071

Sports are generally understood as a product of civilization, as they provide an arena for human interaction and a model of aspired living (A healthy body, a healthy soul). Athletic competition is also ideally free from barriers of social discrimination. It is supposedly blind to an individual’s race, gender, class, or sexual orientation. Despite this, popular culture is inundated with stories of racism, crime, and sex scandals involving professional athletes. Part of our fascination with sports is that they provide a theatrical stage in which social divisions and hierarchies are played out before us. At any given sports event certain social conventions are reinforced while other conventions are challenged. This course will examine the figure of professional athlete as a vehicle for thinking about and discussing issues of gender, race, sexuality, class, and consumerism. How is the body of the athlete configured in popular culture? How do we view sports bodies?

The main goal of this course is to develop our skills in thinking and writing about popular culture and our place within it. Our approach will be a combination of research, writing exercises, peer reviews, editing, revision, and self-assessment that will foster a heightened awareness of the writing process.

Illusion or Reality
José Périllán, Department of History, Physics
TR 4:50 – 6:05  CRN 12251

What do quantum physics, mysticism, and magic have in common?  In one sense, the three embody an essential tension between illusion and reality.  One seminal truth about humanity is that we live in a state of flux between what is real and what is illusory.  Does reality exist beyond our perceptions?  Is truth an absolute?  This course will examine three distinct perspectives from science, religion and entertainment in order to explore the dialogues between what we consider the worlds of reality and illusion.  Coursework will focus on weekly readings, written responses to these readings, three short essays and a final research paper.  We will use class time for discussions on the readings and peer-review workshops, where we will revise and assess our writing.  Self-assessment will be used as a learning tool for all papers throughout the semester.

English Language and Literature

Shakespeare's Peeps: Early Modern English Drama Beyond Shakespeare
Jennifer Ailles, Department of English
TR  9:40 - 10:55  CRN 12311

Almost everyone knows of William Shakespeare and many have read or watched a version or adaptation of one of his major plays, including Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Macbeth, and The Tempest, to name a few. Shakespeare's works are so well known and venerated that he has been positioned as the greatest playwright, not only of the English Renaissance, but also of the traditional English canon. The centrality of Shakespeare has meant that other early modern playwrights and their works have often been marginalized and ignored. In this course we will switch the focus away from Shakespeare and examine a small selection of plays written by Shakespeare's Peeps, his contemporaries and those who wrote soon after his death in 1616. Specifically we will start with Christopher Marlowe's Edward II and The Jew of Malta and then we will move on to read and analyze John Marston's The Malcontent, John Fletcher's The Island Princess, Philip Massinger's The Roman Actor, Thomas Heywood's The Wise Woman of Hoxton, and Eastward Ho! by Ben Jonson, John Marston, and George Chapman. Through critical and primary readings, class discussion, and written essays, we will address issues of gender, race, class, and cultural politics (including the Protestant Revolution, succession, colonialism, the witch-craze, etc.) that are raised through examining the plays written by Shakespeare's Peeps. Students will be required to engage critically with the material and to actively strengthen their argumentative skills though journals, peer reviews, essay revisions, self-assessments, and in-class writing workshops.

Big Fish: Writing Legends and Legendary Writers from the Eighteenth Century to Present
Anjili Babbar, Department of English
TR 12:30 – 1:45  CRN 12344

Tim Burton’s latest film, Big Fish, raises some interesting issues about identity and myth-making. What is a legend, and what separates a legend from a distortion or lie? When (if ever) is it acceptable to change or embellish a life story for the greater personal, social, artistic or political good? In this course, we will attempt to answer these questions with regard to legendary figures, and to apply them to considerations of authorship. Can an author become a legend in the same manner as a political or military figure? Does this type of legend fulfill the same social and cultural needs as other types? Or are there different motivations for the stories we tell about story-tellers? We will begin by comparing historical accounts of a variety of biographies with their distorted legendary counterparts and creating journal entries which reflect our perceptions of the differences between the two and the potential reasons for those differences. Through revision, editing, peer workshops, self-assessments and class discussions, these reactions will be developed into several short papers. One longer, final research paper will consider the history of biographical representation of an authorial figure.

The Road Trip: Searching for America
Heidi Bollinger, Department of English
MW 12:30 – 1:45  CRN  73063

Ever wanted to throw a suitcase in the car, hit the road with a few friends, and drive across 3,000 miles of open highway studded with small towns and all-night diners?  This course will explore how and why the idea of the cross-country road trip appeals to the imagination of Americans, particularly young people.  We will be unpacking a suitcase full of 20th century American literature, film, and music, including works by John Steinbeck, Jack Kerouac, and Callie Khouri.  As we journey with these artists, we will discuss questions such as: Why do we travel?  What are we seeking?  What spiritual or metaphoric journeys do these artists chronicle?  Do road stories, from  The Grapes of Wrath to Thelma and Louise, follow a narrative pattern?  What makes the road trip quintessentially American?  We will engage these questions through class discussion, informal writing exercises, several short papers and a longer research paper.  Like a traveler, a successful writer must be gutsy and willing to follow new, unfamiliar routes.  This course will challenge you to craft polished, compelling pieces of argumentative writing and will emphasize the importance of revision, peer review and self-assessment. 

The New Middle Ages
John Chandler, Department of English
MW 3:25 – 4:40  CRN 12278

Shining knights on steeds saving damsels in distress while muddy peasants live short lives—this is the common view of the Middle Ages.  The notion of a superstitious “dark age” has persisted since the Renaissance, despite the work of scholars to combat this stereotype.  Modern authors often represent the Middle Ages as a time of brutality and religious mania in order to comment upon modern society.  In this course we are going to look at modern treatments of the Medieval period.  Some of the questions we will ask include: What is accurate about the modern works?  What is wrong (or changed)?  Do these changes address modern concerns?  Possible topics include Beowulf, William Wallace (“Braveheart”) or King Arthur.  Prior knowledge of the period is not required.  Writings will be designed as a progression from a personal response essay through a focused argument, then a longer research-based argument, and finally, an essay for a wider, non-academic audience.  Daily assignments will include both Medieval and modern readings in history and literature, journal entries, and occasional film screenings.  Through classroom discussion, peer evaluation, self-assessment, and on-going revision, students will develop critical reasoning and writing skills.

Sticking it to ‘The Man’:  Imagination of Subversion and Rebellion in Literature and Cinema
Kevin Cryderman, Department of English
MW 12:30 – 1:45  CRN 12234

When people talk about ‘subversion’ or ‘resistance’ in artistic works, what exactly do they mean?  What are the various ways in which authority and power are imagined, and how does subversion relate to things such as ‘alternative’ culture, gender, power, patriarchy, genre and capitalism?  This course aims to explore the imagination of subversion and rebellion in late 20th century literature, cinema, and popular culture, both ‘subversive’ and ‘non-subversive’ (Is there a difference?). 

Through film screenings, in-class discussions, course readings (both fictional and critical) and short assignments, students will be actively encouraged to disagree wholeheartedly with the instructor (a.k.a. ‘The Man’) and form their own opinions and interests in relation to the books and films of the course: Fight Club, The Matrix, Pump Up the Volume, Donnie Darko, Boys Don’t Cry and Hedwig and the Angry Inch.  The course will emphasize the development of critical reading, writing and research skills as well as the ‘nuts and bolts’ mechanics of composition.  Through self-assessment, peer feedback, revision, and rewriting, students will be required to write three shorter essays and one 8-10 page research project.

The Harlem Renaissance
Daniel Donaghy, Department of English
MW 6:15 – 7:30  CRN 12300

The Harlem Renaissance, which occurred from the end of WWI through the mid-1930s, invited African-American artists from all fields to participate in an unprecedented burst of creative activity. More than simply a literary movement or a protest against racism, the Harlem Renaissance was a celebration of African-American culture and self-expression. This course will examine the history of the movement, focusing on figures such as Alain Locke, Langston Hughes, Claude McKay, W.E.B. DuBois, Marcus Garvey, Zora Neale Hurston, Duke Ellington, and Aaron Douglass, and on issues such as audience, identity, the use of folklore, and the role of the blues. Students will study a variety of styles and argumentative strategies, which they will attempt to use in their writing. Students will give in-class presentations and write several short papers and one long research paper. Revisions, informal writing, peer reviews, reading responses, and self-assessments will play an important role in each paper’s development.

Performing Ourselves
Jenny Douglas, Department of English
MW 2:00 – 3:15  CRN 12085

Performance pervades our everyday life, from the most mundane aspects of our interactions with other people to the latest film we’ve seen.  Even writing is performance because it requires attention to audience and the attempt to meet that audience’s needs.  In this course, we’ll be looking at performance across the spectrum, from the mundane to the spectacular and some of what’s in between.  We will be reading, discussing, and writing about various kinds of performance, including dramatic texts, live stage productions, reality TV, and observations of everyday life.  Throughout the writing process—which we might call the rehearsal process—students will assess their own work and receive feedback from peers and the instructor, thus preparing for opening night: the final draft.  During the semester, students will write three 3-5 page papers and one 8-10 page research paper.

Poets, Priests, and Quivering Bards: Some Indo-European Poetry
Eric Eben, Department of Religion and Classics
MW 3:25 – 4:40  CRN 12265

In this course we will examine the figure of the poet in several Indo-European traditions, including Greek, Indian, Persian, Roman and Hittite.   We will compare and discuss both the poetry itself and the mythological figures contained within.  Writing assignments will be based on the readings, and will include self-assessment, revisions, and peer feedback on several papers culminating in a final 8-10 page research paper.  The readings will include the Iliad, the Rigveda, the Gathas of Zarathustra, Greek lyric poets including Pindar, and early Roman and Hittite texts.  Papers will discuss and perhaps answer some burning questions: what is a mercenary Muse? What is the Soul of the Great Cow?  How does one invoke the gods for more stuff?  Why are words winged? What exactly did Kumarbi do to that stone?  How is all this related?

Great Short Works of the Fin de Siécle
Tina Giovanielli, Department of English
TR  12:30 - 1:45  CRN 12379

This course will explore short stories, plays, and novellas written in the last decade of the nineteenth century, a period known as the Fin de Siécle. We will address such questions as: What appeals to readers about each work and why?  How does each work reflect or contribute to the society in which it was written?  How do the works compare with each other, including comparisons of writers, characters, settings, etc.? 

Students will have the opportunity to address some of these questions and create others through a series of short papers, a longer research paper, peer and individual revising, and class participation. We will focus on forming arguments drawn from and supported by the texts and secondary sources. The goal of this course is to learn about the writing of this period while at the same time acquiring writing skills that can be used across all disciplines.

Sample Reading List:

“The Man Who Would Be King” –Rudyard Kipling

“Salome” –Oscar WildeThe Time Machine –H.G. Wells

The Turn of the Screw –Henry James

“A White Night” –Charlotte Mew

“The Yellow Wallpaper” –Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Golems, Cyborgs, and the Ethics of AI
Annie Heckel, Department of English
MW 12:30 – 1:45  CRN 12141

As computers become more advanced, artificial intelligence more intelligent, and robot movement and sensory interpretation more sophisticated, the ethical implications inherent in the development of such technologies become ever more complex and problematic. In Golems, Cyborgs, and the Ethics of AI, we’ll explore the problems of potentially self-conscious constructions as expressed in works of literature (by authors such as Mary Shelley, Isaac Asimov, William Gibson, Phillip K. Dick, and Marge Piercy), movies (Blade Runner, 2001: A Space Odyssey), and running debates in the computer science, artificial intelligence, and robotics communities. This course does not require any prior knowledge of the topic, but familiarity with some of the concepts wouldn’t hurt. Through class discussions and reaction papers, we will explore our own understanding of the authors’ attempts to engage the issues inherent in the creation of conscious beings. Formal papers (three shorter 3 to 5 page analytical papers and one long 8 to 10 page analytical research paper) will follow class discussion of the texts, allowing students to explore their own viewpoints in an in-depth manner while developing their analytical skills. A central aspect of the writing process will be peer review and self assessment, through which students will learn to not only incorporate others’ feedback into their work, but also to assess their own writing from a reader-based point of view.

Writing in Camelot
Emily Huber, Department of English
MW 2:00 – 3:15  CRN 12202

Arthurian literature and film is, perhaps more than any other story-telling cycle in our culture, an organic and constantly growing entity. It has consistently expanded from 1136—the date of the composition of Geoffrey of Monmouth’s History of the Kings of Britain—and is still growing today. The motif is as much a part of contemporary popular culture as it is a part of our medieval heritage. From this viewpoint, we will read modern adaptations of the Arthurian legend by T.H. White, Bernard Cornwell, and Wendy Mnookin, as well as excerpts by Mary Stewart and Marion Zimmer Bradley, and through these readings enter into a context of writing and research. How does one write about popular culture in an academic fashion? Especially with such a sprawling body of sources, how can one narrow a topic for discussion in a paper or presentation, and keep that topic focused so as to promote the most effective argument? The University of Rochester is home to fantastic resources for Arthurian subjects and our course will include strategies in online and library research, utilizing the Camelot Project and the Robbins Library. Students will have the opportunity to explore the modern adaptations’ connections with their medieval sources through an oral report. Additional assignments will consist of three short papers, peer reviews, in-class revisions, and a longer research paper.

American Dissidents
Daria Jaremko, Department of English
MW 12:30 – 1:45  CRN 12243

This course is an examination of how contrarians have contributed to the American cultural landscape. We will be looking at a broad variety of media, from Mark Twain’s lectures to Margaret Cho’s stand-up, so that we might sort out just how and where the obstinate, the awkward, and the defiant have shaped our notions of American-ness. Since one of the purposes of this course is to familiarize you with the mechanics of a good argument, there seems to be no better place to begin than with those who’ve made their careers out of being argumentative. This course is also an introduction to and an examination of the possibilities—and impossibilities—that various sorts of writing can have in the formation of new knowledge and in effecting cultural change.

Home, The Place I Belong: Issues in Migrant Identity
Vasudha Kurapati, Department of English and History
TR 2:00 - 3:15 CRN 12170

Why do people leave their homelands? What dreams, or fears, drive people from the familiar to risk the unknown? Once they move, how do their experiences compare with their expectations? How do migrant individuals and groups affect their new home? How does the change in their location affect their view of themselves, their future, their present, and their past?

The answers to these questions are fundamental to how the identity of a people and a place are shaped. Perspectives and personal experiences have been, obviously, varied, with expectations and realities differing greatly from each other. We will, in this class, explore particular places and communities through selected stories and essays that address the above questions. Students will be required to present their own views, experiences, and analysis through informal writing, formal essays, and one long research paper. All work done in the class will be aimed towards developing the analytical, as well as writing, skills of students, who will be trained to use class discussions, workshops, writing exercises, etc., for an independent research paper. As the goal of this class is to create a critical intellectual community in the classroom, the final grades will be based on the students' written work, as well as their class participation, self-assessments, and peer reviews.

The Art of War
Aaron, Lehman, Department of English
TR 4:50 – 6:05  CRN 12366

Is war "representable" through art?  What constitutes an "accurate" literary portrayal of war and violence?  How do the vagaries, limitations, and possibilities of memory and language frame the telling of the modern war story?  What are the artistic, psychological, and political stakes involved in representing modern war as hellish or beautiful, realistic or romantic?  In this course, we will examine the ways in which various twentieth century writers—from Ernest Hemingway to Bobbie Ann Mason, Michael Herr to Marjorie Hong Kingston, Kurt Vonnegut to Tim O'Brien—construct images of war in widely distinct styles and often for widely different purposes.  We will examine work from multiple perspectives (families and children on the home front, soldiers, war correspondents, medical personnel, political figures, refugees), in multiple genres  (novels, short fiction, poetry, memoirs, film), and about multiple modern "conflicts" (World Wars I and II, Vietnam, the Cold War, the Middle East, Bosnia).  Students will use their own writing to grapple with how these texts often struggle to answer such critical questions.  Through class discussion, informal in-class exercises, peer reviews, and formal writing assignments (one 8-10 page research paper and several shorter analytical essays), students will develop a portfolio of work that will reflect their growth as writers and critics.  Paying special attention to the writing process, students will engage in multiple drafts and self-assessments of their work.

The Other Side of the Hill: Utopian and Dystopian Fiction
Michael Livingston, Department of English
MW 2:00 – 3:15 CRN 12299

We live in a frightening world, a world that seems to grow more unstable day by day. It is all too easy to think that some sort of apocalypse is nigh, that civilization is going to fold in upon itself finally and irretrievably. In the face of such uncertainty, it is a human reaction to dream about the terrors that our society might soon face, or about an ideal place unspoiled by uncertainty and terror – a place just on the other side of the hill where things work "right."  This course will examine the broad history of these twin dreams, the dystopic and the utopic, in an effort to better understand the real world around us. We will read classics by writers such as Bradbury and Huxley, as well as other, perhaps less known works. Throughout the course of the semester we will strive to develop a consciousness about our own thinking and writing, and to sow the seeds for future collegiate success by not only learning new ways of approaching and engaging the materials at hand, but also conveying our newfound knowledge within a professional or academic environment through writing. Assignments will include short, formal papers responding to both primary and secondary texts, informal writing, class presentations, peer reviews, self-assessment, and a formal research paper.

Reading your way to a good life
Shaila Mehra, Department of English
TR 11:05 – 12:20  CRN 12197

Ethics as a branch of philosophy concerns itself with questions of how we negotiate complex human dilemmas. Similarly, through the use of creative writing, literature also depicts complex human dilemmas. In this class, we will read short works of philosophy and 20th century literature in order to ask the following questions: What is an ethical life? How does literature define and/or challenge our abilities to lead an ethical life? Do the acts of reading and writing contribute to ethical decision-making? The ability to critically analyze and represent complex human dilemmas in writing is central to our ability to understand them. To this end, we will utilize peer review, self-assessment, class discussion, formal and informal writing, and revision to improve reading, writing, and thinking skills. The culminating project of this class will be an argumentative research paper.

American Psychos: Mental Illness in Film and Literature
April Miller, Department of English
TR 3:25 – 4:40  CRN 12119

The mad-but-brilliant artist, the mentally ill relative hidden in the attic, the depressed and suicidal teenager, the wandering residents of the neighborhood halfway house - such cultural constructions of mental illness influence the public’s attitudes toward people with mental health issues. Although we will consider various medical explanations of mental illness, we will not rely solely on the word of doctors; we will also consider patients’ experiences because, as Claude Levi-Strauss states, “only a patient can emerge cured.” We will think about how artists and authors question and explore what it means to be “sane” and what it means to “cure” others. Because they often raise troubling questions about cultural constructions of femininity and masculinity, normality and deviance, we will also discuss how mental-illness narratives challenge social understandings of gender and race.  Throughout the course, students will develop the critical reading, writing and research skills necessary to construct a diverse portfolio of writing, including an extended argumentative essay and a final research paper. Assessment will emphasize the importance of revision, self-evaluation, and participation in class discussion. The goal is to have students emerge from this class as more confident writers who are capable of handling the diverse tasks in composition they will be asked to perform as both students and professionals.

American Dreams
Stefanie Vischansky, Department of English
TR 11:05 – 12:20  CRN 12217

From the Declaration of Independence to American Idol, stories of individual opportunity and self-made success are a mainstay of American history and culture.  Despite their diversity, these narratives are classified together as manifestations of "the American Dream." This phrase permeates our national discourse, but we rarely pause to consider its meaning and significance. What is/are the American dream/s? Who creates the dreams? Who are the dreamers? Is the dream realizable?  We will address these questions, embarking on an analysis of American dreams and their role in shaping various conceptions of national and individual identity.  Through our examination of a diverse array of texts—fiction, historical documents, scholarly articles, film, music, contemporary journalism—we will consider the American Dream from a variety of cultural and historical perspectives.  Authors will include, among others, Walt Whitman, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Sandra Cisneros.  Formal assignments will include several shorter analytical papers and a final research paper, culminating in the creation of a portfolio of writing.  Throughout the semester, we will practice and discuss strategies and skills for becoming more confident and effective writers, emphasizing revision, peer critique, and self-assessment.

“Things Unknown”: Shakespeare’s Lives
Andrew Wadoski, Department of English
TR 11:05 - 12:20 CRN 12128

It has been claimed that the power of Shakespeare’s literary creation lay in his ability to create fully autonomous characters, characters so individual and human that their lives seem to extend far beyond their lines in any given play. Names like Hamlet, Falstaff, and Romeo appear to have stepped off the page and taken on voices of their own, speaking out for everyone from Freud to wireless companies. In this class, we will explore these characters both in the world of the plays they inhabit and which gave them form, and in the world at large. Readings will come from Shakespeare, his sources and contemporaries, and modern adaptors such as Sigmund Freud, Heiner Mueller, and Tom Stoppard. The course will be focused around the development, peer-review, self-assessment, and revision of several short essays and a longer research project all of which will evolve out of issues raised through class discussion of the reading assignments

Writing about History

Reading Other People's Mail
Loren Broc, Department of History
MW 3:25 – 4:40  CRN 12333

People can both reveal and hide information in their letters, information about themselves and the times in which they live.  When historians, biographers, and other researchers read the correspondence of the people they choose to study, they do so with two sets of questions in mind.  First, they ask questions about what their subjects say about themselves, such as: How do they regard themselves and others?  What do they reveal about their hopes, fears, and ambitions?  How do they interpret the events in their lives?  Second, researchers usually ask questions about what their subjects do not say, such as: How trustworthy and believable are their statements?  Are they holding back something about themselves, and if so, why?  Researchers need to seek answers to both kinds of questions to get a complete and reliable understanding of their subjects.

In this course we will be asking and seeking answers to such questions as we read the letters, diaries, and journals of some famous and not-so-famous personalities of American and European history, such as John and Abigail Adams, Lord Chesterfield, Vincent Van Gogh, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, and Martin Luther King, Jr.  Through classroom discussions, the drafting and revising of short essays, self-assessment and peer feedback, you will gain experience in making inferences and presenting arguments in writing about the character and thought of historical personalities, based on what you find and do not find in their correspondence. You will also read biographies of several of the personalities whose correspondence you will have read, and compare the biographers' conclusions and use of evidence with your own.  Your final assignment will be to write a longer research paper based on a selection of correspondence of your own choosing.

Dangerous Words and Ideas: A History of America's Search for Subversion
Patrick LaPierre, Department of History
TR 11:05 - 12:20 CRN 12122

Are ideas really dangerous? To what extent can the written or spoken word be considered politically subversive? Is there such a thing as too much freedom of thought and expression? Is the free-market of ideas the best defense against dangerous or offensive arguments? This course will explore these questions through the history of America's attempt to define and control sedition. The dictionary defines sedition as the acts or words tending to upset or overthrow the authority of a government. In this class, we will concentrate on words, both spoken and written. Beginning with the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798 and continuing through to our own era, we will examine certain instances of anti-sedition and the ways in which free speech and political stability have uneasily coexisted. Our examination will be carried out via class readings, various writing assignments (both formal and informal), peer critiques, self-assessments and revision workshops. Writing will be the means through which we will explore course material, construct arguments and share insights. Course requirements will include three short papers that will be reworked and refined in revision workshops. Additionally, students will be assigned one longer research paper (8-10 pages).

From Woody Guthrie to Ani DiFranco: Historical Perspectives on American Protest Music
Tara McCarthy, Department of History
TR 9:45 – 10:55  CRN 12153

Historians reconstruct and interpret the past by studying primary sources.  Song lyrics, like novels and diaries, can reveal past and present social concerns.  In this class we will explore folk/protest music in its social and political context, analyzing lyrics and developing arguments about musicians and the causes they championed.  Topics include: Woody Guthrie’s labor ballads, anti-war music of the Sixties, and, more recently, gun control.  Interpreting sources and formulating arguments are two important steps in the writing process.  Revision is another.  You will write four formal papers, including a research paper, during the semester.  After each assignment, you will have the opportunity to revise your work several times, giving and receiving feedback in class through peer review.  The research project, on the musician or protest theme of your choice (not limited to the folk genre), will also involve a presentation to the class.

Selling the American Dream: Advertising in U.S. Culture
Christine Ridarsky, Department of History
TR 9:40 – 10:55  CRN 12164

This course will examine the changing role of advertising in American culture from the late nineteenth century through the present. By examining and analyzing advertising from different time periods and in various media, including print, radio, television, and the Internet, we will consider how advertiser's methods and messages have changed over time. We will address questions such as: What methods have advertisers used to sell their products? What messages have been communicated? Do ads reflect American culture and values? How much does advertising influence American culture? What roles have race and gender played in advertising? Through class discussion, self-assessment, peer review, and ongoing revision, students will develop skills in analysis, critical thinking, and writing. Students will be expected to create a portfolio of work that includes a series of journal entries, several short papers, and a final research paper of 8-10 pages.

God, the Devil, and Darwin in America
Ronald Satta, Department of History
MWF 10:00 – 10:50  CRN 12226

American history has a long and intriguing legacy of faith-related events and issues.  The Salem witchcraft trials evoke an air of mystery, inviting analysis into why such an event occurred where and when it did - and not elsewhere.  Evolution theory ignited significant nineteenth-century controversies involving the collision of spiritual and secular authorities.  Was Darwin's theory scientific or a convenient escape from belief in a God-centered universe?  Which explanation of origins is most compelling--evolution or special creation?  Are faith commitments legitimate and appropriate within modern academia?  By means of written exploration, students will investigate these kinds of questions and issues.  Class registrants will write three analytical essays (4-5 pages) and one longer research paper (7-10 pages). Peer-reviews and self-assessments of written work provide students opportunities to enhance facility in the art and science of writing well.  Entering students commit themselves to thorough preparation for vigorous class participation.  Since the essence of good writing is rewriting, revision of work will be an essential part of this class.

A History of Love
Jacqueline Stuhmiller, Department of English
TR 9:40 – 10:55  CRN 12092

Human nature hasn’t changed since the Roman poet Ovid wrote his treatise on seduction, The Art of Love, but Western culture has gone through a number of significant transformations.  In this course, we will examine many of the often contradictory roles that love and sex have played in the Western world by examining literature from Classical Rome to the English Renaissance.  We will consider many different types of love (and lust): licit and illicit; aristocratic and non-aristocratic; secular and religious; self-interested and selfless; homosexual, heterosexual, and nonsexual.  Readings may include Ovid's Ars Amatoria and selections from Chaucer and Shakespeare; in particular, we will examine several how-to love manuals from different eras in order to see what, if anything, has changed over the years.

This class will place great emphasis on learning new ways of thinking about familiar and seemingly obvious ideas, as well as the acquisition and honing of close-reading skills.  Students will be expected to complete daily writing assignments in addition to several papers: three shorter papers (with revisions) and an 8-10 page research paper.  Students will also be required to evaluate their own work as well as the work of others on a regular basis.  (Please note that some of the reading for this course is (mildly) sexually explicit.)

Writing about Music

Punk Rock: Politics, Philosophy, and Music
Drew Abrams, Department of Physics and Astronomy
TR 2:00 – 3:15  CRN 73107

This course will use the movement known as "punk" to explore not only the music, but also the philosophy and the politics surrounding the music. We will start with a brief history of punk and ask, "What circumstances in the US and Britain led to the development of punk rock as a genre of music?" From there, we will look closely at the culture of punk and examine issues such as anarchy, media representation, and DIY. Finally, the current state of punk will be analyzed and we will ask, "Is punk dead?" This course will emphasize writing throughout with workshops, peer-evaluations, self-evaluations, student journals, and, in particular, a comparison of punk to other musical genres and an analysis of the message the songwriter is trying to send through his/her music.

Recovering Radio
Marty Boyden, Department of English
MW 6:15 - 7:30 CRN 12280

Radio is much more than a music box punctuated by breaking news bulletins and auto dealership commercials. Rather, radio may well be the most ambient of mass media, occupying and providing the very background of our daily lives. Recovering Radio explores the history and exemplary works of the medium, paying particular attention to those moments when radio was thought to have a transformative or revolutionary potential over populations within its broadcast range. As a medium with which almost all college students have a great deal of familiarity, consciously or not, radio is a ready subject through which to practice the critical writing and research skills students will need throughout their undergraduate studies and beyond. Moreover, studying radio in a college course such as this provides students an opportunity to recognize the different expectations within popular media and scholarly communication when providing information and making an argument. The work for this course engages a wide range of reading and listening exercises (from popular, academic, government/regulatory, and "radiophonic" sources) and will require the students to produce a short presentation/discussion, a journal, a number of short essays, and a research paper. Peer review and self assessment exercises will be coupled to writing assignments to strengthen students' consciousness and flexibility as writers.

Writing about Philosophy

Ancient Philosophy and Contemporary Problems
Andrew Cullison, Department of Philosophy
TR 11:05 – 12:20  CRN 73072

"The safest general characterization of the European philosophical tradition is that it consists of a series of footnotes to Plato" (A.N. Whitehead, Process and Reality, 1929)

You can find elements of most contemporary philosophical debates in the works of ancient philosophy. In this course, we will discuss a number of contemporary philosophical problems by first going back to their origin. Through focused writing and revision, we will examine ancient philosophers including Plato, Aristotle, The Epicureans, The Stoics, and The Skeptics. Critically writing about the views of these philosophers will help students develop the skills to (1) Extract arguments from texts, (2) Evaluate those arguments, and (3) Construct clear, concise and well-reasoned essays that present those extractions and evaluations. By the end of this course, students should have the skills to write good argumentative essays about any given subject matter.

Personal Identity
Patrick Kenny, Department of Philosophy
TR 11:05 – 12:20  CRN 12188

The issue of one’s personal identity arises at some point in most people’s lives: What makes you the person you are? Is there anything that makes you the same person from one moment to the next? Are we essentially physical beings or mental beings? These and other similar questions form the core of philosophical reflection on the problem of personal identity.  This class, through exposure to a selection of texts and other media, will provide the student with the opportunity to explore this intriguing and difficult topic.  Class discussion will help to isolate the key issues, and will serve to guide the students as they learn to appreciate that successful writing stems directly from the ability to identify and construct effective argumentative strategies.  Each student will write a number of short papers that actively engage with the arguments.  These essays will be subject to peer assessment and self-critique, both of which will enable the student to trace his/her own progress in acquiring the appropriate writing techniques.  These skills will then be put to good use in the construction of a clear and well-organized final research paper in which the student will demonstrate his/her own understanding of the problem of personal identity.  The end result will be the student’s awareness of how the appreciation of a subject matter and the ability to write well go hand in hand.

The Good Life and Medical Enhancement
Robert L. Muhlnickel, Department of Philosophy
TR 12:30 – 1:45  CRN 12357

In this course, we will read about, discuss, analyze, and write about what various conceptions of a good human life recommend in the conduct of one’s life.  We will use those conceptions of a good human life to assess the trend in contemporary medicine to use pharmaceutical and surgical techniques for enhancement of individual life opportunities rather than curing diseases.  We will examine philosophical accounts and literary works that recommend various attitudes toward desire fulfillment, harmony with self, self-realization, social activity, and living in accord with reason.  Students will have chances to define and defend their conception of a good life.  We will examine social attitudes toward self-realization as the motive for participating in medical enhancement procedures.  Students will write argumentative essays and research paper with self-assessments, perform peer reviews of each other’s writing, and participate in class discussion of the issues.

Objects, Persons, and Identity
Chris Tillman, Department of Philosophy
MW 12:30 – 1:45  CRN 12135

Imagine calling on a friend to collect a debt and receiving, instead of your money, the following argument:

A human being is just a collection of particles.  But, if you add particles to or subtract particles from a collection of particles, you get a new collection.  Now, this debt was contracted weeks ago, and many of the particles that composed the person who contracted the debt have since passed into the environment.  So I am a different collection of particles from the one that contracted the debt.  Thus, since a human being is just a collection of particles, I am a different human being from the one who contracted the debt.  So I don’t owe you any money!

This line of reasoning is clearly flawed.  It can’t be that easy to escape a debt.  But how is it flawed?  The answer is not immediately clear.

What the debtor has raised is a puzzle about the relationship between objects and persons.  Puzzles like this are among the oldest, most widely discussed puzzles in philosophy.  Through focused writing and revision, this course will follow thinkers from Aristotle, Leibniz, and Hume to present day philosophers in thinking about and discussing paradoxes involving objects and persons.  We will formulate, examine, and evaluate proposed solutions to the paradoxes and students will formulate and defend their own views through several peer-reviewed short writing assignments, self-assessments, and an 8-10 page research paper.  By the conclusion of the course, students should have tools to assist them to critically read, write, and revise clear and effective argumentative essays across the curriculum.

Political Science

Terrorism and Intervention: U.S. Foreign Policy in the 21st Century
Stephen Gent, Department of Political Science
TR 9:40 – 10:55  CRN 12325

The United States is by far the most powerful country in the world; however, the events of 9/11 illustrated that even the strongest nation can be vulnerable to external attacks.  How should the U.S. respond to this emerging threat of terrorism?  What role should the U.S play as the world’s only remaining superpower?  When the U.S. intervenes internationally, should it be required to gain the support of other countries, or is it legitimate to act alone?  These are the types of questions addressed every day by scholars and foreign policy practitioners alike.  In this class, students will discuss, analyze, and write about current issues in U.S. foreign policy, including terrorism, military intervention, and the role of international institutions.  Assignments will include informal in-class writing exercises, short analytical essays, and a longer, formal research paper.  During the course, students will assess their own writing, receive feedback from both the instructor and their peers, and make revisions to their work.   Through this class, students will gain experience analyzing topics critically, reviewing the work of their peers, and developing clear and convincing arguments that are supported with evidence.

last updated January 12, 2005