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First-Year Seminar: Fall 2004: MWF 11:50 - 1:05, Dow 329 Weekly meaning of life lunch: Fridays, 1:15 -
2:00, in the Marriott cafeteria Note: I will be sending announcements, handouts, assignments, and so forth to the class listserv. This listserv includes only your K email address, so make sure email sent there is forwarded to whatever email address you're likely to check frequently. Texts: Klemke, The Meaning of Life (2nd ed.) (will be
referred to as "TML") Course Description The First-Year Seminar Program objectives basically boil down to two
sides of a coin: learning information and skills useful to you as a
college student (and as a person); and immersing yourself at the college
level in a particular topic. In this class we will be working hard on
both aspects. In your course folder, you will find an outline of what I take to be
the skills crucial for academic life (thinking, writing, reading, oral
communication, and so forth). I am also including an outline developed
here at K enumerating essential skills connected to a multicultural
education. Many of these skills are also arguably crucial for living
a truly meaningful life, but since that's the topic of our seminar I'll
leave that for you to think about later. A lot of our work on these
skills will just happen naturally, through practice and feedback. However,
the unique thing about your first-year seminar is that we will be working
on many of these skills explicitly as well, actively seeking principles,
techniques, and self-assessment tools. If you don't think it's a good
idea to do this deliberately and humbly, talk to someone truly good
at something hard: an athlete, musician, or craftsman, for example. The fun part, though, is that this will not be merely an extended self-help
seminar on student skills. Primarily, we will be conducting a college-level
class on the topic of the meaning of life. To that end, we will be working
from a variety of source materials: chiefly academic philosophy papers,
essays, and films. 1) Motivation: Why is this an interesting topic? Why are humans
interested in meaning? What is it to study a topic like this philosophically,
in particular? As you see, for each topic I have posed some puzzling questions. In
particular, these are philosophical questions: they are questions that
have to be answered through mental and conceptual work rather than empirical
research. They are hard questions, but fascinating ones (at least I
find them so). In this class you will study various ways to answer these
questions, and learn to formulate views of your own. Our seminar will be heavily discussion-centered, and no opinion will
be derided or demeaned. However, this does not mean that every statement
or view is equally legitimate. If I said, "the meaning of life
is found only in working as an academic philosopher," I would need
to back that view up with convincing reasons. You would be perfectly
right to question my view, and provide counterexamples or arguments
against it. What we are after is real understanding and some approach
to the right answers to the philosophical questions; with this as my
goal, I would be happy to be shown that I have gotten it wrong. Of course,
my view would be better than some - say, that the meaning of life is
a nice mutton, lettuce, and tomato sandwich - so it is possible to make
progress toward better and better answers. (By the way, what we are
interested in is reasonable answers to the questions that are on the
basis of some principles other than personal inclination, not answers
that an individual might just state and refuse to back up with theory.) So in this course, we will be studying, formulating, comparing and contrasting arguments and views regarding different aspects of the meaning of life. You will be assessed on several dimensions. One is how well you have learned what the authors think, and their reasons and arguments. Another is how well you have integrated and gained mastery over the various source materials and their contributions to the overall issues. A third is your command of the academic and other skills outlined in the skills attachment. A final dimension is how well you have mastered philosophical thinking in coming to your own opinions. Class Format You will be responsible for completing the readings before each class,
and being prepared to discuss those readings. I will provide you with
study/discussion questions for each reading, and will expect you to
have looked at those ahead of time. Some questions I will expect everyone
to have prepared answers for - these won't be "quiz" questions,
but ways for you to record what you found puzzling, interesting, right
or wrong, and so forth in the readings. You should be aware that some
of the readings in this course will most likely be quite challenging
for you. Give yourself plenty of time to do these readings carefully.
Those who want to truly excel in this class will most likely want to
read each assignment at least twice, and take notes on the readings. In addition to regular class meetings, we will be meeting five times outside of class: four times to watch films, and once to see the K presentation of "The Threepenny Opera". For the day following each of these extra meetings, there will be no readings assigned. However, on each of these days a group of three of you will do a collaborative presentation on the film or show. We will also spend part of these days working on particular skills. Course Requirements and Grading Scheme Response papers: 20% The point of the essays is to integrate your academic learning of the
material into your personal life and thinking, and to have the experience
of constructing statements of your own reactions to the topics studied.
They are meant to help you see the material as relevant to your life,
and to see yourself as able to take a place in the ongoing debate about
philosophical issues. I will grade these on the basis of how well I
see you trying to do those things, not on the basis of your ability
to regurgitate facts from the readings, or parrot back to me thoughts
I or the writers studied have expressed. In Week 7, we will be visiting the library to do a research project there. The resulting paper will take the place of Week 8's response papers. It will be averaged in with the rest of your response papers, except that it will count double. Random assignments: 25% These assignments will generally be graded Pass/Fail/Honors. Group presentation: 10% Your packet includes a handout that tells you which group you are in,
as well as the deadlines for papers that are adjusted for you (nobody
turns in a paper on a day they're doing a presentation). After each presentation, each member of the group will assess himself or herself as well as the other members of the group for quality and quantity of participation. These assessments will play a role in the grades given. First paper: 5% Second paper: 10% Third paper: 20% The point of this paper is to construct and present an extended philosophical argument for a thesis of your own devising. One goal is to apply for yourself the principles of reasoning, insight, philosophical writing, and argumentation modeled and taught in this class. The other goal is to craft a carefully considered position on an issue, grappling with fundamental problems in your own way. Assignment responsibilities: All assignments must be turned in as hard (paper) copies - no emailed assignments will be accepted except by special permission. It is your responsibility to retain copies of all assignments you turn in, in a reliable format. An assignment that is between one hour and 24 hours late will receive a ½ grade reduction. An assignment that is between one day and two weeks late will receive a full grade reduction. Assignments will not be accepted more than two weeks late. You will be permitted one "freebie": an assignment turned in as much as two days late, no questions asked, as long as you let me know you're taking your freebie. Be mindful not to use it lightly. The formal requirements for all assignments will be announced in detail well ahead of time, both in class and on the website, and most likely through the email listserv. A note on changing grades: if you feel you have been assigned
a grade unfairly or inaccurately, you should by all means talk to me
about it. My only requirement is that you prepare an argument (a set
of reasons and facts) before you do so. A note on reading: don't succumb to the misconception that in order to read something you only have to move your eyes over the lines, or "read it out loud in your head," so to speak. What I expect is that you will read the material in a more sophisticated way, thinking as you go. You should be asking yourself the main points, making sure you understand the structure of the reading, thinking about how this reading relates to others you've done, and otherwise working to comprehend the material, not just to complete a technical "reading" of it. You might try highlighting, underlining, making marginal notes, or outlining - whatever helps you focus and understand. The study questions should help with this, as well. By the way, don't forget to read the footnotes or endnotes as well as the main text in your readings. Participation, attendance, and class conduct: 10% Participation is one of your most serious obligations in this seminar.
In a philosophy class, discussion is absolutely essential, and may be
the way you learn most about the material. In addition, first-year seminars
are explicitly intended to be discussion-centered. I know that participation
is difficult for some people, but you can consider this a safe place
to practice contributing to a group discussion, which you will surely
need to do throughout your life. I will require and ensure that conversation
in class, although probably critical of ideas, will not be critical
of people. I will keep general track of your contributions in class. Keep in mind
that contributions can take various forms, including asking for clarification,
participation in group work, and giving helpful examples. Keep in mind
also that more does not necessarily mean better: those who excessively
dominate discussions, speak disrespectfully, or otherwise use their
voices in a negative way may be penalized for doing so. If you are in
doubt, ask me. Your conduct in this class includes improvement and effort. It also includes issues of respectful behavior, such as tardiness, distracting behavior, or disrespectful behavior towards members of the class. We will go over this in class. Final portfolio Grading scheme: 20% Response papers Academic integrity and the Honor System In this class, as in all classes at Kalamazoo College, we will be operating
under the Honor System. It is important that you familiarize yourself
with that system, and so your course folder will include a copy of the
College's statement of it. You should also familiarize yourself with
proper procedures for collaborating, doing research, and citing sources.
I expect each of you to visit my webpage and read the essay there called
"Plagiarism and How to Avoid It" (http://kzoo.edu/~mcdowell/Academic_integrity_and_plagiarism.htm),
and to read the sections of The Brief Guide relevant to this issue.
Should you have any questions about citations, plagiarism, or honor
system issues, please visit or contact me. Any assignment you turn in that I find to violate academic integrity, either through dishonesty, plagiarism, lack of appropriate citations, or unauthorized collaboration, will receive a grade of 0. Any further instance of a violation of academic integrity will be punished by a failing grade in the class as a minimum sanction. Special needs Office hours Schedule of Readings This schedule is tentative. Any changes will be announced in class and on the website. The reading assignments listed for each day must be completed before that class. WEEK ONE M 9/27 Motivation W 9/29 Motivation F 10/1 Motivation WEEK TWO M 10/4 Theistic arguments W 10/6 Theistic arguments F 10/8 Nontheistic arguments WEEK THREE M 10/11 Nontheistic arguments W 10/13 Cynicism Thursday, 10/14: Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead F 10/15 Cynicism M 10/18 Cynicism W 10/20 Meaning in a Scientific Age F 10/22 Meaning in a Scientific Age WEEK FIVE M 10/25 Meaning in a Scientific Age Tuesday, 10/26: Blade Runner 8:30, Humphrey House seminar room W 10/27 Meaning in a Scientific Age F 10/29 Finding Meaning in Others WEEK SIX M 11/1 Finding Meaning in Others W 11/3 Finding Meaning in Others F 11/5 Finding Meaning in Oneself WEEK SEVEN M 11/8 Finding Meaning in Oneself W 11/10 Finding Meaning in Oneself Thursday, 11/11: Groundhog Day 8:30, Humphrey House seminar room F 11/12 Finding Meaning in Oneself WEEK EIGHT [note: expect to meet with me this week about your third paper] M 11/15 Finding Meaning in Oneself W 11/17 Multicultural Meaning F 11/19 Multicultural Meaning [everyone should see The Threepenny Opera presented here at K sometime this week or weekend.] WEEK NINE M 11/22 The Threepenny Opera presentation/discussion W 11/24 Class cancelled M 11/29 Multicultural Meaning W 12/1 Philosophical Analysis of Meaning F 12/3 Philosophical Analysis of Meaning Monday, 12/6: Final portfolios due |