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8/17/13

 

    

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"Only connect!  That was the whole of her sermon. Only connect  the prose and the passion, and both will be exalted, and human love will be seen at its height. Live in fragments no longer.”  E. M. Forster, Howards End (1910), ch. 22

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• Course Number: E 603 ethics/leadership flag*

 

Description:This version of E603 is for students who have already read many of the older masterworks of Western civilization and are ready to move on to masterpieces of world literature aligned with four of the six experiences required in the new core curriculum: writing, global cultures, American cultural diversity, and ethics and leadership. Because our primary approach to ethics will be emotive (compassion) rather than philosophical (rights), emotional literacy will also be one of our goals. Some of our other goals can be seen are at http://www.la.utexas.edu/users/bump/603A13/goals.html   

Discovery learning: Students' identity or "power animal" essay and probably their leadership visions will require discovery learningFor these assignments especially, students should be prepared to think for themselves. Discovery learning means that there will be fewer instructions about the content of projects than what students may be used to from other courses. This can be frustrating for some, especially those who want a detailed formula that will guarantee them a good grade. Instead, students will be encouraged to be creative and write about what is most important to them. However, all students will be expected to follow very detailed instructions about the form and format of the essay.

This version of 603 is also a leadership/ethics “flag” course, exploring those subjects through experiential and service learning. For example, in the second semester students to go out into the community and write a story to facilitate the adoption of a cat at an animal shelter. Our exploration of ethics will be supported by selections from Stephen Covey’s  7 Habits of Highly Successful People and Ram Dass’s How Can I Help?

Our key theme is compassion for those different from ourselves, as seen in masterpieces by Native-, African-, Asian-, and Hispanic Americans, such as Black Elk Speaks, and The Bluest Eye, by Nobel Prize winner Toni Morrison. To explore gender differences we will read some Dartmouth student essays and the graphic novel, Fun Home, by Alison Bechtel. This novel also exemplifies our theme of family dynamics, explored most explicitly in the movie, Dead Poets’ Society.

In the second semester our ultimate ethics goal will be to “widen the circle of compassion,” as Einstein put it, to include not other species as well. We will begin with analogies between factory farming, slavery, and Nazi concentration camps made by various writers and philosophers, and especially by the shocking documentary Earthlings, which will challenge us to become more mindful of ethical decisions we make daily about food, clothing, entertainment, etc.

Throughout the year, to prepare you for your college and later careers we will cultivate digital, information, and print literacy and practice college-level writing, speaking, listening, discussing, and analyzing ideas. Grades will be based in part on meeting the two expectations employers have of college graduates: time management, and the ability to read, analyze, and follow complex, detailed directions. 

Readings: We will begin with the medieval classic, Gawain the Green Knight, which we will relate to Hebraism, Hellenism, and perfectionism in college students. Then, Lewis Carroll’s Alice on Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass will prompt discussions of the college experience, leadership, discovery learning, diversity, and the representation and treatment of animals, a topic explored also in Dobie's Longhorns and Mustangs, and many other works.  Then we will explore compassion, diversity and family dynamics in The Bluest Eye, Fun Home, Woman Warrior and other readings.

Schedule. 8-29 Introduction; 9-3 + 9-5 Gawain and Perfectionism; 9-10 Identity, P1, and Power Animals; 9-12 Hopkins, Jeffers, and Power Animals; 9-17 Totem Animals, Dobie, Longhorns, Mustangs; 9-19 Blake, Moyers Rebirth at U.T; 9-24 Emotion Intelligence and Literature; 9-26 Alice books as guides to college;10-1 P1 due for critiques; 10-3 Universities, U. T., Liberal Arts, Plan II ;10-8 Diversity issues in the Alice books; 10-10:Black Elk Speaks childhood ; 10-15 P1 final copy due; 10-17 Black Elk Speaks adulthood; 10-22 Hispanic-American Student Essays; 10:24 Asian-American Student Essays; 10-29, 10-31, 11-5 The Bluest Eye; 11-7, 11-12 Fun Home; 11-14 P2 due for critiques; 11-19 Woman Warrior 1; 11-21 P2 final copy due; 11-26, 12-3 Woman Warrior 2&3; 12-5 Emotive Ethics and Literature. For details see http://www.la.utexas.edu/users/bump/603A13/schedule.html

Required Texts For The First Semester: Students must bring to class on the days they are due the following physical texts: [1] the course anthology*; [2] Gawain and the Green Knight (Broadview 9780921149927) [2] The Annotated Alice (Norton, 0-393-04847-0 BUY ONLY THIS EDITION); [3] Toni Morrison, Bluest Eye (Vintage International 9780307278449) ; [4] Allison Bechdel, Fun Home [Mariner 9780618871711 ]; [5] Maxine Hong Kingston, Woman Warrior [Vintage 9780679721888].. *FOR THE FIRST ASSIGNMENT, students will need the course anthology, which is a collection of xeroxed materials. It will be available from Jenn's, 2000 Guadalupe (basement of the Church of Scientology at 22nd and Guadalupe, 473-8669). It will cost about $60. Jenn’s takes major credit cards, of course. (If you don’t get there within the first few days you might want to call ahead to make sure they have a copy reserved for you.)

Assignments: Your formal writing will be four multimedia autobiographical essays about your identity, your passion, your ethics (saving an animal’s life), and your leadership vision. Your goals will be to discover your identity and your beliefs and to learn how to articulate them in writing and class discussion. It has been proven time and again that this is the best way to teach writing to your age group. (However, we will add writing requirements, such as the Chicago Manual of Style, to help you learn to write academic papers). Each will be a minimum of four pages and be revised in response to peer critiques before the instructor's grading and critique. You cannot pass the course without satisfactory essays. In the first semester, essay #1 will be on your identity and your "power animal," and essay #2 will be about your passion. In the second semester essay #3, the ethics essay, will be about the shelter animal and then, inspired by the Leadershape program of the Colleges of Business and Engineering, essay #4 will be a leadership vision to motivate you during your college years and beyond. Class discussion will be conducted to some extent by informal writing: blogging about the readings.

Digital Literacy. Because the "Five Characteristics of a Successful Student at U.T." include "Good computer skills" as well as "Strong writing skills," essays and blogs will require digital literacy (multimedia and web skills) as well as print literacy. Students will also be expected to check their email frequently (maintaining the correct email address in the U.T. Direct system) along with the course Blogs and the Online Gradebook, especially the day before class. Students should be familiar with keyboarding, operating systems, word processing, electronic mail, web-browsing, downloading and uploading files, and Facebook, where we will have a closed group "to help students develop a small community within the larger whole" (CRUE).

Grading: Grades from last semester's class ranged from A to C. About 50% of the final grade will be determined by multimedia web projects (250 points each), 36% by informal writing such as blogs (360 points); and at least 14% by class discussion, leadership, and attendance (140 points). To pass the course students must demonstrate college-level writing and complete all basic requirements of both projects. Grades for projects especially will be based in part on meeting the two expectations employers have of college graduates: time management, and the ability to read, analyze, and follow complex, detailed directions. 1200 points (out of 1,300 or more) are required for an A+ (unofficial grade); 1100 for an A; 1000 for an A-; 965 for a B+; 945 for a B; 900 for a B-; 865 for a C+; 845 for a C; 800 for a C-; 765 for a D+; 735 for a D; and 700 for a D-. At the end of the course, students will receive exactly the grade recorded in the online gradebook, even if it is one point short of the next higher grade. Privacy (FERPA): students will be asked to give written permission to share certain documents with class members.

Daily class participation grades: up to nine points per class, sometimes more if you demonstrate good listening, sometimes less if you don't. Class discussion rules: students who talk to others while the speaker is talking and/or encourage this rude behavior with a willing ear, will have fifteen points deducted from their class participation/attendance grade for each incident. Egregious behavior such as sleeping in class, reading materials other than ours, using your cell phone, iPod, or computer during class, acting out, disrupting class, etc. will be subject to a thirty-point penalty for each incident. Students who insult, threaten, or harass others will have fifty points deducted from their grade for each incident, and be referred to the Dean of Students. For policy on cell phones etc. in class see the Class Participation and Class Discussion document: http://www.la.utexas.edu/users/bump/SL.html

Being on time: Students prepare for class discussion by being on time.  There will be heavier penalties for being late than for being absent. Why? Basically, because being absent does not disrupt the class and coming in late does, especially if we are watching Earthlings, meditating, doing experiential learning or ......

There are in fact three important reasons for penalizing lateness in this way: [1] To prepare you for the real world. Employers will not tolerate this kind of behavior. [2] To be courteous and respectful of your colleagues, not interrupting the class to make your tardy entrance. [3] To avoid "enabling," to encourage repeat offenders to learn the lessons they need to learn.

The ultimate reasons are found in the essay by Dr. Carl Pickhardt on the website. The key sentences in that document for a teacher are: “Maintain adult demands and expect young people to meet them. Accept no excuses, make no exceptions, and attempt no rescues. Listen respectfully and empathetically and do not criticize the young person for not measuring up to what college expected. Encourage learning more responsibility from facing consequences of how one chose to act. And support the courage to keep growing forward in life.”

Hence, there will be no attendance or class participation credit for the first late appearance, -5 points for the second, double the penalty for the third, triple for the fourth, etc.  If anyone chooses to open the door for someone who comes late for the third time or more, they will receive the same penalties as the one who arrives late: no attendance or class participation credit for the first disruption, -5 points for the second, -10 for the third, -20 for the fourth, etc.

Prerequisites: Students should be familiar with keyboarding, operating systems, word processing, electronic mail, web-browsing, downloading and uploading files, and Facebook. In addition, they will need to know (or learn) how to create simple, personal websites, and blogs with images. They will use U.T.'s Blackboard system for keeping track of their grades and as a peer editing site to critique the papers of other students.

About the Professor: Jerome Bump has been awarded a number of research fellowships and the Jeanne Holloway Award for undergraduate teaching, the Chad Oliver award for Plan II teaching. He was an editor of Texas Studies in Language and Literature and has written Gerard Manley Hopkins and sixty articles. His current project is Alice the Conqueror, about the representation of animals in the Alice books. For more information about him, his publications, his teaching philosophy, or his courses see http://www.la.utexas.edu/users/bump/

Policies:

Honor Code. The core values of The University of Texas at Austin are learning, discovery, freedom, leadership, individual opportunity, and responsibility. Each member of the university is expected to uphold these values through integrity, honesty, trust, fairness, and respect toward peers and community. Our training in practical ethics will include evaluation of student behavior in the course, especially actions that hurt other students' educational opportunities, including interrupting class by coming late or not completing peer critiques.

Academic Integrity: Our training in practical ethics also means that any work, any paragraph, any sentence submitted by a student in this course for academic credit must be the student's own work, unless the source is explicitly acknowledged. Plagiarism will be punished severely (See "Paraphrasing vs. Plagiarism" in the course anthology). For additional information on academic Integrity, see http://deanofstudents.utexas.edu/sjs/acadint.php

Disabilities: The University of Texas at Austin provides upon request appropriate academic accommodations for qualified students with disabilities. For more information, contact Services for Students with Disabilities at 471-6259 (voice) or 232-2937 (video phone) or http://www.utexas.edu/diversity/ddce/ssd

Religious Holy Days: By UT Austin policy, you must notify the instructor of your pending absence at least fourteen days prior to the date of observance of a religious holy day. If you must miss a class, an examination, a work assignment, or a project in order to observe a religious holy day, you will be given an opportunity to complete the missed work within a reasonable time after the absence.

The following recommendations regarding emergency evacuation are from the Office of Campus Safety and Security, 512-471-5767, http://www.utexas.edu/safety/ :

- Occupants of buildings on The University of Texas at Austin campus are required to evacuate buildings when a fire alarm is activated. Alarm activation or announcement requires
exiting and assembling outside.

- Familiarize yourself with all exit doors of each classroom and building you may occupy. Remember that the nearest exit door may not be the one you used when entering the building.

- Students requiring assistance in evacuation shall inform their instructor in writing during the first week of class.

- In the event of an evacuation, follow the instruction of faculty or class instructors.

- Do not re-enter a building unless given instructions by the following: Austin Fire Department, The University of Texas at Austin Police Department, or Fire Prevention Services office.

- Behavior Concerns Advice Line (BCAL): 512-232-5050- Link to information regarding emergency evacuation routes and emergency procedures can be found at: www.utexas.edu/emergency

• Counseling and Mental Health Center:
  512-471-3515

• UT Telephone Counseling (24 hours/day, 7 days/week):
  512-471-CALL (2255)

• Behavior Concerns Advice Line (24 hours/day, 7 days/week):
  512-232-5050

 

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