Department of Interdisciplinary Studies
Humanities (GUH) 3710
Fall 2002
Introduction to Cultural Studies: The “Great Ideas” and Today’s Political Conflicts
Instructor: Ronald Aronson (o: [313] 577-0828; fax: 577-8585;h: [248] 548-7370)
Course texts: Mortimer Adler, Six Great Ideas (Touchstone, 1997); Thomas Klein, Bruce Edwards, and Thomas Wymer, Searching for the Great Ideas; second edition (Harcourt Brace, William Bennett, The Book of Virtues (Simon and Schuster, 1996); Colin Greer and Herbert Kohl, A Call to Character (Harper, 1997)
The class meets Wednesday, 6:00-9:40pm
Office Hours: I will be available at least one hour every other week for meetings with directed study participants and for general office hours. Please make an appointment to see me during that time.
General Education Requirement:
GUH 3710 fulfills the University General Education requirement in Philosophy and Letters. PL courses enhance understanding and enjoyment, while developing the fundamental skills of analysis, interpretation, and evaluation, and applying them to primary philosophical and literary materials.
Course Plan:
This upper-division class will begin by showing how our society’s “Great Ideas” find their way into political arguments today. Then we will explore the issue of what it means to talk about “Great Ideas.” Whose ideas are these? Who or what makes them great? Which ideas are included and which excluded, and what is the canonization process? We will discuss several ideas in two main clusters, truth, reason, and science, and freedom, liberty, democracy, and equality. Then we will ask how the “great ideas” are connected to important values, what the difference is between ideas and values, and what are today’s political arguments over values.
Student Responsibilities and Requirements
The Contract. As students you have a right to expect that your instructor will come to class prepared, treat you with respect, and conduct class in a scholarly manner. Being learners and not consumers, students’ growth and development entail a corresponding commitment: coming to class prepared, treating the instructor and fellow students with respect, and taking all aspects of class participation seriously. Students are required to be punctual and to attend every class session in full. Participation entails active involvement in class discussion and all activities, scholarly demeanor, and respect for the classroom process and the opinions of others.
The purpose of this course is to help students develop their capacity to think. As a course focusing on ideas, its lifeblood is class discussion. This is a collective process, requiring tolerance, openness, and careful listening. Each participant has a right to expect this of the others.
Grading procedures. Attendance and participation are calculated as 25% of the total final grade, and this figure is subject to deductions for absences, lateness, missed assignments, and inappropriate behavior. Any student absent three or more times will be dropped from the course and given the grade of “X.” Missed assignments must be made up, including viewing any missed videos. Each missed class not made up counts as ½ grade. IN THE EVENT OF ABSENCE, CONTACT ME AS SOON AS POSSIBLE FOR THE MAKE-UP ASSIGNMENT. Because much of the course involves active learning, be sure to keep up with any session you miss.
Writing. The ISP is a writing-intensive program, and students’ written work is graded both for form and content. The grade on written assignments will be 75% of the final grade, and close attention will be paid to writing mechanics. Assigned papers include:
(1) A short paper on a “Great Idea.” (2%)
(1) Short papers on readings as assigned (10 %)
(2) A 4-page paper (3 pages for 3-credit students) on reason, truth, and science (15%)
(3) A 4- to 6-page paper (3 pages for 3-credit students) on freedom, democracy, and equality(20%)
(4) A 10-page final paper (8 pages for 3-credit students) on ideas and values (28%)
Note: Late papers will be accepted up to two weeks late but will be downgraded one full mark.
Grades on papers.
A = Excellent (A is equivalent to 4.00 HPA; A- equivalent to 3.67). Well-written and well-argued with a clear thesis statement, sustained focus on the thesis, plenty of well-developed examples, and use of relevant readings from the text. May contain original ideas or insights.
B = Good (B+ 3.33 HPA; B 3.00; B- 2.67). A strong presentation but may not adequately develop one or more of the above areas.
C = Average (C+ 2.33 HPA; C 2.00; C- l.67). Shows understanding of the issues and readings, but a thin presentation, weak in key areas or does not touch upon key points. May also have writing problems.
D = Poor but still passing (D+ 1.33 HPA; D 1.00; D- 0.67). A cursory presentation lacking in examples and support from the text, and or serious writing problems. May show inadequate reading or reflection.
E = not acceptable (E or F = 0.00 HPA). Inadequate effort.
R = Returned for revision. Automatic for D and E papers until the final week.
Final Grades. ALL course requirements must be fulfilled to receive a final grade in the A to C minus range. Students who do not complete all course requirements will receive a grade in the D to E range, or, where insufficient work has been done to assign a grade and at the instructor’s discretion, a student may be given an “X.”
A student who is unable to complete the final assignment but has completed most of the course work and has notified the instructor of his or her intention to complete the remaining work by a given date may, at the instructor’s discretion, be granted an “I” until the work is made up and a final letter grade assigned. At the end of one year, the University regards the “I” as a “W” and the course must be retaken. Extensions are difficult to obtain.
Plagiarism, Citation and Rough-Draft Policies. Plagiarism is not tolerated at Wayne State University; students who pass off the work of others as their own will receive a failing grade. Whether quoting, summarizing, paraphrasing, or alluding, you must provide proper documentation of sources following Trimmer's Guide to MLA Documentation (4th edition) or the MLA Handbook (Fifth Edition). Since one of the most important sites of learning is the margins of papers. I encourage rough drafts and ongoing discussion of papers by E-mail.
SCHEDULE
I. Today’s Debates and the “Great Ideas”
9/4 Introduction and first assignment
9/11 1. Today’s Issues
Searching for Great Ideas, 3-5, Gopnik,17-19; material on September 11. In-class reading assignment, discussion.
How to think about September 11
Tips for studying
Discussion: Note-taking; journal for questions and reactions
How to preview next week’s reading
9/18 2. The Great Ideas
Reading assignment: Six Great Ideas, 3-27,
Paper: How do ideas matter?
Reading/Discussion Questions: Why study ideas? Is this philosophy? Is this history of ideas? Is this sociology of knowledge? What is “Cultural Studies”? Why are ideas important? What interests do they serve? Are “great ideas” good ideas?
9/25 3. Reason and Truth
Reading assignment: Six Great Ideas, 31-55; Searching, chapter five, Plato, 169-73; Midgely, 198-203
Writing assignment: summarize Midgely’s argument in your own words (one page - 250 words).
Reading/Discussion questions: What is reason? How does Plato describe it? How would you describe the idea our culture has of this faculty or process in your own words? Does Midgely strengthen or weaken our sense of truth?
10/2 4. Science, Reason, and Truth
Reading assignment: Six Great Ideas, 56-63; Searching, 218-30; Galileo, 230-7;
Reading/Discussion questions: What is distinctive about science? What kinds of truth does it lay claim to?
10/9 5. Evolution
Reading Assignment: Darwin, 238-51, Gould, 252-9; assignment on Creationism to be distributed in class, Cracraft, 283-93
Writing assignment: Summarize the key issue in the Evolutionism/Creationism debatet in your own words (up to two pages - 500 words).
10/16 6. Truth and (versus?) Religion
Paper assignment to be given out in class.
Reading assignment: Searching, 163-5;.Lewis, 75-7; Hebrew Scriptures, 80-97. Qur’an 116-40, Modood, 155-7
Discussion questions: Are science’s limits built into the enterprise itself or caused by how it is used? In what ways does the idea of God call for being treated as another “Great Idea” and in what ways does it demand being seen as something entirely different?
10/23 7. Liberty, Freedom, and Democracy
Reading assignment: Six Great Ideas, 135-55; Searching for Great Ideas, 307-22
Writing assignment: What is meant by “Liberty,” “Freedom,” and “Democracy.” How are they linked, and how are they opposed?
10/30 8. The Idea of Capitalism
Reading assignment: Six Great Ideas, 155-63; Searching for Great Ideas, 371-78; 421-28;
Writing assignment: Is capitalism a natural process, one economic system among others, an idea, or an ideology?
Discussion questions: How is equality of opportunity to be achieved? Does a capitalist economy serve the common good? Do capitalism and democracy reinforce or undermine each other?
11/6 9. The Idea of Socialism
Reading assignment: Six Great Ideas, 164-73; Searching for Great Ideas, Marx, 378-91
Discussion question: What is Marx’s attitude towards capitalism? Does Marxism reject or extend the other great ideas we’ve studied? What other “great ideas” are contained within Marxism?
11/13 10. Equality, Democracy, and Justice,
Reading assignment: Six Great Ideas, 174-85; Searching for Great Ideas, 323-7; 335-48
Paper: topic to Be announced (4-6 pages - 1000-1500 words)
Discussion question: Do racial and gender equality subvert or extend the other great ideas we’ve studied?
11/20 11. Responsibility and Freedom
Reading assignment: Six Great Ideas 186-93; Sartre, Existentialism
Writing assignment: Summarize Sartre’s argument in a paragraph.
Discussion question: Ten years after writing Existentialism Sartre declared himself to be a Marxist. Was this a natural extension of his existentialism or a contradiction of it?
11/27 12. From Ideas to Values: Why the Values-Talk Today?
Reading assignment: Six Great Ideas, 66-81; Searching, 29-31; Bennett, The Book of Virtues (pages to be announced)
Writing assignment: to be announced.
Discussion questions: Why is there so much concern with character today? What does the shift from ideas to values signify? Are Bennett’s virtues human virtues or conservative virtues?
Final paper assignment to be distributed and discussed in class
12/4 13. The Response from the Left: Greer and Kohl
Reading assignment: Six Great Ideas, Finish Bennett; Greer and Kohl, The Plain Truth of Things (pages to be announced)
Discussion question: What are the traits of a moral person according to Greer and Kohl? What are the similarities and differences with The Book of Virtues?
12/11 14. Left-Right Values Debate Continued
Do “Great Ideas” still matter?
Reading assignment: finish Greer and Kohl (pages to be announced).
Discussion Question: What is a moral person according to the Right? According to the Left? How does the values debate play out in current political arguments? What political agenda do Greer and Kohl reflect? Bennett? Is there any common ground between Left and Right? What does the values debate have to do with the “Great Ideas”?
Assignment: Bring your own questions to class
Final paper discussion.
12/18 15. Final Papers Due
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GUH 3540 - Directed Study
This course will expand and deepen the readings, discussion, and reflections of GUH 3710.
Students registered for GUH 3540 will
1) Read the following books: Sean Hannity, Let Freedom Ring, Jim Hightower, There’s Nothing in the Middle of the Road and George Lakoff, M oral Politics; a fourth book to be assigned.
2) Enter into an on-line discussion about each of these books.
3) Write a 4-page paper on each book.
4) Participate in group presentations to the 3710 class on one of the books.
Class will meet for 30 minutes each week. Starting the second week, the meeting will be 6-6:30 on Wednesday, just before class. Attendance is required, and all assignments are to be completed by their due date. The contract and all other appropriate provisions of the 3710 syllabus apply as well to 3540.