IDS 320
Survey of Western Thought
Spring, 2005; Feb. 12 – May 26
COURSE SYLLABUS
Instructor: Dr. Richard Lewis
2907 NE 11th Ave. Portland, 97212
Email: ra_lewis@comcast.net; telephone: 503-282-6004
NOTE: Students are required to (1) know the content of this Syllabus and (2) by Friday, Feb. 18, send a
WebCT email to the instructor, stating that he or she has read it.
Principal elements of the Spring, 2005 IDS 320 course:
· Weekly Lectures provided by instructor; Note: Introductory Lecture
· A Glossary of terms
· Weekly reading assignments (noted in the syllabus; repeated at the end of each lecture)
· Small Group discussions
· A Chat Room (students must attend at least two during the semester)
· A weekly web report assignment
· A 3-4 page Reading Report, due by midnight April 10 by WebCT email attachment or surface mail.
· A 6-8 page Course Paper, due by midnight May 8 by email attachment or surface mail
· Two Exams: MidTerm, March 21, and Final, May 16.
WEEKLY INSTRUCTION SCHEDULE :
1. By noon, each Friday, a lecture on the topic(s) for that week will be posted in WebCT. It will set forth ideas and information to be considered and will give (1) the reading assignment for the week, (2) a question or topic for small group discussion, and (3), a website to be visited and reported on by the students. BE SURE TO READ EACH WEEKLY LECTURE. Exam answers should demonstrate knowledge from the lectures.
2. Study Groups. At the beginning of the term, students will be assigned to groups of 4 or 5 each. Once the weekly lecture is posted on Friday, each group will have until 10:00 PM on the following Wednesday to post in the Forum that group’s response to the week’s “Study Question(s)”. The Forum is located under Course Menu. Group members exchange ideas through their group’s section in the Forum. One person should be the week’s leader, initiating the exchange of ideas and summarizing and posting the group’s response. It would be well to have a schedule within the group of who the weekly leaders will be for the term. The discussion within the group will be monitored to be sure all members participate. The group’s discussion focus should be primarily on the question(s) for that week and should include specific reference to the text(s) for that week. By Thursday evening, the instructor will post his responses to the comments received. These responses should be retained in the student’s course materials.
3. By 5:00 PM Friday, students must post in the “Web Report” file of the Forum a briefreport on the website assigned for that week, summarizing in several sentences what the website added to their knowledge of the subject. This report should aim at being specific about the content of the website; not “I learned a lot about Aristotle from this site.” Say something about what was learned.
4. Chat Room. Chat room groups will be assigned and a schedule of discussions posted by Friday, February 25. Chat Rooms will last one hour and will take place on designated Sunday and Tuesday evenings. Each student must participate in at least two chat rooms.
By midnight on April 10 each student must submit—as a WebCT email attachment or by regular mail—a 3-4 page written summary of the content of a chapter of a book on the Reading Report List. This summary should be a thoughtful and adequate restatement of the ideas and information presented in the chapter. A few one- or two-sentence quotations are encouraged, but the summary should be mostly the student’s own words.
By midnight May 12, each student must submit—as a WebCT email attachment or by regular mail—a 6- to 8-page paper that explores one of the topics on the Course Paper Topic List. The paper should observe the following formal requirements:
· Double-space the text; use 10-point type size
· leave 1” margins on all sides of each page; if submitted as surface mail, use white bond paper
· Put the paper’s title, followed by full name, on the first page, above the start of the paper, not on a separate page.
· Put last name and page number in upper right hand corner on each page
· If mailing, staple pages together; do not use any form of plastic cover; do not paperclip pages together.
· Some quotations should be used; however, quoted passages should not be longer than 4 lines; use no more than 4 quotations in the paper. Use whatever citation form you wish, but it must make clear where and on what pages in the source the quotation is found.
There will be a mid-term exam (March 21) and a final exam (May 16). The mid-term will cover Gilgamesh, the Iliad, Herodotus, Thucydides, Plato, and Aristotle; the final exam will cover only material covered after the mid-term.
The exams will each have four parts: True/False and Multiple Choice, answered through the WebCT online format, and Glossary and Essay Questions, answered through WebCT email.
Exam Process (Be sure to read this)
Exams are posted by noon on March 21 and May 16. If you wish, you may enter the exam twice: once to view and print the questions; once to submit your answers. Answers to the True/False and Multiple Choice questions are due in the WebCT exam format by noon the next day. You have 24 hours in which to receive and return the exam. The Glossary and Essay Question answers are due by noon two days later (Mid-term: March 23rd; Final: May 18.
By Friday noon immediately preceding each exam, a Heads-Up will be posted in WebCT, setting forth the ideas and information to be covered in the exam. The purpose of the Heads-up is to make sure students know what to expect. Students should not ignore this aid.
GRADING: The course paper and the two exams are the principal grade determiners. Two things are most important in both: presentation of ideas and information from works read and critical thinking about the topics. Weekly participation in the Forum and in two Chat Rooms is required. Web reports and the Reading Report can push the grade up or down, depending on how well they show a good knowledge of the information they cover.
REQUIRED TEXTS
Gochberg, Daniel S. ed. Classics of Western Thought: Vol I, The Ancient World, Harcort Brace Jovanovich, 1988.
Thompson, Karl F. ed. Classics of Western Thought: Vol II, Middle Ages, Renaissance, and Reformation. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1988.
Sandars, N.K., trans. The epic of Gilgamesh, rev. ed. Penguin Books
Lattimore, Richmond. Trans. The Iliad of Homer. University of Chicago Press, pb, 1961
Dante, The Divine Comedy, 1, Hell, Dorothy L. Sayers, trans. Penguin Classics, 1949
Cawley, A.C. ed. Everyman and Medieval Miracle Plays. Everyman Library, 1993
Watts, Victor, trans. Boethius, The Consolation of Philosophy. Penguin, 1999.
Coghill, Nevill, trans. The Canterbury Tales, Penguin, 1978.
SYLLABUS
Week 1; 2/14-20 Introductory lecture; no small group discussion this week.
Read: Epic of Gilgamesh, pp. 61-118; Introduction, especially pp. 20-44.
Week 2; 2/21-27 Homer, The Iliad, Lattimore: Books 1, 3, 6, 9, 14, 15, 17, 18, 20, 22, 23, 24
Week 3; 2/28-3/6 Herodotus, History, Gochberg, pp. 131-159
Thucydides, History of Peloponnesian War, Gochberg, pp. 173-195
Week 4; 3/7-3/13 Plato, Apology, Phaedo, Republic, Gochberg, pp. 294-348
Week 5; 3/14-3/20 Aristotle, Politics, Poetics, Gochberg, pp. 368-383
Week 6; 3/21-27 Mid Term Exam posted; T/F; Multiple Choice due back noon, 3/22; Glossary and Essay answers due back by WebCT email, noon, 3/24
Week 7; 3/28-4/3 Livy, The History of Rome from its Foundations, Gochberg, pp. 384-402
Cicero, On the Laws, Gochberg, pp. 430-439
Week 8; 4/4-4/10 Lucretius, On the Nature of Things, Gochberg, pp. 450-469
Marcus Aurelius, Thoughts, Gochberg, pp. 510-520
4/10: Reading Report due as WebCT email attachment
Week 9; 4/11-4/17 Augustine, City of God, Gochberg, pp. 628-642
“ Confessions,
Week 10; 4/18-4/24 Boethius, Consolation of Philosophy, Introduction, xi to xxxiv; all of Book 1;
all of Book II; Book III, Chapters I, II, IX, XI, and XII; Book IV, Chapters
III, IV, and VII.
Week 11; 4/25-5/1 Dante, Inferno, Sayers, pp. 67-69, “The Greater Images;” Cantos I to V, VIII-
X, XIX-XXI, XXIV– XXVI, and XXXII to XXXIV
Week 12; 5/2-5/8 Chaucer, Canterbury Tales, “The Prologue,” “The Miller’s Tale,” “The
Reeve’s Tale,” “The Wife of Bath’s Prologue,” “Chaucer’s Retractions.”
Week 13; 5/9-5/15 Everyman, A.C. Cawley, ed., pp. 195-225
5/8: Course Paper due as WebCT attachment
Week 14; 5/16 Final Exam posted; T/F and Multiple Choice back by noon, May 17;
Glossary and Essay answers back by noon, 5/18