SPRING 2009
HRS 101: HONORS FOUNDATION SEQUENCE II, THE RISE OF THE WEST
COURSE DESCRIPTION
A study, based on literary sources, of the formation and development of Christian Europe from Antiquity and the Middle Ages to the Renaissance and the Reformation. Grounded on an examination of literary texts in their historical and cultural contexts, the course will pay special attention to the interplay and conflicts of Christian, Germanic, and Greco-Roman influences in the shaping of Western values and ideas. Texts studied include Beowulf, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, The Romance of Tristan and Iseult, Dante's Inferno, Malory's Morte d'Arthur, Shakespeare's Hamlet, Cervantes' Don Quixote, and others. In addition to literary texts, the course will also involve viewing and commentary, at least three times during the semester, on films relevant to the understanding and critique of Christianity and Western culture. Film screenings might include Beowulf and Grendel (2005, directed by Sturla Gunnarsson), Beowulf (2007, directed by Robert Zemeckis), Brother Sun, Sister Moon (1972, dir. Franco Zeffirelli), The Seventh Seal (1957, dir. Ingmar Bergman), The Thirteenth Warrior (1999, dir. John McTiernan, based on Michael Crichton's novel Eaters of the Dead), Tristan and Isolde (2006, directed by Kevin Reynolds), and others.
TEXTBOOKS (available at Creighton Bookstore):
See also additional materials available as handouts in the BLUELINE space for this course (look under the "Lessons" tab).
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
1) Quizzes (35%)
A number of quizzes, announced or unannounced, will be administered during the semester. Quizzes will feature objective questions on facts and historical and cultural information relevant to the texts and contexts studied in the course. Questions on the quizzes will be formulated on the basis of information offered in class lectures, in the texts read, and in the supplied online materials. In general, students should be able to answer questions regarding: names and dates of major historical and other events surrounding a text or issue studied in the course; authors' and texts' names and dates of activity/composition; texts' contents (plots, characters, situations, etc.), vehicles of transmission, language, sources and influences; names and locations of geographical areas associated with the authors/texts read; relevant distinctions between the facts of the fictional setting and of the historical composition of a text; any relevant literary, historical, cultural, religious, or other terminology relevant to a text or context. The format of the quiz questions will be primarily short answer but may also include multiple choice and other formats. At least three quizzes will be administered during the semester. 10-15 minutes will be allowed for each quiz.
2) Two 5-Page Papers (35%) -- both papers to include draft and final copy
Papers will respond to a question or questions provided by the instructor and must offer close reading and analysis of the literary or other passages supplied with the assignment. All papers must be clearly focused on the development and proof of the student's own original and personal thesis interpreting the given passages and constructively building on ideas and perspectives relevant to the course. The methodology should be primarily close reading, textual analysis, and personal commentary rather than research or reporting on the ideas of others. Research may be incorporated into the papers to support certain ideas or establish facts but it cannot constitute the focus or the bulk of the paper. Any sources cited or consulted (including the source of the text under analysis) must be clearly acknowledged and included in an alphabetically-arranged list of WORKS CITED at the end of the paper. Specific page or other references should be placed in parenthesis after the material quoted in the main text. Direct quotation and detailed commentary on the text under analysis are essential but long, block quotations should be avoided. Each paper will be developed in TWO STAGES: FIRST DRAFT and FINAL COPY. All drafts will be submitted electronically through the appropriate drop box in the "Lessons" area of Blueline (Microsoft Word .doc or Rich Text Format .rtf). The instructor will offer comments, corrections, and suggestions for the revision of the draft. The final copy will be submitted as a paper printout. Only the grade of the final copy will be taken into account in the calculation of the course grade. DO NOT EXCEED THE MAXIMUM 5-PAGE LENGTH IN EITHER THE DRAFT OR THE FINAL COPY (1 page = approx. 250 words). All papers must follow the guidelines provided by the instructor (click here for details). For further information on the writing and grading of papers see Grading Standards and Procedures, and Grading of Essays and Other Written Work. See schedule below for deadlines.
3) Participation, Involvement, and Other Performance (30%)
In addition to other grades, the instructor will assess and grade each student's overall accomplishment, development, and involvement in the course. This grade will take into account aspects of a student's performance such as class participation, preparation, contributions, effort, attentiveness, interest, improvement, responsibility, and constructive engagement of the course ideas and materials.
4) Outside-of-Class Film Screenings
At least three times during the semester, films will be screened during evening sessions (times, dates and places to be announced). The films will be discussed during regular class time. Students are expected to attend these sessions. Students unable to attend the films for significant reasons (work, academic obligations, etc.) will be excused but will remain responsible for viewing the films on their own time. Fulfillment of this requirement will be taken into account in the "Participation, Involvement and Other Performance" and the "Attendance" grade category. Unexcused absences from film screenings will affect the attendance percentage.
5) Other Policies
Deadlines: Make-ups/extensions for a missed deadline will only be given in cases of documented serious illness or other valid, non-frivolous excuse such as documented participation in official University academic or service events (it will be up to the instructor to determine and decide on the acceptability of an excuse). Otherwise, students must meet all deadlines specified in the syllabus.
Attendance Policy: An attendance measurement will be calculated equal to the percentage of total class time attended. The course grade may not exceed that percentage (i.e. if a student attended only 75% of the total class time, the course grade may not be higher than 75 or C). Notice also that, at the discretion of the instructor, any student missing more than 30% of the total class time may fail the course. All absences from regularly scheduled classes, regardless of the reason, will be taken into account in the calculation of the attendance percentage.
Academic Honesty and Class Conduct Policy: All students in the class are expected to observe the University's guidelines on student conduct as described in the Code of Conduct and Creighton University's Student Handbook (especially the section on "Academic Honesty Policy" dealing with problems of plagiarism, cheating, etc.) These and other relevant documents can be found on the web pages of the Creighton Center for Student Integrity. All work turned in for credit in this course must be personal and original, produced during the course of the semester and for the specific purposes and according to the guidelines of the given assignments. Any misrepresentation, concealment, distortion, or lack of acknowledgment of authorship, source, origin, or collaboration with others will be considered a form of academic dishonesty and will result in failing the given assignment or, at the discretion of the instructor, the entire course. Problems such as repeated lateness arriving to class (or departing early), inattentiveness, and disruptive or disrespectful behavior will adversely affect attendance and/or the class participation grade. Seriously disruptive or disrespectful behavior can also result, at the discretion of the instructor, in more severe penalties, including failing the entire course.
Email Communication: The University considers a student's Creighton email address the official means of communication with faculty and administrators. All students are responsible for checking their email messages as they might contain important and time-sensitive information relevant to the course, including notifications on changes to reading and other assignments, deadlines, class cancellations or reschedulings, etc. A student who prefers to receive email at a different address must inform the instructor.
Special Needs or Accommodations: Any student requiring special arrangements or other accommodations, due to disabilities and or other special circumstances, is encouraged to request such arrangements from the Office of Disability Accommodations and also inform the instructor.
Grading
All aspects of the course will be graded on a 100-point scale where 90-100 = A, 87-89 = B+, 80-86 = B, 77-79 = C+, 70-76 = C, 60-69 = D, and 0-59 = F. For further information on grading see documents entitled "Grading Standards and Procedures" and "Grading of Essays and Other Written Work." At the discretion of the instructor, a normative curve may be applied to the grades at the end of the term. The course grade will be calculated according to the following formula:
| Quizzes | 35% |
| Papers | 35% |
|
Participation and Other Performance |
30% |
|
Total |
100% |
SCHEDULE
Students must complete the reading by the date indicated.
READ BOTH THE MATERIAL ASSIGNED IN THE TEXTBOOKS AS WELL AS ALL ONLINE MATERIALS LINKED THROUGH THE UNDERLINED ENTRIES IN THIS SCHEDULE OR SUPPLIED IN THE LESSONS AREA OF BLUELINE.
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