Tentative Syllabus

HUM 2020 - Encountering the Humanities (8-10)

Fall 2010

 

Instructor:     Dr. Harry S. Coverston

Course Location:       CLI – 320

Office:            227 Psychology Building

Course Meeting:         MWF 1:30 – 2:20 PM

Phone:  (407) 823-2904

 

Hours:  MW 2:30 – 4 PM, F 2:30 – 4:30 PM with appointment

Email: WebCT Coursemail ONLY

(email checked by 10 p.m. on class nights (Su-W)

 

 

Course Description: This is a study of the range of ideas, research methods and approaches to scholarship, critical reflection, and creative work in the humanities. (UCF Undergraduate Catalogue). This course will be organized around the central question of the Humanities: What does it mean to be human and how do we know? This question will be examined through the lenses of human experience and expression in the expressive humanities (art, architecture, literature, music, film, drama) as well as the reflective humanities (philosophy, religious thought, political and social theory). 

 

This is NOT a Gordon Rule course.

 

Prerequisites: None for this course. This course is a prerequisite for Humanities majors.

 

Course Objectives

 

1. To identify the personal and socio-cultural aspects of individual hermeneutical lenses which shape the way individuals encounter, interpret and experience being human

 

2. To critically consider the question of what it means to be human in the context of empire. 

 

3. To introduce humanities students to techniques of research, analysis, verbal and written expression

 

4. To introduce humanities students to the resources of the university, the college, the department and the discipline of interdisciplinary Humanities

 

5. To introduce humanities students to the faculty and staff of the UCF Humanities program and the larger Philosophy Department of which it is a part.

 

6. To pursue the foregoing analyses through the artifacts of the expressive humanities and the ideas of the reflective humanities as found in

            primary and secondary sources

 

             

Required Texts:

 

  • Richard Paul Janaro, Thelma C. Altshuler, The Art of Being Human, 9th ed. (NY: Pearson, 2009)

 

(students should order Longman’s Student Edition, ISBN-10: 0-205-60542-7  or  ISBN-13: 978-0-205-60542-2)

 

NOTE: Students will need this textbook by the first class

 

  • PDF materials provided for classroom use at password protected webcourse site

 

 

 

Ground Rules: Please follow the link to the Ground Rules. Read, mark and inwardly digest them. Your continued presence in this class after the add/drop deadline constitutes consent to be bound by the Course Ground Rules.

 

·         Covenant to Participate in a Learning Community spells out the remainder of instructor and student obligations to the course and will provide the basis for student self-evaluation at the end of the term.

 

·         Withdrawal Deadline: It is this instructor's desire and intent that every student complete this course in good standing. However, should it become necessary for the student to withdraw, it is the student's responsibility to withdraw from the course prior to the Friday, Oct. 15, 11:59 PM  deadline

 

 

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

 

There are only two components of the final grade in this class.

 

 RESEARCH/WRITING   

 

Students will be required to complete four research/writing assignments including:

 

            Research Assignment I 

            Analysis Assignment -

            Critical Precis Assignments

            Structured Research Paper

 

   TOTAL WRITING = 250 points (43% of final grade)

 

 

PARTICIPATION  

 

Students will earn participation points in a number of ways including

 

            Group Presentations 

            Attendance

            Class Activities

            Self-Evaluation

 

            TOTAL = 400 points  (57% of final grade)

 

 

GRADING

 

The scale for all assignments used in this class includes the following:

 

93 - 100 = A

87-89 = B+

77-79 = C+

67-69 = D+

Below 60 = F

90-92 =     A-

83-86 = B

73-76 = C

63-66 = D

 

 

80-82 = B-

70-72 = C-

60-62 = D-

 

 

            for an explanation of what these grades mean, see So, what does my grade mean?

 

FINAL GRADES (Out of 600 possible points total)

 

651-700 A

609 - 629 B+

539-559 C+

469-489 D+

Below 420 = F

630-650 A-

581-605 B

511-538 C

441-468 D

 

 

560-580 B-

490-510 C-

420-440 D-

 

 

All borderline cases will be decided upon participation and attendance grades at discretion of instructor.

 

Final Comment: If something arises unexpectedly that will affect your attendance and/or performance in this class, please contact the instructor. He's a fairly understanding man but a lousy mind reader. Any departure from this syllabus is in the discretion of the instructor and depends upon the individual circumstances of the student in question. Any changes in syllabus requirements or scheduling affecting all students will occur with notice to students.