Truth in Advertising

 

Frequently Asked Questions and Answers

Regarding Humanistic Traditions Courses Taught by Harry Coverston

 

Q1. Aren't humanities courses supposed to fun and easy?

 

A1. You're asking two questions here.

 

            1. It is fun to learn about peoples and their cultures in other places and times

                        from our own. It's also smart to become more conversant with peoples

                        and cultures outside your own in a global economy and a highly diverse

                        society like Florida's.

 

            2. BUT, the key word here is learn. Like anything of value, becoming an educated

                        human being requires time, hard work, patience and openness to new ideas. 

                        While such is not necessarily difficult, it does not come for free.

 

Q2. Is this class going to be hard?

 

A2. It depends.

 

            1. College education generally presumes that in the class of average difficulty,

                        for every hour spent in the classroom, students will spend a minimum of two

                        additional hours outside the classroom reading, preparing for class and studying.

                        In a regular semester course, that means six hours per three hour course (9 hours

                        total per course). A number of studies have verified that ratio and many students

                        report that the two hours study for one hour class quotient is about right for them.

 

                        In summer sessions, that translates to 16 hours in addition to the 8 hours spent in

                        class (24 hours total) each week. The good news is that summer courses only last

                        about six weeks. The bad news is that it is VERY easy to fall behind in the

                        summer and find oneself struggling to catch up.

 

            2. If you are willing to spend the required time to prepare for this class, you will not find

                        it difficult. Indeed, most students in this class make either an A or a B.

 

                        Grade Distribution: HUM 2211 - Fall 2004 (2 sections combined)

 

Percent of Class

A

B

C

D

45

 

 

 

 

40

40%

 

 

 

35

 

39%

 

 

30

 

 

 

 

25

 

 

 

 

20

 

 

 

 

15

 

 

17%

 

5

 

 

 

 

0

 

 

 

4%

           

            3. If, however, you don't want to spend the required time, you will find this class - and

                        no doubt a number of others - not only demanding but difficult.

 

Q3. Now that we’re college age, we can decide if we want to come to class or not and that

            shouldn’t make any difference in our grade if we read the book before the test,

            right?

 

A3. Again, two questions.

 

            1. All students have the right to decide whether or not to attend classes though it would

                        be rather pointless to attend college and not regularly attend classes. But with

                        every right comes responsibilities, with every choice comes consequences.

 

            2. Attendance in this class is optional but the choice to attend does not come without

                        consequences. Not only does attendance alone account for at least 10% of the

                        participation grade, it also determines how well students will do in many other

                        graded class activities.

 

                        Absences and Grades: HUM 2211 - Fall 2004 (2 sections combined)

 

Average # Absences

A

B

C

D

6

 

 

 

 

5.5

 

 

5.5

 

5

 

 

 

5

4.5

 

 

 

 

4

 

 

 

 

3.5

 

 

 

 

3

 

 

 

 

2.5

 

 

 

 

2

 

1.8

 

 

1.5

1.6

 

 

 

1

 

 

 

 

 

            3. Participation accounts for a large chunk of the grade in this class. While students have

                        the right to decide not to come, they cannot participate or earn participation

                        points if they're not present.   

 

            4. The universitas as it was originally conceived in the middle ages meant "the whole

                        body." For the university to work, all members of the whole body had to be

                        present and participating. Many students have something of value to bring from

                        their studies and their own life experiences. Moreover, students often find that

                        they learn from their colleagues (Lat., collegium) as well as from their

                        instructors. When any member of the body is not present, the universitas as

                        a whole is diminished.  Absence is not just about the individual student; it's

                        about a failure in responsibility to the whole body.

 

Q4. What does the Gordon Rule require?

 

A4.       In the 1980s, Senator Jack Gordon of Miami became alarmed at the quality of writing his

            college educated interns displayed. He drafted a bill which required that students write a

            minimum of 6000 words in at least three classes. His purpose was to insure that students

            had an opportunity to work on their writing and receive feedback from instructors on the

            problems the writing exhibited.

 

            Gordon's intent was never that students count words and stop writing at exactly 6000!

            Indeed, writing is an important educational tool that allows students to develop ideas

            in greater depth and breadth than simply hearing lectures or engaging in class      

            discussions. In high school we learned to write; in college we write to learn. 

 

            In this class - and a number of others - you will be required to write a minimum of

            four substantial papers through class assignments, reflection papers and 10 minute

            papers to meet this requirement. But don't count your words! Spend your time

            instead considering the content of your writing and the rules of punctuation, grammar

            and composition.

 

Q5. What if I have to miss class because of my job? Isn't my job more important than

            classes?

 

A5. You appear to have your means and ends mixed up.

 

            Your purpose for being in a university is to become an educated person. Your purpose    

            for holding a part-time job while in school is to support that educational process.

            Becoming an educated human being is the end. The money the job provides is the means          

            to that end. Would it not seem a bit pointless to find that the means actually prevented    

            the end from being achieved?

 

            What this really talks about is an important learning experience that all college students

            must face: the art of time management. While we all have the same amount of time each

            day, some of us manage it better than others. No one expects students right out of high

            school living on their own to be expert time managers up front. But everyone expects       

            them to learn time management along the way, often by learning from mistakes. You might

            check out your time management skills at this self-evaluative website:

 

            http://www.ucc.vt.edu/stdysk/TMInteractive.html

 

            As for missing school for work (or Greek life or social life or…), you might want to ask

            yourself what kind of behavioral patterns you are building for yourself. Ask yourself           

            which job will let you come to work whenever you want and leave when you want.

            Employees with histories of time conflicts often become ex-employees quickly.

 

Q6. Why do we have to take these useless courses anyway. The real courses are the ones

that teach us job skills so we can make money. That’s the point, isn’t it ?

 

A6. Depends upon how limited a life you wish to lead.

 

            The humanities courses teach us about ourselves - human beings. Such knowledge is

            helpful to anyone who does not intend to spend their life alone on a desert island

            where they really won't need to know about other human beings. Moreover, humanities

            courses help teach students to think critically, to question their assumptions, to leave the

            limited cocoons in which they have thus far lived their lives, to more deeply understand    

            themselves and others, to grow and to develop into more fully human beings. That kind   

            of education is applicable in every career not to mention in the very difficult full-time          

            job all of us have in being human.

 

Q7. What kind of reviews do you get in your classes?

 

A7. There are several aspects to this answer.

 

            1. My average review scores are regularly above average for both the Philosophy

            Department and the College of Arts and Sciences. In Spring 2004, students evaluated

            my instruction as very good or excellent 80% of the time in almost every category.

            The SGA survey for Fall 2006 gave me a 4.41/5.00 in HUM 2211 and 4.89/5.00

            in HUM 3390. That constitutes a "very good" rating.

 

            2. Students comment positively on these aspects:

 

                        a. Students regularly comment that they have practiced critical thinking skills

                        b. Students say they became more open minded

                        c. Students report enjoying history and art for the first time

                        d. Students report unexpectedly learning about themselves

                        e. Class is well organized and students report knowing what is

                                    expected of them.

                        f. Students regularly comment instructor is passionate about his subject matter

                        g. Students find instructor accessible and concerned about his students

 

            3. Students comment negatively on these aspects:

 

                        a. This course is demanding. It requires a lot of work. While the work itself

                                    is not difficult, it is fairly consistently time consuming.

                        b. Students write more than what they believe the minimum the Gordon Rule

                                    requires  

                        c. Instructor vigorously challenges students' preconceptions. This can cause some

                                    discomfort for some students unaccustomed to having to defend their

                                    opinions and beliefs.

                        d. Students dislike participation grades dependent upon class attendance

                        e. Some class activities may occur outside the classroom (e.g., observations) and

                                    this can cause conflict with work and social schedules

 

            4. Perhaps the best summation was offered by an anonymous student on one of the

            many online professor rating websites. The student said:

 

He's a great professor but don't go into this class expecting not to work your ass off. There's a lot of writing involved because it's a Gordon Rule class, but he grades really easy on them. ELABORATE ON EVERYTHING!!! The tests are easy too if you study the art and literature.

 

            Though I probably wouldn't have said it exactly like that, (I'd take a point for

            punctuation in the last sentence and comment on the use of cliché in the

            first sentence) I think the message is fairly clear: if you take this class,

            you'll learn a lot but you'll work hard to learn it.  It's not that hard

            and your efforts will be rewarded grade-wise, but it will be demanding of

            your time and attention.

 

            So, if you're still interested in taking this course from this instructor now that you know

            what you're getting into,  terrific! Let's get on with the business of learning what it means

            to be human.