Introduction to Humanities

HUM 100: Summer 2022

Prof. Adam Kaiserman, Ph.D.

Departments of English & Humanities

College of the Canyons

E-Mail: [email protected]

Course: HUM 100, sec # 62345

Canvas Site: https://coc.instructure.com/courses/37739

Office Hours: Via Zoom by appointment.

Welcome to Humanities 100: Introduction to the Humanities. This section of the class examines what it means to be human during the Anthropocene, a period of geological time beginning during the Industrial Revolution when human beings became the driving force of environmental change. The humanities—the study of human thought and cultural expression—has a unique role to play in understanding this phenomenon since it is humans who are behind our current global environmental crisis. As such, we will explore how artists, authors, historians, filmmakers, and philosophers have attempted to understand the human relationship to nature. By working through a diverse set of texts, we will attempt to understand humanity’s tenuous position and how we might move toward a more harmonious relationship with the earth and with each other.

Course Overview:

Humanities 100 introduces themes and methods of inquiry of the Humanities. Compares and contrasts the ideas and cultural expressions of Western Civilization with those of non-western civilizations, focusing on a selected theme chosen each term.

Student Learning Outcome:

• Evaluate the ideas and values expressed in cultural productions from multiple time periods and cultures as they relate to a selected theme and through the methods of inquiry apprized by the humanities.

Course Objectives:

• Apply methods of inquiry used in humanities disciplines to assigned cultural expressions.
• Compare and contrast the basic methods of inquiry and disciplines that comprise humanistic study.
• Analyze key artistic, cultural, and ideological elements of selected cultural expressions.
• Construct relationships and comparisons between ideas and values expressed in humanistic works of different time periods and cultures.
• Relate written and visual works to their cultural and historical context.

Required Texts for Purchase/Rent:

Robin Attfield, Environmental Ethics: A Very Short Introduction (ISBN: 0198797168)

John Freeman, Tales of Two Planets: Stories of Climate Change and Inequality in a Divided World (ISBN: 9780143133926)

Snowpiercer (available for streaming)

There Will Be Blood (available for streaming)

Woman at War (available for streaming)

Note: A number of the texts for this class, including the reading for our first week, are available on the course Canvas shell. In order to participate effectively, you must read these texts as well.

Requirements:

Major Written Work: 35%

Paper 1… 15%

Paper 2… 20%

We will write two papers this term. The first will ask you to bring our major historical text, Nathaniel Rich’s Losing Earth into conversation with environmental historian and activists whose understanding of climate changes are quite different. This will be written as a dialogue between the selected figures. The second paper follows a similar format and is a philosophical dialogue that asks you to apply the ethical theories of our philosophers to the events described in our literature unit. Although these are not formal academic essays, you should still be concerned with the presentation, rhetorical affect, and analytic prowess of your work. Your paper should adhere to MLA standards in terms of style and citation. Your paper should be printed in Times new Roman 12-point font, be double-spaced, and have 1-inch margins. Papers should have a proper heading, appropriate title, pagination, and if necessary, a works cited page.[1]

You must also turn in a polished working draft in order to receive a passing grade. This draft must meet the minimum page requirements. This draft should also be edited and carefully proofread before you turn it in.

Essay Draft & Other Writing Activities: 10%

As stated above, a working draft is required to pass the essay assignment. While I will not grade these working drafts in the traditional sense, I will comment on them and give you advice on how to improve your paper. I will also award you full credit automatically for turning your drafts in on time, for meeting the minimum page requirements, for responding in a good faith effort to the prompt, and for proofreading your paper. Thus, you can earn half a letter grade just for doing what you must do to pass the paper assignments anyway.

Final… 15%

At the end of the term, you will have a cumulative final exam. It will consist of short answer questions and one essay question.

Discussion Board Responses: 20%

The discussion board responses play a vital role for online classes. Participation in the discussion board responses is both how you demonstrate your attendance in the class but also how we make the class happen. Every week you will be responsible for responding to our course discussion questions by Friday at 11:59 PM. You will then have to Sunday of the same week at 11:59 PM to respond to one of your peers. On Monday, you will respond to those who left you a comment on Monday. There are a few exceptions to the DB deadlines because of holidays.

Lecture Engagement: 5%

Our lectures are a mix of written and multimedia forms. Interspersed throughout the lecture are various activities such as brief quizzes that check for understanding, briefer discussion boards. Such interactions are the equivalent of being called on during an in-person class.

Weekly Quizzes: 10%

In lieu of face-to-face lecture, I will be providing online lecture materials. This material will be available at the start of the week and you should read it before you approach the assigned texts for the week. In order to track your understanding, I will be assigning brief quizzes to track your understanding. Since my point is to make sure you understand the material rather than assess your mastery over it, you will be able to retake the quizzes up to three times before your grade is finalized. I will keep your last score.

Reading Journals: 5%

Every Friday, a double journal reading entry will be due. These assignments serve a number of functions: 1) They will help focus your reading; 2) they will help you improve your reading ability; 3) they will develop a bank of quotations that you can later turn to for evidence in your essays; 4) they will help you prepare for the midterm and final; and 5) given the rubric for this assignment, this should be an easy way to raise your total score in the class.

Course Policies:

Attendance:

Class attendance as demonstrated through participation in our class discussion boards is mandatory. COC’s attendance policy is that students who miss one class over the number of times a class meets per week be dropped from the course. Therefore, absences will be tallied in this way:

• One missed initial post = 1 absence.
• One missed initial response = 1 absence
• One missed follow up response = .5 absences.

If you earn two absences, you may be dropped from the class. If you have any questions about this and how it complies with the college’s attendance guidelines, please make sure to ask for clarification early on. Discussion boards are based on the reading and provide a basic framework for class online discussions.

First Week Rule:

In order to record your commitment to the class, you must post do the ice breaker activity and the first discussion board at the end of the first week.

Late Work:

Late work will be accepted only if there is a documented emergency. Extensions will be granted only in advance but please do contact me if you know that turning in a paper on time will be a problem. I am happy to have an honest conversation with you about possible extensions. For minor assignments you can use an “oops” token to turn in an assignment late. You will get one “oops” tokens for the semester. See our first module for more details.

Standard Written English:

In this course, you will be expected to correct errors in mechanics, usage, grammar, and spelling on all drafts. Corrections on final drafts will be an essential part of your grade. When composing a written communication to your instructor, you should do so in Standard Written English and respect the conventions of a letter or an e-mail.

Academic Honesty & Plagiarism:

Academic environments thrive on honesty and mutual respect. Plagiarism and other forms of academic dishonesty violate the trust that should exist between professors and their students and harm the academic environment. It is far better for you and the college community for you to do poorly on an assignment and to do so honestly than to attempt to plagiarize or cheat in some other way. Plagiarism is absolutely and unambiguously prohibited in this class. All plagiarized papers will receive a zero (most likely resulting in you failing the class) and I will almost certainly report you to the dean of students for academic dishonesty. Plagiarism consists of presenting someone else’s ideas and/or words without the proper attribution. This stolen work can come from another student or a published source both online and in print. Self-plagiarism, the unauthorized recycling of work for one class for another, is also prohibited. Plagiarism defeats the point of education and breeds distrust within the campus community. It therefore harms you, your fellow students, and your instructors.

All students are responsible for reading COC’s Statement on Academic Integrity: https://www.canyons.edu/_resources/documents/administration/academicsenate/documentspage/academicsenatestandingrulesandstatements/AcademicIntegrityStatementApprovedMay2010.pdf#search=Academic%20integrity. If you have specific questions about what constitutes plagiarism, please ask. Plagiarism will result in a failing paper, and depending on the severity of the offense, it may result in your failing the course or other disciplinary procedures.

In order to deter plagiarism, all final paper assignments must be submitted to turnitin.com.

Disability:

Students with disabilities who believe they may need accommodations in this class are encouraged to contact Academic Accommodations Center at (661) 362-3341 as soon as possible to better ensure that such accommodations are implemented in a timely fashion.

Computer Literacy and Online Learning:

Online education does not require students to be computer experts, but the class does presuppose certain computer skills. At the very least you will need to be able to:

• Send and receive e-mails and access your my.canyons.edu account
• Open and send attachments by e-mail
• Use a word processing program such as Microsoft Word, or a program that can save documents in Word or .pdf file.
• Have regular access to the Internet and a web browser such as Chrome or Firefox. Canvas is incompatible with Internet Explorer.
• Cut and paste between your web browser and word processing program.

Some students assume that an online course is going to be easier than a traditional one, since work can be completed at the students’ convenience. An online course certainly offers advantages in terms of flexibility, and for the most part you will be able to tailor the coursework to fit your schedule.

However, an online course can pose unique challenges that you need to consider, since the course’s flexibility necessitates organization, discipline, and self-motivation on the student’s part. Thus, the first questions you should ask yourself before this course begins are:

• Am I realistic about my ability to complete the work required weekly for the course?
• Can I rely on myself to stay on top of the material, to complete the required assignments on time, and to “check in” regularly with my instructor and classmates?
• Do I have the necessary computer skills and access?
• Am I willing to spend some time familiarizing myself with Canvas?

If you answered yes to all of these questions, then you should be more than able to succeed in an online course. If you’d like to further evaluate your readiness to participate in an online course, see the self-assessment survey “Are you ready to learn online?” at:  http://www.canyons.edu/Offices/DistanceLearning/Pages/Assessments.aspx

Here is the link to helpful tips for succeeding in distance learning:

http://www.canyons.edu/Offices/DistanceLearning/Pages/SucceedInDistanceLearning.aspx

If you are nervous about being able to handle this class, hopefully you have already taken Counseling 070, “Becoming a Successful Distance Learning Student,” a 1-unit, short-term course that offers basic skills necessary to be successful in online courses, or courses with an online component. This course is helpful for those who have never taken a course with online features; it is highly recommended if you struggle with this course and plan to take online classes in the future.

The link for the COC Distance and Accelerated Learning site has the above and other helpful information you should definitely take advantage of:

http://www.canyons.edu/Offices/DistanceLearning/Pages/default.aspx

Plan B:

Although technology can be a wonderful thing, it certainly doesn’t feel like it when something is not working, so it’s always important to have a backup plan, as late work will not be accepted because of computer problems. Here’s ours:

• Canvas is a reliable platform, but every now and then, there may be times when it is temporarily unavailable (unlikely, but theoretically possible). If you are trying to log on to post an assignment and you receive error messages from Canvas, email me your work so that you receive credit for it being on time. Email me even if there isn’t an assignment due so that we can resolve the problem as soon as possible.
• My email is pretty reliable, but the campus server has gone down a few times in the distant past. In most cases, I am still able to access CANVAS. If you get a returned message when you send me an email, that probably means you have not typed my email address correctly (I highly recommend using the Address Book feature of your email program or using the hyperlinks in the class website to avoid this problem) and need to correct the address and resend.
• Your computer, email, or Internet Service Provider may also experience problems occasionally. Make sure to have a back-up plan for what to do if that happens (a friend’s or family member’s computer, the library, the ASG computer lab, etc). Remember, computer problems will not be accepted as an excuse for late or missing work, so work close to deadlines at your own risk. Think of your computer as your transportation to class. Just as an instructor cannot be responsible for your car, he or she cannot be responsible for your computer/Internet connection. The student is responsible for how s/he “gets to” class.

Communication Plan

·         I will send weekly announcements to the class on Monday so please be sure your notifications are set to receive them right away. Here’s the Canvas Student Guide to adjust your notifications if you need help.

·         Monday through Friday, I will reply to email and questions posted in the Q&A discussion forum within 24 hours, usually sooner.

·         I strive to return all graded work, with my feedback, within two weeks of the assignment being submitted if not sooner. Please do look for my detailed feedback and use it.

·         If I need to deviate from this schedule, I will send an announcement to the class through Canvas and let you know.

·         I will usually not be available on the weekends.

·         Students should check their COC e-mail addresses at least three times per week.

“Netiquette”

In any community, there is a set of certain rules for behavior, or “etiquette.” An online community is no different in this respect. Many of you might be familiar with emoticons or emojis used to express emotion in electronic communication but beyond these symbols, communicating online poses special challenges, so much so that a sort of etiquette for online learning has developed—“netiquette.” You are responsible for your netiquette in this course. Please include in all discussion board postings to your peers and emails to your instructor a proper greeting, a respectful, positive tone, and a signature. Keep your tone professional by using proper spelling and grammar. You can of course disagree with your peers, but we will not be attacking them or their beliefs in this class.

Office Hours, Email Etiquette, and Extra Help:

I am always delighted to continue classroom discussions, help you work through difficult passages in the reading, answer questions, look at paper drafts, or otherwise enhance your experience of the course during office hours visits. Please make an appointment to see me in office hours over Zoom. However, I must insist that if you make an appointment to see me that you keep that appointment or e-mail me in advance to let me know that you won’t be able to make it. Please also use your COC e-mail account and use all the formalities of a letter. In addition to visiting me in office hours, I highly recommend taking advantage of the TLC for extra help revising essay drafts.

Schedule of Readings

Class Calendar

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Weekly course modules will go live on Fridays. The week’s lecture materials will be made available at this time and I expect you to complete the lecture quiz by the end of Mondays at 11:59 PM. With a few exceptions, class discussion board responses are due on Friday by 11:59 PM and your response to a fellow student is due by Sunday at 11:59 PM. Your follow up responses will be due the following Monday. To help you organize your time, I have also broken up the reading throughout the week so that it is more manageable. It’s not advisable, nor really possible, to wait to do all the reading on Thursday. Essays and other major assignments are due by 11:59 PM on the days in which they are due. DB = Discussion Board, RJ = Reading Journal, Q = Lecture Quiz.