**UPDATED AND REVISED ON 9/21/04

 

UCCP 101-03

CULTURAL PERSPECTIVES

Fall 2004    MWF 8:00 - 9:05   DIV N202

Bridget Rose (bcrose@samford.edu)

Office: Divinity South 105  Ext: 2229

Office hours vary due to my responsibilities as Hodges Chapel Curator.  You are welcome to stop by anytime (M-F, 8:00 -5:00), but to insure my availability, please make an appointment.

 

Catalog Description: The first in a two-semester sequence that views the Western intellectual tradition within a global context.  Through interdisciplinary study, students will increase their awareness of the cultural, historical, literary, philosophical, and religious influences upon the development of civilization.

 

Course Objectives:    1. Develop critical reasoning skills through the reading of significant texts and evaluating of different viewpoints and arguments.

2.  Develop the ability to investigate an issue and construct a well-reasoned and coherent viewpoint. 

3.  Learn to communicate ideas and arguments clearly and persuasively through written and spoken means.

4.  Understand the world through multiple perspectives and different world values.

                                    5.  Explore religious and moral dimensions of critical issues.

6.  Appreciate how different disciplines advance understanding of cultures and civilizations and recognize the interconnectedness of the disciplines.

                                    7.  Become a part of a larger academic community.

 

Required Texts:         Fisk and Mayfield, eds., Cultural Perspectives: A Sourcebook, Volume 1

                                    Sophocles, Three Theban Plays (Fagles translation)

                                    St. Augustine, Confessions

                                    Cahill, How the Irish Saved Civilization

                                    Machiavelli, The Prince

                                    Shakespeare, King Lear (Cambridge School Shakespeare Series)

                                    Leon-Portilla, The Broken Spears

 

Expectations: Regular class attendance and participation are expected.  More than eight unexcused absences will result in a grade of FA for the course, though all missed classes will affect your class participation grade.  In order to participate, you must read the text(s) assigned for that day.  It is expected that all papers will conform to standards of academic integrity set forth in the Academic Regulations section of the University Catalog.  Effort should be put forth in both speaking and writing to use inclusive and non-offensive language.

 

Accommodations for Students with Disabilities:  Samford University complies with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act.  Students with disabilities who seek accommodations must make their requests by contacting Disability Support Services located in Counseling Services on the lower level of Pittman Hall (726-4078 or 726-2105.)  Instructor will grant reasonable accommodations upon written notification from Disability Support Services.

 

Grading: Your final grade will be determined by averaging the following:

 

Mid-term and Final Exams:       20% each

Each will be composed of short answer and essays.  Exams must be taken on the day scheduled unless student has a documented medical emergency or is on official University business.

 

Formal Essay:                           20%

Essay will be five pages in length and will address an issue raised in one of the texts for the course.  Suggested essay topics will be provided, but students may also submit their own topic for consideration.  Papers are due at the beginning of class unless otherwise announced by instructor.  Late papers will be penalized ten points for each day they are late.

 

Daily Quizzes:                           20%

Quizzes will be unannounced and will cover the reading assigned for that day.  Since quizzes cannot be made up, the lowest quiz grade will be dropped from your average.

 

Group Presentation:                  10%

Each student will participate in a group presentation sometime during the semester.  Groups and topics will be assigned.  You will be graded on your presentation to the class as well as the written summary of your research.

 

Class Participation                    10%

Though some class sessions will be primarily lecture, most will require student discussion and participation.  The instructor reserves the right to assign a grade for this portion of the student’s average that reflects the student’s classroom involvement.

                                                                       

93 -100 % = A

83 - 87 % = B

73 - 77 % = C

63 - 67 % = D

90 - 92 % = A-

80 - 82 % = B-

70 - 72 % = C-

60 - 62 % = D-

88 - 89 % = B+

78 - 79 % = C+

68 - 69 % = D+

59% and below = F

 

Class Calendar:

DATE                                      TOPIC/ASSIGNMENT

August 30                                 Course Introduction

September 1                             Introduction to the Greek World; Read “Greece and the Theatre” in The Three Theban Plays (pages 13-30)

September 3                             Sophocles, Antigone; Read introduction and the play

 

September 6 (Labor Day)         Antigone (continued) and Martin Luther King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” download off Web: http://www.samford.edu/schools/artsci/uccp/uccp101.html)

September 8                             Plato, “Allegory of the Cave” (Sourcebook)

September 10                           Plato, Apology (Sourcebook)

 

September 13                           Aristotle, Nichomachean Ethics (Sourcebook)

September 15                           The Rise of Rome; Begin Vergil’s The Aeneid (Sourcebook)               

September 17                           Vergil, The Aeneid (continued)

 

September 20                           CLASS CANCELLED DUE TO HURRICANE IVAN

September 22                           Siddartha Gautama, The Buddha, Meditation (Sourcebook)                

September 24                           “The ´Imrans” from The Holy Qu ´ran (Sourcebook)

 

 

September 27                           Group #1 Presentation: The World’s Religious Cultures  

September 29                           Perpetua, The Passion of Saints Perpetua & Felicity (Sourcebook)

October 1                                Perpetua (continued)

 

October 4                                St. Augustine, Confessions Books I and II

October 6                                St. Augustine, Confessions Books VII and VIII

October 8                                Group #2 Presentation: Why Did Rome Fall?

 

October11                               Cahill, How the Irish Saved Civilization

October11                               *BACHE Visiting Writers Series:  Campbell McGrath, 7pm, DIV N302

October 12                              *Lecture:  The Muslim World Post-9/11, Dr. Salwa Cherif

October 13                              Cahill, How the Irish Saved Civilization (continued)

October 15                              Theology and Spirituality in the Middle Ages; Aquinas, Summation of the Catholic Faith (Sourcebook)

 

October 18                              The Book of Margery Kempe (Sourcebook); Sprenger and Kramer The Hammer of Witches (Sourcebook); Julian of Norwich, Excerpt from Showings (provided in handout)

October 18                              *One Voice – Together:  A Bread for the World Campus Event

October 20                              Mid-term Exam         

October 22                              Capellanus, The Art of Courtly Love (Sourcebook)

 

 

October 25                              Fall Break

October 27                              The Lais of Marie de France (Sourcebook)

October 29                              Sonnets of Petrarch and Shakespeare(Sourcebook)

 

November 1                             Group #3 Presentation: Power, Politics, and Human Worth

November 3                             Mirandola, Oration on the Dignity of Man (Sourcebook)

November 5                             Machiavelli, The Prince

 

November 8                             Machiavelli, The Prince (continued)

November 8                            *BACHE Visiting Writers Series:  Kate Daniels, 7pm, DIV N302

November 10                           Essays Due

November 11-14                     Conference on Christianity and Human Rights

November 12                           **No class; attend at least one session of conference

 

November 15                           The Renaissance

November 17                           Michelangelo and Lear: The Spark of the Divine           

November 19                           Shakespeare, King Lear

 

November 22                           Shakespeare, King Lear

November 24                           Thanksgiving Break

November 26                           Thanksgiving Break

 

November 29                           Conclude Renaissance and Lear

December 1                             Group #4 Presentation: Exploration and Encounter

December 3                             Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda, Democratus Secundus, or the Treatise on the Just Causes of War against the Indians (Sourcebook); Bartolomé de Las Casas, In Defense of the Indians (Sourcebook)

 

December 6                             Leon-Portilla, The Broken Spears

December 8                             Leon-Portilla, The Broken Spears

December 10                           Course Conclusion and Review

 

December 13                          Final Exam at 8:00 a.m.

 

*Students must attend at least one of the four enrichment events noted on the syllabus calendar.  A typed one-page response paper should be submitted to the instructor for a daily quiz grade (10 points).  A second event may be attended for 5 quiz bonus points; a second response paper is required as well.

 

**Submit typed one-page response paper indicating which session you attended for a daily quiz grade (10 points).