Lehrman American Studies Center

Course Description

Students will explore the aims and relevance of a liberal arts education. Classical and contemporary readings from a broad range of disciplines will prepare students for further study in the CORE curriculum and guide them to discover connections between knowledge and a sense of purpose.

Course Objectives

• Students will investigate the purpose and value of education in relation to the liberal arts tradition, Ouachita’s heritage and mission, and their personal goals and vocation.
• Students will discover and appreciate the interrelationships among various disciplines and recognize unique disciplinary approaches to understanding the world.
• Students will reflect on how Christian faith informs and is informed by learning.
• Students will critically evaluate and comprehend a variety of resources: selected primary texts, library materials, and the World Wide Web.

Texts

• Arthur F. Holmes, The Idea of a Christian College, Revised. Eerdmans, 1987
• Charles M. Wynn & Arthur W. Wiggins, The Five Biggest Ideas in Science. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.,1997.
• Introduction to the Liberal Arts Course Pack

Integrity

Students are expected to act consistently with OBU’s Covenant of Honor which states:

As a member of the Ouachita community, I am committed to fostering a culture of honor. I affirm that an academic environment can be enriching only when its members commit to mutual integrity, trust, responsibility, and respect. I will refrain from all forms of academic dishonesty, and I will act responsibly when confronted with the knowledge of such behavior. I recognize that academic excellence is more than the absence of dishonesty; true scholarship entails devotion to my studies and respect for my professors and classmates. With the aim of academic and personal growth I make this pledge to myself and to the women and men of Ouachita Baptist University.

As instructor for this course, I will follow practices designed to make it easier for students to refrain from academic dishonesty. For example, during exams the only thing students may have on the desk is a pen or pencil. Backpacks, notebooks, planners, PDAs, cell phones must all be put away out of sight. I will explain other practices with respect to exams, papers, etc, later in the semester. All essay assignments must be submitted in hard copy and submitted to Turnitin.com to receive credit. Information necessary for registering on Turnitin and submitting assignments is posted on Educator in the Course Materials folder.

Violations of academic integrity will be sanctioned with penalties ranging from reduction in scores from a letter grade to a zero for the assignment/assessment. Egregious cases will be referred to the Judicial Council with my recommendation that the sanction be failure of the course

Mutual responsibility and respect also requires us to begin and end class on time; to listen to others’ questions, ideas, and proposals; and to refrain from personal attacks when we challenge ideas and criticize arguments. All cell phones must be turned off or silent by the beginning of class, and headsets or ear buds must be removed. DO NOT answer or text during class. If family emergency or other special circumstances may require a call to be answered, students are expected to consult with the instructor about how to respond. Laptop computers are welcome as long as they are used for taking notes. Any students found to be surfing the web, checking emails, etc., will lose the privilege of using a laptop in class.

Course Requirements

Attendance & Participation

Successful learning in this course depends heavily on student preparation, presence, and participation. Class sessions time will include a variety of learning activities centered on assigned readings. Careful completion of each reading assignment before class time and willing participation in learning activities are essential. For the investment in preparation to pay off and the benefits of participation to be realized, students must be present for the class sessions. To encourage consistent attendance, students who accumulate more than three unexcused absences (as determined by the instructor) will be penalized five percentage points per absence. Students with excessive absences will be encouraged to drop or withdraw from the class. Although there are no formal bonus points/extra credit in LA, I will count regular participation in class as such when determining your final course grade.

Daily Exercises / Quizzes

A variety of weekly assignments, usually ten-point, short essay quizzes, will be used to encourage careful reading of assignments and active learning. They will be given each class period. I will count your higher quiz score toward your weekly grade. Late or make-up assignments will not be allowed, but there will be enough assignments so that some can be dropped. I will count only your ten highest weekly scores toward your final grade. If students know they will be absent from class, they may turn in an outline of the reading assignment for that day to cover for the possibility of missing a quiz. Such outlines are due by the beginning of the class session for which they will be absent. Sharing or copying of reading notes or outlines for these purposes, however, is considered a violation of academic integrity. Students must rely on their own preparation and work for all graded assignments.

Exams

Students will take two unit exams @ 100 points and a Final Exam @ 150 points. The exams will include objective questions and an essay. Students who miss an exam should contact the instructor before the next class session to schedule a time for a make up exam. Make up exams will be given only for approved reasons, e.g., travel with university groups or teams, illness, family emergencies. Sleeping through class does not generally qualify.

The Final Exam will include a comprehensive section. The following essay question will count for 30 points of the comprehensive section.

FINAL EXAM ESSAY: In this course, we have asked you to consider how a liberal arts education contributes to the making of a person, what Holmes describes as a reflective being, a valuing being, and a responsible agent (pp. 29-36). We have asked you to read essays, speeches, and chapters from books that we organized into three units, each of which focuses on one of three central questions: Why are we here? What kind of world do we live in? How do we live responsibly? To connect our work in these three units, select from each unit at least one reading that has been meaningful to you, i.e., that has challenged your thinking, aided your personal development, threatened some long-held belief, or perhaps led you to change your behavior. Then write an essay in which you explain how each of the readings you selected helps answer one or more of the unit questions and contributes to your understanding of what it means to be a liberally educated person.

Essays

Students will write three 2-3 page essays. Each must be typed, double spaced, one-inch margins, 12 point font. Each should have a title page listing the essay title, student name, class section, and date. Limit this information to the title page—do not repeat it as a header on subsequent pages. Please do not put papers in binders—a staple in the upper left corner is sufficient. Late papers will be penalized 10% per day, including weekends. Papers are due by 5:00. Papers must be submitted both in hard copy and to Turnitin.com. Brief descriptions of the essays are below. The detailed assignments are posted on Educator in the course materials folder.

Essay #1: Why do I care about liberal arts? (100 pts)

This essay provides an opportunity for students to engage the readings in the first unit in connection with personal interests, goals, and challenges. Due in class.

Essay #2: The Aesthetic Experience (50 pts)

This assignment provides an opportunity for students to experience and respond to an expressive work as discussed in the Unit Two reading by Susanne Langer, “The Work and Its Public.” Due date will vary: it is 10 days after viewing/attending an appropriate art event. Last date at which the assignment can be turned in in class.

Essay #3: Response to The Unforeseen (50 pts)

Students will write in response to a documentary, The Unforeseen. Due in class.

Reading Schedule

Week 1

Class 1:

Course Introduction

Unit One: Why are we here?

Class 2:

Course Pack: Cronon “Only Connect,” Holmes c 9

Week 2

Class 2:

Course Pack: Adrienne Rich “Claiming an Education,”Holmes c 3

Class 1:

Holmes c 4, 8

Week 3

Class 1:

Course Pack: Plato, Apology

Class 2:

Course Pack: Plato, Republic excerpt: Allegory of the Cave

Week 4

Class 1:

Course Pack: Quintilian, Institutio Oratoria, Preface, Book 12, Chapter 1

Class 2:

Holmes c 1, 2, 5

Week 5

Class 1:

Course Pack: C.S. Lewis, “Learning in War-time” and Howard Thurman, “What Shall I Do With My Life?”

Class 2:

Exam One

Unit Two: What kind of world do we live in?

Week 6

Class 1:

Course Pack: Susanne K. Langer, Feeling and Form: A Theory of Art

Class 2:

Wynn & Wiggins: Five Biggest Ideas in Science, c 1 & 4

Week 7

Class 1:

Wynn & Wiggins: Five Biggest Ideas in Science, c 6

Essay #1 Due

Class 2:

Course Pack: Keith Miller, “An Evolving Creation: Oxymoron or Fruitful Insight?”

Week 8

Class 1:

Course Pack: Mark D Bjelland, “Until Justice and Stewardship Embrace: Or, How a Geographer Thinks About Brownfield Sites”

Class 2:

Course Pack: John Locke, Two Treatises excerpt: “Of the Beginning of Political Societies”

Week 9

Class 1:

Course Pack: Richard Hughes, Myths America Lives By, chapter 6 & conclusion

Class 2:

Course Pack: Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations, excerpts

Week 10

Class 1:

Course Pack: Thomas Friedman, The World is Flat, c 1

Class 2:

Exam Two

Unit Three: How do we live responsibly?

Week 11

Class 1:

Holmes, c6

Class 2:

Course Pack: Wood, Epistemology, c 2: Exploring the Intellectual Virtues

Week 12

Class 1:

Course Pack: Stephen Carter, Civility, c 8: The Varieties of (Not) Listening

Class 2:

Holmes, c7, Coursepack: Bogue, “An Agenda of Common Caring: The Call for Community in Higher Education”

Week 13

Class 1:

Essay #3 due at class time, Discussion of The Unforseen

Class 2:

Break

Week 14

Class 1:

Course Pack: Emerson & Smith, Divided by Faith

Class 2:

Course Pack: David Callahan, The Cheating Culture, c 1

Week 15

Class 1:

Course Pack: Stephen Carter, Integrity, c 3: Why Is Integrity Admirable?

Class 2:

Wrap up and course evaluation

Final Exam