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Fall Term, 2003
Syllabus
|
Day |
Month |
Date |
|
Work |
Pages (linked to study guide) |
|
T |
September |
2 |
Introduction; Sappho |
handout |
|
|
Th |
|
4 |
Homer |
|
|
|
T |
|
9 |
Homer |
Iliad |
|
|
Th |
|
11 |
Homer |
Iliad |
|
|
Su |
|
14 |
Homer |
Response paper #1, Blackboard |
|
|
T |
|
16 |
Homer |
Iliad |
|
|
Th |
|
18 |
Homer |
Iliad |
|
|
Su |
|
21 |
|
|
|
|
T |
|
23 |
Thucydides |
Funeral Oration of Pericles |
|
|
Th |
|
25 |
Thucydides |
The Plague |
|
|
Su |
|
28 |
|
|
|
|
T |
|
30 |
Thucydides |
War and Empire: A Greek
Perspective |
|
|
Th |
October |
2 |
No Class |
Conferences on paper #1 |
|
|
S |
|
5 |
|
|
|
|
T |
|
7 |
Plato |
|
|
|
Th |
|
9 |
Holy Bible |
|
|
|
S |
|
12 |
|
|
|
|
T |
|
14 |
Holy Bible |
Exodus, ch. 1-14, 15-24, 32-34 Revision of first paper due |
|
|
Th |
|
16 |
Holy Bible |
|
|
|
Su |
|
19 |
|
|
|
|
T |
|
21 |
Augustine and Aquinas |
Christianity and War: the Origins of Just War Theory |
(readings to be assigned) |
|
Th |
|
23 |
|
Just War Theory, continued |
|
|
Su |
|
26 |
|
Response paper #6 |
|
|
T |
|
28 |
|
Mid-term examination |
|
|
Th |
|
30 |
|
The Holy Koran: read Exordium and Surah 2, verses 1-120 |
|
|
Su |
November |
2 |
|
Response paper #7 |
|
|
M |
|
3 |
|
Last day to withdraw from courses |
|
|
T |
|
4 |
|
The Holy Koran: Read ’ÄúSuicide and Martyrdom,’Äù including the passages cited from the Koran |
|
|
Th |
|
6 |
|
No class (conferences instead |
|
|
S |
|
9 |
|
Response paper #8 cancelled |
|
|
T |
|
11 |
|
Paper #2 due [Digital
Drop Box, Midnight] |
|
|
Th |
|
13 |
|
Bhagavad-Gita Sections 10-18 |
|
|
S |
|
16 |
|
Response Paper #9 |
|
|
T |
|
18 |
Galileo |
|
|
|
Th |
|
20 |
|
|
|
|
Su |
|
23 |
|
Response Paper #10 |
Final response paper for the term |
|
T |
|
25 |
Machiavelli |
|
|
|
Th |
|
27 |
Thanksgiving |
No Class |
|
|
T |
December |
2 |
|
|
|
|
Th |
|
4 |
|
Othello, Acts 1-2 |
|
|
T |
|
9 |
|
Othello, Acts 3-5 |
|
|
T |
|
16 |
Final Examination |
11 A. M. - 1 P.M. |
This Learning Community
course is linked with Political Science 53 section 601, which is taught by Dr.
Joachim Rennstich. This means that the instructors have collaborated in setting
up their syllabi, and will confer regularly throughout the term about course
content and student performance.
You are all transfer students. I want to welcome you to Temple. If you have
questions about any aspect of the University's operations, please don't
hesitate to ask.
Course Information
Hours: T Th 1:10-2:30
Room: Anderson C 203
Course Reference number: 051839
Instructor:
Daniel P. Tompkins
Director, Intellectual Heritage Program
Associate Professor, Department of Greek, Hebrew and Roman Classics
214 Anderson Hall
Philadelphia, PA 19122-6090
Phone: 215/204-4900; Fax: 215/204-2359; E-mail: pericles@temple.edu
Office hours: TTh 9:30-11:30 and by appointment
Website for this class:
http://isc.temple.edu/pericles/ih51.htm
Why do we read "old" books? We'll get a good chance to try to answer
that question this term, as we read a series of works, all written before 1650
AD (or CE, as we try to say in this course) that are said to be
"foundation" or "seedbed" texts for later cultures. Since
this course is paired in a Learning Community with Dr. Rennstich's Political
Science 53, our study of these texts will include consideration of connections
with the international world of the 20th and 21st centuries, including:
* War in an anarchic world; justifications for war
* Causes of political change
* Methods of analyzing political relations
* Does the study of relations between earlier political
configurations (Greek poleis, Italian city-states, ethnic and regional groups
in the Holy Land, Arabia and West Africa) illuminate contemporary international
relations? Similarly, what do we learn from studying the social psychology
(e.g. cultural beliefs in honor, heroism, 'virtu') of earlier periods and
groups?
* The international world is often described as a
"male" terrain of conflict and domination. Does the study of gender
and status relations or of religious texts complicate this picture?
* How are international relations like and unlike relations
within a state?
* What is the relationship between international structures
such as empire and national ideologies like democracy?
* What particularly apt and useful analogies do earlier eras
(the Middle Ages, the Greek world, etc.) provide for understanding inter-state
relations today?
You'll be writing, formally and informally, in class and on your own. Part of
my job in this course is to help you become better writers, and to use
writing to enhance your understanding of the readings.
This will also be a course
in which will use technology, using Blackboard to submit papers and journals
electronically. This work is required. I have set it up so that anyone in the
class ought to be able to get it done on a computer at Temple, if not at
home. You will have to be able to log on at least three times a
week.
I expect you to participate in discussion of topics raised on the Blackboard
discussion board. Please check in at least once a week. Occasionally I’Äôll ’Äô
post questions to the Discussion Board and ask for your comments.
Beginning Sunday, September 14, I would like you to respond each week with an
ungraded (but required) short comment on the week's work, in response to a
query I'll post in the Discussion Board section of Blackboard.
Some resources. The web has become a major factor in the research life of both
students and faculty. I’Äôll be providing sites that seem to be relevant
throughout the course. Here is a starter set:
The Intellectual Heritage
website (very useful):
http://courses.temple.edu/ih/
The Department of Greek, Hebrew & Roman Classics website, overseen by Dr.
Mitchell-Boyask (excellent material on the ancient world):
http://www.temple.edu/classics/ih51guide.html
Temple Writing Center:
http://www.temple.edu/writingctr/
IH Adviser/Ombudsman is Dan Leeds, marik@temple.edu
Incompletes and
withdrawals. I give the grade of "I," for incomplete work, very
rarely: basically only in instances of severe illness or similar
emergencies at the end of the term. Please keep up with the
assignments. Consider your course and work loads right now, at the beginning of
the semester. Trying to take too many courses is often disastrous.
Grading. Grades will be assessed as follows:
Examinations: 35%
Mid-term 15%
Final 20%
Papers: 45% (Three papers, 15% each)
Class contributions (including Blackboard postings): 20%
Attendance. Attendance is imperative: we'll be conducting a number of in-class
exercises in which you'll play an important role in "creating
knowledge" along with your classmates. I shall take attendance regularly.
Clearly, there will be occasions when medical or other reasons will force you
to miss a class, but if you arrange your affairs carefully now you'll reduce
the likelihood of such interruptions. Missing more than six classes will mean
you’Äôve missed two weeks of the semester: this constitutes grounds for automatic
failure. Missing more than four classes (unexcused) may have a negative effect
on your grade.
I reserve the right to telephone you at home or in your room if you’Äôre not
showing up.
Your Responsibilities:
1) Class preparation. You’Äôll get a lot of freedom to work on your own in this
course. The grading breakdown (above) indicates what is expected. The writing
component of the course is substantial, and a lot depends on your readiness to
choose and pursue a writing project. Class contributions are also essential.
Although it takes different students different amounts of time to do an
assignment, you should allow two hours for every hour of class time. Please set
up other obligations (e.g. work) accordingly.
2) Student conduct. You’Äôre
expected to treat your classmates considerately, to participate in class
discussion, to arrive at the start of class and to stay to the end. If you must
arrive late or leave early, please sit near the door: walking across the room
distracts folks who are trying to work.
3) Careful use of sources. It is very important to have a clear understanding
of University policies on full and accurate reference to sources that you use
in your writing. See the Temple University Policy on Academic Honesty at the
end of Key Readings. The Intellectual Heritage Program uses the Turnitin.com
software to check on student source use. See:
www.Turnitin.com
You’Äôre responsible for following this policy in all your writing assignments.
If you have questions about it, please feel free to consult me.
Study Guides. I’Äôll distribute and post study guides for most readings, and will
post them on the web. Please hold onto these: they will be useful as you
prepare for examinations.
Writing in IH. One of the major obligations of this program is to help
you become a more effective writer. I'll work closely with you in this
effort. Note that two of the three papers are to be revised and
resubmitted: the revision process is one of the best ways hone your
skills.
Books to buy. If you wish, you may bring your own edition or translation of the
volumes marked with an *asterisk. In the other cases, the books listed below
are required.
Intellectual Heritage Key Readings: IH 51
Homer. The Essential Iliad. Translated by Stanley Lombardo (Hackett
Publishing Company)
Plato. The Trial and Death of Socrates. Translated by G. M. A. Grube (Hackett)
*Holy Bible.
The Holy Koran, translated by
N. J. Dawood, Fifth Edition, Revised (Penguin Classics)
The Bhagavad Gita. Krishna's Counsel in Time of War. Translated by Barbara Stoller Miller (Bantam)
*Shakespeare. Othello
(Folger)
Machiavelli. The Prince.
Translated by David Wootton (Hackett)
Galileo. Discoveries and Opinions.
Edited by Stillman Drake (Doubleday Publishing)
Please bring the assigned text to class. Class discussion is a crucial part of
this course.