University Studies 310
The Great Conversation
Visions of Ecstasy
Spring 2001 - Section 88773
1:25-4:00 Fridays in Claxton Addition 327
Instructors
Bruce MacLennan (maclennan@cs.utk.edu), Linda Bensel-Meyers (lbenselm@utk.edu), Stephen Blackwell (sblackwe@utk.edu)
Course Web Page
http://www.cs.utk.edu/~mclennan/Classes/US310
Description
University Studies 310 is the third semester of
"The Great Conversation," a six-semester sequence of courses devoted to
the study of the Western Canon (from Homer to Freud) and based on the assumption
that the Western worldview makes assumptions and poses issues that can
be historically traced. Because the sequence is taught over a three-year
span, not all students will take the courses in the same sequence. Some
students may begin with the "moderns" and then continue with the classics.
Some students with a focused interest may take but a single semester of
the sequence.
US 310 covers the period from Ovid (43 BCE-18 CE) to Erasmus
(1466-1536).
The purpose of the course sequence is to engage students in the "Great Conversation," the ongoing exploration of the key ideas in the Western tradition. Among these are some of the polarities that characterize the assumptions underlying the Western worldview:
Typically, each class will begin with a verbal quiz, asking students to identify individuals or issues dealt with in the day's reading. Usually this is followed by some orienting remarks by one of the faculty leading into a discussion of the reading. The class ends with the identification of some issues posed by the reading to which students will be expected to post email responses, initiating an emulation of the Great Conversation.
Students will be expected to hone their ability to follow another's argument in the class discussions and in the email exchanges. In addition they will be assigned several one-page papers, which will be closely edited by the faculty for clarity and consistency. The students will also write a 2500 word term paper, the topic of which will be either chosen from a list or proposed by the student and approved by the faculty.
Midway through the semester the students will be involved in a "practice forum." Basically this is an oral examination lasting about fifteen minutes. The forum will begin with a student stating briefly his or her topic and thesis. He or she will then respond to questions posed by the faculty and by fellow students. At least two questions will be based on the student's term paper topic and at least two from a list of questions (made available in advance) dealing with issues raised by the course. The same pattern will be followed in the "final forum" that ends the course.
No grade will be assigned for the practice forum. Fifty per cent of the grade will be based on the term paper, 25% on the final forum performance and 25% on the quality of participation during the course of the semester.
By petition the US 310-320 sequence can satisfy
Part I of the Arts and Sciences Humanities requirement (two-course package
in literature or philosophical perspectives).
The Great Conversation III (US 310) Readings
SUBSCRIBE CONVERSE your name
Don't put anything in the Subject line (or
just a blank).