Antiquity Syllabus

Whitman College - Fall 2007
Mitch Clearfield

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Antiquity & Modernity is a year-long exploration of the formation and transformation of some Western worldviews – conceptions of what is most fundamental and important in human life, both as it is and as it ought to be. We will explore ways of understanding nature, society, the self, and the transcendent. Attention will be given not only to the continuity within the dominant worldviews, but also to competing and alternate visions. The course will examine some of the important individuals, texts, and events that have significantly shaped, reshaped, and challenged these worldviews.

This semester, we will focus on Antiquity. We will explore representative texts from several of the principal roots of Western culture: the earliest literature of ancient Mesopotamia, classical Greece, the Hebrew Bible, the Roman empire, and the initial development of Christianity. We will conclude with Augustine’s attempt to synthesize aspects of these sources into a single vision.

This class is “core” not only in texts and ideas, but also in skills. We will be engaged in an intensive exercise in careful reading, thoughtful reflection, enlightening conversation, and lucid writing. Our goal as a group is to help each other further develop and refine these skills.

One of the main purposes of Antiquity & Modernity is to help students personally engage difficult texts like the ones we read. While I will sometimes present background information, alternative interpretations, or so on, those occasions will be rare and brief. The bulk of our class time will be spent actively working with the readings and the larger issues that they suggest, through whole-class and small-group discussions and other activities.

No dozing in class! It is extremely rude toward those who are speaking, and tends to dampen the energy and involvement of the group as a whole. Research shows that someone dozing off hardly retains anything anyway. So, if you find yourself that drowsy, you should simply go home and nap instead of coming to or staying in class. If I see anyone dozing off, I’ll interrupt class and ask that person to leave.

• I will often distribute important announcements, reminders, and clarifications through e-mail. It is your responsibility to check your account every day.
  
  
• There is also an e-mail list-server set up for the class, which you should feel free to use. Messages sent to gens145d_07fa<AT>whitman.edu will be forwarded to everyone in our section.
  
  
• The main Core website (http://www.whitman.edu/general_studies) also has a variety of useful information and links.
  
  

Preparation and Daily Questions — 20% of your total grade
To prepare for class, you must carefully read (and often re-read) the assigned texts before class, and come to our meetings with questions, themes, and ideas to discuss. There are also specific questions for you to answer and other assignments to complete before each class, listed (tentatively) in the schedule of readings. Further details about expectations and grading are provided here.

Class Participation — 20% of your total grade
Preparation and attendance are crucial, but they are only the starting points. In class, you are expected to be an active and productive participant in our conversations and other activities. I hope that everyone will participate voluntarily - but if not, I will call on you anyway! More details about expectations and grading standards are provided here. Note that your participation grade will be determined in part by a process of self-evaluation.

Diagnostic Essay
At the beginning of the semester, you will write one brief essay (about 2-3 pages). This will be a very focused and narrow writing exercise, to help you identify and begin refining the technical writing skills you’ll need in this class and at Whitman in general. It will be purely “diagnostic”: it will not be counted toward your final grade, but I will comment extensively on it and indicate the grade it would have received. That way, you will have a clear sense of what you need to do to excel in your writing.

Papers — 45% of your total grade (15% each)
During the remainder of the semester, you will write three moderate-length essays (about 5 pages each). These essays will give you the opportunity to explore the texts at some depth, and to draw connections among them. For each paper, you will write a complete draft, and then revise and rewrite it based on feedback from me or your peers. More detailed assignments will be distributed in class at least a week before each paper is due.

Final Essay — 15% of your total grade
At the end of the semester, you will write an informal essay on the significance of some of the works that we’ve been examining in relation to Core as a whole. Further guidelines will be provided after Thanksgiving break.

** NOTE: You cannot pass the class if:

1. You miss more than 8 class meetings for any reason.
2. You miss any of the papers of the final essay for any reason.
3. You fail any of the papers or the final essay.
   
   

All of the work that you submit in this course must be entirely your own. Of course, you can seek help in a variety of ways as you prepare your papers. So it is permitted for you: to consult additional readings, to search for material on the internet, to discuss your ideas with other students, to exchange notes with other students, or to read and to discuss drafts of each other’s papers. But it is not permitted for you to use someone else's words or ideas in your written work without giving proper acknowledgment. Guidelines for citation can be found in Hacker’s Pocket Style Manual.

Plagiarism will not be tolerated in any form. You have signed a statement indicating that you understand and will abide by the College policy on plagiarism. Any student caught plagiarizing will automatically fail the course, and may be expelled from the College. For more details, see the Student Handbook.