HUM 110: Introduction to Humanities BEING HUMAN

Spring 2020 Tu/Th 2:30-3:45 pm 202 Bailey Hall

Professor Wilson [email protected] Office: BA 205-D Office Hours: Tu/Th 1:15-2:15 pm and by appt.

Image: Imran H. Khan, “Cochlea”

What does it mean to be human? To create, to feel, to consume, to work, to inhabit a body, to play, to destroy, to love, to seduce, to develop consciousness, to communicate, to strive, to die? What, if anything, makes the human species different from others? What are our moral obligations to other animals? What, if anything, makes us different from robots, cyborgs, and artificial intelligence? What is it that we share with other humans cross-culturally? This course explores the experiences that define the human experience in all its current complexities. Each section of the course will focus on a subset of the following issues: justice, sex and love, ecology and the environment, spirituality and faith, (in)tolerance, creativity and play, technology, the body and death.

LEARNING OUTCOMES The technical outcomes: HUM 110 fulfills Goal 2.1 (Written Communication) and Goal 3 (Breadth of Knowledge). More information on Core Goals can be found at http://catalog.ku.edu/core/.

Real talk explanation of what you’ll get out of this class if you invest time and energy: By doing all the things below, we will be developing skills that are important to humanities disciplines and to the workplace, skills like thinking critically, reflecting, reading closely, embracing diversity, and writing to learn. In other words, this class will help you become a better reader, writer, thinker, and communicator…and perhaps, even, a better human being.

Together we will:

1. Read and hear a lot of different answers to the question, “what makes us human?”

2. Figure out what these answers have in common and what makes them different 3. Think about our own answers to the question. If we’re doing it right, we will: o Have epiphanies o Change our minds o Sit comfortably (and uncomfortably) in the things we don’t know1 4. Arrive at an answer to the question “what makes us human?” that is both my own, individual, and real, and that is informed by other people’s ideas

REQUIRED TEXTS • Tales of Two Americas, edited by John Freeman • Kindred: A Graphic Novel Adaptation by Octavia Butler and Damian Duffy • Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro • Texts on Blackboard

ATTENDANCE AND PARTICIPATION Our in-class conversations will help you come to a clearer understanding of the ideas we’ll be studying, and this conversation isn’t something that can be recreated in class notes. You’re required to attend and participate in class because your performance on assignments will suffer if you miss a lot of class. However, life being what it is, people sometimes get sick, cars break down, and emergencies come up. You are allowed three absences without penalty, no questions asked. Every absence after three will result in your final grade being lowered by three percentage points (i.e., a student with a 92 average and five absences will receive an 86, or a B, for the final course grade).

Every two tardies or early departures count as one absence. Missing more than 15 minutes of class is an absence, not a tardy.

In the case of the following events, students should talk with me as soon as possible: extended or chronic illness that results in more than a week (two class sessions) of class missed, deaths in the immediate family and other documented family crises, religious holy days, calls to active military duty, jury duty, and official KU activities. In some circumstances I will ask for documentation, but I don’t need all the details. The purpose of the conversation is to make a plan for keeping you on track in class.

In none of these cases will students be excused from completing assigned work, or from being responsible for material covered in class, including announcements about changes in assignments.

EMAIL AND OTHER TECHNOLOGY ISSUES 1) I will send updates, changes, and other important course information to your campus email address and the course Blackboard page. Check them frequently. The best way to communicate with me outside of class is via email ([email protected]). I generally respond within 24 hours during the work week and within 48 hours on weekends and holidays; please extend me the same courtesy. Email is not text messaging; salutations, closings, correct grammar, and capitalization are expected. 2) I will not respond to emails asking me “what we did in class” on the day you missed or any other question your classmates or the syllabus can answer. This is not intended to discourage questions about assignments or readings, but my time is at least as limited as yours and relying on your classmates allows me time to answer the more difficult questions. 3) No make-ups will be allowed due to computer or printer problems on your end, so locate reliable internet access and printers, and back up your work. You have access to a number of computer labs around campus, so if you don't own a computer or printer, take advantage of KU's. 4) No photography or audio or video recording in class without prior approval.

1 Outcomes are a revised version of those created by Jesse Stommel

5) All cell phones should be off or on silent and put away in a bag or a pocket during class. Students may be asked to leave class if this becomes an issue. Recent research concerning laptops in the classroom shows that students process information better when taking notes by hand with minimal distractions. I encourage you to take notes by hand and bring the readings in hard copy.

RESPECTING EACH OTHER I will not tolerate disruptive language or behavior, which includes, but is not limited to, violent, belligerent, and/or insulting remarks, including sexist, racist, homophobic or anti-ethnic slurs, bigotry, and disparaging commentary, either spoken or written (offensive slang is included in this category). This classroom functions on the premise of respect, and you will be asked to leave if you violate this statement.

THE WRITING CENTER At the KU Writing Center, you can work one-on-one with writing consultants trained to talk with you about writing. This service is free. The Writing Center welcomes students who think they need help with writing as well as those who consider themselves good writers. You can meet face-to-face, receive feedback via e-mail, or schedule a videoconference. Consultants are coaches who work with you on any type of assignment—essays, research papers, reports, presentations---at any point of completeness or incompleteness. Students typically benefit most from a visit early in the thinking and writing process. Don’t wait until you are frustrated. To learn more, visit http://writing.ku.edu.

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY POLICY Plagiarism, passing off anyone else's work as your own without credit, or recycling your own writing from another class, will not be tolerated in this course. Plagiarism may result in a failing grade on the assignment or a failing grade for the course. University policies may lead to consequences as severe as expulsion from KU. The University’s Academic Misconduct policy (2.6.1-2.6.7) can be found at http://policy.ku.edu/governance/USRR#art2sect6.

Pursuant to the University of Kansas’ Policy on Commercial Note-Taking Ventures, commercial note- taking is not permitted in this class. Lecture notes and course materials may be taken for personal use, for the purpose of mastering the course material, and may not be sold to any person or entity in any form. Any student engaged in or contributing to the commercial exchange of notes or course materials will be subject to discipline, including academic misconduct charges, in accordance with University policy. (Volunteer note-taking for a classmate with a disability, as an ADA accommodation, is permitted.)

ACCOMMODATIONS I am happy to accommodate the needs of students with disabilities. Students needing academic accommodation should: (1) register with and provide documentation to Academic Achievement and Access Center; and (2) bring a letter to me indicating the type(s) of accommodation necessary. This should be done during the first week of class or as soon as possible. To initiate the process please contact the Academic Achievement and Access Center in Strong Hall Room 22, 785-864-4064, [email protected]. Details concerning the accommodation procedure can be found at http://www.disability.ku.edu/accommodation-process.

FOOD AND HOUSING INSECURITY No one can perform to the best of their abilities if they’re hungry or unsure where they’ll sleep. Any student who has difficulty affording groceries or accessing sufficient food to eat every day, or who lacks a and stable place to live, is urged to contact me or Student Affairs for support ([email protected]). Other resources you may find helpful:

Student Emergency Assistance Fund: https://studentaffairs.ku.edu/emergency-assistance-students Free food at the Campus Cupboard: http://www.cco.ku.edu/food/ Free Legal Services for Students: www.legalservices.ku.edu

ASSIGNMENTS AND GRADING Participation…………………………………………………………15% of your final grade Critical Thinking Exercises.…………………………………………20% Reading Quizzes…………………………………………………….15% Curation Assignment……………………………………….……….20% Curation Update…..…………………………………………………10% Final Essay……………………………………………………...…...20%

KU stipulates that A-level work is outstanding, C-level work is average, and so forth. Anything else is grade inflation. Effort alone is not sufficient for a high grade. Failing should not be understood solely as a penalty grade: it will be given to any work which fails to meet an assignment's demands or to meet the minimum standards of college discourse. Grades for individual assignments will be available on Blackboard but are not weighted and so are limited indications of the final grade. If you are ever curious about your overall standing in the course, do not hesitate to ask. All you have to do is send me an email saying you’d like to discuss your performance in the class and provide several blocks of time when you’re available to schedule a meeting.

We will discuss complicated issues related to race, gender, sexuality, class, and so forth. We will not always agree on these issues. Respectful disagreement is not only acceptable but is central to a liberal arts education: through reasoned debate, we sharpen our arguments and deepen our understanding of the issues. Grades are not based on political or ideological agreement but on accuracy, logic, completion of the assignment, to craft a persuasive argument, and so forth.

In order to receive a passing grade, all major assignments must be turned in. Late assignments will be reduced by one third of a letter grade (or three points) for every calendar day late, including weekends. Assignments more than three days late will not be accepted. If you must miss class and want to receive credit for an assignment due that day, it must be in my office (BA 205-D; slid under the door is fine) before class begins.

Final Grade Scale A 100-94 A- 93-90 B+ 89-87 B 86-84 B− 83-80 C+ 79-77 C 76-74 C− 73-70 D+ 69-67 D 66-64 D- 63-60 F 59 or below

Critical Thinking Exercises: We will start most class periods with a critical thinking exercise. The exercise might ask you to annotate a poem, ask questions about a passage from the assigned readings, practice narrowing a thesis statement to an appropriate scope, and so forth. I will hand out the exercise at the beginning of class and give you ten minutes or so to work on it. I’ll give you another five minutes or so at the end of class to augment or revise what you wrote. If you cannot think of anything to add or change, you should write down one thing you learned in class. Turn it in on your way out the door. Exercises are graded complete/incomplete. These exercises are intended to be places where you can brainstorm, ask questions, and try out ideas. As such, they are not graded on “correctness,” but they must demonstrate curiosity, thoughtfulness, and engagement with the text(s) to be graded “complete.” In the

event of an absence, I will accept critical thinking exercises no more than three days after the absence.

Reading Quizzes: Quizzes are unannounced and will be given regularly throughout the semester. Questions gauge reading comprehension. Students who have read carefully should not have difficulties. Quizzes cannot be made up in the event of a tardy or absence. However, students will have the opportunity to replace up to three of their lowest quiz grades by writing a short essay. Details about replacement essays will be given in class.

Curated Collection: This assignment asks you to curate a “shared trait collection” on the topic of “what makes us human?” Your curated collection needs to begin with a one-paragraph explanation of the shared trait you selected and why you selected it. Moreover, your collection must have four items in it, and the items must be chosen from the texts we’ve covered in class. Texts aren’t limited to assigned readings. Any medium (podcast, video, painting, etc.) is fine as long as we discussed the text in class. For each item in your collection, write:  a correct citation of each text in MLA format  a thorough, accurate summary of the text (approximately one paragraph or 250 words)  an analysis of the text’s situation within the collection (approximately one paragraph or 250 words). This paragraph focuses on how the text engages with the shared trait: what it has to say about the shared trait, how that’s similar to other text(s) in the collection, and what it does that’s different from the other text(s) in the collection. Additional information will be provided in class.

Curation Update: You must complete an “update” to your Curation Assignment, which will consist of two things: 1) adding two items to your collection, chosen from among the texts covered since the assignment was originally due, including a citation, summary, and analysis, and 2) revising your collection based on my feedback. The update is due at the same time as your final essay.

Final Essay: This assignment asks you to write a 3-4 page argumentative essay in which you answer the question “what makes us human?” Your essay must incorporate at least four of the texts we’ve read this semester. To facilitate your thinking for this assignment, you will complete an update to the Curation Assignment, meet with me for a one-on-one conference, and workshop your essay with your classmates. Additional information will be provided in class.

Participation: Participation is graded and includes preparation, participation in discussions and workshops, asking questions, sharing excerpts from your writing, etc. You will learn more from a productive class discussion than you can learn from your own reading alone, but good discussions require students who are willing to read and then share thoughts and respond to those of their peers.

To earn an “A” for participation, you need to complete the readings by the day listed on the syllabus; come to class with the day’s assigned readings, prepared with questions to ask about them, issues to discuss, and/or passages to analyze; participate in class and small group settings; be an engaged and respectful listener and interlocutor; bring all required materials on workshop days, and provide substantive feedback to your peers.

COURSE CALENDAR Readings are due the day listed. Assigned readings/listenings/viewings are to be completed before coming to class on the day listed. They can be found in Tales of Two Americas (TTA), Never Let Me Go (NLMG), Kindred, or materials available on Blackboard (BB). This schedule may change slightly over the course of the semester; if that happens, I will notify you at least 48 hours in advance.

WEEK 1 TOPICS ASSIGNED READINGS/LISTENINGS/VIEWINGS January 21 None

Course Intro January 23 “Writing Analytically” (BB) What are “the humanities”? Excerpts from College: What it Was, Is, and Should Be by Andrew Delbanco (BB)

“Higher Education and the Demands of the Twenty-First Century” by Bear and Skorton (BB) WEEK 2 January 28 “Mama’s Last Hug” by Frans de Waal (BB) Ecology and Environment: Our “Neil Oliver” episode of What Makes Us Human? podcast Fellow Creatures

January 30 “The Human League: What Separates Us From Other Animals?” by Ecology and Adam Rutherford (BB) Environment: Are humans special? “Humans are nowhere near as special as we like to think” by Melissa Hogenboom (BB)

“The traits that make human beings unique” by Melissa Hogenboom (BB)

“What Does It Mean to Be Human? Don’t Ask” by Martha Nussbaum (BB)

“Naomi Klein” episode of What Makes Us Human? podcast

WEEK 3 February 4 “The Story of Storytelling” by Ferris Jabr (BB) Ecology and Environment: Intro. to Tales of Two Americas by John Freeman (TTA) Are humans special? “Being Prey” by Val Plumwood (BB)

“Ben Elton” episode of What Makes Us Human? podcast

“Michael Morpurgo” episode of What Makes Us Human? podcast

February 6 “Namewag: Sturgeon and People in the Great Lakes Region” by Ecology and Winona LaDuke (BB) Environment: Food and Land "Trash Food" by Chris Offutt (TTA)

“How One Tree Grows 40 Different Kinds of Fruit” Ted Talk (11- minute watch)

“Ask Code Switch: You Are What You Eat” episode of Code Switch (last question only, which starts at 21 minutes in; 11-minute total listening time)

WEEK 4 February 11 “The Turing Test Measures Something, But It’s Not ‘Intelligence’” by Technology Dan Falk (BB)

“The Veldt” by Ray Bradbury (BB)

“Science in Service to the Public Good” TedTalk (15-minute video)

“Steven Pinker” episode of What Makes Us Human? podcast

February 13 “How Race Was Made,” Episode 32 of Scene on Radio (Seeing White, Intolerance: Part 2) (28-minute listen) Dehumanization Excerpts from Maus by Art Spiegelman (BB)

“The Village Watchman” by Terry Tempest Williams (BB)

“Sir John Timpson” episode of What Makes Us Human? podcast

WEEK 5 February 18 NLMG chapters 1-5 The Body and Death

February 20 NLMG chapters 6-9 The Body and Death “Akala” episode of What Makes Us Human? podcast

WEEK 6 February 25 NLMG chapters 10-14 The Body and Death “Alice Roberts” episode of What Makes Us Human? podcast

February 27 NLMG chapters 15-19 The Body and Death “Roger McGough” episode of What Makes Us Human? podcast

WEEK 7 March 3 NLMG chapters 20-23 The Body and Death “Atul Gawande: What Matters in the End” episode of On Being podcast (51-minute listen) March 5 The Body and Curation assignment due Death

WEEK 8 March 10 Spring Break

March 12 Spring Break

WEEK 9 March 17 Chapter 1, “Doing the Right Thing,” of Justice by Michael Sandel (BB) Justice “Julia Gillard” episode of What Makes Us Human? podcast

March 19 Chapter 2, “The Greatest Happiness Principle/Utilitarianism” of Justice Justice by Michael Sandel (BB)

“Oregon Aims to Tackle Homelessness, Housing Crisis” by Andrew Selsky (BB)

"Looking for a Home" by Karen Russell (TTA)

"To the Man Asleep in our Driveway Who Might Be Named Phil" by Anthony Doerr (TTA)

WEEK 10 March 24 Chapter 6, “The Case for Equality/John Rawls” of Justice by Michael Justice Sandel (BB)

“Worthless Servant” by Ann Patchett (TTA)

“Nashville's Homelessness Crisis in the National Spotlight” by Steven Hale (BB)

“ Piot” episode of What Makes Us Human? podcast

March 26 “Claim-Evidence-Warrant” (BB) Sex and Love “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love” by Raymond Carver (BB)

“Vampires in the Lemon Grove” by Karen Russell (BB)

“Against Love” by Laura Kipnis (BB)

WEEK 11 March 31 “Theories About Family & Marriage: Crash Course Sociology #37” Sex and Love/The (11-minute watch) Body: Family and Kinship Review of Kath Weston's Families We Choose by Beth Schneider (BB)

"Some Houses" by Claire Vaye Watkins (TTA)

"Fieldwork" by Manuel Munoz (TTA)

“Succession” episode of Five Farms podcast (51-minute listen)

April 2 Final Essay work day – we will not meet as a class

WEEK 12 April 7 Pages 1-57 (Prologue, “The River,” “The Fire”) of Kindred: A Graphic (In)tolerance Novel Adaptation by Octavia Butler and Damian Duffy

Excerpts from novel version of Kindred (BB)

April 9 Pages 58-99 (“The Fall”) of Kindred: A Graphic Novel Adaptation by (In)tolerance Octavia Butler and Damian Duffy

“Anthony Loyd” episode of What Makes Us Human? podcast

WEEK 13 April 14 Pages 100-167 (“The Fight”) of Kindred: A Graphic Novel Adaptation (In)tolerance by Octavia Butler and Damian Duffy

“Stephen Fry” episode of What Makes Us Human? podcast

April 16 Pages 168-237 (“The Storm,” “The Rope,” and Epilogue) of Kindred: A (In)tolerance Graphic Novel Adaptation by Octavia Butler and Damian Duffy

"Hillsides and Flatlands" by Hector Tobar (TTA)

WEEK 14 April 21 Visit to the Spencer Museum of Art

April 23 Spencer reflections due

WEEK 15 April 28 Conferences – we will not meet as a class April 30 Conferences – we will not meet as a class

WEEK 16 May 5 Peer workshop

May 7 Polishing workshop

May 8 : Final essay and curation update due