Origins of Ideas and Ideas of Origins IDH 1002 – Spring 2016 The Honors College Florida International University Classrooms and Professor Contacts Lecture/large-group classes: Tuesdays at 3:30 PM in SIPA 125 or in POD Group Rooms Individual sections meet on THursdays in tHe rooms noted below POD Group 1 (GL 245) Brian Peterson Michael Christie 12:30 PM – 1:45 PM, GC 271A Section: 9:30 AM – 10:45 AM, Office hours: By appointment, DM 396 Office hours by appointment, EC 2763 [email protected]; (305) 348-2343 [email protected]; (305) 348-7392 Sian Evans POD Group 4 (PG6-1121) Section: 9:30 AM – 10:45 AM, GC 279A Joan Baker Office hours: By appointment, OE 243 2:00 PM – 3:15 PM, GC 273B [email protected]; (305) 238-9981 Office hours: By appointment, DM454c [email protected]; (305) 348-3873 Joseph Lichter Section: 9:30 AM – 10:45 AM, Helen Cornely Office hours: MW 3-5pm, CP307 2:00 PM – 3:15 PM, GC 271A [email protected]; (305) 348-6209 Office Hours by appointment AHC3 - Room 538 [email protected] (305) 348-1968 POD Group 2 (GC 280) Joseph Lichter Ruben Garrote 2:00 PM – 3:15 PM, AHC4-202 11:00 AM - 12:15 PM, GC 273A Office hours: MW 3-5pm, CP307 Office hours: By appointment, DM 233 [email protected]; (305) 348-6209 [email protected]; (305) 348-4100 Bernard Gerstman POD Group 5 (SIPA 125) 11:00 AM–12:15 PM, GC 275B Regina Bailey Office hours: By appointment, CP 232 2:00 PM – 3:15 PM, GL 139 [email protected]; (305) 348-3115 Office hours: By appointment, DM 233 [email protected]; (305) 535-2649 Mary Adelyn Kaufmann 11:00 AM–12:15 PM, GC 271A Mary Adelyn Kaufmann Office hours: By appointment, DM 233 2:00 PM – 3:15 PM, GC 278B [email protected]; (305) 348-4100 Office hours: By appointment, DM 233 [email protected]; (305) 348-4100 POD Group 3 (GL 165) Jose Rodriguez Adam Gorelick 2:00 PM – 3:15 PM, GC 278B 12:30 PM – 1:45 PM, GC 273A Office hours: By appointment, DM 233 Office hours: By appointment, DM 233 [email protected]; (305) 348-4100 [email protected]; (305) 348-4100 Juan Carlos Espinosa Scott Kass First Year Seminar Coordinator 12:30 PM – 1:45 PM, GC 275B [email protected]; (305) 348-4100 Office hours: By appointment, DM 233 [email protected]; (305) 348-4100 Course Overview This semester we will be exploring the origins of ideas and ideas of origins through narrative, science and culture. We will be building on our introductory work on basic epistemology, ideas of self, extra- dimensional analysis, research, language and culture, etc. Students will continue to develop and execute their freshman thesis project while collectively we will turn our attention toward the dialogue and relationship between science and art. We will explore each separately and together as methods of access to knowledge and experience. “Both ‘scientists’ and ‘non-scientists’ have a tendency to regard science and culture as different and parallel (if not competing) things, between which one can (or must) choose . science is not conceived of as an alternative (either neutral or competitive) to culture but rather as a central component of a human culture more broadly understood--a component that existed long before the term ‘science’ was coined and will long outlast current understandings of science as a specialized or privileged activity that can be engaged in only by members of a self-perpetuating professional community.” --- Paul Grobstein What qualifies as science? What is its history, and how does the scientific community work? How do humans fit into the natural order, and what constitutes personhood? We will look at science as practice, as narrative, and as social phenomenon. We will also revisit ideas from the Fall semester to discuss the implications of new ideas and human action on society and our environment. How do advancements in specialized scientific fields influence the evolution of language and our mental maps of reality? New scientific insight offers new paradigms for understanding the universe. Broadly speaking, what is art? How does it function in respect to accessing knowledge? We will investigate the examples of film, drama, music, and visual art in an effort to approach an epistemology of art. Ultimately, we will focus in on drama as narrative and performance—and as avenues for new ideas about self, society, and nature. New artistic insight offers new paradigms for experiencing the universe. Can we speak then of both science and art as media for the transformation of human consciousness? On Tuesdays, the entire first-year class will meet together in SIPA 125 or in the room assigned to your POD group for a lecture, discussion, film or other presentation. On Thursdays, students will meet in their assigned sections to explore more deeply the subject of the Tuesday session. Students are expected to come to class prepared (i.e., having read/listened to assigned material, brought their iClickers to participate fully in class discussions and activities. IDH1001-1002 is a web-assisted course using the learning management system Blackboard. Assignments, electronic readings, the discussion board, quizzes, video, music and supplementary material will be found there. You MUST use Blackboard to be able to participate in the course. Your usage is diligently tracked by the Blackboard system and is available to your professors. For more information on Blackboard and e- Campus, visit http://ecampus.fiu.edu/. Course Learning Outcomes Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to: • Describe and discuss seminal issues in the theory of knowledge covered in this course. • Incorporate into their reflections on contemporary social, moral, political, scientific, issues, etc. apply pertinent concerns raised in class with respect to: what knowledge is, how it is acquired and understood, and the role it plays in societies. • Recognize and articulate the ways in which perception, conception, memory, and language affect our ideas about the nature and origins of human beings and of our societies. • Recognize different approaches to the questions of natural and human origins. • Describe and discuss how different ways of knowing can cause conflicts in contemporary society. 2 Guidelines for Written Work All written work must consistently adhere to the MLA Formatting and Style Guide. Students are advised to carefully proofread all papers before submitting them. All students are encouraged to take advantage of the University resources for writing to be found in the Center for Excellence in Writing, a full-service writing center providing writing assistance and feedback to university students. All written work is submitted through Turnitin. Plagiarism can result in expulsion from the Honors College and will have a negative effect on your entire college career. All written work must include your name, Panther ID number, course number and the name of the professor on the title page. It must be double spaced, 1-inch margins (top, bottom, left and right) and in 12 point font, Times New Roman or Calibri. Assignments Thesis Rough Draft 10% Due February 12 (between 4,000 and 7,000 words) Thesis Final Draft 50% Due March 21 (between 6,000 and 7,000 words) Notebook 10% Due April 7 Theatre Project 10% Performances during Week 8 Synthesis Project 10% Final presentations on April 19 Participation 10% Total 100% Freshman Thesis: All students will be writing and presenting a thesis at the end of the academic year. They will be selecting a topic in collaboration with their instructor. Although student will be given general subjects to work with around the fifth week of the fall semester, they must tease out a reasonable and feasible topic. Students will be responsible or finding the topic, preparing a research question or statement, planning a preliminary literature review by the end of the semester. The final thesis will have a minimum of 7,000 words eXcluding references, cHart, and diagrams. The rough draft accounts for 10% of your grade, while the final draft is 50% of your final grade. Notebook: The Notebook Project is an opportunity to explore a natural setting of your own choosing that also may prove to be a portal through which you can explore and expand your own perceptions and consciousness and in the process soak up some of Nature’s peace and beauty. There is a rich literary and scientific precedent for this kind of personal experience. Darwin’s Voyage of the Beagle, Whitman’s Leaves of Grass, A.R. Wallace’s The Malay Archipelago, H.D. Thoreau’s Walden and Annie Dillard’s Pilgrim at Tinker Creek are just a few examples. What they have in in common is a long span of time over which they were written and an intense enthusiasm or love the writers felt for their subject. Near the end of IDH-1002 in the spring, your journals will become the source of a personal Reflection Paper which will be part of your evaluation for that course. Notebooks are due on April 7, and represent 10% of your final grade. Theatre Project: Each section will present a production of Constellations. Your role and participation in the project will count for 10% of your final grade. SyntHesis Project: Students will put together a presentation of an idea or ideas that combine elements of art, science, and social communication. The final product should take a creative form. Examples can include performances, exhibits, video, spoken word, scientific experiments, installations, demonstrations, and other forms capable of expressing your idea(s). The Synthesis Project is designed as a collaborative project for small groups and up to entire sections.