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Home > Curriculum > Course Descriptions > Fall 1998 Newsletter
Fall 1998 Newsletter
Literature | History | Science | Social Science | Arts and Letters Literature HC 101H CRNs 13173 & 13175 4 Credits In this survey of the ancient and medieval western traditions in literature, we will concentrate on the idea of heredity: how do literary texts figure heredity, and what is our role as inheritors of the western tradition? We will assess our texts with an eye to their influences and cross-influences, paying close attention to their history. Our interest will be particularly drawn to the continuity of tradition, identity, and family, and we will also look at the way literature challenges assumptions about heredity and continuity. Our reading list will include the epic of Gilgamesh, the Odyssey, the Aeneid, Beowulf, the Song of Roland, and the Inferno from Dante's Divine Comedy. We will begin the term with an "oral" text, the Mahabharata, in Peter Brook's film version, in order to consider issues of memory and medium in light of inheritance and tradition. Written work for the class will include ungraded quotation-response papers, three short (four page) formal papers (all of which will be subject to rewriting), and a comprehensive final examination. Some special events related to the class will be held in the Honors Dorms during the term. CRN 13173: UH 9:30-10:50 307 CHA
HC 101H CRN 13171 4 Credits The texts are The Odyssey, Sophocles I, Plato's Euthyphro, Apology, and Crito, The Aeneid, Dante's Inferno, and Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales. Through these, we will study changing models of heroes, such as Odysseus, Penelope, Oedipus, Antigone, Socrates, Aeneas, Dante the Wanderer, and Chaucer's Theseus and Knight. We will give attention to reading the poetic or prose texts closely, to some of the larger controversies raised by these great works, as well as to the continuing conflict between political and private commitments--as dramatized by the epics, plays, dialogues and stories. We will also look at some particularly current literary criticism, which places these characters in a more contemporary context. The major emphasis of the class will be on discussion--the more debate the better. There will be three short papers and a journal (a chance to explore your responses to the literature in a more informal context). MWF 10:00-10:50 307 CHA
HC 101H CRN 13174 4 Credits This term we will be exploring various concepts of heroism and "heroinism" and how culture shapes both of these concepts. We will also be investigating what effect modes (such as epic, romance, lyric poetry, wisdom literature, folk narrative, etc.) have on the way both virtue and hero(in)ism are portrayed. The primary genre studied this term will be poetry (both narrative and lyric, with one example also of dramatic), and the time covered will extend from Homeric Greece to the Middle Ages. Works studied will include: Epic Poetry: Homer's Iliad, Virgil's Aeneid, Beowulf, Wu Cheng-en's Journey to the West. French Epic: Chanson de Roland. Lyric Poetry: Sappho's poems,The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, Dramatic Poetry: Euripides's The Trojan Women. Text: Bedford Handbook. Class is primarily lecture/discussion with guided small discussion groups each week with assigned open-ended questions. Discussion groups may alternate with informal debates. No midterm test; essay final with study sheet one week in advance. Heavy reading. Three papers (with journal option for one). UH 12:30-13:50 307 CHA
Other Sections of HC Literature:
HC 107H 4 Credits Sections of HC History: CRN 13176: MWF 12:00-12:50 307 CHA
The Universe is not homogeneous. Matter is clumped into planets, stars, galaxies, and galactic clusters. These clumps of matter are different from one another and, as we see on Earth, they are further subdivided into dissimilar provinces. On at least one of these bodies, life has arisen, diversified, modified the planet, and attempted to understand how it all works. This three-term course investigates how the Universe came into existence, how cosmic explosions create the elements, how matter interacts with energy, how life began and evolved, why humans act the way they do, and how quantum mechanics forces us to re-examine our fundamental assumptions about reality. Evolution, on various time scales and in various systems from viruses to galaxies, will be the theme that unites the course. We will discuss how science investigates natural phenomena, solves puzzles, and answers questions. The inquiry will examine the rules of evidence that make science a powerful investigative tool and show how those same rigorous rules make science unsuitable for many fields of inquiry. During Fall term, taught by cosmologist Robert L. Zimmerman and geochemist Gordon G. Goles, the topics will be the origin and evolution of the Universe, the fundamental principles of energy and matter, and the counter-intuitive predictions of relativity. Winter term, taught by biologist Dennis Todd and geologist Norman M. Savage, will examine biological evolution from the scale of the genes to the scale of international military alliances as we investigate the imperative of the selfish gene and the evolution of social behavior from sex to war. During Spring term, taught by Todd and Zimmerman, we will concentrate on our fundamental assumptions about life and matter. We will ask, "What is life?" and "What is real?" The implications of quantum physics and systems theory give answers that are profoundly different from the everyday beliefs that most of us hold. This three-term course is designed for non-science majors. No background in physics, chemistry, biology, or mathematics is required. The terms need not be taken in sequence. Students will write two papers and give one oral presentation. Open book exams. There will be two hour-and-a-half lectures and one discussion/lab period per week. UH 9:30-10:50 303 CHA
HC 304H CRN 13184 4 Credits This course will introduce students to the art and (I hope) pleasure of constructing theory in science, in particular social science. It is intended to teach some basic skills and techniques, to give you practice and confidence in constructing your own theories and-for better or worse-to make you an habitual theorizer. The course is divided into five two-week modules, each presenting a distinct mode of theorizing in the social sciences. At the end of each module, you will write a brief theoretical paper (up to four pages, plus diagrams when necessary) using the theoretical mode in question to construct your own theory about some (broadly "social") process that interests you. Your subject matter might be chosen from your own life, from some fictional account, or some other social narrative that interests you. Each exercise will count for 20% of your final grade. In addition, I will ask each class member to present two or three (depending on the size of the class) abstracts summarizing the work of other scholars who have constructed theories using one or other of the theoretical modes in question. I plan to spend a good part of the class time in a "workshop" mode. UH 11:00-12:20 303 CHA HC 311H CRN 13185 4 Credits If deliberative democracy is a good idea, then we need articulate citizens. This course is designed to provide students with the habits of mind and communication necessary for the creation of public policy and the resolution of value conflicts. Toward these ends, students will have many opportunities to argue and to persuade a variety of audiences on a host of public issues. Before students stand to argue and persuade, they will: 1. See the importance of taking an ethical stance on argumentation, for "winning" an argument is not the only, and often is not the most important, criterion of success. Rather, the communal welfare and the freedom of an audience to make decisions based on the best evidence become primary considerations if arguers take their ethical responsibilities seriously. 2. Learn how to conduct thorough and extensive research on the issues facing their audiences. 3. Understand how audiences reason. 4. Command the skills needed to organize and present evidence in a cogent and an eloquent manner. 5. Realize the importance of adapting audiences to reasons and reasons to audiences. Students will encounter the following rhetorical situations: 1. A daily "Dialectic" in which students will respond to questions based on the readings, previous discussions, and other issues that might relate. (10% of grade) 2. A "Lincoln-Douglas" debate in which each student will prepare a case in favor of or against a resolution and will refute the case of their opponents. (20% of grade) 3. A "Parliamentary Debate" in which students will be divided into two parties and will debate an important policy issue facing the nation. (30% of grade) 4. An examination that tests the students comprehension of argument philosophy and grammar. (20%) 5. A paper which addresses the question: "How can we preserve and expand the public space?" (20% of grade) MWF 10:00-10:50 303 CHA
HC 399H CRN 13186 4 Credits The Honors College hosts the nationally ranked University of Oregon Forensics Program. The program is designed to teach rhetorical habits of mind and speech through intercollegiate debate and individual events. The program travels to about 13 tournaments, hosts two on-campus tournaments, and engages in some on-campus speaking activities. Debate students will be paired with partners and will be expected to conduct extensive research on the debate topics selected by the Cross Examination Debate Association (CEDA). Two debate topics are debated each academic year. Novice and experienced student debaters are welcome. Individual events students select from among ten to fifteen public speaking and oral interpretation events. Individual events students work to prepare and perfect speeches designed to persuade, entertain and move. Individual events speakers are expected to debate as well. Students are graded on their performances. MW 16:00-17:20 244 GIL
HC 407H CRNs below 2 Credits Senior Thesis Seminar should be taken at least two terms before the term of graduation and can be taken in the junior year if one has a clear idea for one's thesis. Class will consist of an initial overview of the thesis process with attention to the writing of the prospectus. Most of the class will be devoted to oral presentations of each student's prospectus. Those students who are already well into their research will be encouraged to present a completed thesis chapter or section of a chapter. Presentations will be made to the full class and to the student's departmental thesis director; presentations will also include a question and answer session. Students will sign up for presentation times during the first seminar meeting. Attendance is mandatory. Pass/No Pass only Students must complete an Application for Enrollment form in the HC Office in order to be pre-authorized to register through Duck Call. The form must be signed by either your departmental thesis advisor or HC advisor. CRN 13191: M 13:00-14:50 303 CHA CRN 13194 W 15:00-16:50 303 CHA CRN 13190: H 15:30-17:20 303 CHA
THE FOLLOWING NON-HC COURSE WILL SATISFY PART OF THE ARTS AND LETTERS REQUIREMENT FOR HC STUDENTS. IT IS OPEN ONLY TO STUDENTS WITH JUNIOR STANDING OR ABOVE. THE ENGLISH DEPARTMENT GIVES US 7 PLACES IN THE CLASS, AND IF YOU WISH TO HAVE ONE OF THOSE SPACES, COME TO THE HC OFFICE. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BE AN ENGLISH MAJOR. ENG 407 (Honors Seminar) CRN 12758 4 Credits We will discuss Austen's six major novels. Some brief student reports. A recurring theme will be Austen's radical contributions to the development of the novel. No exams. Course grade based on six papers of 1000-1500 words each and your daily contribution to class discussion. Special attention given to effective, clear writing. UH 15:30-16:50 307 CHA
HC 412H 15616 4 Credits A discussion of three major women writers of fiction, George Eliot (Marian Evans, 1819-1880), Virginia Woolf (1882-1941), and Eudora Welty (1909- ). We will look at the evolution of Eliot's sense of male and female in two very long novels, Middlemarch and Daniel Deronda. Then we will turn to Woolf's extension of that vision in Mrs. Dalloway and To the Lighthouse. Emphasis will fall on Woolf's invention of new forms to express the new androgynous spirit she saw in twentieth-century England and the world at large. Lastly, we will discuss the stories of the American writer, Eudora Welty, focusing on how she developed the tradition initiated by women novelists before her-Woolf in particular. MWF 9:00-9:50 303 CHA
*Note procedure for open-ended courses and telephone registration. All courses listed in this section may be taken only by making special arrangements with an HC faculty member prior to registering through Duck Call. First get a form from the HC office. Then fill in the necessary information after consulting with your instructor on the number of credits, grading option, and title of course to show on transcript. The form must be signed by the instructor. Submit this form to Matt or Carol in the HC office and we will enter your name and Social Security number in Banner, and you will then be able to register for the course through Duck Call. PLEASE DO NOT WAIT TILL THE LAST MINUTE TO DO THIS. Also remember that this is a 3-step process: instructor permission, pre-authorization by HC office, phone registration by student. HC 405H CRN 13188 (Variable Credits) HC 406H CRN 13189 (Variable Credits) HC 409H CRN 13195 (Variable Credits)
Winter and Spring 1999 Preview SUBJECT TO CHANGE. FINAL WINTER AND SPRING TERM COURSE OFFERINGS AVAILABLE IN THE FALL. Winter Term 1999 LITERATURE HISTORY SCIENCE HC 211H HC Intro to Experimental Psych ARTS AND LETTERS ENG 316 Women Writer's: Forms SPECIAL PROBLEMS SEMINARS COLLOQUIA LITERATURE HISTORY SCIENCE HC 212H HC Intro to Experimental Psych ARTS AND LETTERS COLLOQUIA |
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