The schedule will depend on how things are going. That is, we will be making this up as we go along. Keep on track by coming to class, and checking here when you need more information.
The schedule is divided into sections. Actual course activities do not divide up so neatly. Activities from one division often overlap with those from another division. So, don't take the divisions too seriously.
| Getting started | ||
| For | Things to do | Submit? |
| Wed. 8/25 | ||
| Complete the quiz found by clicking HERE. Print it out and bring to class to turn in. | Wed. 8/25 | |
| Send Machina an e-mail from your ISU account, briefly describing one interesting fact about yourself. | n/a | |
| Physically visit Milner library a bit. Or, if you wish, sign up for one of the tours they offer. Click here for information about the tours. | ||
| Become familiar with the course Web site. There will be a quiz on the contents. | n/a | |
| Bring the ISU 2004-05 Undergraduate Catalog to class on Wednesday. If you don't have one, get one. (This is a bound paperback issued by the administration.) | n/a | |
| Optional reading: The chapter in The Foundations Book on the history of ISU. | n/a | |
| Fri. 8/27 | Read "General Education" in the The Foundations Book, and make a list of good things about being required to complete General Education, and a list of bad things about it. Bring your lists to class to discuss. | no |
| Attend Festival ISU on the quad on Thursday. Draft a plan for campus or community engagement and turn it in. Instructions here. | Fri. 8/27 | |
| Write a one-page mini-essay on how the message in The Quiet American would have been altered if the love/sex romance aspect had been simply omitted. Or was this aspect simply extraneous? [Worth 2 engagement points.] | Fri. 8/27 | |
| Mon. 8/30 | Read Meiland "The Difference Between High School and College" and Machina "What's a University All About?" in The Foundations Book. Make notes for yourself to use in class discussion -- any points that interested you, any points you disagree with, anything you want to discuss. Write a paragraph (to hand in) on what practical difference any of this makes to your own personal planning right now. | Mon. 8/30 |
| Don't forget the Pathways group meeting at 4 today. Go to STV 352. Pizza, talk, and planning. Your chance to get your voice heard. | n/a | |
| If you haven't already read Woman at Point Zero over the summer, you might want to get started now. | n/a | |
| Getting more focused | ||
| wed. 9/1 | Class will be about stereotyping and how it affects males and females differently. Woman at Point Zero is to be completed by Friday. You may want to look ahead to Friday's study questions. | n/a |
| Fri. 9/3 | Complete the reading of Woman at Point Zero. Write answers to the study questions found here. (The deadline for turning these in was moved to next Wed, so you can use the info to help with your essay.) | Wed. 9/8 |
| Mon. 9/6 | No class. Labor Day holiday. | n/a |
| Wed. 9/8 | Essay on Woman at Point Zero due today. Here are the instructions. Come to class prepared to discuss your essay and to turn it in. | Wed. 9/8 |
| Basics of argument analysis | ||
| Fri. 9/10 | There are some brief online items to read and analyze for class. Here are the instructions. Bring your notes on these to class for discussion. | n/a |
| Mon. 9/13 | Read the beginning of "What's the Reason?" in The Foundations Book, pp. 113-131. Then write out answers to the Exercises 1 through 6 found on pages 137-140. Bring answers to class. If you find this too easy, try diagramming the Goldberg argument for the inevitability of patriarchy discussed on Friday. | Wed. 9/15 |
| Don't forget the 4pm group meeting today. STV 352. Mind Project is on tap. (Artificial intelligence, Can computers think?, etc.) Interactive session. | n/a | |
| Wed. 9/15 | Read 132 - 137 in the text. Write answers to Exercise 8, all parts, 142-144. | Wed. 9/15 |
| Fri. 9/17 | a) Sick students, try to get well. b) Now we get to the fun stuff--evaluating arguments. Read 145-159 in the text, and practice applying it by writing answers to exercises 1, 4, 6, 7, 8, 11, and 12. Bring to class for discussion and to turn in. | Fri. 9/17 |
| Mon. 9/20 | Reread Goldberg's argument about patriarchy and evaluate it in detail. That means you should decide how strong the argument is, based on specific analysis of the argument's details, using the techniques from the previous assignment. Make notes for use in class. | no |
| Read 159-161, and apply these ideas to exercise 2, page 162. | no | |
| Wed. 9/22 | Happy first official day of Fall. Read "What's the Reason?" 169-175 about why it can be a good thing to bring up objections to your own arguments. | no |
| Fri. 9/24 | Optional rewrites of the essay on Woman at Point Zero due today. Everyone: Read "What's the Reason?" 177-184 and write answers to Exercise 1 (all parts). | Fri. 9/24 |
| Mon. 9/27 | Write a progress report on your campus and community engagement plan, or create a new plan and report on progress toward completing it. Here is a link to the original description of what counts as a plan. Right now, there are a great many events of various kinds occurring on campus. If you are still unsure about how to get involved, look at the ads, or click on the link below to the event calendar. If you haven't gotten serious about this part of the course, now is the time. | Mon. 9/27 |
| Wed. 9/29 | Exam on argumentation, based on the portions of the text we have considered. | Wed. 9/29 |
| Argumentation and the Arts | ||
| Fri. 10/1 | Happy October! The rest of the semester, we'll be exploring and developing argumentation in application to various topics, keeping with our theme: Is that REALLY true? To get started, we'll spend a little time on argumentation and the arts. Here's a little project to work on, to bring to class. | Fri. 10/1 |
| Mon. 10/4 | Read Pratt's chapter on the history of music, using the guide found here. Bring written answers to the study questions to class. (If you missed hearing the tape on Friday, you'll need to listen to it in Milner. Go to the Media Resource center.) | Mon. 10/4 |
| Wed.10/6 | Here is a fun exercise on paying attention to visual details. | n/a |
| Write a one-page description of the important details found in this visual image. No argument--just description. (Using this sort of thing in an argument will come in the next essay assignment.) The image is a 1909 photo of the aftermath of a head-on collision of two trains near Farmer City, Illinois. It is believed that many of the people pictured were passengers on one of the trains. We see the work crews attempting to clean up the mess. | Wed. 10/6 | |
| Optional Retest. 4 pm. | ||
| Fri. 10/8 | Find about 10 pictures from print media advertising that depict men or women -- preferably some that depict only men and some that depict only women, and maybe some that depict both. Bring to class. Look through your ads before class to determine whether you can see any patterns in the way the men are depicted that are different from the way that women are depicted. | Fri. 10/8 |
| The next essay will be due in a week -- Fri. 10/15. Instructions here. | Fri. 10/15 | |
| Mon. 10/11 | Read about gender and race in ads from a
professional journal. Click here
for details. Pathways meeting at 4 with ADM cookie people -- about tweaking food ingredients. |
n/a |
| Wed. 10/13 | Read "Between Brains and Breasts". Decide whether you buy the author's arguments about how women scientists and academics are depicted in fiction movies. Come prepared to argue for your decision. (For those few students who missed class on Mon., there are copies of the article available in the PHI department, STV 412, 8 - 4:30) | n/a |
| Fri. 10/15 | Essay on art due today. In class we will view a film in which we will see some male and female researchers. | Essay Fri. 10/15 |
