Northern Arizona University
University Honors
Program
Instructor: Ellen
Riek
Office Hours: Th
9:00-12:00, appointments as needed
MW 12:30-1:45, 2:50-4:00
Phone/Office: 523-3339,
Cowden 136
Email: Ellen.Riek@nau.edu
Course Prerequisites:
Admission to
the Honors Program. See also number 1 below, under “Course Requirements.”
Course Description:
Honors 190
is a reading- and writing-intensive course designed to introduce you to a
liberal studies education. An important part of this course is your acquisition
of specific skills: close reading, analytical writing, cogent speaking,
attentive listening, and critical thinking. The readings for this class,
as well as the tasks required of you, have been carefully chosen and arranged in
order to make possible your attainment as well as enhancement of these skills,
within a learning environment that encourages your understanding and
appreciation of key issues that are at the heart of a liberal studies
education. Your 190 instructors come from a variety of departments. Your
instructors will help you to define and explore these key issues in a manner
that reflects their unique training, specialties, and perspectives.
Course Orientation and Goals:
In this course your readings, writings, and class
discussions will address, both broadly as well as specifically, the theme of
the human condition, and the ideas and issues arising from this theme: e.g.,
the nature and function of being human; societies, communities, and
communication; morals, ethics, and
ethnicities; power; gender; or identity, to name a few. Through your
readings and discussions this semester, you will work to clarify these issues,
refine your thoughts and attitudes about them, and consider these issues within
the context of the university.
By the end of this course, you will:
§
Demonstrate improved and
refined capabilities in essential lifelong skills, including close reading,
analytical writing, cogent speaking, attentive listening, and critical
thinking.
§
Recognize the complexities of
the human condition from a variety of perspectives: literary, historical,
cultural, moral, social, and so on.
§
Appreciate the role that you
play as a member of the honors and/or university community and as a citizen of
the 21st century.
Note:
The following represents minimum requirements common to each section of
Honors 190. All sections will require the writing requirements as listed below.
The reading requirements, as listed
below, amount to approximately 70% of the total requirements for each section;
individual instructors will supplement these reading requirements with
additional materials (30% of the total amount of required reading). Note
also that guidelines for informal writing, formal writing, portfolios,
bibliographies, and class participation will be provided by your individual
instructors.
1.
HON
190 and HON191 may be taken in any order. (a) If you are enrolled in HON190 as
your first freshman Honors course, you must take the English Composition Exam
in order to pass this course. If you do
not pass the English Composition Placement Exam, you must take ENG 205
co-registered with HON191. (b) If you are enrolled in HON 191 as your first
freshman Honors course, you must take the English Composition exam in order to
pass this course. If you do not pass the English Composition Placement Exam,
you must take ENG 205 co-registered with HON 190.
2.
All sections of HON 190 will read a selection of texts, taken from
the groups listed under “Course Texts” (see below). In addition to these
readings, your individual instructors will assign other reading materials to
suit his/her specific needs.
3.
You
will write a 3-page paper during the first two weeks of classes on the
University-wide Freshmen Summer Reading.
4.
You
will write 3 formal, analytical essays (the first 3-7pp., the second and third
5-7pp.) that explore topics and issues related to your readings and
discussions. You will also revise each of these papers through a peer-review
process.
5.
You
will complete a minimum of 13 pieces of informal writing, each 1 ½ - 3pp.
6.
You
will complete an annotated bibliography on a topic, book, or issue related to
your class readings or discussions, and containing a minimum of 5 secondary
sources.
7.
You
will submit a collection of informal writing at the end of the semester that
consists of 10 of your best, revised informal writing assignments, and a 1-2pp.
“self statement.” You will be expected to participate thoughtfully and
intelligently in all class discussions.
8.
You
will submit 2 written assignments to the Freshmen Honors Program Assessment
website. The first assignment will be your 3-page paper on the Required Summer
Reading (see #3 above), and the second assignment will be your best formal
essay. Your instructors will clarify this procedure for you.
Assessment and Grading:
The goals and objectives
listed above will be assessed and/or graded in the following manner:
1.
15% of total grade: 1 3-5pp.
formal essay on 1 text/reading.
2.
20% of total grade: 1 5-7pp. formal
essay on 2 texts/readings.
3.
20% of total grade: 1 7-9pp.
formal essay on 2 or more texts/readings.
4.
15% of total grade: 1 5-item
(minimum) annotated bibliography on a topic related to class
readings/discussion.
5.
15% of total grade:
participation. This portion of your grade will include some or all of the
following: class attendance; active and informed class discussions; active and
informed participation in study groups; write-ups of your study group meetings;
on-time submission of formal and informal writing assignments; diligent
attention to peer reviews of essays; an awareness of and respect for differing
opinions; one10-minute book report; submission of writing assignments to the
Honors assessment website; attendance at the sophomore/junior/senior Honors
Symposium in November, and other options as assigned by your instructor.
Individual instructors will specify the requirements for this aspect of your
grade.
6.
15% of total grade: a
collection of informal writing consisting of a minimum of 10 pieces of informal
writing, revised; 1 copy of your best formal essay; and a 1-2pp. “Self
Statement.”
TOTAL: 100%
Note: each instructor will be responsible for providing a
rubric or formula for grade justification.
Seminars
such as this are joint enterprises and it is crucial that we come to speak, to
listen, and to contribute. Students who learn the most do so, among other
reasons, because they participate and involve themselves consistently and
earnestly in class discussions with their instructor and with other
students. Therefore, attendance is
extremely important, and students who miss class will be penalized as follows:
If a
student has 4 or more unexcused absences, his or her grade will be lowered
according to the requirements specified by individual instructors.
Academic
dishonesty in all forms violates the basic principles of integrity and thus
impedes learning. More specifically, academic dishonesty is a form of
misconduct that is subject to disciplinary action under the Student Code of
Conduct and includes the following: cheating, fabrication, fraud, facilitating
academic dishonesty, and plagiarism. Academic dishonesty, as defined in the Student
Handbook, will not be tolerated in this class, and will be handled in the
manner prescribed by this handbook.
Course Texts:
·
Summer Reading:
o
Diane
Smith, Letters from Yellowstone
·
Education Readings (selections):
o
Cronon,
“Only Connect…”
o
Cousins,
“How to Make People Smaller Than They Are”
o
Bird,
“College is a Waste of Time”
o
Postman,
“Learning by Story”
o
Malcolm
X, selection from Autobiography of Malcolm X
o
Hirsch,
“Cultural Literacy”
o
McCarthy,
The Groves of Academe (selection)
·
Greek Classics
o
Aristophanes,
Peace
o
Aeschylus,
Prometheus Bound
·
18th Century Satire
o
Voltaire,
Candide
·
Political Writing (selections):
o
Martin
Luther King, Letter from a Birmingham Jail
o
Thoreau,
Civil Disobedience
·
Romanticism and the Gothic
o
Shelley,
Frankenstein
·
Modernism
Joyce, Portrait of the
Artist as a Young Man
* Existentialism
o
Camus,
The Stranger
·
Environmental Ethics
Abbey, The Journey Home
·
Writing Instruction
o
Maimon
and Peritz, A Writer’s Resource
NOTE: Individual instructors will assign additional reading
as necessary. Also, some of the materials listed above will be available
through Electronic Reserve or through various websites.
Course Schedule:
Week 1: Required Summer Informal
Writing #1
8/25 Reading for Freshmen:
Letters from Yellowstone
Week 2: Greek
Classics
9/1 Aeschylus’ Prometheus
Bound (ER) Informal Writing #2
Week 3: Aristophanes’
Peace Informal
Writing #3
9/8 Rough
Draft of
Formal
Paper #1;
Peer
Review
Week 4: Political
Writing Final
Draft of Formal
9/15 King,
Thoreau Paper
#1;
Informal
Writing #4
Week 5: 18th Century Satire Informal
Writing #5
9/22
Voltaire, Candide
Week 6: Candide
9/29 Education
Readings Informal
Writing #6
10/6 Mary Shelley, Frankenstein Informal
Writing #7
Week 8: Frankenstein
10/13 Texts
& Contexts Rough
Draft of
Formal
Paper #2;
Peer
Review
Week 9: Frankenstein Informal
Writing #8;
10/20 Texts
& Contexts Final
Draft of Formal
Paper
#2
Week 10: Modernism Informal
Writing #9
10/27 James Joyce, Portrait of
the Artist
Week 11: Portrait
of the Artist Informal
Writing #10
11/3 Texts
& Contexts
11/10 Camus, The Stranger
Week 13: The
Stranger Bibliography Due
11/17
Week 14: Environmental
Ethics Rough
Draft of
11/24 Abbey,
The Journey Home Formal
Paper #3; Peer
Review
Informal
#12
Week 15: Final
Draft of Formal
12/1 Abbey Paper
#3 Due
paper
presentations
Finals week Electronic Portfolios Due