Course credit
3 credit hours
Course description
Literature, philosophy, religion, and the fine arts, integrated with the history of Western Civilization to 1300.
Delivery
This course is available in a web-based format, utilizing web pages and WebCT, a computer conferencing program. WebCT requires Internet access and a web browser — no additional software is required. Students may need access to someone who can assist with computer set-up.
Prerequisites
none
Instructor
Donna Maier, Professor
Evaluation
12 assignments, 3 exams
Overview
This course proposes to introduce you to the basic western literary and historical heritage of our culture. Although our culture has also been deeply influenced by Chinese, African, Indian, and other civilizations, its dominant influence originated around the Mediterranean Sea and in Europe. This course thus restricts itself primarily to our western heritage. It is neither a course in literature, art, philosophy, nor history, but in the synthesis of these many strands which produce our culture.
When you have finished this course you should be familiar with the major cultural inheritances which dominate our western society today. You should share in an understanding of the literature, history, art, and philosophy common to other men and women of our time. Without this shared cultural knowledge, people lack the foundation for thoughtful communication. As Socrates said, the life unexamined is not worth living. The more knowledge of past problems and solutions we have, the better able we are to confront, compare, and solve new problems. As such, this course should make you not only a better educated person, but better equipped to live successfully at whatever career you choose to pursue. I hope at least some of the benefits of a fuller life accrue to you as a result of this course.
In light of the above remarks, a survey-style textbook, The Western Heritage, has been selected as the basis for this course. The textbook reading is intended to provide for you the fundamental historical, chronological framework of our western heritage. One of our course goals is to see what kind of culture, ideas and values were produced by historical events and what the consequences are for our society today. The other assigned books are all original documents written by persons who lived at the times under investigation. It is also our goal to comprehend how these documents are the products of the times in which they were produced, as well as expressions of universal values relevant to any time and place throughout human experience.
Lessons
Each lesson consists of reading assignments, observations & objectives, and questions to be submitted as written assignments. The written assignments in this course are intended to:
Since we will not have the opportunity for class discussions, you will answer questions based on the textbook by Kagan, Ozment and Turner, and the other assigned books in writing. You must put the answers to these questions in your own words. Paraphrase the text. Select the relevant material. Leave out extraneous material. In all assignments, you are obliged to put quotation marks around any and all material taken verbatim from another source including your textbook. Failure to do so is plagiarism and will be dealt with severely.
The written assignments will give you practice in paraphrasing and in organizing your thoughts for essays for the exams. Since these assignments deal with important questions raised by the course, they will help you focus your attention on the most important issues. I believe it will help you greatly in answering the questions if you read the entire chapter through before beginning your answers. The written assignment questions will be used to construct the course examinations; so in doing these assignments, you are preparing for the exams. The better you do them, the better prepared you will be. Please do not submit more than two lessons at a time. You need feedback from me on your written assignments in order to do better on subsequent ones.
I do not intend to provide letter grades for the regular written assignments as you have the books and all the necessary information in front of you as you write. Instead, the lessons will be graded as either "satisfactory" or "unsatisfactory." Unsatisfactory work must be resubmitted and accepted as satisfactory before the next test can be taken. You will receive reply comments from me as needed or as appropriate. The overall quality of your written assignments will have some influence on your final grade.
Exams
There will be three essay tests in this course. Each will require you to answer three questions out of four. You will be given a total of one hour and thirty minutes to complete each test. These will be unit tests, i.e., they are not comprehensive. Each test question will be graded individually. Your final grade in the course will be based on the average of the nine grades from these tests with some consideration of the overall quality of your written assignments.
Remember: The tests will be based on the written assignments. Learn from the comments I make in my replies to your assignments. Use ink or ballpoint pen for the tests. You may not have books or notes with you in the examination room.
Textbook(s)
Kagan, Ozment and Turner.The Western Heritage to 1527 , Volume A. 8th ed., 2004.
"The Book of Job," in the Bible, any edition.
Homer: The Iliad, Mentor
Grene and Lattimore: Greek Tragedies. Volume 1.
St. Augustines: The Confessions. translated by John K. Ryan, Doubleday.
The Letters of Abelard and Heloise. translated by Betty Riece, Penguin.
Texts are available from the vendor of your choice or
University Book and Supply
1009 West 23rd Street, Cedar Falls, IA 50613
Phone: 319-266-7581 or 800-728-7581
Fax: 319-277-1266
E-mail: bookstore@panthersupply.com
To enroll
ONLINE
GIS enrollment information
IN PERSON
UNI Continuing Education
2637 Hudson Road (corner of 27th St. and Hudson Rd.)
Cedar Falls, IA 50614-0223
Campus map (Look for Building 31)
For more information
Cindy Klodt, Guided Independent Study
UNI Continuing Education
319-273-2123 or 800-772-1746
ContinuingEd@uni.edu