3/22/2016 LS 750 The Self in the World Syllabus 1 The Self in the World Graduate Liberal Studies Core Course (LS 750.02 & 03) Fall 2014 -- To the Ends of the Earth: Encountering the Cultural Other Classroom One, the Link (Perkins Level One Rm. 2-060); Thursdays 6:15-9:15 Dr. Kent Wicker (kent.wicker@duke.edu) How do people make sense of themselves, their experience and their place in the world of others? How are concepts of self and other influenced by values and contexts such as family, region, religion, class, race or gender that we inherit from our culture? What new insights can we gain on those meanings and values through the disciplinary methods of history, the sciences, the arts or the humanities? In this introductory course for the Graduate Liberal Studies program, we will read an interdisciplinary range of historical and contemporary texts in order to discuss aspects of the modern self. Our focus for thefall 2014 version of the Self in the World is the experience of cultural encounter: What ways of thinking about personal or cultural otherness are possible within our culture? How do our needs, desires, hopes, fears or anxieties affect relationships with those who are culturally other? What is the role of travel, exploration and encounter in forming knowledge and identity? What sort of hybrid identities are possible when cultures meet? Our ultimate goal is to explore how scholars think, read and write, with particular attention to: 1) the critical analysis so vital to graduate level work; and 2) the reading and writing skills necessary for interdisciplinary study. Course Requirements (details posted on the Sakai course site under Assignments) This is a seminar class in which active participation and communication are vital. Please let me know ahead of time, if you can, if you will be absent or late. If absent, you are still expected to post on the weekly Sakai forum if you are in a position to do so. If you are struggling to meet a paper deadline, or having trouble understanding a concept, or there are other obstacles to getting all that you can out of this course, let me know. I am always happy to meet. Email (above) is the best way to get hold of me. Seminar participation will form a significant part of the grade. This includes keeping up with readings, maintaining good communication, and participating actively and consistently both in our classroom discussions and in our online forum discussions on Sakai. Two short papers (2 pages; 3-4 pages) Research paper (10-15 pages). Your paper grade will also take into account your oral presentation at the end of semester. Proposal for your research paper (non-graded) Annotated bibliography relevant to your research paper and containing a minimum of six scholarly sources. Oral Presentation of research paper work in progress. Please note that you must achieve at least a B grade for the course to remain in the GLS program. You may rewrite either of the first two papers if: 1) the grade is B or lower; and 2 ) you arrange for this ahead of time.
3/22/2016 LS 750 The Self in the World Syllabus 2 Grade Weights Seminar participation 25% Short papers 30% Annotated bibliography 10% Research paper 35% (incl. oral presentation) Required I. Books you need to obtain Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. The Thing Around Your Neck. Anchor, 2010. (ISBN: 978-0307455918) Kwame Anthony Appiah. Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of Strangers. W.W. Norton, 2006. (ISBN: 978-0-393-32933-9 pbk.) Robert Darnton. The Great Cat Massacre and Other Episodes in French Cultural History. Basic Books, 2009. (ISBN: 978-0465012749 pbk.) Daniel DeFoe. Shinagle, ed. Robinson Crusoe: An Authoritative Text, Contexts, Criticism. Second Norton Critical Edition. W.W. Norton, 1994. (ISBN: 9780393964523 pbk.) Junot Diaz. The Brief Wondrous History of Oscar Wao. Riverhead Books, 2007. (ISBN: 978-1-59448-329-5 pbk.) Olaudah Equiano. Sollors, ed. The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African. Written by Himself. Norton Critical Edition. W.W. Norton, 2000/2001. (ISBN: 978-0-393-97494-2 pbk.) Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein. They Say I Say: the Moves That Matter in Academic Writing (Second Edition). W.W. Norton, 2009. (ISBN: 978-0393933611 pbk.) (Note: this is the second edition, which includes chapters on writing in the sciences. There is a more recent third edition, but it is overpriced: you can get used copies of this edition far more cheaply.] William Shakespeare. Graff & Phelan, eds. The Tempest: A Case in Critical Controversy. Second Edition. Bedford/St. Martin s, 2009. (ISBN: 978-0-312-45752-5 pbk.) II. available on the course Sakai site Edward V. Said. Narrative and Social Space ; Jane Austen and Empire. Chapter 2, Consolidated Vision. Culture and Imperialism. Alfred A. Knopf, 1993. Charles Taylor. The Politics of Recognition. from Multiculturalism: Examining the Politics of Recognition. ed., Amy Gutman. Princeton University Press, 1994. Albert Wendt. Stories from Flying Fox in a Freedom Tree and Other Stories. Univ. Hawaii Press, 1999. (ISBN: 978-0824818234) Kent Wicker. The Interdisciplinary Scholar: Critical Thinking, and Writing in Graduate Liberal Studies. Unpublished manuscript, 2014.
3/22/2016 LS 750 The Self in the World Syllabus 3 Detailed Course Schedule Note that this syllabus and the Sakai site are for both the Wednesday and Thursday sections of LS750. I. Intro: Western Concepts of Self Week 0 (pre-course August readings) Theories of Self and Other Charles Taylor. The Politics of Recognition. (intellectual history/political philosophy) [sakai] Edward Said, Consolidated Vision from Narrative and Social Space. (literary/cultural theory) [Sakai] The Interdisciplinary Scholar (IDS) Intro: The Scholarly Worldview [sakai] Post First Response Journal Excerpt (Darnton) in Sakai Forum by Mon. Aug 25 (Wed. section) Tues. Aug 26 (Thurs. section) Week 1 (Aug 27/28) Historical and Geographical Others Robert Darnton. The Great Cat Massacre and Other Episodes in French Cultural History. (history). We will focus mainly on the Introduction and Chapters 1-3. We might briefly touch on Chapters 5&6. Edward Said essay (see above) IDS: Thinking Critically [sakai] II. To the Ends of the Earth Week 2 (Sept 3/4) The Western Self in the World Daniel DeFoe. Robinson Crusoe. (fiction) Also read your choice of introductory and supporting material from the Norton Critical Edition. Charles Taylor essay (see above) IDS: Thinking Critically [sakai] Paper One (Close ) Due in Dropbox Noon Tues. Sept 9 (Wed. section) Wed. Sept 10 (Thurs. section)
3/22/2016 LS 750 The Self in the World Syllabus 4 Week 3 (Sept 10/11) A World of Possibilities William Shakespeare. The Tempest. (drama) Also read your choice of introductory and supporting material from the Bedford/St. Martin s Critical Edition. IDS: The Essay [Sakai] Week 4 (Sept 17/18) Research Day Library Research Session I -- with Greta Boers and Carson Holloway (meet in 023 Bostock) Graff and Birkenstein. They Say I Say: the Moves That Matter in Academic Writing IDS: & Research [Sakai] Week 5 (Sept 24/25) The Foreigner s View Olaudah Equiano. Selected chapters (1-3, 5, 8-9) from The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African. Written by Himself. (autobiography). Also read your choice of introductory and supporting materials from the Norton Critical Edition. Cheryl McEwan, Encounters With West African Women: Textual Representations of Difference by White Women Abroad (2000) (sociology) [Sakai] IDS: & Research [Sakai] Paper Two (Short Paper) Due in Dropbox Noon Tues. Sept 30 (Wed. section) Wed. Oct 1 (Thurs. section) III. Globalism and the Post-Colonial Week 6 (Oct 1/2) Comprehending Our Post-Colonial World Kwame Anthony Appiah, Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of Strangers. (philosophy) IDS: & Research [Sakai]
3/22/2016 LS 750 The Self in the World Syllabus 5 Week 7 (Oct 8/9) Fictional Perspectives from the Post-Colonial World : Albert Wendt. Selected stories from Flying Fox in a Freedom Tree and Other Stories. (fiction) [Sakai] Chimananda Ngozi Adichie. Selected stories from The Thing Around My Neck. (fiction) IDS: The Writing Process [Sakai] Research Paper Proposal Due in class October 15/16: Bring 6 copies Week 8 (Oct 15/16) Workshop Day Library Research Session II -- with Greta Boers and Carson Holloway (meet in 023 Bostock) Paper proposal workshop Week 9 (Oct 22/23) Island Encounters in Biology Faculty Guest: Jon Shaw, Biology David Quammen. The Man Who Knew Islands from The Song of the Dodo: Island Biogeography in an Age of Extinctions. [Sakai] IDS: Sentences and Paragraphs [Sakai] Week 10 (Oct 29/30) Hybrid Identites Junot Diaz. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. (fiction) IDS: Sentences and Paragraphs [Sakai] Annotated Bibliography Due in Dropbox Noon Tues. Nov 4 (Wed. section) Wed. Nov 5 (Thurs. section)
3/22/2016 LS 750 The Self in the World Syllabus 6 V. Student presentations Week 11 (Nov 5/6) Student presentations IDS: Sentences and Paragraphs [Sakai] Week 12 (Nov 12/13) Student presentations IDS: Argumentation and Rhetoric [Sakai] Week 13 (Nov 19/20) Student presentations Course wrap up and evaluation Final Research Paper Due in Dropbox Noon Thursday, Dec 4 (both sections)
3/22/2016 LS 750 The Self in the World Syllabus 7 Schedule in Brief Week 0 Said, Taylor; IDS Intro Aug 27/28 Week 1 Darnton; IDS Thinking Critically Sept 3/4 Week 2 DeFoe; IDS Thinking Critically Sept 9/10 Paper One due Sept 10/11 Week 3 Shakespeare; IDS Essay Sept 17/18 Week 4 Library Research Session (023 Bostock); Graff & Birkenstein. Sept 24/15 Week 5 Equiano, McEwan; IDS & Research Sept 30/Oct 1 Paper Two due Oct 1/2 Week 6 Appiah; IDS & Research Oct 8/9 Week 7 Wendt, Adichie; IDS Writing Process Oct 15/16 Week 8 Library Research Session (023 Bostock); Proposal Workshop draft proposals due Oct 22/23 Week 9 Faculty Guest TBA IDS Sentences & Paragraphs Oct 29/30 Week 10 Diaz; IDS Sentences & Paragraphs Nov 4/5 Annotated Bib due Nov 5/6 Week 11 Student presentations; IDS Sentences & Paragraphs Nov 12/13 Week 12 Student presentations; IDS Argument & Rhetoric Nov 19/20 Week 13 Student presentations; Course wrap up and evaluation Dec 4 Final Research Paper due