Essay

University Interdisciplinary Studies

UISC 180 (AUCW 180)

Western Heritage: Humanities

Everything has been figured out except how to live.

-- Jean-Paul Sartre

Overview

Unless the members of this section of 180 Humanities is surprisingly different from those that have preceded it in recent years, most of you are majoring in one of the expanding areas of engineering – more than half of you – with a few in such areas as business or one of the medical related therapies, with only two or three majoring in music or theater or art, or psychology. So, as it has often been observed, courses such as this in the newly labeled UISC Curriculum (formally known as All University Curriculum) are what certifies the University of Hartford as a liberal arts institution. In short, we are composed of courses that focus primarily on thinking rather than content.

Like other courses which make up the University of Hartford's UISC Curriculum, UISC 180 has a specific focus: a brief and limited consideration of what it has meant to be a human being in the Western world since the dawn of the written word. Our attention will be directed to beliefs, behaviors, and social principles that can be said to be uniquely Western that we have inherited from the dawn of history to the present.

Because of this rather narrow focus on the Western traditions, our analysis of the literary works considered in this course will give scant attention to the ancient Eastern religions and cultures.

Primary Readings

The Epic of Gilgamesh, Stephen Mitchell version, Free Press

The Joseph Story, Genesis: 37-50

Sophocles, Oedipus Rex, Fagles translation

________ Antigone , Fagles translation

Shakespeare, Othello

Bolt, A Man For All Seasons, Vintage

Objectives

I have selected for analysis from literature and history six exceptional and noteworthy depictions of human behavior in six major titles beginning with The Epic of Gilgamesh, the oldest known story in Western literature, and concluding with Robert Bolt's A Man for All Seasons, a twentieth-century dramatic depiction of the moral and political conflicts which culminated in the martyrdom of Sir Thomas More during the reign of Henry VIII in Sixteenth Century England.

In our search for the human qualities that characterize us all, our approach will be to examine the actions and behaviors of each of the central characters of these works, particularly the ways each addresses three of Life's fundamental questions:

1. From where did I come?

2. What is, or should be, the purpose of my relatively brief existence?

3. What lies after my inevitable death?

And finally: To what extent and in what respects are responses to these three questions interrelated -- for us today, as well as for the individuals in the works considered?

From our examination of our six characters' responses to these timeless questions will emerge patterns of what I have chosen to call "heroic examples," patterns of behavior that, while in many respects most human, set these six figures apart from most more ordinary human beings.

Briefly, therefore, one could say that this course has been designed in an attempt to reflect traditional Western values, beliefs, and behaviors through an examination of six heroic examples from history and literature that will, with luck, evoke in each of us unique possibilities for heroic action and behavior in these opening decades of this new millennium. We will be particularly interested in possible contemporary applications of these ancient beliefs and behaviors to the rapidly changing technological and cultural world in which we live.

Procedures

Let me assure you I fully appreciate your dilemma as a struggling undergraduate in this so-called liberal arts university, facing too much to do and, as you perceive it, inevitably too little time and energy to accomplish what must be done.

With these thoughts in mind, I offer the following observations, suggestions and directives:

· Keeping up with the reading schedule will be vital to success in this class. Various assignments – particularly your maintenance of a continuous reading journal and your posts made to discussion boards – will have deadlines that must be met. Although you will not always be able to complete the reading assignments thoroughly, an earnest effort to complete them is in order.

· Have the courage -- or, at least, don't be reluctant -- to reflect your intelligence and your intellectual curiosity in our class discussions and on the Discussion Boards. For those of you with reticent personalities who are generally reluctant to participate actively in regular classroom discussions, online discussions will appear ideal. Faceless responses, because they must be both written and read carefully, are often more powerful and persuasive than even the best give-and-take in a traditional classroom.

· Although an online system such as Blackboard, or the Internet and the devices through which we connect to it, are extraordinarily resourceful, they are at the same time potentially fraught with malfunctions. Various problems are certain to arise, though I trust they will be minor and short-lived: in our computers, printers, software, and the great Blackboard (so central to our operation) itself. Nevertheless, such legendary retorts as “my computer ate my homework” or “I’ve been having computer problems” will not serve as an excuse for prior planning and resourceful actions. About every third or perhaps fourth class meeting will be held online – usually devoted to a quiz re the assigned reading and a specific discussion topic.

· Clearly, with the evolution of the Internet over the past few decades, a study of the six readings and the objectives I’ve outlined above can be achieved independently by any serious student without the services of someone like me. Because the Internet provides the largest and most easily accessible reservoir of information ever made available to the human race, for serious study one need only embrace its riches. Essentially every text we will be analyzing can be accessed there – along with apparently unlimited commentaries, study guides, plot summaries, “cheat sheets” of seemingly infinite varieties, etc. Nevertheless, to put it simply: we will rely on the Internet extensively and seriously.

· Finally, not to sound too sarcastic, if you are addicted – even more than I -- to your social-networking tools to the degree you are unable to separate yourself from them for seventy-five minutes, search for another class, or just think of this class as a type of academic rehab. No laptops, cell phones, or text-pod-pad toys during the class, please. Obviously, if you absolutely have to make an important call, simply just exit the room and make it.

· To my mind, venturing out early on a cold early morning to attend a “class” where your time is spent simply monitoring your messages and/or Facebook is simply idiotic.

Requirements

1. From day one, the maintenance of a Reading Journal on each of the six readings: (A general explanation will follow and details will eventually be available in Course Documents on the Blackboard site.)

2. Class discussions, assigned presentations, and assigned and graded discussion boards.

3. Quizzes on assigned reading.

4. Final Exam

Absences

In an ideal university, perhaps, fusty matters such as letter grades and recorded attendance would be ignored. In this class, however, grades are required and attendance is mandatory. Although I’ve offered this course online during the past dozen or so summers, and our discussions will frequently be carried on via the Blackboard Discussion Boards, this course will not be one that can be generally “accessed” from afar – except on those days when the class meets online for an assignment that must be completed during the regular class time.

Absences will naturally detract from your grade. What transpires in class discussions obviously cannot be “made up”! If, however, arrangements are made ahead of time for an anticipated absence, a solution can generally be worked out. Keep in mind: there is no such thing as an “excused” or “unexcused” absence; absences are simply absences.

A Few Words Re Grades

Your grade will be weighted generally according to the following:

Reading Journal 45%

Discussion Boards 20%

Quizzes 20%

Final Exam 15%

A Final Caution

Unless prior arrangements are made, there will be no “make ups,” or “extra credit” options after due dates that will routinely posted under the opening page Announcements of this Blackboard site. This opening page, like your Facebook account and the messages on your phones, should be visited every day for at least a glance at the current details and directives. If, for some reason you have an aversion to the Blackboard site, search for another course.

Finally, should you become at any point “lost in the material,” or have difficulty keeping up with the reading or completing assignments, or feel you're falling behind where you'd like to be, let me know when you first sense a difficulty rather than during the last week of class when it's too late either to remedy your problem or to recover from your having delayed acknowledging it.

Good luck!

Dale P. Woodiel

E-Mail: [email protected]

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