INTRODUCTION

This course is the first of the four in the two-year Humanities Program. The semester's topics are chronologically arranged, beginning with the Warrior Unit in the time of the ancient Greeks and continuing to the Civic Patron Unit in the time of the ancient Romans. The course presents a series of lectures and readings appropriate to the unit under consideration. The purpose of the course is for the student to come an understanding first of the unique aspects of each unit taken individually, second of all the units taken together as a whole as they explore central features in the development of Western Civilization, and third of the meaning and nature of human greatness in general. It is further the purpose of the course to help the student develop necessary skills in oral and written forms of communication.

REQUIREMENTS

1. Class participation. The purpose of the bi-weekly seminars is to afford the students the opportunity to discuss and come to a better appreciation of the reading assignments and lectures and thus to assist the student in forming an informed opinion on the unit. To achieve this purpose each student must read carefully each assignment in the light of the preceding lecture. Then in class the student joins his/her classmates in a discussion of that text and lecture so that she/he can come to a clear and unprejudiced understanding of the meaning and the significance of the unit under consideration. The professor will serve as a tutor or guide to the readings and lectures. Attendance at all class meetings is mandatory, but attendance does not constitute participation. An unexcused absence from a seminar will result in a failing grade for participation for that seminar.
2. Writing assignments. At least one writing assignment will be assigned to each unit. The purpose of the assignment is to enable the student to organize his/her thoughts on a particular unit in a more orderly fashion than can occur in free flow of seminar discussions. These assignments will be one to three typed pages in length. Specific instructions on each assignment will be given during the unit.
3. Examinations. There will be two written examinations. The mid-semester examination will be given during the class period on Thursday, October 17. It will cover the material in the two units studied to date: Warrior and Prophet. The final examination will be given at 1:00 PM on Tuesday, December 17. This will be a comprehensive exam, that is, it will cover all five units studied during the course of the semester.

CALENDAR

The First Year Humanities Calendar 2002-2003 lists all the lectures and reading assignments. Required texts can be obtained in the College Bookstore.

EVALUATION AND GRADING

Student performance will be evaluated on the following basis:

Class participation: 33%

Writing assignments: 33%

Mid-semester examination: 12%

Final examination: 22%

Numerical grades will be assigned to all work. The correspondence between numerical and letter grades is as follows:

OFFICE HOURS

Monday, 8:30-11:30 AM

And by appointment