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CC 1101x, Section 7 |
309 Hamilton |
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Columbia University |
MW 11:00-12:50 |
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Fall 2010 |
Professor Kosto |
The Course | Schedule of Assignments | Getting in Touch | Grading | Exams | Participation | Written Assignments | Texts
Socrates: Education isn't what some people declare it to be, namely, putting knowledge into souls that lack it, like putting sight into blind eyes.
Glaucon: They do say that.
S: But our present discussion, on the other hand, shows that the power to learn is present in everyone's soul and that the instrument with which each learns is like an eye that cannot be turned around from darkness to light without turning the whole body. This instrument cannot be turned around from that which is coming into being without turning the whole soul until it is able to study that which is and the brightest thing that is, namely, the one we call the good. Isn't that right?
G: Yes.
S: Then education is the craft concerned with doing this very thing, this turning around, and with how the soul can most easily and effectively be made to do it. It isn't the craft of putting sight into the soul. Education takes for granted that sight is there but that it isn't turned the right way or looking where it ought to look, and it tries to redirect it appropriately.—Plato, Republic, 518b-d
In the first half of this year's incarnation of the grand exercise in
redirection called CC we will read together in some two dozen works
drawn from
three millennia. In order to give some coherence to such a potentially
unwieldy
list of texts, we will attempt to trace four interrelated questions
through the
reading: What is politics? Why do we obey our rulers? What is the
relationship
between law (nomos)
and nature (physis)?
How do we know what we know? These are principally issues of social and
political theory, but our discussions will raise theological, ethical,
and
historical questions, as well. These themes are not all-encompassing,
and we will
often encounter works that seem to take us far from these paths. We
will,
however, always be able to return.
These texts—and these questions—give a highly restricted view of
the foundations of “Contemporary Civilization in the West.” They
are important questions, but not the only questions, and perhaps not
the most
crucial questions. Lit Hum asks a different (but related) set of
questions; you
are encouraged to develop your own questions about this material as the
semester progresses. We will have ample opportunity to discuss the
rationale of
the course, as we should, but I suggest that you not let such concerns
distract
you from the opportunities presented by these works.
Our twice-weekly class meetings will be devoted almost entirely to
group
discussion of the assigned readings. This is not a lecture course,
although the
instructor reserves the right to go on at length about some topics in
response
to questions or in order to provide necessary historical context.
Still, this
is primarily your course, and you must share with your fellow students
and the
instructor responsibility for its tone, direction, and ultimate success.
Assignments are subject to change. Page numbers refer to assigned editions; W=CCWeb; C=Courseworks; sel.=selections. NOTE: Dates are linked to reading questions for each assignment.
E-mail is by far the most efficient way to ask questions about administrative matters or very specific questions about readings. If you want to chat about Augustine, however, just stop by the office.
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Office: |
404 Fayerweather |
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Office Hours: |
MW 9:45–10:45 or by appointment |
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Phone: |
(85)4-3005 |
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E-mail: |
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Regular Mail: |
Mail Code 2504; Fayerweather, 3rd Floor, Box 13 |
Your grade will be calculated on the following basis: Midterm 10%, Final 25%, Participation (including presentation) 30%, Written Work 35%. You must complete both exams and hand in all three papers to pass the course. If possible, let the instructor know in advance if you will be absent from class. If you will be absent on a day when you are scheduled to lead discussion, YOU are responsible for trading dates with one of your fellow students. Failure to appear, without notice, on such a day is a Very Bad Idea, the consequences of which will be evident in your final grade. Similarly, University policy allows the instructor to take attendance into account in assessing a student's performance. Students with more than three unexcused absences will not pass the course. Persistent tardiness will also have a negative effect on your grade.
Here is the current coursewide policy: Students are expected to attend every session of their Core classes. In the event that a student must miss a class due to religious observance, illness, or family emergency, instructors may strongly encourage (though not require) that students complete additional assignments to help make up for lost class participation. Whenever possible (in the case of religious holidays, for example), students should provide advance notification of absence. Students who miss class without instructor permission should expect to have their grade lowered.
There will be two written examinations: a midterm on Wednesday 10/27 (based on classes through 10/25), and the final on Friday 12/17 (based on the entire term). On the midterm exam you will probably be asked to identify and comment on passages drawn from the reading. The final exam will probably have some form of short answer section (perhaps passage IDs) and two long essays.
You will be expected to have completed the required reading assignments before the classes for which they are assigned. You will be expected to participate enthusiastically in discussions. You will be expected to bring the readings to class. You may find it useful to prepare written notes on the assignment for each class, with questions, ideas, and citations to specific passages in the texts; this will facilitate your participation. The online syllabus will have links to reading questions for each session.
A pair of students will lead a portion of the discussion during most class sessions; each student will do so twice (schedule to be arranged in the first week of class). The pair may choose to offer their own thoughts on a part of the work with an eye toward stimulating discussion, or they may simply raise questions (again, with an eye toward stimulating discussion). In either case they must consult with the instructor (via e-mail) as to their plans by 8 PM the night before the class. If you wish to distribute questions to the other students in the class in advance or direct them to look at particular passages, you may use Courseworks.
All written work will be assessed on style (and grammar, and syntax, and spelling...) as well as content. Thou shalt proofread (on paper, not on a computer screen). Thou shalt not trust thy spellchecker. Papers should be submitted as .pdf attachments to an e-mail to me at [email protected] by 12:00 noon on the due date. Late papers will be penalized one grade fraction (+/-) per 24 hours (e.g., papers handed in at 12:01 for a 12:00 deadline are one day late, as are papers handed in at 11:59 the following day). I will read drafts turned in anytime before class the Monday before the due date of the paper; the extent to which I can comment on such drafts depends on the number of people who take advantage of this offer. Plagiarism is grounds for failure of the course and exposure to University disciplinary action. I will consider changing paper due dates for reasonable cause, but this must be arranged two weeks before the paper is due, that is, by the day the paper is assigned.
The standard CC texts are available for purchase at the Columbia University Bookstore
You should buy from the Standard CC List:
You should not buy the
following standard and supplementary texts:
You should acquire for this section:
Aristotle, Politics, trans. Barker (Oxford) as well as the Marsilius, Cicero, and Machiavelli, The Prince are available at Book Culture (536 W 112th between Broadway and Amsterdam); you can probably pick up the standard texts there as well (support independent bookstores—buy at Book Culture). You can probably get away without buying the assigned Bible and Qur’an, as well; for those texts, the more translations (and the more languages) the merrier, as far as I am concerned. Texts marked (W) on the syllabus are available on CC Web; you should download these and print them out (think ahead about your print quotas). Texts marked (C) are posted on the Courseworks site; again, download these and print them out. For everything else, please acquire the editions listed above so that we can keep the entire class on the same page; some of these editions are heavily abridged by the editors, so if you were to use a different edition, you would end up doing more reading. Also, if it is at all possible, please buy all of the books at the beginning of term, and let me know as soon as possible if the bookstores have run out of any of these works. Additional short readings may be handed out in class.