Jacqueline Stuhmiller
e-mail:
Office: Honors House 150
Office hours: by appointmentonly (sign up on D2L)
Honors 200
The Shaping of the Modern Mind: Encounters with the Wilderness
Spring 2017
required texts
Course reader, available at Clark Graphics (2915 N. Oakland Ave.)
Henry David Thoreau, Walden (Dover) ISBN: 978-0486284958
James Dickey, Deliverance(Delta, Modern Library) ISBN: 9780385313872
required films
Sean Penn, Into the Wild (2007)
This film is on reserve at the Media Library, in the basement of the UWM Golda Meir Library.
course description
Many of our firmly held conceptions about the natural world – for example, that landscapes unmodified by human activity are attractive, that it is important to preserve biodiversity, or that “going back to nature” (whatever that may mean) is desirable – did not achieve common currency in Western culture until very recently.
In this course, we will read a wide variety of texts written over the span of more than a thousand years. All of these texts comment, often unconsciously, on the relationship between humans and the non-human world, and particularly on the relationship between humans and wilderness: that is, spaces undisturbed by human activity and not particularly hospitable to human life. During the course of the semester, we will consider the following questions: how did earlier cultures experience and understand the natural world and its human and non-human occupants? how do culture and technology influence the ways that individuals comprehend and seek to make use of the natural world? finally, what does the natural world mean to us (denizens of an industrialized society at the beginning of the 21st century), and how should (or shouldn’t) we interact with it?
By the end of this course, I hope that you will recognize that the study of literature (like the study of the humanities in general) is a means, not an end. It is important to be culturally literate and to know how to read and write competently. However, it is far more important to know how to think. By the end of the semester, you will have learned to question your own assumptions, think critically about the world in which we live, and state your thoughts in a coherent and persuasive fashion. I promise you that you can apply the skills you’ll learn in this class to all other aspects of your lives, for the rest of your lives.
This is a small, lower-division, writing-intensive Honors seminar. That means:
1) that most of you are early on in your college careers. I do not expect you to have any specialized knowledge of the subject at hand. Nor do I expect you to write like professional scholars. I do, however, expect you to write like Honors College students. That means that I expect you to be able to write thoughtful, incisive critical essays with perfect (or near-perfect) grammar, spelling, and punctuation. If you don’t know how to do this already, I expect you to learn quickly. Most students are surprised by how quickly they learn to do this kind of writing.
2) that you will be expected to do a lot of writing. You will be expected to write in preparation for (and sometimes during) every class period. You’ll find that the more writing (of all kinds) that you do, the more quickly you’ll improve.
3) that this class will be based on discussion, not lecture. I will provide background information where appropriate and will always be happy to answer your questions to the best of my ability, but I am primarily interested in hearing what you think. Class participation comprises a large percentage of the final grade. However, I run a very relaxed class and I hope that everyone will find that participating in discussion is natural and enjoyable, rather than a chore.
my plagiarism policy
Plagiarism isn’t just disrespectful and inherently counterproductive: it also happens to be illegal, and I take it very seriously.
Each student in this course is expected to be honest in academic performance. Any work submitted by a student in this course for academic credit will be 100% the student's own, unless I provide written instructions stating otherwise.
Plagiarism includes, but is not limited to, “borrowing” information from secondary sources (including the introductions and notes to the assigned texts for this class) without providing proper citations; copying or buying papers or parts of papers off of the Web, a fraternity or sorority paper file, your roommate, etc.; and/or having a friend, acquaintance, or total stranger either write something for you or heavily edit something you’ve written. Even if you rewrite a Sparknotes summary in your own words, it is still plagiarism unless you cite your source (and, at that point, you have already failed to do the assignment correctly). I suspect that plagiarism is more often accidental than deliberate, but I can’t judge your intentions, only your actions.
You will automatically receive a zero for each assignment that you plagiarize. Depending on the severity of the offense, you may also receive an “F” in the class and/or be recommended for expulsion from the university.
A note: Plagiarism is usually quite easy for me to detect. It may be a little harder for me to find the source, but this is usually not very difficult, either. If you’re not sure what constitutes plagiarism, please consult the UWM Student Handbook or come talk to me. If you don’t know how to properly incorporate secondary sources into a critical essay, please consult a style handbook or come talk to me.
course requirements
Office hours. You mustvoluntarilycome to my office hours once during the semester (required paper meetings do not count). You must come to see me within the first five weeks of the semester. Failure to meet with me at least once will automatically lower your final grade in the class by 1/3 of a grade, e.g. from a B+ to a B.
Since we’ll be working together at close quarters for a semester at least, it’s important that we get to know each other and that you feel comfortable approaching me with questions or concerns. Also, remember: a professor who knows you well can write a much stronger letter of recommendation than one who doesn’t.
You are not obligated to talk about writing, reading, papers, or schoolwork in my office hours; we can talk about anything you want. Most of my students, even the reluctant ones, have not found office hours terribly painful. Some have even enjoyed it. You may, too.
grading
A breakdown of my grading system follows. Note that these percentages may change. I will notify you ahead of time regarding any changes in the calculation of final grades.
20% of your final grade will be determined by the quality of three shortpapers (3.5%, 6.5%, 10%). These papers can be revised.
20% of your final grade will be determined by the quality of your final essay.
35%of your final grade will be determined by the quality of your DDQs (Daily Discussion Questions). DDQs may be either short (a few sentences) or long (up to 300 words).
25%of your final grade will be determined by what I call “presence.” There are many factors to presence: attendance (including lateness), performance on quizzes, class participation (quantity, quality, and consistency), and other signs that you’re awake and engaged. In other words, I will be grading you on how present you are in my class, both physically and intellectually.
The baseline grade for “presence” is a “B.” If you come to class regularly and on time, are generally attentive in discussion, and do your best on quizzes, you will receive a “B” for this component of your grade. A “B” means “good”: in other words, you’re doing nothing wrong and a lot of things right.
If you read carefully, ask questions, come to office hours, and are highly engaged in class discussions (either online or in-class), consistently offering salient and thoughtful comments and listening carefully to your classmates’ contributions, your grade will be raised accordingly.
If you don’t participate substantively in discussion, are often late or absent, don’t do the reading, and/or sleep/text/study/goof off in class, your grade will be lowered accordingly.
Please note:
- You can miss class twice without any ill effect to your grade (three times under unusual circumstances: you must contact me first). After that, your “presence” grade will be lowered by 1/3 of a grade for each absence.
- Significant tardiness (> 15 minutes late), unless you notify me beforehand, will be considered as ½ of an absence.
When calculating the final grade, if you are on the fence between two grades, I may also take into account the following two factors:
- Your effort in the course: how much effort you’ve put into your assignments (I can tell); whether or not you’ve asked me for help; how many times you’ve come voluntarily to my office hours (the minimum number is one); the amount of effort you’ve put into discussions; how many assignments you’ve turned in late; and so on. Sloppy writing is a strong indicator that you’re not putting in enough effort.
- Your improvementin the course. When determining this portion of your grade, I will consider whether or not you’ve been able to incorporate my suggestions into your writing; whether or not you’ve improved consistently throughout the semester; whether or not your thinking and writing have evolved and/or become more sophisticated; whether you’ve become more active in discussions, and so on.
Improvement is not always directly correlated with effort: some people try very hard and don’t improve much; some people with natural talent don’t try very hard but still improve a great deal. As with all things, the more advanced your skills already are, the harder it is to move to the next level.
A final note, and some words of encouragement. Being a “good writer,” whatever that may mean, is not a prerequisite for this class. I appreciate and reward eloquent and clear writing, but I recognize that not everyone is capable of it, at least at first.
Generally speaking, the best grades will go to those students who work hard, read enthusiastically, think creatively, quickly absorb new ideas, willingly question their own belief systems, examine complicated things very closely, and are excited about learning. Extra points go to those who can think on their feet, speak coherently and convincingly, actively engage in debates, and come up with really cool (but still plausible and defendable) insights.
Lower grades are usually earned by those students who do not put in the time and effort necessary for an Honors course. You should plan on budgeting approximately six solid hours per week on assignments for this class. This is, of course, just an estimate: some people work faster than others, and some weeks will be more demanding than others.
You can think of this course as a kind of intellectual marathon. If you keep running toward the finish line, no matter how slowly, you’ll be fine.
a tentative schedule for the semester
Old Wildernesses /Weeks 1-3
Themes / Genesis, Exodus, The Song of Songs, Fairy TalesWeek 4
The Wilderness of the New World / Silvester Jourdain, “A Discovery of the Bermudas”; Mary Rowlandson, “Captivity”The Inner Wilderness / Weeks 5-6
Coming of Age in the Wilderness / William Faulkner, “The Old People”; David Quammen, “Walking Out”; Tim O’Brien, “The Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong”
Weeks 7-9
Self-Knowledge in the Wilderness / Henry David Thoreau, WaldenSean Penn, Into the Wild
Weeks 10-13
The Punishing Wilderness / James Dickey, DeliveranceNew Wildernesses /