Contemporary American Experience
Core 101-04
Dale Graden
Fall 2002
T, Th 9:30 – 10:45
Admin 336
Office: Admin 305 A; telephone: 885-8956
Office hour: Thursday 2-3 or by appointment
Email: Graden@uidaho.edu
Online: www.class.uidaho.edu/Graden
email: naomijozovich@hotmail.com
Office: Admin 315, dept of History
Office hour: Wednesday 2:30 - 3:30
Greetings and welcome. This course is part of a newly revised core curriculum at the University of Idaho. It is an attempt to offer to you an interdisciplinary approach to learning that helps you in your transition into the university. We seek to enhance your reading, writing, critical thinking and communication skills. We will read about and discuss several topics that will be helpful tools for you at the university and in your journey through life. The course (during the two semesters) focuses on six themes: a sense of place, class, race, gender, family and religion.
We hope to offer a stimulating and challenging course. For that to happen, you need to attend the classes and do the readings. We devote lots of class time to discussion, so please come prepared to discuss the readings and share your ideas on the days noted as discussion. There are several writing requirements. Why you ask? Because the majority of students enter and depart from high schools, colleges and universities across the land unable to express themselves coherently on paper, in cyberspace, or verbally. Practice can help one to develop basic and more advanced writing skills.
The requirements for this core discovery course are as follows:
Five
(5) two-page response papers. Three of these response papers are required (based
on the evening meeting with author Kim Barnes and the films “American
Beauty” and “Smoke Signals”) and are noted on the syllabus. You can choose
two other events to attend during the semester and write a response paper to
these. We will suggest upcoming events, speakers and films that you might want
to select. Choices will also be noted at the core discovery course web site www.its.uidaho.edu/cae.
Please note to me your choice before you attend the event. It is wiser to attend
the two extra events earlier rather than later in the semester. Each of these
papers is worth eight points, for a total of forty points.
Two (2) quizzes on the dates noted.
These are worth ten points each, for a total of twenty
points.
Two (2) three-page essays due on the dates noted. These are worth fifteen points each, for a total of thirty points.
Participation, worth ten points. If you miss more than five meetings of the class, your final evaluation drops by one letter grade. Please let me know by email if you cannot attend a class for any reason.
We will discuss in class what we are looking
for in the writing of the five response papers and the two short essays. My
suggestion is that you be sure that after writing these assignments for the
first time you return to them at least once before handing them in. Be sure not
to submit anything that you have written without at least one, if not several,
revisions
Readings and books available at the UI Bookstore:
Core Discovery 101 Packet
Virginia Cyrus, Experiencing
Race, Class, and Gender in the United States
Alan Ball and Sam Mendes, American Beauty: The Shooting Script
Kim Barnes, In the Wilderness: Coming
of Age in Unknown Country
Week
One Interdisciplinarity
Nels Reese and Diana Armstrong, “The
Olmstead Plan for the Campus” in the course packet.
Mark Edmundson, “On the Uses of Liberal Education” online
Cyrus, Experiencing Race, 1-10
Week Two Personal Values
September 3
Robert Jensen, “Goodbye to Patriotism” in course packet
L. Robert Kohls, “The Values Americans Live By,” in course packet
Sept 5 Quiz
number one
Michele N-K Collison, “Many Students Press Colleges to Substitute
‘First-Year Student’ for the Term ‘Freshman’” in Cyrus, number 136
Gerald Gunther, “Freedom for the Thought We Hate,” Cyrus, number 121
Charles R. Lawrence III, “Acknowledging the Victims’ Cry,” Cyrus, number
122
Week Three Place and Class
Sept 10 discussion
Wallace Stegner, “A Sense of Place,” in
course packet
Janet Zandy, “Decloaking Class: Why Class Identity and Consciousness Count,”
Cyrus, number 28
Sept 12 Segments from PBS documentary: "People Like Us: Social Class in America"
Holly Sklar, “Imagine a Country,” in
Cyrus, number 88
David Brooks, “Why the US Will Always Be Rich,” online
Week Four Rural Americas
Sept 17 watch in class POV “Times of a
Sign”
begin Barnes, In the Wilderness
Sept 19 discussion of chapters one through three of In the Wilderness
On this Thursday afternoon, the 19th,
everyone is invited to a free private showing of Sherman Alexie's new film
"The
Business of Fancydancing." Director and author Sherman Alexie will be present to discuss the
film.
3 pm at the Kenworthy Theater on Main Street in Moscow
Week Five Consciousness
Sept 24 Prepare questions for Kim Barnes and send them to me via email
continue Barnes, In
the Wilderness
Sept 25 Wednesday evening Life Science 277, 7 pm. Kim Barnes presentation
Sept 26 Discussion with Naomi about Barnes presentation and book
Week
Six Cultures
October 1 Discussion and response paper number one is due on Barnes, In the Wilderness
Segment from 60 Minutes on playwright August Wilson
Oct 3 documentaries as culture and history
Segments from documentaries / films "Hearts and Minds" (1974);
"Roger and Me" (1989); and Frontline: "Is This Any Way to Run a
Government" (1994)
begin Ball and Mendes, American
Beauty: The Shooting Script
Week Seven Suburbia
Oct 8 discussion
finish The
Shooting Script
Oct 9 Wednesday evening showing of the film American
Beauty at 7pm in
Life Science 277
10 View in class first half of "Smoke Signals"
Dennis Altman, “Why are Gay Men So Feared?”, Cyrus, number 25
Oct 15 Response
paper number two due based on American
Beauty
View in class second half of “Smoke
Signals”
Vine Deloria, “The Indian Movement,” in course packet
Oct 17 Discussion with George Flett,
"full-time Indian [Spokane tribe] artist" in Whitewater Room of
Commons. A short description of George Flett can be found at http://www.uidaho.edu/~rfrey/indianminor.htm
under "Indian Speakers Series"
Rodney Frey, “The Tin Shed” and “Seeing from the Inside Looking Out,” in
course packet
Polingaysi Qoyawayma, “To Be Hopi or American,” in Cyrus, number 3
Week Nine Indigenous Americas II
Oct 22 Independent response paper number one is due on a film or presentation or event of your choice
view in class POV: “Lighting the Seventh Fire: Indian Fishing Rights in Wisconsin”
October 23, Wednesday evening presentation
by Josiah Pinkham at 7 pm in
Life Science 277
Oct 24 Discussion
Deloria, Frey and Qoyawayma articles noted
above
Michael Dorris, “Native Americans vs. the U.S. Government,” in Cyrus,
number 49
Scott Kerr, “The New Indian Wars,” in Cyrus, number 50
Michael Ryan, “Don’t Tell Us It Can’t Be Done,” in Cyrus, number 130
Valerie Taliman, “Saving Native Lands,” in Cyrus, number 131
Ann Davis, “Cecilia Fire Thunder: She Inspires Her People,” in Cyrus,
number 132
Week Ten Environments
Oct 29 Response
paper number three is due on “Smoke Signals”
Discussion of Bill McKibben, “The End of Growth” online
http://www.motherjones.com/mother_jones/ND99/mckibben.html
A couple of other articles by Bill McKibben (see many others at google.com) that are recommended but not required include:
"An Explosion of Green," Atlantic
Monthly, April 1995
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/environ/green.htm
"Checking in with Bill McKibben," Utne
Reader, July 1999
http://www.consciouschoice.com/citizen/citizen1207.html
Oct 31
Today, Thursday, we will discuss a bit more Bill McKibben, "The End of
Growth" (above), and then the poems by Lee and the article by Saunders
(below).
Li-Young Lee, “The Gift,” “Mnemonic,” “The Waiting,” “A Story,”
all in course packet
George Saunders, “Isabelle” in course packet
Please note: On this Thursday evening October 31, the film "Lumumba" will be
shown at SUB-Borah Theater at 7 and 9:30 pm. This film is highly recommended
Some background readings to help in
understanding the history of the Belgian Congo from the nineteenth century and
who was Patrice Lumumba.
Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness
Mark Twain, "King Leopold's Soliloquy"
Adam Hochschild, King Leopold's Ghost
Barbara Kingsolver, The Poisonwood Bible
Week
Eleven Religion
November 5 quiz number two
based on readings from October 10 (Altman)
to October 31 (Saunders)
Nov 7 Discussion and short documentary
Martin Marty, “Religion in America” in course packet
Week Twelve Religion II
Nov 12 Discussion
Tuesday evening presentation of the play Stop/Kiss in the Kiva Theater at 7:30 pm specially for our CAE sections. Please be present by 7:20. Please bring five dollars in exact amount for entrance. If you are not able to attend, please attend on another evening (Nov.13-16 at 7:30 and Sunday Nov. 17 at 2 pm.
Nov 14 discussion of play and the two articles below:
Margaret Talbot, “A Mighty Fortress,” in
course packet
Lawrence Wright, “Lives of the Saints" on line below
http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/?020121fa_FACT1
Week Thirteen Religion III
Nov 19
Essay number one is due
View "The Arabs: Who They Are, Who They Are Not"
“Basic Beliefs of Islam,” online
http://www.islam-guide.com/ch3-2.htm
Recommended is Edward W. Said, “Impossible Histories: Why the many Islams cannot be simplified,” Harper’s Magazine (July 2002), 69-74
Recommended also is Edward Said,
"Europe vs. America" in Counterpunch
http://www.counterpunch.org/said1116.html
Nov 21 Discussion of "Basic
Beliefs" and Paley and Cherry essays (below)
Grace Paley, “The Loudest Voice,” in Cyrus, number 2
Robert Cherry, “Anti-Semitism in the United States,” in Cyrus, number 54
Thanksgiving break (week fourteen) : During the break, please write an essay
question
that I can review upon your return. I will pick at least one of these questions
as the topic
for essay number two, due 19 December.
Week
Fifteen Family
Dec 3 view Ozzie and Harriet
read for the 3 Dec:
Robert Bellah, "Civil Religion in America" in course packet
"Motel of Mysteries" in course packet
Dec 5 view All in the Family
Week Sixteen Family II
Dec 10 view Simpsons
read for 10 Dec:
George Sanders, "The 400-Pound
CEO," in course packet
Dec 12 view Cosby Show
Essay number two and independent response paper number two is due by noon on Thursday, 19 December