Course Description
 

Humanities 1301 focuses on the history and nature of human creative expression. It explores human values, attitudes, and ideas by examining humankind's historical cultural achievements from a variety of time periods, art forms, creators and cultural traditions. We will explore the interrelationship of cultural history, spiritual traditions, philosophy, literature, and the arts using readings, Internet research, comments posted to an online discussion forum, and critical writings and/or creative projects submitted by e-mail.

Course Credit Hours: 3 hours      Pre-Requisite: None        Co-Requisite: None
Lecture: 3 hours   Lab: 1 hour

Course Textbook (required)
 

The Humanistic Tradition, Fourth Edition, edited by Gloria Fiero. The textbook can be purchased from all Collin County Community College campus bookstores.

Course Format and Requirements
 

The course consists of six reading units with a study quiz for each reading unit; three online discussion forums with new questions and topics to be addressed in each forum; one essay or project assignment; and three examinations. All assignments can be accessed from the Calendar of Assignments page.

1) Study quizzes correspond to the six volumes of the textbook -- The Humanistic Tradition. Each reading unit in the Calendar of Assignments has a 50-point open-book study quiz that surveys key segments of the reading. The quiz questions will give you a partial preparation and review for the exams. The questions in the study quizzes (which consist of short answer and fill-in-the-blank questions) are numbered and also organized by textbook chapter. You should send your quiz answers in the body of an e-mail message (NOT as an attachment) to my e-mail address. Your answers should be numbered and organized exactly as the quiz page. (Do not include the questions in your e-mail, only the answers.) In addition, be aware that these study quizzes must be your own work. You should not work with any other student (whether a friend, a spouse, a sibling, or a stranger) on the answers to the quizzes, whether through sharing of answers or through splitting up the work or through any other method. Doing so will be grounds for a 0 on the assignment (for all parties involved.) I need to be able to know that you, yourself, spent more than five minutes looking at the textbook. I will grade your quiz and return your score, along with the correct answers, before the exam. (Please note that I will grade and return quizzes in batches of two -- for example, both Quiz 1 and Quiz 2 after the due date for Quiz 2 but before Exam 1).

2) Forums will assign readings that cut across the historical timeline of the textbook. They introduce topics and questions that require responses on the Internet Classroom Assistant, an online discussion site that we will use for this purpose. You are required to post responses to the questions raised in the assigned reading, and then also to read the responses of other students and take part in a continuing discussion. Your score on the forum assignments will be based upon the regularity of your participation and upon the content value of your contributions. Also, your responses should be your own thoughts and your own words. If you borrow an idea from someone or somewhere else because you think it's useful and pertinent to the discussion, that's fine. Just make sure you say so, and you tell us where it comes from. (You should also do your best to convey the ideas in your own words.) Each forum assignment is worth 100 points. (Scores for the forums will generally be distributed along with your grade on the next following exam.)

3) The Essay or project assignment will be chosen from a number of different options regarding both topic and structure. Your choices for this assignment are available as a link from the Calendar of Assignments page. Your essay or project will be due at the beginning of the last week of classes. When you submit this assignment, you must send it to me as an attachment to an e-mail message. (Do NOT send this assignment in the body of your e-mail: that is only for your study quizzes.) Be aware that this is not a research paper; these are analytic or critical papers (and, in one case, includes an element of creative decision-making.) The work submitted for the essay or project should be your own thoughts and ideas. In most cases, consulting outside sources will be of little assistance. In those cases where it might be helpful, I would still prefer that you rely on your own insight and analysis. In those very rare instances where using thoughts or information from an outside source is both useful and appropriate, you must document such use thoroughly with parenthetical notes in your paper and a complete bibliographic entry for each outside source cited. (If you have questions about how to do this, please contact me before submitting your essay.) Failure to follow these guidelines will be grounds for a 0 on the assignment.

4) Exams will be taken in the Testing Center on the Spring Creek campus of Collin County Community College, 2800 E Spring Creek Pkwy, Plano, Texas, (972) 881-5922. They will be available from Monday through Saturday of the week chosen for the exam. When you go to the Testing Center, ask for the exam for the HUMA 1301 Web course. (It will also be helpful to remember my last name -- DeRouen.) You will take the exam on a Scantron sheet (Form No. 882-E, available in the bookstore), so you will need only a pencil, the Scantron sheet, and your student ID. (If you don't have a student ID, you should get one as soon as possible.) No other materials will be allowed. Testing Center policy will not allow a test to be given less than one hour before closing time. Be careful not to put off the test until the very last minute.
 

For additional information, please read the Orientation page. The material on the Orientation page should be considered as part of the Syllabus, and you are expected to adhere to the guidelines found there just as you are expected to adhere to this Syllabus.

Method of Evaluation
 

The successful and on-time completion of each assignment will yield the maximum number of points. Fewer points will be awarded when the assignment is late or only partially complete (even if it correctly fulfills other criteria).

FORUMS:  3 x 100 = 300

QUIZZES:  6 x  50 = 300

EXAMS:     3 x 100 = 300

ESSAY:      1 x  75 =   75

CONDUCT:              =   25

-----------------------------
TOTAL    =                1000
 

A = 900--1000
B = 800--899
C = 700--799
D = 600--699
F = 599 and below

NOTE:  The final component of your grade evaluation, Conduct, is a discretionary element that I will award based upon my judgment of your consistency of performance, your civility and grace toward fellow students in the forum discussions, and your ability to follow the directions on this course website and in the e-mail messages that I distribute periodically throughout the semester. It constitutes 2.5 percent of your grade -- not greatly significant on its own, but quite significant if it turns out to be just what you need at the end of the semester to make the next highest letter grade. Please believe me when I say that these 25 points will not be given out freely. You will have to earn them.

Withdrawal Date
 

Please note that the deadline for withdrawing from this course for the 2004 Summer term is Friday, July 23.

Learning Objectives
 

1. Develop an appreciation for human creative achievement.
2. Increase awareness of the creative life of the human community.
3. Apply critical thinking skills to the arts and other forms of creative expression.
4. Participate in discussing and attempting to understand human creative expression.
5. Improve ability to express ideas in written form within a community of discussion.
6. Heighten awareness of what it means to be human.

Attendance Policy
 

Due to the nature of the online course, there is no specific attendance policy. All work described above can be completed during a generous window of opportunity, and doing so should not pose a difficulty under normal circumstances. If extraordinary circumstances arise that prevent you from being able to complete an assignment during the allowed time period, I recommend that you discuss them with me (preferably before the event, if that is possible). Also, if you anticipate being without Internet access for an extended period of time during the semester, then perhaps you should consider taking the course under some other format. This, after all, is an online course.

Academic Ethics
 

Please see my policies described under Course Format and Requirements, earlier in this syllabus. Also, for information on the issue of plagiarism and how to avoid it, follow this link.

AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT COMPLIANCE
 

It is the policy of Collin County Community College to provide reasonable and appropriate accommodations for individuals with documented disabilities. This college will adhere to all applicable federal and state laws, regulations and guidelines with respect to providing reasonable accommodations as required to afford equal educational opportunity. It is the student's responsibility to contact the ACCESS Office, SCC Suite G200 or 972-881-5898 (V/TDD 972-881-5950), in a timely manner if he or she desires to arrange for accommodations.

Instructor:   Rich DeRouen

e-mail:  rderouen, followed by the @ sign, followed by ccccd.edu (with no spaces between these three parts of the address)

If you have enrolled in this course but haven't yet sent me your e-mail address, please contact me immediately at the above address.

Humanities 1301 -- Introduction

Collin County Community College