Syllabi for Prof. Edwards

HUM 1020 10970 Fall 2022

HUM 1020
Introduction to Humanities
Professor John Edwards

Contact Information

Office: East Campus, 1-359
Email:  jedwards@valenciacollege.edu
Phone: (407) 582-2790

Online Office Hours

Monday-Friday 3:00-5:00 PM

Catalog Description

Basic introduction to humanities. Focuses on central concepts, historical development, and fundamental nature of philosophy, architecture, music, religion, and art. Concepts from such disciplines integrated with contemporary American culture.

Required Textbook

You do not need to purchase a textbook for this course. All readings will be provided in Canvas.

Essential Course Requirements

  1. Adequate preparation. Students should expect to spend a minimum of six to eight hours a week completing the requirements for this class (including readings, homework, class meetings, written assignments, and consistent review of the course material).
  2. Participation. Students must be prepared and actively participate in class meetings.
  3. Internet access. Because some course content will be delivered via Canvas, all students must have reliable access to the Internet. Students are responsible for checking Canvas regularly for course updates.
  4. Exams. There will be five exams. The deadline dates for these exams are listed on the Course Schedule. 
  5. Homework. There will be a homework assignment on each reading. These assignments are due on the date indicated on the assignment.
  6. Project. Students will complete a project to enhance their understanding of the humanities. Details are provided in the “Project” folder of our Canvas course.

Course Learning Outcomes

After completing HUM 1020, students will be able to:

  • articulate connections between the humanities and life.
  • interpret works of art, literature, philosophy, or religion.
  • show sensitivity toward different cultural perspectives.

Student Core Competencies

Valencia faculty have defined four interrelated competencies (Value, Think, Communicate, Act) that prepare students to succeed in the world community. These competencies are outlined in the College Catalog. In this course, through classroom lecture and discussion, group work, and other learning activities, you will further develop your mastery of these core competencies.

Grading

A = 90-100
B = 80-89
C = 70-79
D = 60-69
F = below 60

Exams: 15% each
Project: 15%
Average of homework: 10%

Deadlines for Completion of Coursework

Due dates for each unit's assignments, as well as for papers and exams, are clearly listed on the course schedule, below. Work that is submitted after the due date will receive a grade reduction as follows:

  • Up to one week late: 10 points
  • More than one week and up to two weeks late: 30 points
  • More than two weeks and up to three weeks late: 50 points
  • More than three weeks late: No credit will be given.

Communication with the Professor

You may contact me through Canvas messaging or by email. My email address is  jedwards@valenciacollege.edu. Please email me only from your Atlas email account (not personal email). I will respond to messages during my next scheduled office hours. Note that if you message me on the weekend, I will likely not respond until my Monday office hours.

Attendance and Participation

Attendance during the first week of classes

Attendance during the first week of classes is mandatory. Anyone who does not attend during the first week of class will be withdrawn as a no-show.

Attendance during the rest of the term

I expect you to attend all scheduled class meetings unless you have a legitimate reason to miss class. However, students will not be withdrawn by the professor. It is entirely the responsibility of students to withdraw themselves, if necessary, prior to the withdrawal date. If you decide to drop the class, do not stop participating and assume you will be withdrawn. You must withdraw yourself or risk receiving the grade your work merits at the end of the grading period.

Electronic Access

Please note that computer failures, power outages, and other difficulties with electronic access will generally not be acceptable excuses for failure to submit work on time. Students should plan ahead and be prepared to make other arrangements, when necessary.

Academic Integrity

All forms of academic dishonesty are prohibited at Valencia College. Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, plagiarism, cheating, furnishing false information, forgery, alteration or misuse of documents, misconduct during a testing situation, and misuse of identification with intent to defraud or deceive. Any student determined by the professor to have been guilty of engaging in an act of academic dishonesty shall be subject to a range of academic penalties as determined by the professor. A first offense will normally result in a grade of “zero” on the assignment in question. A second offense will result in failure of the course and referral to the appropriate college authorities for possible further action, up to and including expulsion from the college. If the instructor judges a first offense to be particularly egregious, the penalty for a second offense may be applied.

Students with Disabilities

Students with disabilities who qualify for academic accommodations must provide a notification from the Office for Students with Disabilities (OSD) and discuss specific needs with the instructor, preferably during the first two weeks of class. The Office for Students with Disabilities determines accommodations based on appropriate documentation of disabilities. The East Campus Office is located in Building 5, Room 216.

Statement of Support for Students with Food, Housing, or Financial Needs

Any student who has difficulty accessing sufficient food to eat, or who lacks a safe and stable place to live, and believes this may affect his or her performance in the course, is urged to meet with a Counselor in the Advising Center for information about resources that may be available from the college or community.

Student Assessment of Instruction (SAI)

This term, you will receive an invitation through your Valencia e-mail account asking you to complete the
Student Assessment of Instruction (SAI) to provide us with feedback on your experience in this class and to help us to improve the course. The results are released only after grades are submitted. Student names are not included in the results—your responses will be anonymous.

Please send your feedback to Valencia through the SAI when it opens. We want to learn more about your experiences so that we may continue to improve our courses.

Withdrawal Policy

You should be aware that course withdrawals:

  • Will increase the cost of your education.
  • May affect your financial aid status.
  • May affect your transfer grade point average.
  • May result in your having to pay the full cost of instruction fee to retake the course.
  • May affect your anticipated graduation date.
  • May result in your being denied access to limited access programs.
  • May affect your eligibility for the Honors Program.
  • May affect your immigration status if you are attending Valencia on a nonimmigrant visa.
  • Will result in your required repayment of course fees paid by a Bright Futures scholarship.

Before you withdraw:

  • Talk with your professor to discuss your progress in the course.
  • See a Student Services staff member to discuss how a withdrawal will affect your career and education plans and/or the status of your financial aid.

International students, and students receiving financial aid, should be aware of how a “W” will affect their status:
  http://international.valenciacollege.edu/current-students/maintaining-visa-status/ Links to an external site.
  http://valenciacollege.edu/finaid/satisfactory_progress.cfm Links to an external site.

A student is permitted to withdraw from a class on or before the withdrawal deadline (Friday, October 28, 2022). A student is not permitted to withdraw from a class after the withdrawal deadline.

A student who withdraws from a class before the withdrawal deadline will receive a grade of “W.” A student who is withdrawn for administrative reasons at any time will receive a grade of “W” or other grade as determined in consultation with the professor. Any student who withdraws or is withdrawn from a class during a third or subsequent attempt in the same course will be assigned a grade of “F.”

A student who receives a grade of “W” will not receive credit for the course, and the “W” will not be calculated in the student’s grade point average; however, the enrollment will count in the student’s total attempts in the specific course.

If a student withdraws from a class, the student may, upon request and only with the faculty member’s permission (which may be withheld at any time in the sole discretion of the faculty member), continue to attend the course.

 

Complete Course Schedule

All information on this schedule is tentative and subject to change at the discretion of the instructor. Changes to this schedule will be announced in class.

 

Week 1 (August 22-28)

Topics:

  • Introduction to the Course

UNIT 1: TRUTH AND KNOWLEDGE

Week 2 (August 29-September 4)

Readings:

  • Philosophy and Deductive Reasoning
  • Aquinas: Excerpt 1 from the Summa Theologica
  • Scholarship and Learning

Assignments:

  • Homework: Truth and Knowledge 1 (due August 29)

Week 3 (September 5 & 7)

SEPTEMBER 5: LABOR DAY (COLLEGE CLOSED)

Readings:

  • Empiricism and Scientific Method
  • Bacon: Excerpt from the Novum Organum
  • Locke: Excerpt from the Essay concerning Human Understanding
  • Revelation: Themes and Functions
  • Aquinas: Excerpt 2 from the Summa Theologica
  • Hildegard of Bingen: Excerpt from the Scivias
  • Rumi: "What Was Told, That"

Assignments:

  • Homework: Truth and Knowledge 2 (due September 7)

Week 4 (September 12 & 14)

Readings:

  • none

Assignments:

  • none

 

UNIT 2: BEAUTY

Week 5 (September 19 & 21)

Readings:

  • Classicism
  • Petrarch: Sonnet 134
  • Shakespeare: Sonnet 18

Assignments:

  • EXAM 1 (September 19)
  • Homework: Beauty 1 (due September 21)

 

Week 6 (September 26 & 28)

Readings:

  • Expression
  • Crashaw: "The Flaming Heart"
  • Complexity and Opulence

 

Assignments:

  • Homework: Beauty 2 (due September 26)

 

Week 7 (October 3 & 5)

Readings:

  • Realism
  • Abstraction
  • Boccaccio: Excerpt from the Decameron
  • Chaucer: Excerpt from the Canterbury Tales
  • Dickens: Excerpt from Hard Times
  • Twain: Excerpt from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Assignments:

  • Homework: Beauty 3 (due October 3)

UNIT 3: THE GOOD

Week 8 (October 10 & 12)

Readings:

  • Personal Morality
  • Moral Codes: Jewish, Buddhist, and Christian
  • Excerpts from the Analects of Confucius
  • Aristotle: Excerpt from the Ethics
  • Marcus Aurelius: Excerpt from the Meditations
  • Excerpt from the Lotus Sutra
  • Castiglione: Excerpt from The Book of the Courtier

Assignments:

  • EXAM 2 (October 10)
  • Homework: The Good 1 (due October 12)

 

Week 9 (October 17 & 19)

Readings:

  • The Good Society
  • Augustine: Excerpts from The City of God
  • Hobbes: Excerpt from Leviathan
  • Locke: Excerpts from the Second Treatise of Government
  • Jefferson: Declaration of Independence
  • Marx and Engels: Excerpt from the Communist Manifesto
  • King: "I Have a Dream"

Assignments:

  • Homework: The Good 2 (due October 17)

UNIT 4: ULTIMATE REALITY

Week 10 (October 24 & 26)

Readings:

  • Polytheism
  • Monotheism
  • Hesiod: Excerpt from the Theogony
  • Excerpt from the Book of Job
  • The Nicene Creed
  • Excerpt from the Qur'an

Assignments:

  • EXAM 3 (October 24)
  • Homework: Ultimate Reality 1 (due October 26)

 

Week 11 (October 31 & November 2)

Readings:

  • Deism and Natural Religion
  • Pantheism, Monism, and Impersonal Concepts of the Ultimate
  • Rousseau: "The Creed of a Savoyard Priest"
  • Excerpt from the Chandogya Upanishad
  • Laozi: Excerpt from the Daodejing
  • Plato: "Allegory of the Cave"

Assignments:

  • Homework: Ultimate Reality 2 (due October 31)

 

Week 12 (November 7 & 9)

Readings:

  • Skepticism, Irreligion, and Atheism
  • Hume: Excerpt from "Of Miracles"
  • Voltaire: Excerpts from Candide
  • Freud: Excerpt from The Future of an Illusion

Assignments:

  • Homework: Ultimate Reality 3 (due November 7)

 

Week 13 (November 14 & 16)

Readings:

  • The Nature of the Human Self
  • Excerpt from the Chandogya Upanishad
  • Excerpts on Original Sin
  • Pico della Mirandola: Excerpt from the Oration on the Dignity of Man
  • Shakespeare: Excerpts from Hamlet, Macbeth, and As You Like It
  • Woolf: Excerpt from Mrs. Dalloway

Assignments:

  • EXAM 4 (November 14)
  • Homework: The Self and Its Destiny 1 (due November 16)

 

Week 14 (November 21 & 23)

NOVEMBER 23: THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY (COLLEGE CLOSED)

Assignments:

  • Project (due November 21)

 

Week 15 (November 28 & 30)

Readings:

  • "Life after Death" (BBC)--be sure to click through all 11 short pages
  • "Death"  (Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
  • Homer: Excerpt from the Odyssey
  • Excerpt from the Book of Revelation
  • Dante: Excerpts from the Divine Comedy
  • Dickinson: Poem 479 ("Because I could not stop for Death")

Assignments:

  • Homework: The Self and Its Destiny 2 (due November 28)

EXAM 5: MONDAY, DECEMBER 5, 10:00 AM-12:30 PM