IDSC 151: Athens To New York

Language, Identity and Power

Syllabus and Study Guide

Spring, 1998
Professor Kim Pearson
104 Bray Hall
phone: 771-2692
fax: 637-5112
E-mail
Office Hours: Thurs., 2-5 pm

Purpose

Four central questions are thought to be at the center of the interdisciplinary core courses you are required to take at the College:

We will approach these questions by looking at the intertwined relationships between language, identity and power, both in the ancient world and the modern world.

Course Requirements

In addition, you are encouraged to form study groups with other members of the class. We will discuss study groups during the first class session.

Description of major class assignments

1. The e-mail assignment: The class will have a listserv. We will distribute, by e-mail, discussion questions for the upcoming class session, based on the assigned readings. You will each be responsible for generating discussion questions for a specific class session. At least two questions are expected for each session. During the first class, you will be asked to sign up for your session as discussion moderator.

After each session, you will each be expected to be prepared to respond in class, to the discussion question for that class. (these questions can come from discussions in your study groups.) You are ALSO required to post responses to at least five of the listserv questions during the course of the semester. These responses must be thoughtful, with references to readings and class discussions as appropriate This will be part of your class participation grade. You are also encouraged to add your own questions and observations to the discussion. If, for some reason, you cannot attend class, you may respond by e-mail.

The questions posted to the listserv should relate to at least two of the following themes:

2. Project #1: My Name. (Week of February 16) Details TBA.

3. Project #2: The IDSC Talk Show: Week of April 20
Students will be divided into four groups. Each group will prepare a 20-minute TV talk-show which will people who either participated in the founding of the United States, or have been major interpreters or critics of the American idea. Each group must have at least the participants listed below. If there are more people in your group, you may add additional interviewees with my approval.

Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 Group 4
Host/Hostess Host/Hostess Host/Hostess Host/Hostess
Thomas Jefferson Benjamin Franklin Roger Taney W.E.B. Du Bois
Benjamin Banneker Venture Smith David Walker Sojourner Truth
Chief Wilma Mankiller Alexander Hamilton Anna Julia Cooper Maria Stewart
Mary Wollstonecraft Caesar Chavez Newt Gingrich Russell Means
Carl Rowan Richard Allen Norman Thomas Reginald Lewis

Grading Criteria

A Logic and facts are in order. Writing and reporting are clear, effective, and interesting. No substantial spelling, grammar or mechanical errors. Presentations are delivered in the appropriate style and format, within the established time frame.

B Logic and facts are in order. The writing is clear and competent. Errors are minimal.

C The writing is thoughtful and produced with care. Some errors.

D An effort has been made to meet the requirements of the assignment, but substantial work is needed.

F The requirements have not been addressed.

0 The work has not been handed in, and no extensions have been given.

Class topics, readings and schedule

January 19 /20
Introduction to the Course. Toni Morrison's Nobel Lecture

COVENANT

We will:

In class exercise -- exploring our worldviews; discuss service learning and enrichment sessions

HOMEWORK

Prepare writing assignment and make one-minute presentation at next class:

January 21: Lenworth Gunter lecture (enrichment session)

January 22/23
Identity and Power in the Ancient World:
In antiquity, religion was not yet separable from other forms of public life. Ones worship was dictated mainly by ones nationality and by other forms of social identification such as the household to which one belonged or the city in which one lived. The family, including slaves as well as the immediate kin groups, honored its own household gods, celebrated with religious rites, feasting and various entertainments. In the Roman world, some religius aspect must be paid to the genius or divinity of the ruling city, and later on, to the emperor who embodies its rule. ... Philosophical groups, too, sometimes organized themselves as voluntary communities of worship, as did social clubs. Even so, for most people, religion remained a part of their familial or ethnic identity; and since the individual had no place in society...one scarcely thought of changing ones worship except as part of a larger social unit

L. William Countryman -- Dirt, Greed and Sex. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, c 1988. p 21 Historical backgound on Athens. Read and view: