Space and Place in the United States
First Year Experience
Virginia Wesleyan College
Fall 2008
Dr. Dan Margolies
Office: Blocker 31
Office Hours: Tues and Thurs, 12-1, 3-4:30, or by appointment
Email: dma= rgolies@vwc.edu
Webpage: http://facultystaff.vwc.edu/~dmargolies/
Phone: 455-5716
Class Meetings: BLOC 16 TTH, = 11 am
General Course Description:
The
First-Year Seminars are designed to help students engage and succeed both
academically and socially in Virginia Wesleyan’s liberal arts learning
community. In the process of investigating an essential problem or question,
students will develop foundational inquiry skills that emphasize critical
thinking and independent learning. Satisfactory completion of FY=
E is a
graduation requirement.
This
class seeks concentrates on developing a thorough and interdisciplinary
understanding of the natural and built environments of American society.
Broad
Course Objectives:
1. =
Students wi=
ll be
able to define “critical thinking”
2. =
Students wi=
ll be
able to distinguish between simple questions with “right” answe=
rs
and complex questions for which no easy answer exists
3. =
Students wi=
ll be
able to generate questions that would lead to a deeper investigation of a
complex problem
4. =
Students wi=
ll be
able to suggest what different kinds of questions might emerge if a given
problem were addressed from different disciplinary perspectives (e.g., what
might a psychologist ask about this problem?) and will understand how
disciplinary perspectives relate to the VWC General Studies frames.
5. =
Students wi=
ll be
able to articulate how their understanding of a given issue has been nuanced
and enlarged by seeing it from different disciplinary perspectives
6. =
Students wi=
ll be
able to articulate how their understanding of a given issue has been nuanced
and enlarged by seeing it from contrary points of view
Required Books (on sale at the college bookstore):<= o:p>
Tim Cresswell, Place: A Short Introduction
Paul Groth and Todd W. Bress, eds., Understanding Ordinary Landscapes
Daniel Arreola, ed., Hispanic Spaces, Latino Places: Commun=
ity
and Cultural Diversity in Contemporary America
Course requirements:
This course =
is built
upon active learning. Each st=
udent
is responsible for prompt completion of all assignments and involvement in =
all
activities and assignments required of the course.
Essays:
You will be =
writing
a series of 5 short essays discussing the individual essays and concepts in=
the
books. Specific assignments f=
or
these essays will be distributed and/or discussed in class.
Your grade will be determined as followed:
Participatio=
n: &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; 20%
CEC &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; 20%
Essays: &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp; 50%
Final Exam
The Community Engagement Contract (CEC):
This is a cr=
itical
part of the class. Becoming a
member of the academic community at VWC offers rich rewards, and this fall =
has
a particularly good set of offerings.
As part of your CEC you will be expected to attend at least 10 progr=
ams
and write a short (100 word) response.&nbs=
p;
These responses must be handed in to me in class.
Please read =
the
guidelines for the CEC at http://www.vwc.edu/academics/programs/fye/community_engagement.php
Completed contracts will be due the second week of class. In addition to using the sp=
ecial
FYE events calendar at the FYE web site to find flagged FYE events, students
can also use the events calendar on the home page and use the pull-down menu on the right to=
sort
by category. With this general events
calendar, students will have to look at one category at a time (FYE-1, or 2=
, or
3).
Attendance and Participation:
Your active participatio= n in all aspects of the class is expected, and your final grade will reflect your le= vel of involvement and commitment. Regular attendance in class is, of course, mandatory, as is prompt completion of all readings and assignments. You are expected to read and reflect upon the assigned materials before coming to c= lass each week so you can get the most out of the discussions. Pariticpation in discussion requir= es that you have read the material first.&nbs= p;
Late assignments = (such as blog entries, essays, or other assignments) will be graded down one grade per day and are accepted only at the discretion of the professor.
More than two absences t=
hat are
not expressly approved by the professor will result in a lower final grade =
for
the semester. For each absence after one excused abse=
nces,
your discussion grade will be lowered one-half grade. Excused
absences include legitimate illness, a field trip, or a pre-appproved athle=
tic
event. However, such excused
absences will require extra work to make up for the missed class time.
If your cell phone rings= during class (unless authorized by the professor) your final grade will be lowered= by one-half letter grade.
REQUIRED ATTE=
NDENCE
AT THE FOLLOWING EVENTS:
Honor Convocatio= n/Fall convocation: Thursday, Aug. 29, 11:00 a.m.
Equalogy: Thursday, Sept 4 at 4pm
Advising for spring: There are mandato= ry freshmen meetings with their academic advisors, Thursday Sept 25 and Thursday Oct 23 at 11 a.m. General advising occurs Oct 27-Nov 4.
Other events wil= l be announced in class during the semester
Week 1: Engagi= ng the world, asking the right questions, seeing things as they are
Reading: &n= bsp; = ; FYE webpage
&nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; CEC guidelines
Week 2: Groth,= ch. 1
&nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Arreola, introduction
&nbs=
p; &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; CEC DUE
Week 3: &nb= sp; = Cresswell, ch. 1-2
Week 4: <= span style=3D'mso-tab-count:1'> &= nbsp; Cresswell, ch 3-4
Week 5 &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Groth, ch 2-7 (selections)
&nbs=
p; &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; TOPICS DUE
Week 6 &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Groth, ch. 8-11
Week 7 &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Groth, ch. 12-17 (selections)
Week 8: <= span style=3D'mso-tab-count:1'> &= nbsp; Areola (selections)
Week 9: &nb= sp; = Areola (selections)
Week 10: &n= bsp; = ; presentations
Week 11: &n= bsp; = ; presentations
FINAL TIME TBA