IDH 2004: Honors Seminar IV
Inhabiting Other Lives

Spring 2003, M/W 2:00-3:15

Prof. Bruce Harvey

Office: AC1 351, (305) 919-5254
Office Hours: M/W 1:00-2:00, 3:30-4:30, and by appointment
Home phone: to be given in class

harveyb@fiu.edu
www.fiu.edu/~harveyb      

TEXTS (AT THE FIU BOOKSTORE)

Melville, Typee: account of the author's stay with a cannibal Polynesian tribe in the 1840s

Yamanaka, Blu's Hanging: hilarious, sad, weird, wise novel about contemporary ("native"/marginalized) life in Hawaii

Freud, Dora: DO NOT BUY
Freud, Civilization and Its Discontents  NOT ORDERED YET

Tolstoy, Death of Ivan Ilyich: a famous story by a famous author (grim and existential, sort of)

Frankl, Search for Meaning: Holocaust account and life philosophy

GRADES

20% active participation in class and in discussion threads

20% group presentation on "What was Cool, Then"

40% final version of field trip project paper (revised from Fall semester)

20% final exam dialogue with me (or Go-site review)

ASSIGNMENTS & POLICIES

Attendance and Class Participation:  Always bring the syllabus and current text to class.  Regular, on-time attendance is required (I abide by FIU's policy on religious holy days).  You can miss two classes without an excuse.  Thereafter, every absence will lower your final grade one-third grade (i.e. "A" to "A-"); only family or health emergencies will be valid excuses to avoid the penalities.  This is an Honors Seminar, and I want all students to be engaged, outspoken participants.  The flow of good class dialogues will result in a course more satisfying for everyone.  Participation can take a variety of forms--the raising of questions or issues, stating opinions about the work or topic being discussed, responding to other students’ or my comments, and involvement in group activities. 
 

Discussion Thread Participation:  I will set this up the first or second week of class.  If  you have problems logging on, then or later, you should contact me.  You may initiate topics ("threads") or respond to topics I or other students propose.  Heated debate is fine; but remember that basic rules of etiquette apply--be polite and avoid vulgarities.  Respectable grammar, spelling, and sentence style are expected.  If the online discussion creates awkwardness for you in any form, please talk to me and we'll work the problem out.  For those of you who do not have easy access to the Internet at home, there are many facilities on campus, available virtually all the time.  

To get an "A" for online participation, you should post messages regularly, a meaty paragraph or so for each of our major readings.  Both in-class and on-line participation are requirements, but those who participate intensely in class can participate somewhat less intensely on line, and those who participate intensely on line can be somewhat less intense class-wise.  Keep in mind that class discussion and the on-line mechanism are the means by which I know you are keeping up with the reading; I want to avoid low-level quizzing and artificial requirements of the "post before every class 100 words" sort.

Revised Field Trip Project:  Instructions will be provided on a one-on-one basis.

Group Presentation:  This will be a 20-30 minute group report on fads of the past. I'll explain grading policy in class, and will provide written guidelines. 

Final Exam:  This will be set up as in the Fall semester.

Incompletes:  These will only be given to students who have health or family emergencies.

Conferences:  Several days are set aside for conferences, but I am also always happy to meet with you during office hours to talk more about the readings or other course matters.  For brief questions or to set up a conference outside of my regular office hours, you may call me at my home number before 10:00 pm, leave a message on my office phone, or email me.

SYLLABUS

e-text = materials at this site or at other sites that you should print out

Prof's Stuff = my study questions, summary sheets, etc.

Links =  weblinks relevant to our inquiries

Internet surfing snafus will occur; so please read, download, & print handouts or readings sufficiently ahead of time!