Course Description

Students will read important works of world literature, philosophy, and religion, from ancient epics to graphic novels, with a focus on individual well-being. We will ask questions like: What do we value, and why? What makes for happiness? What's right and wrong? How is what's good for me defined by my relation to others? What is the purpose of life?   

 

General Education

This is a foundational course for General Education. General Education is how Temple fulfills its mission to “educate a vibrant student body and create new knowledge through innovative teaching” and “prepare students for careers, further learning and active citizenship.” This course helps students to reflect on the value of all General Education areas, as well as the core competencies: critical thinking, contextualized learning, interdisciplinary thinking, communication skills, scientific and quantitative reasoning, civic engagement, information literacy, and lifelong learning.    

Course Learning Goals & Related Assessments

Intellectual Heritage courses are defined by the following area competencies:

• The seminar experience: Students will share ideas, ask questions, and actively listen to peers in a free and honest exchange of multiple viewpoints. Assessed through discussion.
• Communication and critical thinking: Students will sharpen analysis and argumentation skills through a variety of expressive modes. Assessed through the critical thinking paper.
• Ethical reasoning: Students will evaluate the historical, social, and cultural bases of prevailing beliefs. Assessed through the ethical reasoning paper.
• Diversity & Universality: Students will investigate fundamental questions of human experience from a variety of perspectives. Assessed through the diversity & universality paper.
• Connecting texts to the world: Students will make connections between historical texts about human existence and current moral, social, and political issues. Assessed through the text to world paper.

Course Materials

Required Texts and Estimated Costs

The following books are required for this class. All of these books are available through the Temple bookstore. Check their website for information.

• Schur, Michael. 2022. How to Be Perfect. Simon & Schuster.
  • Audiobook $20. This is the preferred version. The audiobook is narrated by the author and by the cast of the TV show The Good Place.
  • Free version in library: Click here to access the book.
  • Electronic $14. Paperback $14.
• Butler, Octavia. 2020. Parable of the Sower: A Graphic Novel Adaptation. Illustrated by Damian Duffy, John Jennings, and Hopkinson Nalo. Abrams, Inc.
  • Free version in library: Click here to access the book.
  • Paperback $14. Electronic $10. Nongraphic $8.
• Wang, Esmé Weijun. 2019. The Collected Schizophrenias. Graywolf Press.
  • Free PDF on Canvas.
  • Paperback $16. Electronic $10. Audiobook (narrated by author) $7.
• 2018 (Date of translation publication). The Epic of Gilgamesh Retold [Graphic novel edition]. Translation by Kent H. Dixon. Illustrated by Kevin H. Dixon. Seven Stories Press.
  • Electronic $17.
  • Paperback $18.
• Lao-tzu. 1991 (late 4^th century BCE). Tao Te Ching. Translated by Stephen Mitchell. HarperCollins.
  • Free PDF on Canvas.
  • Electronic $15. Paperback $10. Audiobook $11. Fine to use other translations.
• Chambers, Becky. 2021. A Psalm for the Wild-Built. Tom Doherty Associates.
  • Audiobook $8. (Recommended)
  • Paperback $18. Electronic $15.
• Alpert, Avram. 2022. The Good Enough Life. Princeton University Press.
  • Free version in library: Click here to access the book
  • Paperback $15. Electronic $14. Audiobook $7.

Prices above are from listings on Amazon. Temple bookstore prices may vary. Audiobook prices are based on direct purchase, but an audible membership makes them much cheaper. Audiobooks are a great way to consume a book, especially if you tend to be a slow reader (like me).

If you use the free and cheapest options, your maximum cost is $25. If you buy a new paperback of each book your cost is $105. Used paperbacks are encouraged. 

Assignments and Grading

I  believe every student has the right to succeed in class and to understand the path to an A. I use rubrics to make my expectations transparent and attainable. I also believe every student has the right to pursue the grade of their choice, based on their priorities, and clear grade weights and rubrics make this possible. I use a system of accumulated points to calculate your grade. There is no extra credit. Letter grades for the final course score will be assigned as follows:

92.5 and higher = A

89.5 – 92.4 = A-

86.5 – 89.4 = B+

82.5 – 86.4 = B

79.5 – 82.4 = B-

76.5 – 79.4 = C+

72.5 – 76.4 = C

69.5 – 72.4 + C-

66.5 – 69.4 = D+

62.5 – 66.4 = D

59.5 – 62.4 = D-

Weighting Details

• Discussion (1 pt for week 1; 3 pts. per week thereafter) 40 points
• Critical Thinking Paper 15 points
• Ethical Reasoning Paper 15 points
• Diversity & Universality Paper 15 points
• Text to World Paper 15 points

TOTAL = 100 points

Assignment Descriptions

Discussion: Discussion is a measure of student-to-student and student-to-professor engagement (including office hours and emails). It entails responding to prompts from the professor, actively listening to your peers, responding to your peers, and showing respect for your peers, the professor, and the material. The first week will be worth 1 point (.5 each day). Subsequent weeks are worth 3 points each (1.5 each day). There are no excused absences. Anytime that you miss for any reason, you have the option to submit a 2-page double-spaced make-up paper. Graded using the teamwork rubric, 40 points.

Diversity & Universality Paper: Identify 5 characters in The Parable of the Sower whose experiences you wish to analyze and compare. Do their experiences differ based on some aspects of their identities? Is there a common human experience visible in the characters? Graded using the intercultural knowledge rubric, 15 points.

Critical Thinking Paper: Analyze and compare the concept of madness in The Collected Schizophrenias and The Epic of Gilgamesh. Graded using the critical thinking rubric, 15 points.

Ethical Reasoning Paper: Identify 5 critical ethical moments in Psalm for the Wild-Built and examine through the lens of specific passages from the Tao Te Ching. Graded using the ethical reasoning rubric, 15 points.

Text to World Paper: Write an op-ed about a social issue that draws on How to Be Perfect, The Good-Enough Life, and at least one additional text. Graded using the civic engagement rubric, 15 points.

Course Minimum Grade

Although D- is a passing grade, a minimum grade of C- is required in General Education courses and, in many programs, courses required by the major.

For more information, please see Temple University's Academic Policies on Grades and Grading.

     

 

General Policies

All Temple University Academic Policies will be upheld.

The General Education Policies and Requirements details program expectations.

Academic Freedom

The University has adopted a policy on Student and Faculty Academic Rights and Responsibilities. This is an important policy about the right of faculty members to teach with academic freedom; their responsibility to avoid controversial or other matters that are unrelated to the subject; the expectation for students to engage in critical judgement and an independent search for truth; the right of students to form their own ideas about how the content of the course should be applied to real-world issues; the expectation that students have access to grievance procedures to dispute unfair grading; and the expectation for students to comply with the academic expectations of the course. I encourage you to read the policy closely and come to me with any questions or concerns that you have. 

Academic Honesty

The following statement is quoted from the Temple University Bulletin. Plagiarism in my course will result in failing grades and a possible formal charge of Academic Dishonesty.

Temple University believes strongly in academic honesty and integrity. Plagiarism and academic cheating are, therefore, prohibited. Essential to intellectual growth is the development of independent thought and a respect for the thoughts of others. The prohibition against plagiarism and cheating is intended to foster this independence and respect. Plagiarism is the unacknowledged use of another person's labor, another person's ideas, another person's words, another person's assistance. Normally, all work done for courses —papers, examinations, homework exercises, laboratory reports, oral presentations—is expected to be the individual effort of the student presenting the work. Any assistance must be reported to the instructor. If the work has entailed consulting other resources—journals, books, or other media—these resources must be cited in a manner appropriate to the course. It is the instructor's responsibility to indicate the appropriate manner of citation. Everything used from other sources—suggestions for organization of ideas, ideas themselves, or actual language—must be cited. Failure to cite borrowed material constitutes plagiarism. Undocumented use of materials from the World Wide Web is plagiarism. Academic cheating is, generally, the thwarting or breaking of the general rules of academic work or the specific rules of the individual courses. It includes falsifying data; submitting, without the instructor's approval, work in one course which was done for another; helping others to plagiarize or cheat from one's own or another's work; or actually doing the work of another person.

Artificial Intelligence

The use of artificial intelligence (AI) does not automatically constitute academic dishonesty. However, it is also unlikely to yield strong performance on the assignments. The rubrics for the assignments in this class focus on critical thinking, ethical reasoning, cultural competency, and civic engagement. These are all areas where AI is known to perform poorly.

The best path to a good grade in this class is avoid use of AI, or only use it in small, targeted ways that aid your actual work. For instance,  you might ask AI to provide you with a set of examples and then you could choose one of those examples to write about. I have learned from past experience that simply entering the assignment prompt into an AI tool will not yield a strong paper. Further, you are responsible for every word that you turn in. If you are unable to discuss your papers because they were taken from AI without any review or revision on your part, or if you include elements that AI may have added because it lacks intuition about our course, then you will not receive credit.

Continuity of Instruction in Event of Emergency

Students are to register for the TUAlert System to be made aware of university closures due to weather or other emergency situations and follow all additional university-wide emergency instruction. Students can register for this system on the Campus Safety Services website. Students registered for the class will be alerted to any alternate testing procedures and submission of assignment requirements from the instructor via email.

Course Minimum Grade

A minimum grade of C- is required in General Education courses.

Grievances

Students should feel free to discuss grades or any other class-related concern with the instructor. If a student feels it would be inappropriate to discuss a specific concern with the instructor, the student may contact the Senior Associate Director of the Intellectual Heritage Program, Professor Douglas Greenfield, at dmg33@temple.edu. Also, see the College of Liberal Arts grievance procedure.

Incompletes

A student will be eligible for a grade of “Incomplete” only if the student: 1) has completed at least 51% of the work at a passing level, 2) is unable to complete the work for a serious reason beyond their control, and 3) files a signed agreement with the instructor outlining the work to be completed and the time frame in which that work will be completed. The student is responsible for initiating this process and all incomplete forms must be sent to the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs prior to the start of study days in that semester. Please refer to the following for further details: Temple University’s Incomplete Policy.

Preparation Time

Students can expect about 8 hours of preparation (reading, studying, assignments) per week. 

Privacy Policies

Please consult the privacy policy for Temple University and for Canvas Instructure. 

Recording

Please notify me if you plan to record class for educational purposes, such as a disability accommodation. Recordings should be destroyed after you no longer need them for class purposes. Any recordings permitted in this class can only be used for the student’s personal educational use. Students are not permitted to copy, publish, or redistribute audio or video recordings of any portion of the class session to individuals who are not students in the course or academic program without the express permission of the faculty member and of any students who are recorded. Distribution without permission may be a violation of educational privacy law, known as FERPA as well as certain copyright laws. Any recordings made by the instructor or university of this course are the property of Temple University.

Withdrawal from the Course

If a student wishes to withdraw from a course, it is the student’s responsibility to meet the deadline for the last day to withdraw from the current semester. See Temple University's Academic Calendar for withdrawing deadlines and consult the University policy on withdrawals.

Resources for Students

Course Accessibility (Disability Policy)

Any student who has a need for accommodation based on the impact of a documented disability, including special accommodations for access to technology resources and electronic instructional materials required for the course, should contact me privately to discuss the specific situation by the end of the second week of classes or as soon as practical. If you have not done so already, please contact Disability Resources and Services (DRS) at 215-204-1280 in 100 Ritter Annex to learn more about the resources available to you. I/we will work with DRS to coordinate reasonable accommodations for all students with documented disabilities. If for any reason there are aspects of this course that prevent you from learning or exclude you, please let me know as soon as possible. We might be able to develop strategies to meet both your needs and the requirements of the course—for example, if you have anxieties about participating in class, we can meet and discuss ways to make that experience less fraught.  Further information is available at Disability Resources.

Mental Health and Wellbeing

Temple has resources to help students with anxiety, depression, trauma, and all kinds of emotional or mental health worries, big and small. Most of them can be found at:

• Tuttleman Counseling Services.

Sexual Misconduct

Temple University is committed to fostering a campus community based on respect and nonviolence. In accordance with Title IX, Temple is legally obligated to investigate incidents of sexual harassment and sexual assault that occur on our campus. Faculty who become aware of any incident of sexual violence, including harassment, rape, sexual assault, relationship violence, or stalking, are required by law to notify Temple’s Title IX Coordinator.

Numbers to call:

• Confidential support for victims of harassment or assault at Tuttleman Counseling Services, 215-204-7276.
• Report alleged violations to the Title IX Coordinator in the Office of Equal Opportunity Compliance at 215-204-3283.
• Reports to law enforcement can be made to the Temple University Police Department at 215-204-1234 (1-1234 from a campus phone).

Basic Needs

Your safety and security is an important factor in your learning experience. Many college students confront housing and/or food insecurity at some point during college. If you have concerns about these issues and would like me to connect you with support, I can share your name with the Temple CareTeam, a division of the Dean of Students office that can help you find the resources you need. The Cherry Pantry is an on-campus food pantry for students. The Student Emergency Aid Fund helps students with financial hardship. 

Writing Support

Tutoring services are offered to all students who are working on papers for classes, as well as cover letters, resumes, scholarship essays, creative writing, and more. The Student Success Center provides writing tutoring on a walk-in basis, by appointment, online, and via email. Additionally, the Intellectual Heritage Program provides drop-in tutoring throughout the week.

 

    

Course Schedule

EOD=End of Day, however deadlines are flexible. If something comes up, just email me to let me know and tell me when you will submit the assignment. dkidd@temple.edu

Tuesday 8/26, No reading

Thursday 8/28, How to Be Perfect Part 1 (it’s a lot; do as much as you can)

Tuesday 9/2, How to Be Perfect Part 2

Thursday 9/4, How to Be Perfect Part 3

Tuesday 9/9, Parable of the Sower “2024”

Thursday 9/11, Parable of the Sower “2025”

Tuesday 9/16, Parable of the Sower “2026”

Thursday 9/18, Parable of the Sower “2027”

Tuesday 9/23, Collected Schizophrenias “Diagnosis,” “Toward a Pathology of the Possessed,” and “High-Functioning.”

Thursday 9/25, Collected Schizophrenias “Yale Will Not Save You,” “The Choice of Children,” and “On the Ward.”

Diversity & Universality Paper due 9/26 EOD

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Class this week will be online and asynchronous since the professor will be travelling.

Tuesday 9/30, Collected Schizophrenias “The Slender Man, the Nothing, and Me,” “Reality, On-Screen,” and “ John Doe, Psychosis.”

Thursday 10/2, Collected Schizophrenias “Perdition Days,” “L’Appel du Vide,” “Chimayó,” “Beyond the Hedge.”

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Tuesday 10/7, Epic of Gilgamesh Tablets 1-3

Thursday 10/9, Epic of Gilgamesh Tablets 4-6

Tuesday 10/14, Epic of Gilgamesh Tablets 7-9

Thursday 10/16, Epic of Gilgamesh Tablets 10-12

Tuesday 10/21, Tao Te Ching Sections 1-20

Thursday 10/23, Tao Te Ching Sections 21-40

Critical Thinking Paper due 10/24 EOD

Tuesday 10/28, Tao Te Ching Sections 41-60

Thursday 10/30, Tao Te Ching Sections 61-81

Tuesday 11/4, A Psalm for the Wild-Built Chapters 1-2

Thursday 11/6, A Psalm for the Wild-Built Chapters 3-4

Tuesday 11/11, A Psalm for the Wild-Built Chapters 5-6

Thursday 11/13, A Psalm for the Wild-Built Chapters 7-8

Tuesday 11/18, The Good-Enough Life “Introduction” and Chapter 1

Thursday 11/20, The Good-Enough Life Chapter 2

Ethical Reasoning Paper due by 11/21 EOD

Tuesday 11/25, Fall Break

Thursday 11/27, Fall Break

Tuesday 12/2, The Good-Enough Life Chapter 3 and Chapter 4

Thursday 12/4, The Good-Enough Life Chapter 5 and Conclusion

Tuesday 12/16, Text to World Paper due by 3PM