Course Description

Students will read important works of social, political, and scientific thought, with a focus on well-being for societies. We will ask questions like: Where does society come from? How do we balance individual liberty and the public good? What behaviors and practices perpetuate injustice? Can we create a better society? How do power and privilege define our capacity to make change? How do we find truth? Can facts be detached from cultural contexts? 

GenEd

This course fulfills one of the Intellectual Heritage requirements for GenEd.   

Course Learning Goals & Related Assessments

	Course Learning Goals	Corresponding Assessments to Measure Goal Achievement
1.	Share ideas, ask questions, and actively listen to peers in a free and honest exchange of expressive modes.	Hypothesis Annotations, Discussion Boards, Active Participation
2.	Sharpen analysis and argumentation skills through a variety of expressive modes.	Hypothesis Annotations, Discussion Boards, Midterm and Final Projects
3.	Evaluate the historical, social, and cultural bases of prevailing beliefs.	Hypothesis Annotations, Course Lectures, Discussion Boards, Midterm and Final Projects
4.	Investigate fundamental questions of human experience from a variety of perspectives.	Active Participation, Discussion Boards
5.	Make connections between historical texts about human existence and current moral, social, and political issues.	Final Project

    Course Materials

All materials necessary to complete this course are available on Canvas.

Instructional Methods

This is an asynchronous online course. Students will complete work at their own pace.

Course Communications

To facilitate communication, the university requires you to have and use an e-mail account ending in @temple.edu. I will generally respond to emails within 24 hours. You can expect that submitted work will be graded within 14 days of submission.

 

Grading Scale

A Range	B Range	C Range	D Range	F Range
A  93 - 100	B+ 87 - 89.49	C+ 77 - 79.49	D+ 67 - 69.49	F 0 - 59
A- 90 - 92.49	B  83 - 86	C  73 - 76	D  63 - 66
	B- 80 - 82.49	C- 70 - 72.49	D- 60 - 62.49

C- or better is required to fulfill the GenEd area requirement. 

Graded Assignments

You will be assessed through the following assignments:

• Hypothesis Annotations (30%). For every text we read, you will produce annotations through our social annotation tool, Hypothesis. These annotations should be substantial (i.e. more than just a sentence) and should demonstrate active engagement with the course themes and content. Guidance for each set of annotations is available on the assignment page. Longer readings are worth 50 points, and shorter readings are worth 25 points.
• Group Discussions (20%). Throughout each Module, you'll take what you've gathered from your reading to answer specific questions on a whole-class discussion board. These DBs may include creative, critical, or collaborative work. If you are not present on the day we do the in-class discussion, you will need to write a 100 - 200 word response to get credit for the assignment. Each discussion is worth 20 points.
• Final Project (20%). At the end of Module 4, you'll be asked to create a synthetic project that ties together the several texts we've covered. You will have a wide range of options of these projects; you may choose to write a traditional essay, produce your own work of art, or record yourself presenting slides. Prompts for these projects will be posted three weeks before they are due. The project is worth 100 points.
• Participation (30%). At the end of the term, I will look over your viewed minutes for videos, interactions with your peers, and Canvas activity. I will then assign a participation grade based on your engagement with the course. The participation grade is worth 100 points.

I accept all late work for full points up to one week after the due date. After one week, assignments will be docked 5 points for every day they are late.

Course Minimum Grade

While D's do in fact get degrees, 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.

   

Attendance and Your Health

Students must attend and participate in classes according to their instructors’ requirements to achieve course learning goals. If you feel unwell or are under quarantine or in isolation because you have tested positive for the coronavirus, you should not come to campus or attend in-person classes or activities. You are allowed four "excused absences," equaling two weeks of class. If you have extraordinary circumstances, let me know and we can come up with a plan for you to keep up with the class. If you simply disappear without communicating, your participation score will be 10 points for every missed week of class.

It is the student’s responsibility to contact their instructors to create a plan for participation and engagement in the course as soon as they can do so and to make a plan to complete all assignments in a timely fashion when illness delays their completion.

 

Incomplete

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. (Policy #02.10.13). 

  

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 (Policy # 02.10.14). 

  

Statement on Academic Rights & Responsibilities

Freedom to teach and freedom to learn are inseparable facets of academic freedom. The University has a policy on Student and Faculty Academic Rights and Responsibilities (Policy #03.70.02).

   

Academic Honesty

According to the University Student Code of Conduct, students must not commit, attempt to commit, aid, encourage, facilitate, or solicit the commission of academic dishonesty and impropriety including plagiarism, academic cheating, and selling lecture notes or other information provided by an instructor without the instructor’s authorization. Violations may result in failing the assignment and/or failing the course, and/or other sanctions as enumerated in the University Code of Conduct.

 

Disability Disclosure Statement

Any student who has a need for accommodation based on the impact of a documented disability should contact Disability Resources and Services (DRS), Ritter Annex 100, (215) 204-1280 or 215-204-1786 (TTY) or drs@temple.edu, to make arrangements.  If you have a DRS accommodation letter to share with me, or you would like to discuss your accommodations, please contact the instructor as soon as practical. I will work with you and with DRS to coordinate reasonable accommodations for all students with documented disabilities. Accommodations are not retroactive. All discussions related to your accommodations will be confidential.

Technical Support 

For a listing of technical support services available to Temple University students, see the Tech Support page.

 

Live Chat or Request Help:  tuhelp.temple.edu.

Phone: 215-204-8000

Email:  help@temple.edu

Website: its.temple.edu

Location: The TECH Center, Room 106

 

 

Academic and Support Services

Temple University provides a variety of services to support you throughout your studies. Please take a moment to view these by visiting the Academic Support Services page.

The following academic support services are available to students:

• Student Success Center
• University Libraries
• Undergraduate Research Support
• Career Center
• Tuttleman Counseling Services
• Disability Resources and Services

  
If you are experiencing food insecurity or financial struggles, Temple provides resources and support. Notably, the Temple University Cherry Pantry and the Temple University Emergency Student Aid Program are in operation as well as a variety of resources from the Division of Student Affairs. 

      

Continuity of Instruction in the 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 instructions. 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.

Please note that online classes are generally not affected by campus closures.  

  

Privacy Policy

Please see the links below to become familiar with the privacy policies for each of the following: 

• Temple University
• Canvas Instructure
• Zoom

    

Course Schedule

Week 1: The World and the Other World
Questions: Why read "ancient" political philosophy? How does a society's past assumptions about itself shape that society's future?

Tuesday, August 26

• Syllabus Overview

Thursday, August 28

• David Wojnarowicz, "The World and the Other World" (1991 CE) + Franz Kafka, "Before the Law" (1915) + Antonin Scalia, "The Idea of the Constitution" (1985)
  

Week 2: The Order of the Ancient World
Questions: Do human hierarchies emerge due to differences in biology, or are they historical in nature? How does a society's concept of "nature" influence political common sense? 

Tuesday, September 2

• Aristotle, Politics (ca. 350 BCE), book 1

Thursday, September 4

• Aristotle, Politics, con't.
  • Group Discussion #1: Would You Live in Google Housing?

Week 2: Order and Culture
Questions: Does the present owe a debt to the past? What role does education play in disseminating a vision of "the common good"?

Tuesday, September 9

• Confucius, Analects (ca. 206 BCE - 220 CE)

Thursday, September 11

• Confucius, Analects, con't.
  

Week 3: Culture and the Limits of Stability
Questions: When do traditional ideas become oppressive? What happens when culture becomes a battleground?

Tuesday, September 16

• Confucius, Analects, con't.

Thursday, September 18

• Confucius, Analects, con't.
  
  • Group Discussion #2: Fighting Over Culture

Week 4: Reforming Tradition
Questions: Can oppressive traditions be reformed by believers in that tradition? 

Tuesday, September 23

• Christine de Pizan, The Book of the City of Ladies, book 1 (1405 CE)

Thursday, September 25

• Christine de Pizan, The Book of the City of Ladies, con't.

Week 5: Individual Experience and the Ancient Idea of Order
Questions: How do people actually experience traditions and their hierarchies? Why does tradition appeal to us today?

Tuesday, September 30

• Christine de Pizan, The Book of the City of Ladies, books 1 + 2

Thursday, October 2

• Christine de Pizan, The Book of the City of Ladies, book 3
• Leonardo Bevilacqua, "Rebels with a religious cause: Meet New York's avant-garde conservatives"Links to an external site. (2024 CE) 
  • Group Discussion #3: The Allure of Tradition in the 2020s

Week 7: Two Old Worlds 
Questions: How do indigenous and western visions of the common good differ? What is the legacy of interactions between these groups in our hemisphere?

Tuesday, October 7

• Vine Deloria, Jr., Custer Died For Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto (1969 CE): "Indians Today, the Real and the Unreal"

Thursday, October 9

• Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teaching of Plants (2013 CE): "Skywoman Falling"
  • Group Discussion #4: Indigenous Traces in Pennsylvania

Week 8: The Presence in the Past

Questions: How do we memorialize the histories of our hemisphere? What are the limits to that memorialization?

 Tuesday, October 14

• Michelle Rolph-Trouillot, Silencing the Past: Power and the Production of History (1995 CE): "The Presence in the Past"
• Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass: "People of Corn, People of Light"

Thursday, October 16

• Michelle Rolph-Trouillot, Silencing the Past: "Good Day, Columbus"

Week 9: Property versus the Land

Questions: What is the difference between "real estate" and the land? How do our ideas about property influence our vision of "the common good"? When do individual rights clash with "the common good"?

Tuesday, October 21

• John Locke, Second Treatise of Government (1689 CE): chapter V ("Of Property"), chapter VIII ("Of the Beginning of Political Society")
• Thomas Jefferson, et al., "The Declaration of Independence" (1776 CE)

Thursday, October 23

• Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass: "The Sacred and the Superfund"
  • Group Discussion #5: Superfund Sites in Your Community

Week 10: The Ends of Colonization

Questions: Given what we've learned about colonization, what options do indigenous people have in organizing for their vision of "the common good"?

Tuesday, October 28

• Frantz Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth (1961 CE): "On Violence"

Thursday, October 30

• Frantz Fanon, "On Violence," con't.
  • Group Discussion #6: Fanon's Legacies

Week 11: Industry Takes Control
Questions: What happened when industrial production became dominant? How have societies mutated over 200+ years of industrialism?

Tuesday, November 4

• Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, The Manifesto of the Communist Party (1848 CE)

Thursday, November 6

• Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, The Manifesto of the Communist Party, con't.
  • Group Discussion #7: The Endurance of Class

Week 12: Ideology versus Reality
Questions: How did industrial logic make itself seem natural and inevitable? What role does mass media play in teaching us how to work and live with one another?

Tuesday, November 11

• Ariel Dorfman and Armand Mattelart (1971 CE), How to Read Donald Duck (1971 CE)

Thursday, November 13

• Ariel Dorfman and Armand Mattelart, How to Read Donald Duck, con't.
  
  • Group Discussion #8: The Implicit Message of Social Media

Week 13: Myths of Progress
Questions: Do societies necessarily progress over time? If so, what is the best way to move societies forward?

Tuesday, November 18

• Frederick Douglass, "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?" (1852)

Thursday, November 20

• Mark Fisher, Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative? (2009)
  • Group Discussion #9: Escape Velocities

Week 14: Fall Break

No new assignments Tuesday, November 25 + Thursday, November 27

Week 15: Myths of Tradition
Questions: If progress doesn't always guarantee "the common good" should we return to tradition? Is tradition a stable set of ideas or does it also evolve over time?

Tuesday, December 2

• Benito Mussolini, "The Doctrine of Fascism" (1932 CE)

Thursday, December 4

• Umberto Eco, "Eternal Fascism: Fourteen Ways of Looking at the Black Shirt" (1995 CE)