Humanities 411 (Senior Symposium)
Chair: Jan Mieszkowski
Eliot 420 (x7343)
Each section of the course will be comprised of about 15 students and 3 faculty members from various disciplines. Participants will take turns hosting the class. In the first week, we will have a brief organizational meeting in the Vollum Lecture Hall to give everyone a chance to get acquainted.
Books are available in the bookstore. A few copies of each text will be on reserve in the library.
The requirements of the course are attendance and active participation. You are expected to be present and prepared at every session, although illness or family emergencies will be taken into consideration. At the end of the semester, you will be given a questionnaire about the readings. Completion of this form is a requirement for course credit.
The syllabus includes 11 weeks of reading and one open slot (the first part of Thanksgiving week plus the final days before reading period). In the past, some groups have chosen to view a film (or take a field trip) for this session.
September 2 Organizational meeting (Vollum Lecture Hall at 5PM)
September 8 Making Sense of Life, Evelyn Fox Keller
September 15 The Crying of Lot 49, Thomas Pynchon
September 22 Truth and Truthfulness, Bernard Williams (Chapters 1-3, 7-10)
September 29 Regarding the Pain of Others, Susan Sontag
October 6 Jarhead: A Marine's Chronicle of the Gulf War and Other Battles,
Anthony Swofford
October 13 The Clash of Fundamentalisms, Tariq Ali (1-216)
Fall Break
October 27 Omeros, Derek Walcott
November 3 The Debt: What America Owes to Blacks, Randall N. Robinson
November 10 Letters to a Young Conservative, Dinesh D’Souza
November 17 Everything for Sale, Robert Kuttner (1-67;110-158; 281-362)
Thanksgiving
December 1 East, West: Stories, Salman Rushdie