RPH 140:  Introduction to World Philosophies

General Information: First Class

Meeting time: TR 1:00-2:15 Conferences
Professor: Dr. Martha Beck Academics
Office: Alphin 214 Religion and Philosophy
Phone: 793-1774 (w); 793-2740 (h) RPH 140
Office hours: MTWRF 4:00-5:00, Alphin 214

Works and Days and Theogony, Hesiod
The Analects, Confucius
Bhagavadgita
Wisdom of the Buddha
Gandhi on Non-violence
Koran
Human Rights, Opposing Viewpoints Series
Narrative of Sojourner Truth
The Souls of Black Folk, W.E.B. DuBois
The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
A Vindication of the Rights of Women, Mary Wollstonecraft
The Subjection of Women, J. S. Mill
Booklet of Readings, purchase from Dr. Beck

1. To enable students to read, write and reflect upon some of the questions about life which human beings have contemplated since the beginning of civilization, questions about the meaning of life, the existence and nature of God and the relation between belief in God and social activism.

2. To expand students’ awareness of other cultures by studying the views of non-Western and ancient Western cultures concerning these questions.

3. To enable students to formulate their own views and recognize how their own positions are related to the culture within which they live.

4. To give students the opportunity to formulate a position which includes non-Western and earlier Western views, hence enabling them to draw from what is best in other cultures in order to improve on their own.

My teaching techniques are intended to encourage students to think for themselves as much as possible. The word educate comes from the Latin educere, e = out and ducere = to lead, draw, bring. Thus, the word means to draw or lead out. I hope to provide an opportunity for you to be able to achieve the course objectives through your own personal reflection on the course material.

Attendance is required and will be taken at the beginning of each hour. If you have a good reason to be absent, leave a note, an email or a voice mail. If I am not notified by 6:00 p.m. on the day you were absent, you will receive a zero for that day. If you give me a legitimate excuse, you may hand in the written assignment for that day and receive credit. Your grade will be affected by unexcused absences in the following way:

Up to 3 unexcused absences: no change in grade;

3-6 unexcused absences: final grade will be lowered by 1/3;

6-8 unexcused absences: final grade will be lowered by 2/3;

9-10 unexcused absences: final grade will be lowered by one full grade;

More than 10 unexcused absences: final grade will be an "F".

Once every week, I will assign you to write answers to questions related to the course material. They will be graded on a scale of: 4.0 (A), 3.0 (B), 2.0 (C), 1.0 (D). The average grade from all the daily written work will account for 20% of your final grade.

Three, 1000-word minimum papers (due dates on schedule)

Each paper accounts for 20% of your final grade. See Paper Grade Worksheet. If we don’t have time to go over this in class, make sure you have read it carefully and ask me questions if you are confused.

You are required to come and discuss your thesis statement with me during final week. You must refer to at least 3 of the authors we have studied, either by agreeing or disagreeing with their positions. This will account for 20% of your final grade.

I have organized this class on the assumption that you can give me 7.5 hours/week. Many of you are taking 5 courses, in which case 7.5 hours would make your total 37.5 hours, a full-time job. The number of pages assigned per class varies a little, because some of the books are much harder to read than others.

Here is how the time commitment breaks down:

2 classes/week @ 75 minutes/ class: 2.5 hours/week

30 pages of reading/class @ 20 pages/hour.............3 hours/week

A writing assignment related to the reading 1 hour/week

Three, 4-page papers @ 5 hours each equals:

15 hours over the 14 weeks of classes: 1 hr./wk . 1 hour/week

Total: 7.5 hours/week

Of course, I realize this is difficult to calculate, and it will be different for each student. If you think your are overworked, please consider how the course is organized and speak to me if you think there is some gross miscalculation.

Calculation of Final Grade

Daily written assignments: 20%

Three papers @ 20% each: 60%

Final paper: 20%

Total: 100%

If you must hand in a paper late, please contact me before the day it is due and explain why it is going to be late. I will use my discretion in determining whether and/or how much the grade will be lowered. If you are absent on a day that we have a written assignment either in class or due, contact me by 6:00 p.m. that day and we will discuss what you can do.

Please read carefully the section on the honor code in your student handbook. The discussion of plagiarism is very important. If you are quoting or even paraphrasing something from one of the course texts, please refer to the page number in the manuscript. Use these references: Hesiod, p. x; Confucius, p. x; Bhagavadgita, p. x; Robinson, p. x; Sojourner Truth, p. x; and DuBois, p. x, Wollstoncraft, p. x, Gandhi, p. x, Human Rights, p. x, Koran, p. x, etc. or some other text to which you want to refer.

Also, feel free to discuss ideas with other members of the class, or those who took the course last semester. When you sit down to write your paper, however, make sure your thesis statement, the quotes you use to support it and the organizational structure of the paper are all your own work. Do not read your final draft to anyone else in the class.

Last day to drop a course and receive a "W" grade: Sept. 25.

Mid-term grades due: Oct. 10.