Updated 13 January 2003
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CLASS WEBSITE
English 211, Perspectives in Human Diversity and Literature
Section 1, Multicultural Literature

 MW:     10:00-10:45 a.m.           AH 323

 WATCH THIS SITE FOR FURTHER ASSIGNMENTS AND LINKS!

 Objectives:
The United States, it is said, is a nation of immigrants.  Over hundreds of years, the continent was settled and the nation was built by people who came (some willingly, some grudgingly, some in chains of iron, some in chains of paper) from Europe, from Africa, from Asia, and from other parts of the Western Hemisphere.  Of course, there are Native Americans whose ancestors lived on this continent for thousands of years before these others came.  But even they, when pushed out of their former lands and pushed into a culture often at odds with longstanding practices and values, became “immigrants” of sorts in their own land—a land that their ancestors might have trouble recognizing.

This is a nation of immigrants, but as a country we have spent more than two centuries trying to figure out what that means.  It has not been a terribly peaceful process.  It has been at the center of our bloodiest war, it has involved injustice and brutality, but bit by bit, we have continued to add to the mosaic that is this country’s picture of itself—a picture that continues to change. 

We will spend this semester reading works and seeing films by authors and directors of many ethnic backgrounds who in one way or another are writing about what it means to be part of a “multicultural” society.  We will look at some common themes addressed by each of these artists and discuss and write about what they have in common but also how their own heritages and backgrounds affect what they create and how they have created it in literature or film.  In the process, we will also investigate how our own heritages and backgrounds have affected what we think about these themes and what we all can learn from each other.

Requirements:
1. Reading and Attendance; Weekly Responses (10 points each=150 points)
Since this course is based on our discussion of what we read and see, it is essential that you attend class.  4 absences will lower your final grade by one full grade.  8 absences will lower your final grade by two full grades.  More than 8 absences will result in an F, unless I have given you an excuse for emergency reasons. 

We will spend the last half-hour of class each Wednesday writing an in-class reaction to our readings and discussion.  I will collect those reactions and return them to you the next week.  You must submit a complete collection of 15 reactions in a folder during the final exam period.

2. Outside Activity Report (150 points)
You must attend one of the events listed on the schedule and submit a written 5-8 page report on it.  (You may request permission to report on a different event, but it must be related to this class in some way.)  Watch the website for specific guidelines.  A draft of your report is due no later than April 2.  (You may submit the draft sooner.  I will be happy to review other drafts with you as well.)  A final, polished draft of the report is due during the final exam period.

3. Analytical/Interpretive Paper (200 points)
You will write a paper of 10-15 pages that compares how at least two of the authors we have read (or films we have seen) approach one of the themes that we have discussed.  This task requires you to compare and contrast these works and to analyze and interpret them.  Watch the website for specific guidelines.  A draft of your paper is due no later than April 16.  (You may submit the draft sooner.  I will be happy to review other drafts with you as well.)  A final, polished draft of the report is due during the final exam period.

4. Mid-Term Exam (250 points)
The mid-term exam will be in essay format.  You may bring your textbooks to class for reference.  I will give you a set of exam topics on Monday.  On Wed., I will give you the specific questions that you are to answer in class.  After I return this exam, you may revise it for a higher grade if you wish.

5. Final Exam (300 points)
The Final Exam will be a comprehensive exam covering the entire semester, but emphasizing the last half.  It will include both essay and “objective” questions.  You may bring your textbooks to class for reference.  I will give you a set of exam topics on April 30.  On May 7, I will give you the specific questions that you are to answer in class.

*Each of these assignments should be revised and resubmitted by the end of the semester.  Revisions may raise your final grade (but that is not a guarantee!); they will not lower it.

Grade Breakdown, based on total of 1,000 points

Class Schedule, Spring 2003, (subject to change)

General Education Categories

 This course satisfies Categories 1C (Writing Intensive), 6 (Humanities and the Arts), and 7 (Human Diversity) in the General Education Curriculum.  It is a Core Course for the Cultural Diversity requirement.

Category 1, Part C: WRITING INTENSIVE
(requires one course, 3 or more credits)
Goal: Students will continue to develop skills taught in Composition, applying them in the context of a particular discipline:
(a) use writing to explore and gain a basic familiarity with the questions, values and analytical or critical thinking methods used in the discipline;
(b) locate, analyze, evaluate, and use source material or data in their writing in a manner appropriate to intended audiences (popular or within the discipline).
 

CATEGORY 6: HUMANITIES AND THE ARTS
(requires two courses from different disciplines, 6 credits or more)
Goal: To expand students’ knowledge of the human condition and human cultures, especially in relation to behavior, ideas, and values expressed in works of human imagination and thought.  Through study in disciplines such as literature, philosophy, the fine arts, students will engage in critical analysis, form aesthetic judgments, and develop an appreciation of the arts and humanities as fundamental to the health and survival of any society. Students should have experiences in both the arts and humanities.

Students will be able to:
(a) demonstrate awareness of the scope and variety of works in the arts and humanities;
(b) understand those works as expressions of individual and human values within an historical and social context;
(c) respond critically to works in the arts and humanities;
(d) engage in the creative process or interpretive performance;
(e) articulate an informed personal reaction to works in the arts and humanities.

CATEGORY 7: HUMAN DIVERSITY
(requires one course, 3 credits or more)
Goal: To increase students’ understanding of individual and group differences, emphasizing the dynamics of race, gender, sexual orientation, age, class, and/or disabilities in the history and culture of diverse groups in the United States; the contributions of pluralism to United States society and culture; and issues--economic, political, social, cultural, artistic, humanistic, and education traditions--that surround such diversity. Students should be able to evaluate the United States’ historical and contemporary responses to group differences.

Students will be able to:
(a) understand the development of and the changing meanings of group identities in the United States’ history and culture
b) demonstrate an awareness of the individual and institutional dynamics of unequal power relations between groups in contemporary society;
(c) analyze and evaluate their own attitudes, behaviors, concepts, and beliefs regarding diversity, racism, and bigotry;
(d) describe and discuss the experience and contributions (political, social, economic, artistic, humanistic, etc.) of the many groups that shape American society and culture, in particular those groups which have suffered discrimination and exclusion;
(e) demonstrate communication skills necessary for living and working effectively in a society with great population diversity that world citizens share for their common global future.
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