CAMBRIDGE CAMPUS
Anoka Ramsey Community College
Fall 1999

Course: Humanities 1171 (Honors Seminar) Credit Hours: 3

Time and Location: Tuesdays, 6:30 – 9:10, HUM 95

Instructor: Steve Beste

Office: HUM 98A Office Phone: 689-7025 FAX: 689-7004

Email Address: bestest@cc.cc.mn.us

Office Hours: Monday, 9 – 10 & 1:30 – 2:30; Wednesday 9 – 10; Friday, 9 - 10

Humanities 1171 is a directed, in-depth study in the humanities with a focus that is interdisciplinary, and has
an emphasis on cultural, historical, and social perspectives. The theme for our course this Fall 1999 is,
appropriately enough, "Approaching an End in Time." 

This is a seminar course, which means that you should practice both your listening and speaking skills.
Because this is an Honors course, more is expected from you in all that we do together this semester.
Come to class prepared to amaze me and your fellow classmates with your provocative and insightful
questions and comments about the reading material, and reflect on everything you hear and read.

At the completion of this course, you should be able to:

Texts:
        Damian Thompson: End of Time: Faith and Fear in the Shadow of the Millennium
        The Bible
        William Shakespeare: The Tempest
        Joseph Conrad: Heart of Darkness
        T.S. Eliot: Selected Poetry
        Samuel Beckett: Waiting for Godot
        Robert Pirsig: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
        Daniel Quinn: Ishmael

Course Ground Rules:

                   1.  Attendance is critical. We meet only once per week, so missing one class is the same as
                        missing one week’s worth of course work. While I know that legitimate reasons do occur for
                        absences, please make every effort to attend our sessions.  Attendance factors into determining
                        grades, since your participation in discussion is a component of calculating your final grade.

      2. If you miss class, contact another student for notes and explanation of assignments.  I will
          keep extra copies of any handouts on file in my office.  If you have any questions about
          assignments or responsibilities, call or come see me before the next class. 

      3. Have all reading and writing assignments completed by the beginning of class.

      4. Plagiarized work is unacceptable. Please understand what this means and do not attempt to
          pass off the work of someone else as your own. If I have any questions about the legitimacy
          of your work, I will ask you to produce proof that the writing is original.

      5. Expect to spend 4 to 7 hours per week of reading and writing outside of class time.

                    6. Active participation in group and class discussions is essential. If you are naturally shy, explore
                        ways in which you might contribute: participate in smaller groups, offer opinions when I’m asking
                        for a response that has no right or wrong answer. If you are naturally talkative, share your thoughts
                        with  the class but be sensitive to those who may not be as willing to share: do not dismiss
                        another’s opinion as wrong, and encourage or affirm what someone else has said if you agree.
                        Above all, practice mannerly conversation in all your circles. 

Description of Class Assignments:

You will have four types of assignments this semester: reading, participation, writing assignments,
and individual and group presentations. 

Reading

Reading assignments occur every week. While reading the material, feel free to mark up the books
or hand-outs to help you absorb what you are reading. Read slowly and carefully, paying as much to
what is said as to what might be implied. Be a good critical reader.

Participation

Classes will consist mostly of guided discussion, so your participation is critical and will be noted.
To share your responses to the readings, you will work in small groups on occasion to exchange
ideas, generate questions, and perhaps lead discussions on an issue or a text.

Written Assignments

There are two categories of papers for this course: one, a small selection of short response papers,
and another, a longer, in-depth analytical paper.

The short papers are approximately 500-word, typed responses to an issue raised by a speaker
or by our discussion. These are due the week following the class period that provided you with the
content. You may choose from any class period up to and including our discussion of Robert Pirsig's
book. This means the last date to turn in a short paper assignment will be November 30th.

The longer paper will be an analysis paper on a topic of your choosing on the issues we've raised
concerning the coming millennium. This assignment should be 4 to 5 pages long, and should include
a complete Works Cited page.  The paper is due the day you make your class presentation (see
below), which means this must be submitted either December 7th or December 14th. Topics for
this assignment need prior approval. Topics will need to be chosen by November 9th.

Both papers should be typed, double-spaced, and be free of errors and corrections. The longer
writing assignment should include a title page (with the paper title, your name, course title,
instructor’s name, and date) and page numbers. All late papers will be penalized.

Presentations

While there is no mid-term or final exam, there is a presentation. Using the subject you have
researched and studied for your longer 4 - 5 page paper, deliver a 15-minute presentation on
your topic to the class.  Exactly how we will conduct this will be determined both by class size
and my additional thinking on this.

Grading Scale:
                    A = 90 - 100%
                    B = 80 - 89%
                    C = 70 - 79%
                    D = 60 - 69%
                    F = Below 60%

Schedule of Classes and Assignments:
The following class schedule should be considered a guideline for what we hope to cover in Humanities 1171. Depending on the depth and length of class discussions, and the content and nature of the reading assignments, our dates may vary. Please do keep up and be aware of what we intend to cover each class period.

Week 1 - August 31
Introduction to course: on a common definition of apocalypse

History of millennia and end of time movements
(Conversation/lecture with Jim Hart)

 
Week 2 - September 7
Religion: visions of the apocalypse

End of Time: "The Roots of Apocalypse" and "The Mystery of the Year 1000"
The Bible:  Daniel, Revelation
A conversation/lecture with area theologian(s)

 
Week 3 - September 14  

Apocalypse and the Waste Land:
T.S. Eliot,  Selected Poems
End of Time: "Waco and the Culture Wars"

 
Week 4 - September 21
Eschatological Darkness:
Joseph Conrad,  Heart of Darkness
End of Time: "The Apocalyptic Century"

Film: Apocalypse Now
Week 5 - September 28

Technology and the end of time
End of Time: "A New Jerusalem" and "A New Age"

Guest speaker: Dr. Robert Musgrove

 
Week 6 - October 5
No class: I will be attending the Nobel Conference at Gustavus Adolphus College

 
Week 7 - October 12
What lies on the other side?
End of Time: "Thy Kingdom Come" and "The Great Jubilee"

Converstion/discussion on education in the new millennium
Guest speaker: Chris Misewich
Week 8 - October 19
Daniel Quinn, Ishmael

Agriculture, land use, and the environment:
The Leavers and the Takers

Week 9 - October 26  

Literature and the Apocalypse:
William Shakespeare, The Tempest, Acts I & II

Rethinking vocation:
   Guest speaker: Tim Quarberg
Week 10 - November 2  

William Shakespeare, The Tempest
End of Time: "The End of Time?"

 
Week 11 - November   9 Paper topic decision by today

Existentialism and the millennium:
Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot

Film: The Seventh Seal
Week 12 - November 16
Art and the Apocalypse

Guest speaker: Marilyn Taus

 
Week 13 - November 23
What really matters? What do we care about?

Robert Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into values

Week 14 - November 30
Zen continued

Group collaboration on values topics

 
Week 15 - December 7
Student presentations

 
Week 16 - December 14
Presentations continued

A review of the significant issues we have raised and our responses to them

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