EVHM 2302 "The Literature of Place" Fall 2011

SYLLABUS (Fall 2011)




T 2-4:50



Instructor: Dr. Susan Tomlinson

201B McClellan Hall

742-0036 ext. 239

susan.tomlinson@ttu.edu

Office Hours: TBA

Teaching Blog: http://doctortteaching.blogspot.com/



Required texts:

Goodbye to a River by John Graves

The Survival of the Bark Canoe by John McPhee

A Field Guide to Getting Lost by Rebecca Solnit

Like Water for Chocolate Laura Esquivel







Course Description:

This course covers literature related to a sense of place, nature, and the environment. Through reading, discussion, writing workshops, and self-directed research, students will learn how to tell the story of place. Field trips are required.

Competency Statement:

Students in this Natural History and Humanities course should be able to: construct and present creative works, and defend critical and aesthetic judgments of works in the creative arts.



Expected learning outcomes for this course are:

1) Identify, describe, and/or create elements of place in literature.

2) Analyze elements of place within cultural and historical contexts.

3) Analyze and summarize aesthetic principles that structure creative works as they relate to place.

Learning Outcomes Assessment Methods

1) Identify, describe, and/or create elements of place (individually and collectively). 1) Note from field research

2)short creative works

3) Tutorial discussion

2) Analyze elements of place within cultural and historical contexts. 1) short creative works

2) Tutorial discussion

3) Analyze and summarize aesthetic principles that structure creative works as they relate to place. 1) short creative works

2) Tutorial discussion







Tutorials:

The class will be divided into two small group writing tutorials that will meet once each week for an hour and twenty minutes, in addition to the regular weekly hour and twenty minute full class meeting. Weekly short writing assignments will be edited and presented in workshop format in the tutorials. Students will be expected to demonstrate how the class discussion on the selected readings informs their work.



Field research:

Students will be expected to identify and attend places, people, and events in and around Lubbock and the Southern High Plains for the purpose of writing about them. Students will be expected to draw on the literature we are discussing in class for ideas about essay structure and style. Students are expected to identify at least six field research projects on which to work during the course of the semester, from which students will craft their weekly responses, as well as their midterms and final (more than one weekly paper can be drawn from each field research project). The field research will also form the basis for the Midterm and Final papers.



Examples of topics for field research include:



Apple Butter Festival in Idalou

The Agricultural Museum

Lubbock wine industry

Jimenez Bakery

Oral histories with local artisans

Slaton Bakery

Pep Thanksgiving

Tractor competitions

Bee keeping

Prairie restoration

Cowboy Symposium



A canoe trip down the Brazos River is also an option, and this trip would be worth three field research credits. We will discuss this in class.



Students are expected to keep detailed, outlined notes about story ideas and development. These notes will be handed in at the end of the semester for grading, so they must be presented in an organized manner.



Short creative works:

Students are expected to have work available for workshopping during the weekly tutorial. These short essays will be between 3-5 pages and based on the field research. Students may choose to turn one in for workshopping each week, or may choose to work on an essay in more than one workshop. However, there must be a total of six short creative works available for grading at the end of the semester; these may the six best short works from the whole semester, or the students may choose to work on only a total of six. Furthermore, if a student choose to work on a piece for more than one workshop, there must be demonstrable evidence that there is something on which to work (in other words, students must have something on which to work in the tutorial each week). All sources must be properly cited.



Assignments and Grading



Students will be assigned and expected to complete the following:



Field research (at least six projects; presented in outlined notes) (40%)

Weekly short essay responses field research (the 6 best) (40%)

Tutorial (20%)



Work will be graded on the basis of accuracy, thoroughness, and creative merit.



Final project due: Monday, December 13, 1:30 pm



Students are expected to check the teaching blog before each class for updates and assignments.

http://doctortteaching.blogspot.com/



_________________________________

Accommodation for Disabled Students:

Any student who, because of a disability, may require special arrangements in order to meet the course requirements should contact the instructor as soon as possible to make any necessary arrangements. Students should present appropriate verification from Student Disability Services during the instructor’s office hours. Please note: instructors are not allowed to provide classroom accommodations to a student until appropriate verification from Student Disability Services has been provided. For additional information, please contact Student Disability Services in West Hall or call 806-742-2405.



Student Absence for Observation of Religious Holy Days



A student who is absent from classes for the observation of a religious holy day shall be allowed to take an examination or complete an assignment scheduled for that day within a reasonable time after the absence if, not later than the fifteenth day after the first day of the semester, the student had notified the instructor of each scheduled class that the student would be absent for a religious holy day.



Academic Integrity (TTU O.P. 34.12)



Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, cheating, plagiarism, collusion, falsifying academic records, misrepresenting facts, and any act designed to give unfair academic advantage to the student or the attempt to commit such an act. The university definitions of academic dishonesty and policies for dealing with it are laid out in the Code of Student Affairs and in University Operating Policy 34.12. You should be familiar with these definitions.



Cheating of any form, but especially plagiarism (i.e., the representation of someone else’s work or ideas as your own) will be dealt with harshly. At a minimum, the offending essay will receive a grade of 0, which will be averaged into your overall grade. Flagrant or repeated cases of plagiarism may result in a grade of F for the course. All cases of cheating will be reported to the appropriate academic dean and to the Honors College dean, who may take additional disciplinary action as they see fit.

Mother Earth Chronicles, Fall 2011

HONS 1301 H03


“The Mother Earth Chronicles”

First Year Experience Seminar









Dr. Susan Tomlinson

201B McClellan Hall

742-1828

susan.tomlinson@ttu.edu

Office Hours: W 2-5, or by appointment



Link to the course website can be found on this homepage: http://doctortteaching.blogspot.com/



Required reading:

Books:

Hannah Nyala (Point Last Seen)

Sue Hubbel (A Country Year)

Sue Monk Kidd (The Secret Life of Bees)

Pam Houston (Cowboys Are My Weakness)



Course Description

“The Mother Earth Chronicles” is a fun, gentle, thought-provoking exploration of literary works about nature, environment, and landscape. In this course, you can expect to cover a wide and diverse range of topics about living with “Mother”—everything from bees, to homesteading, to white water rafting—and the cultural ideas and values that spring from the human relationship to nature. We will focus our efforts on literature written by women, a traditionally underrepresented source of nature writing.



This is also an excellent opportunity to practice writing in a workshop/tutorial format; if you’ve always thought that writing is a boring, excruciating, mind-numbing, pointless exercise in formulaic drivel and pap, well then, you’ve never done any writing like this. This is a reading and writing intensive course focused on developing writing skills through workshops and/or tutorials.



This course satisfies the Texas Tech University core curriculum requirement in humanities.

From the TTU catalog: “The objective of the humanities in a core curriculum is to expand the student’s knowledge of the human condition and human cultures, especially in relation to behaviors, ideas, and values expressed in works of human imagination and thought. Through study in disciplines such as literature and philosophy, students will engage in critical analysis and develop an appreciation of the humanities as fundamental to the health and survival of any society.”

Course Purpose Statement: Students graduating from Texas Tech University should be able to: think critically, demonstrate an understanding of the possibility of multiple interpretations, cultural contexts, and values.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this course, students will be able to;



Learning Outcomes Assessment Methods

• Evaluate events, ideas, and artistic expressions in terms of multiple cultural contexts and value systems.

• Guided discussion

• Written work (see below)

• Think critically about the human relationship to the natural world

• Guided discussion

• Written work (see below)

• Read and discuss in a scholarly manner (courteously and critically) works by woman that present ideas about the human relationship to the natural world

• Guided discussion

• Written work (see below)

• Write clearly and critically about these works and this relationship

• Written work (see below)

• Editorial workshop participation





Format/Schedule

The course will be divided into themes about the natural world and our relationship to it. We will explore what people have to say about each of these by examining and imitating various genres. There usually will be short weekly writing assignments which we will read and discuss in workshop format, followed by more intense discussions and readings in small group tutorials (time to be arranged for each group). Students will be responsible for providing copies of their writing for each member of their tutorial group, as well as a copy for the instructor. These are due at the beginning of each tutorial.



Students are expected to check the course website for each week’s assignment. A link to the course website can be found on this homepage: http://doctortteaching.blogspot.com/



Grading:

Grades will be weighted in the following manner:



40% Weekly written work (includes tutorial work)

20% Midterm and final papers (10% each)

20% Discussion

20% Workshop participation



Late work:

Because we will be having workshops each week, work that is turned in past deadline (Tuesday of each week) can’t be discussed by the group the following week. I will accept late work for a grade, but there will be an automatic deduction of 20% if it is turned in anytime during the week following the deadline. Late work will not be accepted later than one week following the deadline.



Discussion and workshop participation:

After the second week of class, students will be selected at random each week to lead the class in discussion. The student is expected to have read the material thoroughly and prepared with questions. If a student is found unprepared to lead when chosen, it will result in an automatic grade of 0 for that day’s discussion grade.



All students are expected to contribute to the discussion and workshop. At the end of each class period, I will assign a grade for that day’s work.



Midterm and final papers:

Students will select a weekly paper to expand and polish for each of their midterm and final assignments. Students are encouraged to submit a preliminary draft of the work for suggestions/edits from me no later than ten days before the due date for the final draft.



Midterm papers due: Tuesday, October 18, beginning of class

Final papers due: Monday, December 12, 7:30 AM









Accommodation for Disabled Students:



Any student who, because of a disability, may require some special arrangements in order to meet course requirements should contact the instructor at her office (McClellan Hall 201 B) as soon as possible to request necessary accommodation. Students should present appropriate verification from Student Disability Services (Access TECH). No requirement exists that accommodations be made prior to completion of the approved university process.



Student Absence for Observation of Religious Holy Days



A student who is absent from classes for the observation of a religious holy day shall be allowed to take an examination or complete an assignment scheduled for that day within a reasonable time after the absence if, not later than the fifteenth day after the first day of the semester, the student had notified the instructor of each scheduled class that the student would be absent for a religious holy day.



Academic Integrity (TTU O.P. 34.12)



Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, cheating, plagiarism, collusion, falsifying academic records, misrepresenting facts, and any act designed to give unfair academic advantage to the student or the attempt to commit such an act. The university definitions of academic dishonesty and policies for dealing with it are laid out in the Code of Student Affairs and in University Operating Policy 34.12. You should be familiar with these definitions.



Cheating of any form, but especially plagiarism (i.e., the representation of someone else’s work or ideas as your own) will be dealt with harshly. At a minimum, the offending essay will receive a grade of 0, which will be averaged into your overall grade. Flagrant or repeated cases of plagiarism may result in a grade of F for the course. All cases of cheating will be reported to the appropriate academic dean and to the Honors College dean, who may take additional disciplinary action as they see fit.