barbara.henriques@trincoll.edu

This seminar in designed to encourage you to think about a number of questions related to the human experience from a variety of disciplines. Questions we will to discuss will include: How did humans evolve? How are we different than other life and how are we similar? How do we learn? How is knowledge acquired? How is it passed on to future generations? What are some of the ways of knowing that humans contribute to learning? How do our minds build or construct knowledge? What factors enhance learning? Do all individuals in our society have equal access to learning opportunities? What freedoms do we enjoy and what responsibilities come with those freedoms? How do we explain differences in learning opportunities? What role do technology and the environment play in human development? What concerns do we have about our future?

These are in fact lifelong questions we continue to address throughout our lives. This seminar will provide an opportunity to begin the process.

Students enrolled in this seminar have an opportunity to add a half credit through involvement in the project on Scientific Freedom and Responsibility. More information on this option is listed below under Independent Study Coll 138. You are under no pressure to enroll for the additional .5 credit, but if you would like to do so, you have the opportunity to do so.

Required Texts:

Bransford, Brown and Cocking. How People Learn: Brain, Mind Experience and School. 2000.

Hansberry, Lorraine. Les Blancs: The Collected Last Plays. Vintage Publishing. 1994.

Hult, Christine and Huckin, Thomas. The New Century Handbook 2^nd Edition. Longman Publishing. 2002.

Kuzyk, Ivan. A Hartford Primer and Field Guide. Trinity College Cities Data Center. 2001.

Scholes, Robert, Comley, Nancy and Peritz, Janice. The Practice of Writing Fourth Edition. Bedford/St. Martin’s. 1994.

Tomasello, Michael. The Cultural Origins of Human Cognition. Harvard University Press. 1999.

These required texts will be supplemented with handouts through out the course of the seminar.

A wide variety of assignments will be included in this seminar. One of the primary goals of this seminar is to introduce you to college level writing. Several writing assignments will be dispersed through out the semester. A final project is also required. The assignments are described along with the points they contribute toward your final grade. The grading guidelines are those listed in the Trinity Handbook.

If you need any special assistance in meeting the requirements of this seminar please see me during the first week of classes.

Attendance and Class Participation: This class is designed as a seminar your responsibility in a seminar is to come to class prepared to discuss the material assigned and involvement in the discussion that occurs during each class session. You are expected to attend every class. It is your responsibility to contact me prior to class via email or telephone if you are unable to attend class. Every student is required to have a Trinity College email account by the end of the first week of classes. It is imperative to your success in this course that you follow through on these responsibilities.

Attendance and Class Participation count 15 points toward your final grade.

Special Events: There are a few special events listed in the syllabus. More of these will become available over during the semester. I will inform you of these, as they become available. The first two listed here are mandatory. Over the course of the semester you will be asked to attend three additional events on campus. These may be speakers, productions, or special events. Each time you attend one of these events you are required to submit a one-page write-up of the event and describe what you learned and how it fits into the focus of this seminar. All together there are five of these due during the semester. The first one is due following your attendance at the Community Learning Program. The second will follow the TheaterWorks production. I encourage you to include information from these special events in your papers when appropriate.

There are five Special Events write-ups due, each counts 3 points for a total of 15 points toward your final grade.

Topic Papers: Generally these writing assignments ask you to respond to the readings in response to a question or statement on a section of the seminar. These are two-three pages in length and must be prepared on a computer and either printed out or emailed to me. They must be submitted in class on the date they are due. If you email a paper to me it must be sent prior to class on the due date.

There are five topic papers due, each one counts 10 points for a total of 50 points toward your final grade.

Final Project: Students will organize, plan and carry out a final project related to the course in consultation with the instructor. Projects must link to learning and the human experience, but may be creative or more traditional in nature. These projects are designed to encourage you to explore learning in a way that makes sense to you or to try a new approach to learning. There are four stages to the final project. Each has a due date. The final project is to be presented on the day of the final exam and is due on that day.

The final project counts for 20 points toward your final grade.

This half-credit independent study is being offered in conjunction with the project on Scientific Freedom and Responsibility that will be held throughout the Fall semester of 2001 and will comprise a series of faculty panel discussions and a related film series. A diverse cluster of courses is associated with this project. Students taking one of these courses may concurrently enroll in this independent study under the supervision of the instructor in the course. Students are required to: a) attend a sizeable number of the public events sponsored by the Scientific Freedom and Responsibility project (the exact number to be determined by the supervising faculty member); b) keep a journal recording their reaction to these events; and c) write a substantial paper discussing issues raised by the panel discussions and the film series. Note: For more information about the independent study opportunity, including the list of those courses in conjunction with which it may be taken, contact any of the members of the Steering Committee, Professors Baldwin-Ragaven, Elahi, Niemann, O Connell and Raskin.

.5 credit; permission of instructor required.

Tu 4 Introduction to the Seminar

Th 6 How Does Learning Occur?

Tu 11 Education and Development

Th 13 Learning and Understanding

Tu 18 Human Adaptation

Th 20 Genetics and Environment

Tu 25 Culture

Th 27 Culture and Cognition

Assignment: Tomasello, Chapters 1-3 and 7.

Tu 2 The Rational Mind

Th 4 The Non-Rational Mind

Assignment: Bransford, How People Learn.

Th 11 Choice and Responsibility

Tu 16 Symbolization and Meaning

Th 18 The Self—Liberation from the Self

Tu 23 Social Institutions

Assignment: Readings: Stanton, "The Solitude of Self" and Berger, "Society."

Due: Topic Paper #3

Th 25 Family

Tu 30 Religion

Th 1 Politics

Assignment: Readings: Plato, "Crito" and Thoreau, from Civil Disobedience. Kuzyk, "Politics."

Tu 6 Economics

Th 8 Race and Social Equity

Tu 13 Gender and Social Class

Th 15 Humans as Artists

Tu 20 Humans as Scientists

Tu 27 Ecology and Technology

Th 29 The Future and The Human Experience

Tu 4 Readers Theater

Assignment: Reading: Hansberry, "Les Blancs"

Due: Topic Paper #5

Th 6 Discussion of "Les Blancs"

Assignment: Reading: Hansberry, A Critical Background and Postscript to "Les Blancs."