CIE-200.

DD
Common Intellectual Experience 2
Spring 2010 Instructor: Nathan Rein
MWF 11-12 Office hours: M 1:30-3pm, Tue 10 am-12 noon, and by appt.
Fetterolf 110 Olin 211, x. 2571, nrein@ursinus.edu

Course description and goals

Every liberally educated student should confront three questions that form the
foundation of a liberal arts education:

• What does it mean to be human?

• How should we live our lives?
• What is the universe and how do we fit into it?

These questions get to the heart of a liberal arts education because they engage
students and faculty in conversations about the fundamentals of human experience.
Together, we will explore some of the diverse and conflicting responses to these
questions expressed in the most thoughtful literature, music, and art throughout
history. The Common Intellectual Experience is designed to facilitate this
experience. Every First-Year student will study the same set of readings so that each
will be able to discuss and debate these important ideas beyond the walls of the
classroom. In this way each of you will become a participating member of our
intellectual community.

This course is also focused on the cultivation of the skills associated with liberal
education, in particular:
• critical thinking;
• analytical and attentive reading;
• clear, effective writing and speaking; and
• respectful engagement in discussion.

You must do the readings and assignments and learn from them; but just as large a
part of the learning you should do in this course will come out of the cooperative
work you do in this room—thinking, expressing yourself, and listening to your
classmates. At a liberal arts college, we are all engaged in a collective enterprise; we
work together at the project of furthering learning and building a better world. This
course is a symbol of the enterprise you've joined as a new student here at Ursinus:
ultimately, it will succeed or fail based on your efforts.

By now, this all sounds familiar. You're a veteran. This semester will pick up where
Descartes and Galileo left off, and will take us forward to the present day.

Attendance and preparation

This course is conducted through discussion of the assigned readings in class.
Therefore, it is essential that you read the assigned texts carefully prior to class so
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that you are ready to participate in the discussion. You also have to be here.
Remember: this course is about discussion, and you are graded on your
participation—and to participate, you have to be present. Each missed class will
lower your participation grade.

Assignments and grading

You will write four formal papers during the semester. Each will undergo at least
one revision following review of the first draft, either by the section's writing fellow,
or by your classmates. All sections will have a common due date for the first draft of
each paper (give or take one day), but due dates of subsequent drafts will vary. The
due date for the final draft will be determined as the semester progresses. Paper
assignments will be handed out in the week before the due date. Each paper should
be 1200-1500 words long and will count for 15% of your total grade.

The remaining 40% of your grade will reflect your in-class participation; this will
include a certain amount of informal writing (in-class quizzes, discussion-
preparation notes, peer reviews of your classmates' papers, and similar short
assignments; worth 10% of the final grade), most of which will not be graded (but
which is required).

Reading list
The following books have been ordered for purchase and are available on reserve in
Myrin Library. IMPORTANT: Please be sure to have your reading with you at every
class meeting.
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, by Harriet Jacobs
English Romantic Poetry: An Anthology, ed. S. Applebaum
Communist Manifesto, by Karl Marx and Frederick Engels
On the Genealogy of Morals, by Friedrich Nietzsche
The River Between, by Ngugi wa Thiong'o
The Drowned and Saved, by Primo Levi
Happiness: The Science behind Your Smile, by Daniel Nettle
Other readings are in the CIE 2 reader, which will be provided by yours truly.

The fine print

HOW TO CONTACT ME: You should feel free to contact me by email or phone at any time.
Unless things are really crazy, I should respond within 48 hours. You can also phone
me at home if it's before, say, 10:00 p.m. (610-933-4686). If that's not good enough,
try IMing me via AIM; my screen name is nathanrein. I'm on Facebook, and you can
add me to your friends list if you like to say in touch that way. And finally, I am
usually in my office, though it's always a good idea to call or email in advance and
make an appointment.
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WRITTEN WORK: Rule 1. All written work must be submitted in order to receive a
passing grade for the class. This means that if the end of the semester comes and I
don't have one of your papers, you will receive an F for the course. If you don't hand
something in, I'll assume that's your decision and I won't bother you about it. This
semester, I'm going to ask that every paper be submitted via email. Rule 2. Late
papers will be penalized by one grade-step (from B+ to B, etc.) for each day they are
late, unless you have arranged with me for an extension well in advance of the due
date. If you need an extension, talk to me about it — life is complicated — and we
can probably work something out. Rule 3. Informal writing will never be accepted
late. Rule 4. Follow the formatting guidelines that I give you. All written work must
include both page numbers and a word count in the upper right corner of the first
page. Staple it or I'll throw it out. This sounds crazy, I know, but I'm not kidding.

ATTENDANCE: Attendance at every class meeting is expected. Missing class shows

disrespect for your classmates and professor and for the collective enterprise of the
class. As per Ursinus College's stated policy, no distinction will be made between
excused and unexcused absences. Missing two class meetings may result in the
issuance of an academic warning slip. Missing more than four meetings may result
in a failing grade for the course. Congratulations for reading this; the first person to
send an email to nrein@ursinus.edu containing the words "gimme gimme" will
receive extra credit. In general, absenteeism will harm your participation grade. If
you miss several classes in a row, I will call Residence Life, and someone will find
you and make you talk about your feelings.

ACADEMIC HONESTY: Plagiarism is a serious offence. In written work, all quotations

must be properly attributed and appear in quotation marks. But at least as
importantly, any time you are drawing on someone else's work you MUST cite it! This
includes paraphrases, summaries, or any time you make use of an idea that's not
your own. It also includes help you receive from other people -- it's fine to talk about
your work with others, but if they actually write any of it for you, that's plagiarism
too. Any violation of these principles is plagiarism and can result in one or both of
the following: (1) a failing grade for the course or (2) College-level disciplinary
action, including expulsion. If you have questions about the proper use of sources,
please don't hesitate to contact me. Either parenthetical citations or footnotes are
appropriate. You are better off handing in nothing at all than handing in a
plagiarized paper. Even if the paper's due tomorrow and you're desperate, don't
plagiarize. I will catch it, and it will ruin your semester, guaranteed. Instead, call me
or email me and we can work something out.

INCLEMENT WEATHER: In the event that class must be cancelled due to inclement
weather, an announcement to that effect will be recorded on my office answering
machine (call x2571).
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Schedule of readings, assignments, and out-of-class events

The symbol indicates that the text is in the CIE 2 reader. This symbol means
that the text is in one of the books you bought. Please note the dates and times of
due dates and out-of-class events as listed. Attendance at out-of-class events is
mandatory. All of them begin at seven p.m. and last between an hour and ninety
minutes.

Liberalism
M 1/18 Discussion of winter reading
Jefferson, "Letter to Weightman"
The Declaration of Independence
Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech
M 1/18
EVENING EVENT: MLK DOCUMENTARY
7 P.M., OLIN AUDITORIUM
W 1/20
F 1/22
M 1/25 Locke, Second Treatise
Smith, Wealth of Nations
W 1/27
F 1/29

Debate about the Declaration

M 2/1 The Southern Position on Slavery (Calhoun, Taney, Stephens)
Lincoln, "Springfield Address" and "Second Inaugural"
Douglass, "What the Fourth of July Means to the Negro"
"Seneca Falls Statement"
Elizabeth Cady Stanton, "Address to the Legislature of New York"
Truth, "Ain't I A Woman?"
W 2/3
F 2/5
F 2/5
FIRST DRAFT OF FIRST PAPER DUE

M 2/8
W 2/10

Romantic Poetry
F 2/12 Blake, "London," "Proverbs of Hell"
Shelley, "Song to the Men of England," "England in 1819"
Wordsworth, "The World is Too Much With Us," "Lines Composed
Above Tintern Abbey,""Composed upon Westminster Bridge, Sept.
3, 1802"
M 2/15
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W 2/17

Marx
F 2/19 Marx and Engels, The Communist Manifesto, "Preface to the German
Edition," Chapters I, II, and IV
M 2/22
W 2/24
F 2/26

Darwin
M 3/1 Paley, "Natural Theology"
Darwin, On the Origin of Species, selections
Darwin and his critics on "What It Means to be Human"
Arnold, "Dover Beach"
"Genetic Ties may be Factor in Violence in Stepfamilies"

M 3/1
EVENING EVENT: ETERNAL ENEMIES (FILM)
7 P.M., OLIN AUDITORIUM
W 3/3
F 3/5 F 3/5
FIRST DRAFT OF SECOND PAPER DUE
3/8-12
SPRING BREAK
M 3/15 Pearson, "Imperialism Justified by Nature"
W 3/17 W 3/17
EVENING EVENT: AFRICAN DANCE AND MUSIC
7 P.M., LENFEST

Ngugi
F 3/19 Ngugi, The River Between
M 3/22
W 3/24

Nietzsche
F 3/26 Nietzsche, On the Genealogy of Morals, Preface and Part One
M 3/29
W 3/31
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Rite of Spring, Nijinsky

W 3/31
EVENING EVENT: RITE OF SPRING
7 P.M., BOMBERGER
F 4/2 Hodson, Nijinsky's Crime Against Grace (preface)
Acocella, "Imagining Dance"
Preston-Dunlop, "Looking at Dances: A Choreological Perspective
on Choreography"
F 4/2
FIRST DRAFT OF THIRD PAPER DUE
M 4/5
W 4/7 W 4/7
EVENING EVENT: LAST DAYS (FILM)
7 P.M., OLIN AUDITORIUM

The Holocaust
F 4/9 Hitler, Mein Kampf, selections
Browning, "One Day in Jozefow"
Levi, The Drowned and the Saved, selections t.b.a.

M 4/12 TU 4/13
EVENING EVENT: ISMAR SCHORSCH, "GERMANY CONFRONTS ITS PAST" (LECTURE)
7 P.M., LENFEST
W 4/14
F 4/16

Happiness
M 4/19 Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, selections
Nettle, Happiness: The Science Behind Your Smile
W 4/21
F 4/23
M 4/26 M 4/26
EVENING EVENT: STUDENT PERFORMANCES
7 P.M., BOMBERGER
W 4/28
F 4/30
M 5/3 M 5/3
FIRST DRAFT OF FOURTH PAPER DUE