Fall, 2002
James J. Dillon, Ph.D.
 

Course Description
     Welcome to college!!  I am very happy that all of you are here and I look forward to getting to know each and every one of you better as the year goes on.  As you sit here now, I encourage you to think about the decisions that are facing you in the next few years.  What comes to mind?  Do some have to do with your major?  Do some concern what types of friends you want to spend time with?  Are you wondering whether you will get married or what you might want in a girlfriend or boyfriend?  Are you wondering about how you will do in college, whether you will make it?  What are some of the other decisions that come to mind?
     What we will be doing over the course of the semester is talking with each other in depth about these issues.  What I hope you will come away with at the end of the semester is a firmer sense of the kind of person you are, your strengths and weaknesses, likes and dislikes.  Particularly, I hope you will develop an effective way of making the major decisions that came to mind in the paragraph above.  I hope to help you develop this method for yourself.  I am confident that together we can all help each other to have a really good year.
 

Course Format and Your Role
     This course will be a mixture of seminar, lecture, class discussions, and group problem-solving activities.  About half of the classes are what we call “seminar.”  In seminar, you the students take responsibility for learning in the class.  Seminars are “student-centered.”  There is no preparation for these classes.  They are times where I am part of the group with all of you rather than being the “teacher.”  These classes are designed to help you express yourselves verbally, listen actively to each other, respond to great texts, use evidence to support and opinion, and consider, respectfully, yet critically the opinions of others.
     The other half of the course is comprised of more traditional “teacher-centered” classes.  Here, I will talk a bit about a topic and maybe give a group assignment.  I might then lead a group discussion.  There will be preparation for these classes.  Your performance in the teacher-centered classes will be optimal if you prepare for class by doing assigned readings, come to class, and have at least one question on your mind before you sit down for a lecture.
     A helpful rule of thumb for this class is that for each hour of class time, you should be doing 2 hours of reading and study.  That translates into 4 hours per week of homework for this class, and 30 hours of homework for all of your classes combined.  With the time you spend in your other classes, your combined class and study time adds up to a full-time job (45 hours per week).  I think it is helpful to think of your school work AS your full-time job.  School should be your primary focus while you are at college.  Your job, sports, hobbies should be second.  Students who do well in college treat their course work as their very first priority.
 

Readings
     We will be reading several original texts in this course.  Our first book is The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger.  Our next book is The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky.  We will then read Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer.  I think these books are very readable and informative, but many of the terms and concepts in them might be confusing to you.  This is your class, so do not hesitate to ask me in class for clarification.  The only stupid question is a question not asked!!
 

Course Objectives

     Psychological Objectives
1.  To create a supportive and nurturing learning environment.
2.  To have a greater understanding of your self, the way your past affects your present, how you have grown, and how you would like to grow, e.g., your goals, preferences, desires, hopes and dreams for your future.
3.  To develop the ability to reflect on and articulate group dynamics and acquire the skills of practicing democracy in the classroom.
 Social Objectives
4.  To learn to learn from both teacher and peers, to listen actively to others, and to consider respectfully and critically the opinions of others.
5.  To increase your ability to make ethical decisions outside of the classroom.
6.  To encourage a sense of civic responsibility, particularly in regard to service to the community and political participation.
 Academic Objectives
7.  To make learning exciting and enjoyable, and to develop learning skills you can use on your own, without a teacher for the rest of life.
8.  To develop professional competence in the area of counseling and decision-making.
9.  To improve your critical thinking skills, especially creative problem-solving, evaluating theories and ideas, and “metacognition,” or the ability to think about your own thinking.
 

Grading
     Your grade will be based upon your performance on several assignments:
1.  We will be writing three take-home assignments on various aspects of the seminar process.  I will give the questions to you in class.  Your job is to answer them thoughtfully and hand them in by the assigned date.  All papers in the class need to be typed on 8 ½ by 11 inch paper, in 12-point font, with 1 inch margins all around.
2.  We will also be writing two take-home assignments on each of the three books we are reading.  With these assignments, it is important to use textual citations when appropriate and to give your own thoughts rather than try to figure out what the author thinks or what I think.  Speak your mind!!  I really encourage you to do this here.
3.  We will also be doing a final take-home exam where you will be joining together all of the material we have been working on over the semester.
4.  Given that I strongly believe that you learn not only from me, but from each other, it is very important that you show up to class.  When you are gone, it is like one of the teachers is out.  So I do “count” attendance.  Excusable absences are medical emergencies and deaths in the family.  The best way I have found to weight attendance is to subtract 5 points out of 100 for each class skipped.

Seminar Reflection Papers   15 pts.
Book Reflection Papers    60 pts.
Final Paper     25 pts.
 

Class Schedule

August

  19     Introductions

  21     What is Seminar?

  26     Seminar Discussion

  28     Seminar Discussion

September

  4     Salinger, Chapters 1-7
 
  9     Salinger, Chapters 8-14 (Take-home due Fri)

 11     Salinger, Chapters 15-20

 16     Salinger, Chapters 20-end (Take-home due Fri)

  18     Seminar Discussion

  23     Seminar Discussion

  25     Seminar Discussion

  30     Seminar Discussion (Take-home due Fri)

October

  2     Chbosky, pp. 2-39

  7     Chbosky, pp. 42-96 (Take-home due Fri)

  9     Chbosky, pp. 98-139

  14     Chbosky, pp. 142-213 (Take-home due Fri)

  16     Seminar Discussion

  21     Seminar Discussion

  23     Seminar Discussion (Take-home due Fri)

  28     Krakauer, pp. 3-69

  30     Krakauer, pp. 70-132 (Take-home due Fri)

 November

  4     Krakauer, pp. 133-203

  6     Thoreau Seminar Discussion (Take-home Fri)

  11     Seminar Discussion

  13     Seminar Discussion

  18     Seminar Discussion

  20     Seminar Discussion (Take-home due Fri)

December

  2     Seminar Discussion

  4     Conclusions/Review/Party