WELCOME

                                                                           TO                                                            

                                            TWENTIETH CENTURY HUMANITIES

                                                                         AND

                                                    THE RAT PACK HOMEPAGE

                                                                          OF

                                                                  RINGO STARR

                                                     WELCOME TO MY WORLD!

                                                                    "Learn everything; you will see afterwards that nothing is superfluous", Hugh of St. Victor (1096-1141).

1. Course Description: This Spring Session 2-2007 course will include a reconstruction of the diverse images of man which evolved before and after 1900. Were these images, which derived from both European and American sources, static or dynamic? Special emphasis will be given to those forms of optimism and despair which characterized the period before, during, and after World War I and II. Also, the course will focus on the evolution of American Idealism (1950's), the rise of the Counter Culture Movement (1960's), and the new forms of consciousness which emerged after 1970 as a result of the synthesis between East and West, formerly considered geographically separate and chronologically remote. See Valencia College Catalog, 2006-2007 for further information. 

2. Essential: (1) Careful reading of all assigned material before the class in which it will be discussed; (2) A readiness to participate in class dialogue; and (3) A genuine effort on writing assignments and the desire to improve your ability at communicating your insights through the written and spoken word.

3. Prerequisites: Students must have passed Composition I or its equivalent with a grade of "C" or better before enrolling in this course. 

4. Gordon Rule: Students will be required to demonstrate college-level writing skills through multiple assignments.

5. Course Requirements:

• Mid-Term Essay Examination (Monday, March 5 and Tuesday, March 6 ) and Final Essay Examination (Monday, April 23, 7:00 a.m.-9:30 a.m., Wednesday, April 25, 10:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m., and Thursday, April 26, 7 a.m.-9:30 a.m.): 25%. Each exam will require the student to write a total of approximately 800+/- words.
• Weekly Journal Entries: 15%. Each Journal Entry will require the student to write approximately 200+ words, and will be based on assigned reading, class dialogue, and/or literary/visual sources. Evaluations of your Journal Entries are based on a 10-point scale: 10-8=A, 7=B+, 6=B, 5=C+, 4=C, 3=D+, 2=D, 1-0=F.
• Final Research Paper (2,500+ words; Due: Monday, April 9 and Tuesday, April 10 ). Topic must be approved by the professor: 30%.
• Twentieth Century Humanities Project Demonstration and Narrative (1,500 words; Due: Wednesday, March 28 and Thursday, March 29): 20%.
• Class Attendance and Participation: 10%. See College Catalog, 2006-07, for Class Attendance and Participation Policy.          

6. Evaluation Criteria:

• Narrative Style: 15%
• Content: 50%
• Self-Expression: 35%

7. Grade Distribution Scale:

     A=100-90

     B=89-80

     C=79-60

     D=59-50

     F=49-00

8. Special Policies: (1) All reference to college policies and procedures are based on the 2006-2007 Valencia College Catalog; (2) All students are expected to arrive for class on time and to remain for the duration of the class unless exceptions have been granted by the consent of the professor based on a reasonable explanation; (3) All assigned work must be submitted on time. LATE WORK WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED; (4) The activation of pagers and cellular phones during class is prohibited. Your cooperation is respectfully requested; (5) Students are responsible for noting important dates related to the current session based on the official college calendar; (6) All examination dates and other changes in the course may be made at the discretion of the professor, usually in writing.

9. CLAST Skills: Florida Statutes and the rules of the State Board of Education require students to demonstrate proficiency in communication and computation. To assist students in preparing for the CLAST, this course will reinforce the following skills: (1) Reading, including literal and critical comprehension as well as essay skills; and (2) English Language, including word choice, sentence structure as well as grammar, spelling, capitalization, and punctuation skills. See the Valencia College Catalog, 2006-2007, for further information.

10. Valencia Student Core Competencies: This course will help students develop and refine the following core competencies which are essential to lifelong success: (1) Think; (2) Value; (3) Communicate; and (4) Act. Development of these competencies will enable students to set and assess learning goals across many disciplines of human inquiry. See the Valencia College Catalog, 2006-2007, for further information.

11. Professor Contact: Students are cordially invited to call or contact the professor at anytime based on the following important numbers and/or addresses: (1) Office: West Campus, 5-120; (2) Office Telephone Number: 1-407-299-5000, extension 1468 (includes voice mail) or 1300 for department secretary; and (3) Group Wise E-mail: jscolaro@valenciacollege.edu.

12. Students with Personal Needs: If you have special classroom needs related to your academic career at Valencia, please do not hesitate to let me know or contact the Office for Students with Disabilities, SSB-102.

                   TWENTIETH CENTURY HUMANITIES (HUM 2250): COURSE OUTLINE

UNIT I: PROLEGOMENA (i.e., PREFACE)

• What is Creativity?: Do We Really Know?
• Rollo May and the Courage to Create
• Alfred Adler and the Compensatory Theory of Creativity
• How Marcel Proust Can Change Your Life
• Igor Stravinsky and the Poetics of Music
• Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and the 'Cushy' Life of the West

UNIT II: THE HISTORY OF IDEAS

• Father Sky, Mother Earth: Nietzsche and the Politics of Power
• John A.T. Robinson: Atheism as a Form of Faith
• Aldous Huxley: Technology as Suicide
• Truth in the Form of Lies: Cezanne, Picasso, and Marinetti
• Einstein and the Tao of Physics
• The Harmony of the Whole: Frank Lloyd Wright and Organic Architecture
• The Harlem Renaissance and the Poetry of Soul

UNIT III: THE DECLINE OF PARADOX AND THE RISE OF SUBJECTIVITY

• T. S. Eliot and the Legacy of Human Conflict
• Kurt Weil and Bertolt Brecht: The Immortality of Poverty
• Dada and the Criticism of Technology
• From Hesse to Whitehead: On Reconciling the Paradox
• Le Corbusier and Varese: Liberation Technology
• Jean-Paul Sartre: From Essence to Existence

UNIT IV: THE MYTH OF OBJECTIVE CONSCIOUSNESS

• Music and the Audience as Participant
• American Art: Its Body and Soul
• Erich Fromm and the Absence of Love
• Paul Tillich and the Redefinition of Faith
• Joyce Carol Oates and the Loss of a Sense of Self

UNIT V: THE NEW ORIENTALISM AND THE FUTURE

• Marshall McLuhan: Is the Medium Really the Message?
• Arcosanti and the Transformation of 'House'
• DISIDERATA

Het Einde!