UPDATED 9/4/06
"Only connect! . . .Live in fragments no longer.Ó E. M. Forster, Howards End (1910), ch. 22
ÔOne day when I was twenty-three or twenty-four this sentence seemed to form in my head, without my willing it, much as sentences form when we are half-asleep, ÔHammer your thoughts into unityÕ. For days I could think of nothing else and for years I tested all I did by that sentence [...]Ó William Butler Yeats (cited in Frank Tuohy, Yeats <, 1976, p.51 )
Explore U.T.
FS301, FALL 06, Jerome Bump,
37700 S.W.C.*
Instructor: Bump; <mailto:bump@mail.utexas.edu>; Office: PAR 132 Office phone: 471-8747
Computer-Assisted Instruction**Substantial Writing Component*
4-6 Parlin 104; office hours: Tu. 9:45-10:45, 6:15-6:45 PM TH 9:45-10:45, 3:15-3:45 and by appointment.
VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION :
*SWC: All students are required to pass at least two substantial writing component courses to graduate from U.T. All Freshman Seminars are substantial writing component courses. " To be certified as a substantial writing component (SWC) course, the following criteria must be met: 1 The course must include at least three writing assignments per semester, exclusive of exams and quizzes. 2 The three or more writing assignments must total approximately 16 typewritten, double-spaced pages (about 4,000 words.) 3 A major rewriting of an assignment that requires additional original writing and not merely editing can be considered a separate assignment. 4. Students must receive timely and detailed critique following each writing assignment concerning the quality of their writing and suggestions for improvement. 5 The performance on the writing assignments must be an important component of the studentÕs course grade." (http://www.utexas.edu/provost/policies/writing/)
Only two of these courses need be passed in your U. T. career. So it may not be a good idea to take one your first semester if writing is not your strong suit. In the first semester, many students make the mistake of studying like they did in high school and/or trying to do too many extracurricular activities, with the result that they fail out of U.T. or start off in a big hole. This is especially true if they take a substantial writing component course in that first semester without realizing all the work involved. For example, I only know one student, a valedictorian of Strake Jesuit, who was able to both join a fraternity and do well in a SWC course in his first semester. All the others in that situation I have known have had to choose between the two.
**Computer-Assisted Instruction. Because two of the "Five Characteristics of a Successful Student at U.T." are "Good computer skills" and "Strong writing skills" this course emphasizes minimal computer literacy as well as writing ability. Hence, even if you are good at writing, if you have trouble with computers this course may not be for you. You will be required to use U.T.'s Blackboard software to receive and send email several times a week, to post and reply to discussions and projects on its Discussion Boards, and to convert your writing documents into hypertext, multimedia projects and upload them to U.T.'s Webspace system. Students will burn the final versions of their projects on CDs and the instructor will then upload those versions to the class website. Other courses will also require the use of Blackboard and perhaps Webspace, but this course provides another option.We will introduce you to Virtual Worlds of U.T. and Oxford to explore the college experience. This virtual world is a MOO (a multi-user, object-oriented environment) which evolved from the old Dungeons and Dragons text-based adventure games. Some students may choose to make their projects part of this virtual world, by writing about places in it and/or creating "bots" (robots), characters who seem to be able to carry on a conversation with a visitor to the virtual world.
ÒLarger universities must find ways to find ways to create a sense of place and to help students develop small communities within the larger whole.Ó CarnegieÕs Reinventing Undergraduate Education: A Blueprint for AmericaÕs Research Universities (http://notes.cc.sunysb.edu/Pres/boyer.nsf)
Course Description. We will use the MOO, the internet, and informal writing, to develop a sense of this state, this town, and especially this university, as your place, your Alma Mater (nurturing mother). We will focus on the physical environments of the university, especially the older buildings and various nature sites on campus and in the vicinity. Classes will be held at different campus buildings and at Waller Creek; the Biology Ponds; J. Frank Dobie's house and related statues of horses and cattle along San Jacinto Street; related exhibits at the Story of Texas Museum; and the Blanton art museum. Off campus, we will explore the Japanese garden at Zilker Park, the state Capitol building, and St. MaryÕs cathedral downtown (third-hour credit*** will be given for these excursions). As you explore Òyour place,Ó you will write answers to basic questions about your self and your environments, such as "why am I here?"; Òwhat is this?Ó Òwhere did it come from?Ó and Òwhy is it here?Ó We will discover that objects around us are palimpsests with layers of meaning we can trace through time back to various eras and places. Locating ourselves in this continuum of time, we will begin to develop personal and leadership visions to inspire us during our college years and beyond. Creating these visions will be formal writing assignments.
***Third-hour requirements.ÒStudents in seminars meeting two hours per week will be required to attend fifteen hours of third-hour events. All students in the Freshman Seminars Program, even those whose classes meet for three hours per week, must attend the following third-hour activities: a library workshop and a session on time management presented by a staff member from the Learning Skills Center. The latter requirement is met in this class by turning in your TM materials.
You should consult the third-hour web site throughout the semester since activities will be added and/or updated. The library workshops will take place at different hours during the semester, but it is advisable to begin attending the sessions as early as possible, since they will not continue during the entire semester. In the case of some activities, for example, the art museum tours, only a limited number of students may attend any one session, so that it will be necessary for you to sign up in advance."
THIRD-HOUR REQUIREMENTS AND OPPORTUNITIES
Readings: The fossils in Waller Creek and the Texas Memorial Museum will introduce readings about the debate between evolution and a spiritual approach to nature. We will see the Littlefield House and other buildings through the lens of Ruskin's "The Nature of Gothic" and related writings. However, we will begin with the questions ÒWho am I?Ó and ÒWhat am I doing here?Ó Hence we start with accounts of the purposes of universities; traditional leaders such as Martin Luther King, Gandhi, Jesus, and U. T. leaders.
Grades. The final grade (1000 points) will be determined as follows: 50% by multimedia projects (150 points each for two projects, and 100 points each for two revisions), 10% by the final portfolio of all your writing (100 points); 24% by informal writing (240 points); 5 % by third-hour activities (52 points); and 11% by class participation (14 X 8 = 112). Points will be reduced for each class day assignments are late. Grades are not negotiable: students will receive exactly the grade recorded in the online gradebook, even if it is one point short of the next higher grade. 900 points are required for an A-; 800 for a B-; 700 for a C-; 600 for a D-.
Formal Writing. All students will create two multimedia writing projects on the web, of at least five to seven pages each. The first is a personal vision, helping you discover what you value the most, what you feel most passionate about. The second, building on the first, includes potrtaits of role models and concludes with a vision of yourself as a leader. Most initial comments on the projects will be made in Blackboard Discussion format by the other students, with the instructor then focusing on polishing subsequent hard copies for word choice, punctuation, etc. Students will burn the final versions of their projects on CDs and the instructor will then upload those versions to the class website.
Rewriting (the secret of almost all great writing) and preparing almost perfect final drafts will be stressed. For these activities, good time managment is crucial. It will be rewarded and procrastination heavily penalized.
Another basic principle of this course is reading. The first test of reading throughout the course will be the ability to read directions and suggestions for assignments, and especially the ability to search through details and Òread the fine print,Ó as they say.
Informal Writing includes comments on assignments posted in Blackboard Discussion Boards, in-class exercises and brief essay to help you become aware of your learning and writing styles and their limitations.
Class participation consists of showing up in class on time with the right books, having read the material assigned for that day, and being prepared to talk about it. It is important to share in class: one of the goals of the course is better spoken as well as written communication, and learning to listen when others are speaking.
Portfolio. The final portfolio consists of clean copies of your essays (no highlighting, corrections, or extraneous comments), your third-hour reports, learning record, other informal writing, and any other relevant materials. It can be electronic or physical.
Texts: The course anthology, an absolutely essential collection of xeroxed materials to be purchased from Jenn's, 2000 Guadalupe (basement of the ÒChurch of ScientologyÓ at 22nd, 473-8669) must be brought to class the first day. The other required book is The Little Penguin Handbook by Lester Faigley (Longman). (You must buy this book as my corrections on your essays will be based on its code and you will not understand them otherwise).
Fees: As much as $12.50 may be required for the Story of Texas museum.
Computer literacy required. Students should be familiar with keyboarding, operating systems, word processing, electronic mail, and web-browsing. Students will be expected to check their email frequently (maintaining the correct email address in the U.T. Direct system) along with the course Discussion Boards and Online Gradebook. Students are encouraged to download pictures from our class web site and use multimedia to fulfill all the writing requirements and ultimately collect everything on one portfolio web site. Even if a relatively traditional essay format is chosen for projects, pictures must be scanned into the text, if need be, and text wrapped around them, if possible. On the other hand, traditional essay Microsoft Word essays are easily converted into web pages by using the "Save as Web Page" option.
HTML. If students are going to do advanced web projects, going beyond Word conversions, they must have or acquire basic HTML skills on their own in the first month. Website project students should expect to spend a considerable amount of time outside of class, sitting in front of a computer, and may thus find it useful to attend some of the free classes and workshops on various technical topics offered by ACITS, TeamWeb, or the General Libraries. See these two sites: http://www.utexas.edu/computer/classes/ http://www.utexas.edu/cc/training/handouts/tutorials.html#internet
About the Professor: Jerome Bump was awarded the Jeanne Holloway Award for undergraduate teaching, the Dad's Association Centennial Teaching Fellowship for instructing Freshmen, the Rhodes Centennial Teaching Fellowship for directing the Computer Writing and Research Laboratory (devoted primarily to lower division instruction), and chosen as a Mortor Board Preferred Professor. He is the author of Gerard Manley Hopkins and many essays and reviews. At the moment he particularly interested in writing about nature and architecture, especially gargoyles. For more information about his teaching philosophy see http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu/~bump/
