Becoming Ourselves: The Process of Developing Identities

Seminar 185-01

Fall 2015

Meeting Location: ULC 302

Meeting Times:11:50am-1:05pm

:

Instructor: Patrick Ahern

Email:

Office: Humphrey House 202

Office Hours: MW 1:15pm-2:15pm (and by appointment)

Western philosophy famously set the task of philosophical thought in the dictum to “know thyself.” While this would appear at first blush to be the simplest of all tasks (for what could we possibly know better than ourselves?), it turns out to be a task wrought with challenges as self-reflection often serves as the “blind spot” of our knowledge of ourselves, and the world that we inhabit. To what extent do we define ourselves and to what extent is our identity a product of how others define us? We will look to a variety of readings in the history of philosophy that address the central issues that inform who we are, such as our conceptions of what friendship is (Aristotle/ Cicero), what love is (Plato/ Socrates), how we order and define our values (Nietzsche), and more. Then, we will look to the ways in which our identities are formed socially, turning to theories of class, race, gender, and sexuality that express the multi-faceted ways that our self-definition confronts the society in which we live.

Course Overview:

The purpose of all first-year seminars is to allow you to develop your reading, writing, and research proficiency to an initial level that will pave the way to more advanced collegiate work. We will use this examination of personal and social identities to hone your abilities as a careful reader and a critical thinker. The course will be treated as a collaborative effort to sharpen your skills in researching and writing as well. We will be looking at writing as a process and will be engaged in many various assignments and projects that will culminate in your papers. However, in this course the process of writing will just as important as the final product in the submitted papers. You will participate in this seminar in conjunction with the “Beyond Google” workshop and the First-Year Forums as a part of the first year experience at Kalamazoo College.

Since this course is seen as a collaborative effort, our abilities to reflect on questions and issues of identity will be accomplished through discussion. Rather than passively reading or listening to a lecture on the topics that arise in the course materials, we will work together in discussion to develop our critical reflections on the issues that arise.

Course Goals:

This course will help you attain:

  • The habit of close reading and critical thinking
  • Writing proficiency
  • Intercultural proficiency
  • Oral communication proficiency, focused on effective discussion
  • Information literacy

Writing Competencies:

The First-Year Seminar faculty has developed these goals for first-tier of writing proficiency, to help prepare students for writing in discipline-specific courses in the major, and for the SIP. We hope that every first-year student will develop competency in these areas:

Achieving clarity through revision

  • stating and developing a thesis
  • writing coherent sentences and well-developed paragraphs
  • using correct grammar and mechanics
  • being conscious of overall structure and impact
  • becoming proficient at editing and proof reading
  • writing frequently to gain fluency
  • expressing ideas directly and economically

Constructing an argument using evidence

  • understanding the difference between opinion, argument, and evidence, and becoming aware of which of the three serves the writing project at hand
  • synthesizing others’ ideas with one’s own
  • using sources to support ideas and positions
  • using quoted materials effectively and correctly

Gaining experience in research strategies

  • citing sources correctly
  • understanding synthesis, paraphrase, and plagiarism
  • becoming aware of style guides; learning to use one correctly
  • distinguishing between authoritative and inappropriate sources for college-level research

Cultivating an authentic and versatile style of written communication

  • discovering one’s own way into material
  • making deliberate choices about structure, style, and voice, with a distinct awareness of audience, context and impact
  • writing in a natural, straightforward style
  • demonstrating or developing authenticity and ownership of the work

-Revised by the First-Year Seminar faculty, fall 2008

As we practice these skills, we’ll talk about how we can use them to communicate effectively in a world of loud and divergent voices. We’ll explore strategies for finding, understanding, and responding to source material; using writing as a tool for inquiry and discovery; and evaluating writing situations to determine which writing techniques are mostly likely to reach our audiences and achieve our goals.

Required Texts:

Aristotle, Nichomachean Ethics

Plato, Plato’s Erotic Dialogues: The Symposium and the Phaedrus, translated by

William S. Cobb, SUNY Press

Friedrich Nietzsche, On the Genealogy of Morality, Cambridge University Press

W.E.B. Dubois, The Souls of Black Folk, Dover

Identities: Race, Class, Gender, and Nationality, edited by Linda Martin Alcoff and

Eduardo Mendieta, Blackwell Publishing

(Other texts and materials will be provided or made available on-line)

Recommended Texts:

Strunk, W. and E.B. White.The Elements of Style

Barbara Tatum, Why are All of the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?

Course Requirements and Grading:

Attendance and Participation: Philosophy is an activity even more than a body of knowledge and active participation is central to successful completion of the course. As a collaborative effort, it is imperative that you not only attend class, but that you come to class prepared to engage in discussion. For some this may mean spending extra time in your preparation so that you will be prepared to bring up or address topics that may arise in the discussion for that day. You are entitled to two absences before your grade will be reduced by one grade level (A to A-, B+ to B, etc.).

Reading: It is crucial that you complete the readings prior to class on the assigned day and that you have given the text careful consideration prior to coming to class. Many of the readings will be quite challenging and since it will take more than one reading of the texts to familiarize yourself with the ideas presented, it is strongly advisable that you complete the readings several days before they are assigned to provide for adequate time to revisit challenging aspects of the reading. While it is essential that you give your best effort to understanding the reading, the class will be seen as a collaborative effort to explore the issues raised in the text so you should not be discouraged if the reading is not completely clear to you prior to our class discussion. Of course, I am available to meet with you if you struggle with any of the readings.

Journal: You will be expected to keep a journal that reflects upon the readings and discussion in the course. You should have an entry of at least two pages into your journal for each class meeting, reflecting upon the materials and issues that are to be discussed in class that day. Journal entries should be seen as an opportunity to become playful with your thoughts and reflections.Each entry should include at least two points of inquiry or criticism that you would like to address for further discussion. Journals should be brought to class and will be periodically collected. Late journal assignments will not be accepted.

Short Response Papers and Peer Reviews: You will be required to write two short papers (three pages typed) reflecting on the readings and course materials. These assignments will be designed to allow you to organize your thoughts and to develop your ability to present a thesis-driven essay. Each of these essays will be followed by a peer-review session where you will engage and evaluate your peer’s writing. These sessions serve the purpose of thinking critically about one’s own writing and the writing of others, and will be seen as a cooperative and affirming practice in the process of improving both the organization and expression of your thoughts. The grading for this assignment will arise from not only your writing but also the quality and engagement in the peer review session. At least one of these responses will incorporate a form of media (film, music, literature, etc.) to accompany the appropriate reading. Details of what makes a quality essay and peer review will be addressed in class. I will be available for anyone who may need help in any of your writing assignments. I will strongly encourage you to take advantage of this extra assistance and also advise you to take advantage of the writing center as a resource to continually improve the quality of your writing.

“Beyond Google”: As with other first-year seminars, we will be participating in “Beyond Google,” a workshop intended to help you develop you skills of researching as an independent scholar. You will formulate a research question and will develop an understanding of both why research is important and how to do research. You will be able to apply these skills in the final research paper.

Research Paper: This longer paper (six to eight pages) will require that you formulate a research topic and do adequate research on the chosen topic. We will spend time in class formulating your research topic in a workshop form. The grade on your research will be an aggregate of your completion of the various stages of developing, drafting and editing this paper. You will be required to meet with me on at least one occasion to discuss your research project. More details will be provided in class.

Introductions to Class Discussion: You will be expected to introduce class discussion, along with a partner, on at least one occasion. You will be expected to briefly evaluate what issues or problems compelled the writer to write the reading(s) we are covering in class that day, and present an account of how they responded to that problem. You will offer an evaluation of the claims, arguments, etc. made in the day’s reading. Also, you will come to class with several questions inspired by the readings for class discussion. To be clear, you are not expected to have a definitive reading or expertise to lead the class discussion. You will simply be expected to help draw the class into the questions that compel a writer and a preliminary sketch of the manner in which they ask or address those questions. In some cases, it can even be more valuable to point out the specific moments in a text that you found particularly puzzling or challenging for the class to tackle as a group. Along with introducing the discussion, you will provide each student in the class a one-page typed guide that will assist in your presentation of the material.

First-Year Forums: First-Year Forums are intended to help entering K students continue their academic and personal growth. They are interactive and involving, intentionally developmental, focused on learning, and built on aspects of the K-Plan.

The 2015 Forums fall into six groups.

  • Group 1: Independent Scholarship and Academic Success
  • Group 2: Global Perspectives and Intercultural Understanding
  • Group 3: Social Justice and Diversity
  • Group 4: Career and Professional Development
  • Group 5: Service-Learning and Community Involvement
  • Group 6: Personal Decision-Making and Habits

All first-year students are required to attend one First-Year Forum in five of the six groups. You may attend more. If you attend fewer than five Forums, two points for each Forum missed will be deducted from your final Seminar grade.

Grade Breakdown:

Participation: 10%

Journal: 10%

Short Response Papers and Peer Reviews: 30% (10% each)

“Beyond Google”: 10%

Research Paper: 30%

Introduction to Class Discussion: 10%

First-Year Forums: (See above)

Class Guidelines: The most important rule that will be followed is to be respectful to your peers. We will be addressing topics that can be quite controversial and for many difficult to discuss. I am committed to maintaining an atmosphere that is welcoming of difference in opinions and fosters the possibility of challenging our long held beliefs. Such an environment is not only required by decency, it is also the only way that philosophical reflection can be accomplished. I will be very quick to stop any demeaning or dismissive behavior. If you or anyone else does not feel that the environment in the class is not supportive of the diverse expression of ideas, please bring it to my attention. Being respectful of your peers also means that you may not have cell phones out in class and computers will only be allowed with prior notice.

Honor Code: This course operates under the College Honor System. That means: we treat each other with respect, we nurture independent thought, we take responsibility for personal behavior, and we accept environmental responsibility. Academic honesty is a critical part of our value system at K. When you borrow an idea, express the idea in your own words, thus thinking it through and making it your own, and acknowledge the source of the idea in a note, or, in certain situations, use the exact words of the source in quotation marks and acknowledge with a note. Ideas raised in class are part of the public domain and, therefore, sources of the ideas need not be acknowledged. If you are ever in doubt about this, you must ask. For the full policy, see

Disabilities:If you have a disability requiring special accommodations, please let me know as soon as possible so that the necessary arrangements can be made.

Final Note:I view this class as a collaborative effort where as a group we will be engaging with these thinkers and texts. To that end, I encourage feedback from you regarding anything in the class that you find most or least helpful to your understanding or interest in the material. While I am aware that many of the ideas in the class will be challenging, it is my hope that the classroom atmosphere will be conducive to lively discussion and encourage you to take risks in your own thinking. You may even surprise yourself!

Date / Reading / Assignment
Orientation Week: September 9 / Introduction, Syllabus
September 11 / “Borges and I”(provided in class); / Written reflection on identity
Week One:
September 14 / Read Plato “Lysis”
September 16 / Read Aristotle, Nichomachean Ethics, Book VIII
September 18 / Aristotle (continued)
Week Two:
September 21 / Read Aristotle, Nichomachean Ethics, Book IX
September 23 / Aristotle (continued)
September 25 / Read Cicero “On Friendship” / First response paper/ peer review session
Week Three:
September 28 / Read Plato Symposium
September 30 / Plato (continued)
October 2 / Plato (continued)
Week Four:
October 5 / Read Friedrich Nietzsche, On the Geneology of Morality, Essay One
October 7 / Read Friedrich Nietzsche, On the Geneology of Morality, Essay Two;
October 9 / Nietzsche (continued)
Week Five:
October 12 / “Beyond Google” workshop
October 14 / Read Friedrich Nietzsche, On the Geneology of Morality Essay Three, #1,2,5,6,11,12,13 / Second Response Paper due/ peer review session
October 16 / Fall Break
Week Six:
October 19 / Read: From Identities, Read G.W.F. Hegel “Independence and Dependence of Self-Consciousness”
October 20 / Read: From Identities, Read George Herbert Mead, “The Self”
October 21 / Read: W.E.B. DuBois, The Souls of Black Folk (Excerpt)
Week Seven:
October 26 / Research paper workshop; FromIdentities, read Franz Fanon, “The Fact of Blackness”
October 28 / From Identities, read Cheryl Harris, “Whiteness as Property”
October 30 / Reflect and discuss viewing of the film “Roots”
Week Eight:
November 2 / From Identities, Read Georg Lukacs, “Class Consciousness”
November 4 / From Identities, read Simone De Beauvoir, The Second Sex, “Introduction”
November 6 / From Identities, read Monique Wittig, “One is Not Born a Woman”
Week Nine:
November 9 / From Identities, read Iris Marion Young, “Throwing Like a Girl”
November 11 / From Identities, read John Boswell “Revolutions, Universals, and Sexual Categories
November 13 / Reflect and discuss viewing of “Paris is Burning”; Research paper draft due
Week Ten:
November 16 / From Identities, read R. Radhakrishnan, “Postcoloniality and Boundaries of Identity”
November 18 / Discuss research papers
November 20 / Reflections on the identity/ course readings
Finals Week:
November 24 / Final draft of research paper and self-assessment due