BIC 1212: EXAMINED LIFE I
FALL 2013/ TTh 2:00 pm
Large Group: Kayser Auditorium (Hankamer School of Business)
Small Group: (by Professor)
COURSE INFORMATION AND POLICIES
Welcome to BIC 1212: Examined Life I. The Examined Life is the theme of the whole BIC program. On trial for his life, Socrates declared, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” The crime Socrates was charged with: “corrupting the youth,” encouraging his students to think for themselves and to challenge the accepted ideas of their culture. The sentence was death. But Socrates thought death was preferable to a life of unthinking acceptance. He believed that human beings were created to wonder and learn about themselves, about the world around them, and about God. So we have adopted his words as the idea behind our approach to learning.
Education begins with us, with understanding ourselves, our strengths and limitations, and with living lives of balance. That is what BIC 1212 is all about—trying to help you start your college experience with an eye to balance, examining all the dimensions of life that the university experience will test and change. In the end, your education will depend on you—on what you do and don’t do, what you try and don’t try, how you live or refuse to live. Our goal is just to give some pointers along the way. After all, as Socrates also said, “Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel.” We want to help kindle that flame.
BIC 1212 looks at five critical dimensions of human life: intellectual, physical, spiritual, social, and emotional. We hope that you will come to see these dimensions as tightly interwoven and interdependent. For example, good intellectual achievement is dependent on proper diet, enough sleep, and a calm emotional state. It isn’t enough to focus only on the intellect; the true goal of the university is to develop the whole person.
The goals of BIC 1212 are:
- To encourage thinking about the nature of the university and of the Christian university.
- To open conversation on the nature of vocation and profession.
- To guide and encourage critical thinking.
- To provide out of classroom experiences in the intellectual, physical, emotional, social, and spiritual dimensions of human development, and an opportunity to reflect on how those dimensions can be integrated into a vigorous intellectual life.
- To provide an opportunity for personal reflection on past experience and future goals in the five dimensions.
- To foster healthy, balanced lifestyles in the areas of personal identity, interpersonal connections, and civic contributions.
- To enhance the ability to form healthy relationships and to learn how to deal with conflict within relationships.
- To foster a sense of community among BIC students.
- To help students become familiar with the Baylor campus and the resources available to them.
Professors:
Prof. Cassie Findley, Exercise Physiology
Prof. Doriss Hambrick, Academic Support Services
Dr. Jim Marsh, Director of the Baylor Counseling Center
Prof. Jennifer Martinsen, Health Education/Health Promotion
Prof. Adam Moore, Higher Education/Religion (BIC)
Dr. Melanie Nogalski, Religion/Spirituality (BIC)
Dr. Martha Lou Scott, Assoc. Vice President for Student Life
Prof. Andrew Telep, Electronic Library
Dr. Will Williams, Religion
Prof. Lauren Wheeler, History
You have registered for a small group with one of these professors. We all want to help you in any way we can. Your professor will tell you more about his/her office hours or availability.
Assignments:
- Participation: This grade is based on attendance and participation in class discussion.
- Activity Logs: Each dimension includes an outside activity that you are asked to participate in. At the end of the activity you should complete a log (see instructions on Blackboard), discussing the activity and your response to it. Note that the Intellectual Dimension activity requires the completion of the Library Assignment AND the completion of the log describing the activity and your reaction to it.
- Journal: A journal assignment has been designed to help you reflect on each dimension in your own life. You will be expected to complete the questions asked as thoughtfully as possible. All journals should be typed.
- Readings: You will be expected to write a brief summary of the reading material and turn it in at the beginning of class on TWO separate occasions in each dimension. In each reading summary, you should relate the reading to the dimension being studied. Each assignment will be worth 15 points for a total of 30 points for each dimension. Readings are listed in your course calendar and will come from one of the two required texts or additional articles. Additional readings will be accessible in Blackboard.
- Exams: One take home final will be due at the end of the semester. Your reading summaries will be very useful in meeting the requirements of the final exam.
Required Texts:
Palmer, Parker.Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1999.
Steltenpohl, Elizabeth. Jane Shipton and Sharon Villines.Orientation to College: A Reader on Becoming an Educated Person.Second Edition. Boston: Wadsworth, 2004.
Grades:
Assignments:
Participation75 points
Reading Summaries150 points (30 points per dimension; 2 summaries per dimension, 15 pts. for each)
Activity Logs 125points (25points per dimension)
Journal 150points (30points per dimension)
Final 100 points
Total600 points
Grade scale:
A = 539-600
B+= 522-538
B = 479-522
C+= 462-478
C = 419-461
D = 359-418
F = below 418
Policies/Tips for Success
Policy on Cell Phone/Laptop Use: You are expected to contribute in a positive way to the overall learning atmosphere of the class, whether that is in lecture hall or in small group. This means no cell phone use (either making/taking calls or texting). Laptop use during class meetings is ONLY for taking notes (no exceptions--this means no checking email, no working on other assignments, and probably all kinds of other things you might be tempted to do). Using your laptop for purposes other than taking lecture notes and/or using your cell phone in class will result in your receiving an ABSENCE for the day (see next item). We PREFER that you not use a laptop in class.
Attendance: Honors College Attendance Policy: To earn course credit in an Honors College course, a student must attend at least 75% of all scheduled class meetings. Any student who does not meet this minimal standard will automatically receive a grade of “F” in the course. Any University-related activity necessitating an absence from class shall count as an absence when determining whether a student has attended the required 75% of class meetings.
Departments/programs and individual faculty members may establish more stringent requirements regarding attendance, punctuality, and participation.
For this class, the attendance policy means that a student may not miss more than 7 class sessions. Obviously, regular attendance is necessary for earning a good grade. Excessive tardies may count as absences as your small group professor sees fit.
UNIV 1000/BIC 1212 Exemption: Most students in BIC will be exempt from the University 1000 small groups meeting during the beginning of the semester. You will be expected to follow the attendance policy outlined for CHA 1088, in your respective syllabus. Make sure you understand the Chapel attendance policy for your situation. Beware of asking friends how many absences allowed for Chapel. (This will not serve as any excuse or petition for leniency.) The answer may be different for different situations. Read YOUR UNIV 1000 syllabus and pay attention with the policy for attendance is covered in Chapel. Tip: don’t get too close to the maximum absences in Chapel or any other class!
Grading: Assignments will be marked down one letter grade per day late. If a student must be absent the day of an exam, it is the student’s responsibility to contact the professor in advance.
Preparation: Students are expected to come to class prepared by having read the assigned test or by having accessed the assigned Web site.
Reading: You are expected to complete and comprehend all reading assignments. Most of the concepts, theories, and examples from your reading will be discussed in class. You will be expected to relate the reading you submit for evaluation to the dimension you are studying (points will be taken off if you fail to relate the reading to the dimension.) Take good notes and keep your reading summaries. This will be the basis of your final examination for the course.
Blackboard: Blackboard, the online course management program, will be used throughout the semester. Check the large group site regularly for announcements, handouts, and course updates. Grades and attendance will be kept on your small group Blackboard site. You should also refer back to the syllabus and course schedule to keep up with daily assignments.
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