New Caney High School / Room D212

Course Instructor: Mr. Souchek

(281) 577-2800

AP Seminar Course Syllabus

COURSE DESCRIPTION: AP Seminar is a foundational course that engages students in cross-curricular conversations that explore the complexities of academic and real-world topics and issues by analyzing divergent perspectives. The course aims to empower students with the ability to analyze and evaluate information with accuracy and precision in order to craft and communicate evidence-based arguments.

THEMATIC ELEMENTS: The overarching topic of this course is “Philosophical Foundations”, with specific units focusing on aesthetics, platonic theory, politics and power, social control, economics, social philosophy, existence, and justice. For specific details on units, see “AP Seminar Curriculum Content Map” [CR1]

GOALS: The AP Capstone program aims to empower students by:

engaging them with rigorous college-level curricula focused on the skills necessary for successful college completion;
extending their abilities to synthesize information from multiple perspectives and apply skills in new situations and cross-curricular contexts;
enabling them to collect and analyze information with accuracy and precision;
cultivating their abilities to craft, communicate, and define evidence-based arguments; and
providing opportunities for them to practice disciplined and scholarly research skills while exploring relevant topics that appeal to their interests and curiosity

INSTRUCTIONAL RESOURCES: For the sake of cost efficiency, nearly all sources and resources will be provided by the teacher in digital form. One text will be required for purchase, the citation and cover image follows:

Camus, Albert.The Stranger. New York, NY, Vintage, 1942.

ISBN-13:978-0679720201

Brief Synopsis: Meursault is a man whom faith makes a murderer. However, in the eyes of those around him, he committed an equally grave crime when he did not cry during his mother’s funeral. When a disturbing event occurs, his past actions are brought against him. This modern classic addresses themes of truth, justice, and reason in the modern world.

CLASS REQUIREMENTS, EXPECTATIONS, AND POLICIES: In order to achieve success in this course, students must abide by the following requirements:

Attendance: In addition to the district policies outlined in the student handbook, attendance to course lectures and class is required. Of course, absences do occur, but it is the student’s sole responsibility to speak with the instructor and plan to make up work missed in class. As per policy, the student will be given one class period per absence before work may be deemed as “late”.
Preparedness: Students must come to class everyday with the following:
Reading and writing materials for each lesson
Fully charged Chromebook or other equally capable computation device
An open mind
Technology:As outlined above, this class will require a significant amount of technology. This is a research course, and as a result, digital access to databases and other online resources is an absolute must.
Assessment:The premise for Advanced Placement coursework is to provide a rigorous college level experience at the high school level. For this reason, NO late work will be accepted after the assigned due date, without expressed consent by the instructor. For more information on the attendance policy, reference the student handbook.

The following assessments will be used in calculating the student’s overall grade:

First Semester:

Reading outlines/ Annotated bibliography
Argument analysis
Online discussion boards and responses
Essays
Reflections
Practice AP Seminar Tasks
Practice AP Seminar Exams

Second Semester: AP Assessment Tasks*:

Team Project and Presentation (Weight: 20%)
Individual Research Report (IRR)
Team Multimedia Present and Defense (TMP)
Individual Research-Based Essay and Presentation (Weight: 35%)
Individual Written Argument (IWA)
Individual Multimedia Presentation (IMP)
Oral Defense
End-of-Course Exam (Weight: 45%)
Analyze an argument
Construct an evidence based argument

*Note on assessments: The second semester assessment weight is determined and dictated by College Board and is non-negotiable. In addition to the College Board Assessment Standards for this course, the instructor will adhere to all district policies, including the Major/Daily grade split of 60%/40%

Class Participation: Students must come prepared to participate actively in discussions, both online and in class. Based on each week’s tasks, students write a brief commentary (one to two paragraphs) that addresses the key questions for the week. Evaluation will be based on how student participation (comments, ideas, and questions) helped to enhance and/or advance our overall collective understanding through critical discussion and listening.

The following criteria will be used to assign the participation component of the student’s overall grade:

A: Highly Effective Participant: Near perfect attendance; insightful questions and comments; clearly completes the reading and goes beyond by introducing other relevant material.

B: Consistent Participant: Good attendance; thoughtful questions and comments; clearly completes the reading.

C: Occasional Participant: Regular attendance; sporadic involvement in discussions that is often based on personal opinion, rather than analysis of class material.

D: Observer: Regular attendance, but does not get involved in class discussions.

F: Occasional Observer: Sporadic attendance; no participation in class.

Notetaking/Annotated Bibliography: As is standard in all college-level courses, notetaking is imperative, and as is expected. Although student’s personal notes will not be graded, they will be required to submit completion checks of an ongoing annotated bibliography of all assigned course readings.

AP Policy on Plagiarism: According to the College Board: A student or team of students who fails to acknowledge (i.e., through citation, through attribution, by reference, and/or through acknowledgment in a bibliographic entry) the source or author of any and all information or evidence taken from the work of someone else will receive a score of zero on that particular component of the AP Seminar and/or AP Research assessment*. [CR4]

*Note: Please be aware, there are limitations to the kinds of help the students can receive for the assessmentssubmitted to College Board, starting in January. Crafting of questions, researching, drafting, editing, revising –are all to be completed by the students themselves-. No outside editors/assistants/assistance or research providers are permitted. Any of the aforementioned unauthorized assistance will be reported to the College Board, and may result in academic invalidation.

AP Seminar Curriculum Content Map

Semester I

Unit 1: The Origin of Thought and Argument

Lenses: Artistic and Philosophical

Learning Objective(s): LO 1.1A, LO 1.2A, LO 1.4A, LO 1.5A, LO 2.1A, LO 2.2B, LO 2.2C, LO 2.3A, LO 2.3B, LO 3.1A, LO 3.2A, LO 5.1C, LO 5.1E, LO 5.2A, LO 5.2B

Essential Knowledge: EK 1.1A1, EK 1.1B2, EK 1.2A1, EK 1.2A2, EK 1.2A3, EK 1.3A1, EK 1.4A1, EK 1.4A2, EK 1.4A3, EK 2.1A1, EK 2.1A2, EK 2.1A3, EK 2.1A4, EK 2.1B1, EK 2.1B2, EK 2.2A1, EK 2.2A2, EK 2.2A3, EK 2.2A4, EK 2.2A5, EK 2.2B1, EK 2.2B2, EK 2.2B3, EK 2.2B4, EK 2.2B5, EK 2.2B6, EK 2.2C1, EK 2.3A1, EK 2.3B1, EK 3.1A1, EK 3.1A2, EK 3.2A1, EK 3.2A2, EK 4.1A1, EK 4.1A2, EK 4.1A3, EK 4.1A4, EK 4.1A5, EK 4.1A6, EK 4.1A7, EK 4.3A1, EK 4.2A2, EK 4.2A3, EK 4.2A4, EK 4.2B1, EK 4.3A4, EK 4.3A2, EK 5.1B1, EK 5.1B2, EK 5.1B4, EK 5.1C1, EK 5.1C2, EK 5.1C3, EK 5.2A1, EK 5.2B2, EK 5.2B3

Unit Description: In this unit, the student will be introduced to the course and its applicable policies and expectations through a study of ancient Greek philosophy. They will be fully acquainted with the QUEST model of inquiry, and the Big Idea concepts of the AP Capstone program. Also in this unit, students will analyze and interpret the thoughts and intentions of Plato and Aristotle, making relevant connections of how the ancient thinkers have influenced modern thought.

Major Questions:

What is the impact and importance of learning philosophy?
How does our perspective change our perception of a work of art?
What do I want to learn, know, or understand?
What is the author’s main idea, and what reasoning does the author use to support it?
How do others see problems differently, and what factors determine perspective? [CR1]
What determines an object’s beauty?
Why does the author view the issue this way?
How can Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” be applied to a modern perspective?
What is plagiarism and how can it be avoided?
What makes a strong research question?

Big Idea: Question and Explore [CR2b], Evaluate Multiple Perspectives [CR2e]

Assessments:

Icebreaker activity: Two truths and a lie
Students get to know each other by presenting two truths and one lie to each other.
Annotated bibliography set up
Throughout the year students will be expected to maintain an ongoing document, known as an annotated bibliography. The first entries will be teacher guided.
Annotated bibliography entry
First entry in to annotated bibliography, covering this week’s primary and secondary readings.
Costas’s Levels of Questioning
Students will become acquainted with Costas’s Levels of Questioning by creating tiered questions in response to a piece of artwork
See also: OPTIC exercise.
Quest Framework Exploration
Introduction to the “Big Ideas” of the curriculum by allowing students to explore how the different ideas relate to the world around them and the natural process of discovery and research.
Plagiarism identification practice [CR4]
Students will be taught to identify weak, strong, and plagiarized resources and will be able to fully identify the elements that determine the validity of an article.
Canvas discussion board posts and responses
Weekly discussion board posts in Canvas related to unit content.
See: Major Questions above.
OPTIC exercise
Students will employ the OPTIC Method of analyzing a piece of visual media to a variety of photographs in order to become acquainting with the visual analysis process.
Question Refinery
Students will be instructed on the proper techniques of suitable research question formulation by an interrogative method of reflection. Students must analyze base questions to identify complex undertones and include them as they build a unique research question, from a broad topic to a narrow perspective.
Critical application essay
Students will create an original academic essay in which they apply the primary texts and their main ideas to an abstract element of society.
This essay can be over a piece of art, a political situation, religious movement, etc.
The student will critique the logic and thought processing of the thinker assigned, while bringing in outside academic sources to support their claims.

Unit 2: The Will to Power and Dominate

Lenses: Ethical, Political and Historical

Learning Objective(s) Essential Knowledge, All previous Objectives and: LO 1.1B, LO 1.3A, LO 2.1B, LO 2.2A, LO 4.1A, LO 4.2A, LO 4.2B, LO 4.3A, LO 4.4A, LO 5.1B, LO 5.3A,

EK 1.1B1, EK 1.3A2, EK 1.3A3, EK 1.5A1, EK 4.1A8, EK 4.1A9, EK 4.2A1, EK 4.3A1, EK 4.3A3, EK 4.3A4, EK 4.3A5, EK 4.4A1, EK 5.1A1, EK 5.1A2, EK 5.1B3, EK 5.3A1, EK 5.3A2

Unit Description:Building on the foundations of Unit 1, this unit will explore philosophy and how it applies to politics and the concept of domination. Topics explored in depth: Friedrich Nietzsche’s “The Will to Power”, political greed, Machiavellianism, the slave and master moralities, and ethics in relation to politics and diplomacy.

Major Questions:

According to Nietzsche, what is “free will”?
In what modern instances can we apply the concept of “the will to power?
According to Machiavelli, how should a great leader run his nation?
In relation to politics and diplomacy, is there any right or wrong?
If Nietzsche could critique the Holocaust, do you feel he would condone or condemn Hitler’s actions?
Human trafficking is a major issue facing the world. How can the slave and master morality be applied to this major issue?
In what ways can we see Machiavellianism in current political relations?
How does propaganda and visual arts alter perspectives?
Is all art propaganda? [CR3]

Big Idea: Understand and Analyze [CR2c], Synthesize Ideas [CR2e]

Assessments:

Critical application essay
Students will create an original academic essay in which they apply the primary texts and their main ideas to an abstract element of society.
This essay can be over a piece of art, a political situation, religious movement, etc.
The student will critique the logic and thought processing of the thinker assigned, while bringing in outside academic sources to support their claims.
Art analysis [CR3]
Students will present in small groups the aesthetic elements of a piece of art, with specific care as to how the art piece is a product of the climate and community in which it was produced.
Students will assess the art piece as an argumentative tool, analyzing how the piece makes a statement assessing the bias and claims that the artist is making
Annotated bibliography entry
First entry in to annotated bibliography, covering this week’s primary and secondary readings.
Argument Workshop
The workshop is designed to help students analyze an argument at a deep rhetorical level by understanding the different perspective approach and the fundamental elements of an argument. The workshop is designed to increase in rigor as the practical parts progress further into the workshop. Student work will culminate into an individual investigative research paper based on student inspiration ascertained from the scaffolded source material provided by the instructor.
Authenticating Sources: RAVEN Workshop
Students will learn how to use the RAVEN method to evaluate the reliability and credibility of sources, both print and online through an extensive workshop designed to scaffold the process by preselecting articles that exhibit a clearly identifiable feature to be identified via the RAVEN process
MLA & Works Cited
Students will review the concepts of academic writing styles and practice structuring their writing for MLA standards through the use of various worksheets and locating MLA resources such as Purdue’s OWL.
Students will understand the importance of correct citations in scholarly work by identifying correct and incorrect use of in-text citations and the importance of a works cited (bibliography) attached to scholarly work to properly credit resources.
Canvas discussion board posts and responses
Weekly discussion board posts in Canvas related to unit content.
See: Major Questions above.

Unit 3: The Philosophy of Economics

Lenses: Economic, Scientific, Environmental

Learning Objective(s) Essential Knowledge All Previous Objectives and: LO 4.5A, LO 5.1A, LO 5.1D, LO 5.3B,

EK 4.5A1, EK 5.1D1, EK 5.1E1, EK 5.2A1, EK 5.2B1, EK 5.2B4, EK 5.3B1

Unit Description: In this unit, students will be exposed to the major global issues of economics and climate change, with a specific focus on the works of Ayn Rand and Karl Marx. The social and economic philosophies present a specific view that is often counterintuitive to modern American culture, and will be examined in close relation to how economics of one can affect the world as a whole.

Major Questions:

Karl Marx predicted the emergence of communism in countries where capitalism is at its most advanced stage. Instead, communism won in a backwards agrarian country, Russia. Give several reasons why communists were not successful in Western Europe. Why were they more successful in Russia?
According to Ayn Rand, what are the major issues of capitalism?
What is the idea of a utopian society? Is it possible live in such a place?
In what ways do the economic decisions of major nations affect the makeup of the earth itself?
Could communism ever work in a multi-cultural (melting pot) society?
Why do many advanced societies focus on wealth as a measurement of success and control? What other elements of life are at the center? Consider primitive cultures when addressing this question.
What are the various types of economic policies found in the world today?

Big Idea: Synthesize Ideas [CR2e], Team Transform Transmit [CR2f-h]

Assessments:

Socratic Seminar
Students will be provided with a list of discussion questions that must be researched and well-founded to be defended in a Socratic seminar. Students will be given several aspects and angles in relation to the questions, thus, there will be little time for agreement.
PSA (PT1 Practice) [CR5]
Students will work in small groups in order to identify a common concern of their school body. The group must then craft a complex research question to adopt and begin conducting scholarly research on how best to address the identified concern. Students will be responsible for creating a 60 to 90 second PSA, that will be screened and critiqued by the class.
As is found in the assessment of Performance Task 1, the students will be asked direct questions about the process and applications of the project itself (oral defense component)
Students will address the issue through a variety of perspectives and include how the chosen perspectives are significant to the understanding of the issue. [Cr2d

PSA Critique
Students will provide productive and constructive critical feedback to their assigned peer’s presentation.
This assignment is to be seen as practice for the first major assessment, so understanding the requirements is a critical component.
Critiques will include rubric grades and justifications for each student’s participation in the project.
PT1 Rubric Overview
Discussion and formative assignment of the requirements of the rubric for Performance Task 1
Canvas discussion board posts and responses
Weekly discussion board posts in Canvas related to unit content.
See: Major Questions above.
Annotated bibliography entry
Entry in to annotated bibliography, covering this week’s primary and secondary readings.
Argument Analysis Essay
Building off of the foundations of the Argument Workshop, the student will find two articles that present opposing viewpoints of a global issue.
Analyze the argument for its thesis, line of reasoning and evaluate its effectiveness.

Unit 4: The Crisis of Existence

Lenses: Cultural and Social, Futuristic

Objectives: All previous objectives will be included in this unit in preparation for the Performance Tasks as well as the AP Seminar proctored examination.

Essential Knowledge: All prior EK reviewed.

Unit Description: This unit will integrate a literary focus in to the course, with a reading of Albert Camus’s novel The Stranger. The philosophical focus for this unit will be on the notions of existence and a close examination of the social elements that threaten our existence. Also in this unit, students will analyze philosophical texts and how they strive to achieve a humanistic approach to life itself.

Major Questions:

Is there such thing as justice in the existential viewpoint?
Sartre and Camus’s viewpoints are often regarded as bleak. How is existentialism an optimistic philosophy?
In what ways can our actions determine justice?
What elements of cultural and social norms decide right and wrong?
Is there such thing as universal justice?
How can the conclusions presented in The Stranger be applied to the future of the world?
In your opinion, how would Camus respond to the current events we have seen in the past year?

Big Idea: Question and Explore [CR2b], Evaluate Multiple Perspectives [CR2e], Team Transform and Transmit [CR2f-h]