PAIDEIA SEMINAR (PA103-211-04)
Spring 2005
Instructor: John Chapman
Office: Mood 143Telephone: 1491email:
Office Hours: Moday 11-12 & 2-4, Wed 11-12. I will be delighted to set up appointments for other times; I am in my office most afternoons.
Thank you for your contributions during the fall semester in helping shape the Southwestern Paideia Program! I hope that you continue to provide constructive feedback and new ideas for the group and the program. The general plan for Spring 2005 is for each Paideia Scholar to continue developing a personal Paideia Plan that integrates Paideia experiences with the many other aspects of college life so that each Scholar intentionally has an ever-changing plan to enrich his/her own college experience. This semester we will focus on your study abroad experience and on our group service project. We will also spend significant time on the Leadership strand of the program. Each student’s Paideia Plan and development as a Scholar will be supported through participation in the seminars, one-on-one faculty-student meetings, readings, reflections, portfolio development, attendance at campus events, and major activities in the areas of leaderships, service, intercultural experiences, and collaborative endeavors.
The Paideia Seminar: An Approach to Learning
For our purposes we will define this seminar as a gathering of scholars (students and faculty) with the intent of making the most of our learning experiences at Southwestern University through the exchange of ideas related to the five focus areas of the Paideia Program (academics, leadership, service-learning, intercultural experience, and collaborative research or creative work). The following shared values, methods, and procedures will serve to clarify our approach to learning in this seminar.
--we will take a proactive approach to learning, one that requires personal goal setting, self-directed study, and self-evaluation.
--we will develop our goals and objectives with intentionality (that is, careful consideration and planning).
--we will reflect on our experiences, and the experiences of others, in an attempt to evaluate our own preconceived ideas and feelings; to challenge or reinforce our own values and beliefs; to discover other ways of thinking about complicated issues; and to explore different attitudes and viewpoints involving diverse perspectives.
--we will endeavor to maintain a supportive learning environment, one in which everyone’s opinion is valued and ideas that differ from our own are welcome.
--we will seek out and establish connections between what we are learning in our academic studies and the world at large.
--we will strive for personal growth and this will serve as a measure of our success.
Therefore, this seminar will require all of us to “stretch” beyond our established frames of reference, limits of understanding, and levels of comfort. The end result will be the integration of diverse learning experiences and progress toward the realization of our respective personal goals with regard to our educations.
E-Portfolio: Each Paideia Scholar will continue the development of their e-Portfolio using theLiveText software. Your e-Portfolio will contain your Paideia Plan, reflections, annotated bibliography, campus events log, service log, report of your interview with a faculty member, and other elements. All written work will be included in your e-Portfolio, and must include the date you entered it into your e-Portfolio. I encourage you to make it your portfolio by personalizing it with photos, video clips, artistic elements, and writings other than those required by the Paideia Program. Your portfolio should reflect your uniqueness as an individual scholar.
Paideia Plan: Each Paideia Scholar will continue to develop their Paideia Plan. Your updated Paideia Plan should include specific semester (and year or longer) goals you have for yourself that relate to academics, leadership, service, intercultural or diversity issues, and collaborative/creative works. At the end of the semester you are to reflect on how well you have performed in the Program particularly in terms of meeting your goals, and how successful you have been in connecting the four components of the Program with your academics and extracurricular activities. This at least one-page in length reflection will be due at our final meeting of the semester.
Program Components:
Academics. It is important to understand that the Paideia Program is integrally related to the academic curriculum at SouthwesternUniversity. It should not be considered as basically an enrichment program, although it will certainly enrich our educational experiences. Everything we do in this seminar should augment a liberal arts education. Therefore, it is essential to look for and establish connections between what you are experiencing (reading, discussing, doing) in the seminar and what you are learning in your other classes. As indicated in the paragraph above, you will submit a connections essay at the end of the semester.
Intercultural Experience.Most of you will engage in your anchoring intercultural experience during Fall 2005 or Spring 2006. In order for you to get the most out of this potentially life-changing experience, there are pre-departure and post-arrival requirements for your anchoring intercultural experience, as well as the requirement that you keep in touch with your cohort and Paideia Professor while you are away. If you will be studying abroad during Fall 2005, you will complete the final proposal for your intercultural anchoring experience this semester.
Service Learning. This semester, we need to both make final plans for the group service learning project and complete the project. We will also have the opportunity to present the results to other Paideia sections with a poster presentation. .
Each Paideia Scholar must spend at least fifteen hours during the semester engaged in at least two sustained service-learning projects (the group project may count as one of these activities). Most will spend more than this minimum. Scholars are to maintain a log in the electronic portfolio of all service-learning activities along with at least three reflective essays. Two of these can be quite brief with one longer (at least one page) reflective essay. This more in depth reflective essay shall include thoughtful consideration of relevant social issues, what the activity accomplished, what the Scholar gained from the experience, how the activity met (or failed to meet) the Scholar’s expectations or goals, and how the project related to any of the five components of the Paideia Program.
Leadership. Each Paideia Scholar will interview a campus or community leader and explain why this person was chosen, what was learned about this person’s leadership style (including their shortcomings), and how you will incorporate this knowledge when in leadership roles. At this point in your Southwestern career, you should be an active participant helping to organize, implement, and support events/organizations both on and off campus. In your reflections discuss your role as an active participant and how you see yourself as a leader and/or follower.
Collaborative Research/Creative Activity. Each group of Paideia Scholars will make a poster presentation on their group service learning project to an assembly of Paideia Scholars. Details and guidelines for these presentations will be provided during the semester. The Paideia experience requires students to engage in a meaningful research or creative experience in collaboration with an appropriate expert or artist while at SouthwesternUniversity. This work will normally be undertaken during your senior year. During the junior year, you will complete a detailed proposal describing your research or creative plans for your project. This semester as you begin to think about your senior collaborative experience, you will interview a faculty member or outside expert to learn more about her/his area of expertise. This interview should be completed and a reflection entered in your e-portfolio by the 12th of April. We will discuss purposes and procedures related to this interview early in the semester.
Attendance at On-Campus Events: Each Paideia Scholar is required to attend a wide range of on-campus events each semester and to keep a log of attendance at these events. Furthermore, each Scholar is required to select three (3) events that were a “stretch” or were particularly inspiring and write a reflection on each. The minimum requirements for attendance at events (most scholars will attend more) are as follows:
1 or more lectures within one’s department/program or area of academic interest
1 or more lectures outside one’s department/program or area of academic interest
1 or more Brown Symposium lectures
1 or more fine arts event
1 or more sporting/athletic events
2 or more cultural/diversity events
Reflections and connections based on these events will be discussed during each seminar.
Facilitating a Class Discussion: A great liberal arts education cultivates in the student the capacity to teach her or him and others about the world within which we work and live. In this spirit, each Paideia Scholar will choose one reading sometime during the semester (normally no more than ten pages long) that he or she finds stimulating, fascinating, or thought provoking. The reading should be from a recent issue ofa general-interest scholarly publication (e.g., The New Yorker, Scientific American, Art News, Atlantic Monthly’ etc.). The Scholar is responsible for distributing that reading one week before the seminar meeting in which the article is discussed.
Annotated Bibliography: Each Paideia Scholar is to continue developing an annotated bibliography related to the Paideia experience. This semester two entries are required.
--a book or assigned reading from another class that is then tied back to one of the Paideia components.
--a book or reading of your choice directly related or tied to one of the Paideia components.
An annotated bibliography entry includes a full bibliographic reference as well as a short description, typically a few sentences to a paragraph that describes the reading and its importance.These will become part of a bibliography that will be made available to all Paideia Scholars and Professors.
Attendance Policy:
Attendance at seminars is absolutely critical to the success of the Program. An unexcused absence will negatively affect the class participation component of the grade and two unexcused seminar or one-on-one meeting unexcused absences, will result in probationary status in the Program.
Grading:
Semester Grade: The semester grade will be calculated as follows:
--Seminar Participation40% of final grade
--Program Participation (beyond seminars)30% of final grade
--Portfolio Construction and Reflective Essays30% of final grade
The class is offered on a P/D/F basis, with
70%-100% = P
60%-69% = D
<60% = F
Honor Code: Southwestern University students established the academic honor system and assume responsibility for honorable conduct in all academic work, including tests, papers, and all course work that is turned in for evaluation. Students are on their honor to do their own work and to report other students who violate this commitment. Students must write the following pledge on all work turned in for evaluation in this course: “I have neither given nor received aid on this paper [examination/other assigned course work], nor have I seen anyone else do so.”
Academic Accommodations: Southwestern University will make reasonable accommodations for persons with documented disabilities. Students should register with the Office of Academic Services located in the CullenBuilding on the third floor. The Academic Services Coordinator must officially notify professors that documentation is on file at least two weeks before the accommodation is needed.
Seminars: We will meet the second and fourth Tuesday of each month during the semester from 12:00 – 12:50. Our meeting location will be Mood 143. An assigned written reflective essay will be due at the beginning of each meeting, and each meeting will include a student led discussion.
Note I: We will discuss all reading assignments in class. In order to prepare for this discussion you should develop at least one written question based on the reading material and should bring it with you to class. It is also advisable to write a short (one paragraph) summary of the material highlighting the main point(s) of the ideas being presented.
Note 2: Throughout the semester I will be contacting you through your SU campus e-mail address. Please check your e-mail frequently and conscientiously for messages concerning this class. Our listserv is .
Note 3: This syllabus is subject to change in order to accommodate extraordinary circumstances as they may arise.
Note 4: A syllabus is like a college education; no one person is responsible for the whole of it. I thank my Paideia colleagues for their ideas, insights, and often even their words.