Approved by Faculty Senate March 30, 2009

Review by University Studies Sub-committee January 28, 2009

Course Proposal

RESC 140 Topics in the Humanities: (name of specific topic)

A. Course Description:

  1. Catalog Description: This course is designed to explore the nature and scope of the human experience. It will explore the search for meaning and value in human life by examining its expression in cultural forms and texts, literature and the arts. The topics will vary but will often take an interdisciplinary approach to the subject.
  2. Course Outline: Since this is a variable topics course, an outline cannot be provided. The sample syllabus illustrates the type of course content that will be typical of this course.
  3. Instructional Methods: Instructional methods will vary from topic to topic and instructor to instructor. It will likely include a combination of lecture, readings, tests, experiential activities and engaged pedagogies, depending upon the topic and the instructor. The sample syllabus illustrates the type instructional methods that will likely be employed infuture offerings of this course.
  4. Course Requirements: The course requirements will vary from topic to topic. The requirements are likely to include readings, major papers, experiential activities, exams and presentations. The sample syllabus illustrates the type instructional methods that will likely be employed in future offerings of this course.
  5. Course Materials: The course materials will vary from topic to topic. Future offerings are likely to include text books, primary source materials, video, digital and web-based sources of material. The sample syllabus illustrates the type course materials that will likely be employed in future offerings of this course.
  6. List of References: The course bibliography will vary from topic to topic and instructor to instructor. An appropriate list of sources will be part of future syllabi. The sample syllabus illustrates the type sources that will likely be employed in future offerings of this course.

B. Rationale

1.Major Focus and Objectives: This course is intended to be an interdisciplinary approach to a variety of humanities topics that provide a framework for understanding the nature, scope and value of the human experience.

2.Departmental Curriculum: The courses offered through the ResidentialCollege are interdisciplinary in nature and allow the flexibility to offer course content that meets the objectives of University Studies while fitting into an ever changing list of topics that form the basis of the Living and Learning Communities and the Alex Yard Memorial Course series. This course provides an opportunity to offer humanities classes within the academic programming associated with the ResidentialCollege.

3.Courses to be Dropped if Approved: No courses need be dropped upon the approval of this course.

C. Impact of this Course on other Departments, Programs, Majors or Minors

  1. This course does not increase the total credits required by any major or minor in any WSU department.
  1. No departments have been consulted about this proposal. It does not affect the offerings of any other department or program.

Financial and Staffing Data Sheet: RESC 140 Topics in the Humanities

  1. Existing Staff or New or Additional Staff: This course will usually be taught by existing WSU staff. Typically, courses attached to the Living and Learning Communities or the Alex Yard Memorial Series are suggested by existing faculty to fit within an established theme. Funding for future offerings of the course will be either as part of a faculty members load orpaid for by ResidentialCollege funds usually
  1. Impact on current course offerings: This will be in addition to existing course offerings. It will likely be the only ResidentialCollege course to carry University Studies credit in the humanities.
  1. Effect on departmental supplies: The copying and materials needed to support this class can be covered by existing budgets.

RESC 140: Topics in the Humanities: NativePathways

Syllabus

Instructor: Cindy Killion, Professor

Office:Phelps 113DOffice Hours: Posted on office door

or by appointment

Phone – Office: 457-5098Home: 687-8294 (don’t call after 9:30 p.m.)

Email address:

Messages:I am very good about checking my email and phone messages at home. However, I tend to forget about voice mail. You can leave messages for me in my mailbox in the departmental office. I check it regularly too.

Catalog Description:

This course presents an in-depth study of topics of current interest in our world today using an interdisciplinary approach.

Prerequisites:

None.

University Studies Program:

This coursesatisfies the University Studies Program Humanities requirement in the Arts and Science core by providing students a framework for understanding the nature and scope of human experience. It explores the search for meaning and value in human life by examining its expression in cultural forms and texts, literature and the arts. This course includes requirements and learning activities that promote students' abilities to:

a. identify and understand specific elements and assumptions of a particular Humanities discipline;

b. understand how historical context, cultural values and gender influence

perceptions and interpretations; and

c. understand the role of critical analysis (e.g. aesthetic, historical, literary,

philosophical, rhetorical) in interpreting and evaluating expressions of human experience.

General Course Description:

Students participating in RESC 140 Topics in the Humanities: Native Pathways can expect to learn about and understand the nature and scope of human experience in our world through an interdisciplinary approach that explores the search for meaning and value in human life by examining its expression in specific cultural forms and texts, literature and the arts.

Native Pathways Focus

This particular RESC 140 Topics course engages in a close examination of the rich and complex nature of indigenous knowledge and an indigenous worldview from a holistic perspective. It is designed to provide appropriate content, learning experiences and other resources related to the cultural expression of Native people in such areas as the creative process in art, philosophy, social ecology, herbalogy and holistic health, mythological thinking, the interrelationship of all things and the power of place. The connections among indigenous knowledge, the land and each student's individual lives will be explored as will the role of worldview in academic scholarship, especially as worldview defines and determines the process of inquiry and interpretation. Students will learn about native critical approaches to selected themes in representation, orality and literacy, material culture, historiography, ethnography, literary theory, feminist theory, religious studies and natural science.

Native Pathways Course Objectives

The objectives of this course include:

Broadening the experience of a university education;

Learning through cross-cultural and experiential educational experiences;

Developing a better understanding of others in order to engage in a reevaluation of self;

Understanding how stories in the oral tradition can provide guidance and leadership;

Developing a better understanding of the role of folklore and mythology in society including a basic understanding of the concepts and applications of mythological thinking from the perspective of animal mythology and actual relationships to animals;

Analyzing the relationships among nature, identity and power;

Exploring the complexities of religious identity amidst traditional/Christian diversity;

Exploring the dynamic and holistic nature of the creative process and its reflection in art, science and Native cultures;

Gaining insight into the ways in which Native philosophical thought is reflected in Native ethnosciences, art, song, music, dance, community, poetry, mythology and social ecology;

Gaining an awareness and understanding of the dynamics of the social, psychological and ecological forces at work in the indigenous world today;

Developing and improving basic skills such as reading, writing, speaking, doing research and thinking critically;

Making new friends;

Texts

Among the texts that will be used for this course are:

Wabasha's Prairie, published by the Winona County Historical Society.

Buried Indians: Digging Up the Past in a MidwesternTown by Laurie Hovell

McMillin, University of Wisconsin Press, May 2006.

All Our Relations: Native Struggles for Land and Life by Winona LaDuke,

South End Press, October 1999.

Where the Lightning Strikes: The Lives of American Indian Scared Places by

Peter Nabokov, Penguin Group, January 2006.

Recovering the Sacred: The Power of Naming and Claiming by Winona

LaDuke, South End Press, July 2005.

Spirit Car: Journey to a Dakota Past by Diane Wilson, Minnesota Historical

Society Press, August 2006.

The Power of Plants:Native American Ceremony and the Use of Sacred Plants

by Alfred Savinelli, The Book Publishing Company March 2002.

Native American Worldviews: An Introduction by Jerry H. Gill, Prometheus

Publishers, September 2002.

Course Methods

The basic teaching strategies to be used in this class will be a combination of the inquiry and experiential modes of instruction using primarily an encounter-reflective-discussion-demonstration-experiential activity and presentation format.

Stories from Native oral traditions are integral to facilitating learning in this course. Students will encounter myth, metaphor, cultural content and experiences through a variety of stories and experiential activities that will help them form perceptions and paradigms of thinking about essential components of course content. They will study the natural environment and the ecology of plants from a Native perspective.

They then will compare and contrast Native and Western perspectives, facilitated through classroom presentation and their own personal research.

Students will process creatively what they have learned and experienced kinesthetically through such activities as creating art, role-playing, and theatrical performance. Finally students will reflect on the symbolic nature of their learning by presenting and discussing what they have learned.

Traditional research, field trips, experiential exercises, guest speakers and film review will be integral to the course. Coaching, in the sense of facilitating, also will be a method employed in the course. Students, with the help of the instructor and each other, will be involved primarily with the "practice and personalization" of that which has been presented.

Examples of Planned Activities

In order to achieve the stated course objectives, a variety of experiential activities are planned for this course including:

  • the exploration and understanding of students' own family genealogy as related to their identity and intellectual growth. Using the book, "Spirit Car" as an example, students will be asked to research their own ancestors in order to become familiar with the historical context of their own ethnic lineage. They will be required to write an ancestral autobiography based on their research findings. USP Humanities objective (b);
  • making a storytelling bag after having heard stories about animals. Students will gather items from the natural world or make things to add to the bag. Feathers, stones, small carvings or any other unbreakable object can be part of the collection. Students will be encouraged to be imaginative with the contents of the storytelling bag which will be used to create their own stories that also will be used to understand a critical approach to interpreting and evaluating their own experience as well as other human experiences. USP Humanities objectives (b) and (c));
  • a field trip to a natural area in which students will be asked to sit alone and in silence in a place of their choosing. Students will leave gifts of thanks and practice reflective activities to heighten their senses of observation, of seeing, hearing and self-understanding. The goal of this exercise is to get students to understand the importance of silent watching and listening in solitude as a way Native Americans better observe nature, heighten sensory awareness and enhance self-knowledge. Another goal is to develop a relationship with a special place in nature and practice giving to and receiving from that place. USP Humanities objective (b);
  • a "stillness" journal in which students, after having participated in the previous exercise, will be required to write their observations or summarize how and if "stillness" occurred during the week and how "stillness" provided them space to understand the role of solitude in their lives and how or if it enhances self-knowledge. USP Humanities Objective (b);
  • a gardening project in collaboration with Amy Welch at the WSU greenhouse. Students will be responsible for growing an herb of their choice that is used by Native people in ceremonies and/or in healing. Students must research and present information about their particular herb including its origins, its biology, its soil and temperature requirements, its role in the ecosystem and its ceremonial/medicinal uses. USP Humanities Objectives (a), (b), (c);
  • a field trip on the WSU campus that will include identifying native trees (with the assistance of the book published by WSU) and native grasses and plants on the West campus in collaboration with Bruno Brosari in the biology department. Students will create and develop a personalized booklet in which the native tress, grasses and plants will be identified along with basic information about them and the Dakota word for each. USP Humanities Objectives (a), (b), (c);
  • a field trip on the WSU boat up the Mississippi River to the site of Indian mounds at Trempealeau (they will have read "Buried Indians") and with the guidance of someone from the MississippiValleyArchaeologicalCenter USP Humanities Objective (a);
  • a field trip in which students go into the forest and hunt for mushrooms with an experienced mushroom hunter. USP Humanities Objective (a), (b), (c);
  • a field trip in which students will tap maple trees then return to make maple syrup with an elder USP Objectives (a), (b), (c).

Attendance

Attendance is mandatory, and on-time attendance is required at all class meetings. Since this course relies heavily on a holistic approach to learning and involves numerous experiential exercises, students who miss any of the class periods or required activities outside of class are jeopardizing their learning as well as the learning of their classmates since when one student is absent, the balance of group dynamics is interrupted. Therefore, if you must miss a class -- you better have a really good excuse for doing so. Personal or family illnesses, emergencies or some academic or sports obligation are legitimate reasons for missing class but you must provide me adequate documentation. I will suggest you withdraw from the course if you miss more than two classes/activities since you are putting yourself in a position to fail the course.

Participation also is important and can help your grade; distracting behavior can lower it. You are expected to do all the required readings, pay attention to class presentations and any videotapes we might watch and come to class prepared to participate in discussion. As you do your readings, try to make connections to your own personal experience and to your observations about the mass media and society.

Policies

I expect you to notify me of any absences and provide me with an explanation and/or required documentation. As stated above, I will encourage you to withdraw from the class if you miss more than two classes/activities. If you must miss a class or activity, you should notify me ahead of time unless there is an extreme emergency. If it is an emergency, you should notify me as soon as possible after you’ve dealt with it.

If you’re having difficulties, I encourage you to talk with me immediately. I’m not very sympathetic to someone who waits until the end of the semester to tell me they’ve been having problems and want some slack. It doesn’t work that way. Also, you are responsible for completing all missed work and maintaining deadlines.

All your writing is expected to be ACCURATE in spelling, grammar, facts, quotes, style, format, information, statistics, proper names, capitalizations, punctuation – in other words, ACCURATE, ACCURATE, ACCURATE.

You are responsible for any rules or guidelines not covered here but given in class.

If there is something you don’t fully understand, you are to ask for clarification. There are no stupid questions . . . what is stupid is to refrain from asking.

Special Needs: If you have special needs or concerns, especially needs as addressed by the Americans with Disabilities Act, please share them with me. Efforts will be made to accommodate your needs.

Deadlines: Turn in completed assignments on deadline to me. Deadlines are just that – the time your assignment is due. PERIOD. Should extreme circumstances warrant an extension on the deadline, it should be cleared (in writing) with me. Difficulties with computers are neither an extreme circumstance nor an acceptable excuse for missing a deadline.

If you run into problems with assignments, talk to me. They can be worked out. I really am here to help you through this course.

Keep copies of everything you do. Stuff does get lost, misfiled, misplaced or goes unrecorded. It is up to you to have back-up copies of all your stories, exercises, notes, etc. Always bring everything for this class to class, every time it meets.

Professionalism: I expect each of you to respect your colleagues in the classroom, especially if and when we disagree.

Help ! I want you to succeed in this class and to enjoy it. I will try and meet with each of you individually around mid-semester, but don’t feel you have to wait until then to talk to me about your work or any other aspect of the course. I encourage you to call, e-mail or stop by my office to discuss your work.

Ethics

Honesty is fundamental to me in both education and journalism. Plagiarism or fabrication of material is inexcusable and intolerable. Because I respect you and because I want to minimize even the outside chance this might occur, I want to make it clear that plagiarism or fabrication will result in an E for the course and that E remains on your transcript. Academic misconduct is a serious issue too. I’m hoping that none of you will take unethical shortcuts in your work. In case you’re unsure about what constitutes academic misconduct, here are the rules:

  • All work must be your own, and your work alone
  • You must accurately quote and represent all sources
  • You must not intentionally adopt or reproduce ideas, words or statement of another person without acknowledgement
  • You must give due credit to the originality of others and honestly pay your literary debts. You should acknowledge indebtedness
  • Whenever quoting another person’s actual words
  • Whenever using another person’s ideas, opinions or theories
  • Whenever borrowing facts, statistics or other illustrative material, unless the information is common knowledge

Assignments