Main Page
From work
Contents |
[edit] WORK AND THE HUMAN CONDITION
[edit] Spring 2009
Work and the Human Condition Fall/Winter/Spring 2008-2009
Link to the Fall syllabus -- you can find all of Fall quarter's lecture notes and handouts here as well.
Link to the Winter syllabus -- and all the lecture notes and handouts.
Link to the Annotated Bibliography Projects page
Link to the Position Papers--and find Spring Quarter Position papers.
12 Credit, All level program Faculty: Susan Preciso precisos@evergreen.edu, X6011 and Stephen Beck--becks@evergreen.edu,X5488
CRN: 30214/30215 Program wiki page: www2.evergreen.edu/wikis/work/ Meets: MTW 6:00-9:30 and Saturday, April 25, 10:00-5:00 (program film festival) Classrooms:
- Monday & Wednesday -- B1105 (all-program); B2107, B3109 (seminar)
- Tuesday -- B1107 (all-program); B2107 (breakout space)
Class Standing: This all-level program accepts up to 25% freshmen as well as supporting and encouraging those ready for advanced work.
Fields of Study: American Studies, Cultural Studies, History, Literature, Philosophy, Writing
In this year long program, we will examine the nature and place of work in human life and culture. Studying literature, philosophy and history, we will develop an understanding of work that goes well beyond the concept of work as a way to pay the bills. We will consider important questions: Why is work important in a complete human life? What roles can it play both for an individual and for the whole social system? What ways of working should a person strive to practice? Who does what work?
To better understand and critique challenging material, we’ll spend time improving skills in close reading, critical reasoning, writing clearly and well, and in research methods. We’ll examine the ways in which approaching an idea through different disciplinary lenses allows us to deepen our understanding of it— often complicating the picture in generative ways. We plan to build in time for study groups to meet and work together on reading and writing, recognizing the value we place on collaboration; it enriches each community member’s experience with this intellectual work. Our primary lens will be Western; however, we will make some important connections and comparisons to other traditions as well.
This is a thematic program — that is to say, it is organized around a central position that the faculty maintain and want to explore with the students. Our position is that a fully human life requires significant work. This position, far from being a final answer, prompts many questions and invites open exploration. What counts as work? What makes work significant? What is required, individually and socially, in order for someone to have significant work? We hope and expect to deepen our own understanding of this position, and perhaps to revise it, as you deepen your understanding of it as well.
During Fall Quarter, we studied ideas about the place of work in the human condition, beginning with some ancient foundational texts and continuing through the early 18th century. We read the Odyssey, passages from the Bible, Aristotle, and the Stoics, the Tao te Ching, and Robinson Crusoe. We began our work with Hannah Arendt’s The Human Condition, and E.H. Carr’s What is History?
Winter Quarter’s work began with the study of Enlightenment thinking, reflecting the influence of the Protestant Reformation, the scientific revolution and mercantilism. We’ll then study the effects of the Industrial Revolution on work, life, and culture in the nineteenth century. Our reading included John Locke, Adam Smith, Marx, 19th century American literature, including Moby Dick, and Walden; or Life in the Woods and Daniel Rodgers’ The Work Ethic in Industrial America. We also continued to read Arendt’s The Human Condition.
During Spring Quarter, students will read contemporary ideas about the values and challenges of work and working. They will also learn from people about the work they do, interviewing and taking oral histories. They will document work and working through writing and other media they find useful and effective. We’ll finish our study of Arendt’s The Human Condition, think about work and the concept of virtue with Alasdair MacIntyre’s After Virtue, study the classic work of photography and writing, Let Us Now Praise Famous Men, and read Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal Dreams, a contemporary novel that examines work, the environment, and family relationships.
[edit] Spring Quarter Book List
Spring Book List:
Hannah Arendt, The Human Condition. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 9780226025988.
E.H. Carr, What is History? ISBN 039470391X, Vintage.
MacIntyre, Alasdair. After Virtue. 2nd edition. Notre Dame Press. ISBN 978-0268-006112. (Or 3rd edition, University of Chicago Press.)
Richard Sennett. Corrosion of Character. Norton. ISBN 9780393319873.
Mike Rose. The Mind at Work. Penguin. ISBN 9780143035572.
James Agee and Walker Evans. Let Us Now Praise Famous Men. Houghton Mifflin/Mariner. ISBN 0618127496.
Barbara Kingsolver. Animal Dreams. Harper Perennial. ISBN:9780060921149.
Henry David Thoreau. Walden, Or Life in the Woods. Dover. ISBN 0486284956.
[edit] Learning Goals
As a student who successfully completes the full program, you will understand how the nature of work and concepts of work have changed through the history of the western tradition. In particular, you will understand how modes of work, conceptions of work, and values surrounding work have changed. Part of that understanding involves understanding the nature and value of work in your life in relation to your society.
To achieve the above, main goal of the program, you will need to learn several more specific things. You will learn how to read, understand and critically respond to philosophical texts, to historical texts and to literary texts. Further, you will integrate your understanding of philosophical, historical and literary material so as to develop and support your own positions on the nature and value of work. In addition, you will need to develop strong skills in writing, critical reasoning, and research.
[edit] Program Structure and Regular Activities
Most Mondays and Wednesdays will include lecture, workshop, or full program work and a seminar on the reading.
Lectures are aimed to inform you of central concepts, arguments, disciplinary methods and specific content related to the week’s readings.
Workshops are designed to facilitate you in developing your understanding of texts as well as skills of interpretation, analysis and critique. As the work is generative, you will need to collaborate closely with your colleagues.
Seminars will deepen your understanding through close attention to the texts, including identification and interpretation of central and problematic concepts and vocabulary, as well as interpretation and critique of arguments and themes.
Triads For many of our activities, including seminar response paper work, some workshops, and other aspects of our collaborative work, students will be assigned to a triad, that will in the best of circumstances, remain stable over the quarter. You’ll need to make sure that your triad partners have your contact information.
On most Tuesdays, we will do a mix of workshops designed to build your skills in the documentary project. We will have a greater mix of program activities on Tuesdays than in previous quarters.
===A Salon=== Before our regular work begins every Tuesday, we’ll meet for tea and conversation—a salon for Work and Human Condition. We hope you’ll often join us when you can. It will give us a chance to talk about ideas, to reflect on our work, and just to enjoy each other’s company.
[edit] General Expectations
Excellent attendance and full participation on all program activities. If you cannot make a class meeting, you need to let your seminar faculty know—either by phone or e-mail. You’ll also need to contact your triad peers so that they can take notes and fill you in on what you missed.
[edit] College-level work
Since the program is focused on reading, writing, and critical thinking, you are expected to demonstrate these skills at the college level. Specifically, this means:
- the ability to read, understand, and then summarize texts
- the ability to learn from texts through discussion with others
- the ability to analyze and pursue writing assignments
- the ability to write coherent, focused, correctly punctuated prose
- the ability to develop and defend a thesis
- the ability and commitment to do all of the above reliably
We will inform you as early as feasible, and no later than the fifth week, whether you are working at the college level, and if not, what you need to do in order to bring skills to the college level. Email: Stephen and Susan will use your Evergreen e-mail exclusively, so make sure you’ve accessed and check you account.
Library: We’ll also expect every student to activate their library account.
[edit] Program Requirements
1. Seminar Response Papers: For each seminar, you are to write a brief response paper —- 1 page in length. Your responses are to have three parts: (1) quotation; (2) description; (3) response.
(1) Quotation: Choose a one- or two-sentence quotation from the seminar text that is at the heart of your topic of interest for the paper. Your quotation need not capture the whole of the topic (that generally requires you to quote too much), but it should be central to that topic.
(2) Description: Describe the topic in the text that interests you. Often, this means giving a restatement of a position from the text. Sometimes, it means giving an account of central concepts. Sometimes, it means describing an image or a character. In any case, the goal is to represent, as faithfully as possible, your topic as it is present in the text itself. Focus on specific passages and details; avoid broad generalizations about the whole of the text.
(3) Response: Present your own thoughts about your topic. You may be interested in your topic because you don’t understand a concept or a position, or because you object to the position it takes, or because you think that a position, image or character can be helpfully applied to some other situation, or for other reasons. Whatever the source of your interest, make this clear to the reader. It is OK — in fact, it is a very good thing — to be tentative, to try out ideas that you haven’t fully worked out, to experiment with new thoughts. Remember, this is a very brief paper. The description and response should be a paragraph each. We will begin seminar in triads, where you will read and make brief observations about each other’s responses. At the end of each seminar, you will write a brief postscript to your response. Purpose The purpose of your response papers is threefold. First, your response papers should focus your own thoughts about the text on a specific topic; by having your thoughts focused in this way, you will be well prepared to participate in seminar discussions. Second, response papers will help to focus your classmates’ thoughts on your topic; seminar responses will significantly guide the structure and content of seminar. Third, your responses will record your growing understanding of our texts and themes over the course of the program.
Form While the content of your paper can be tentative and provisional, the form should not. Responses are to be typed, double-spaced, with 1” margins on all sides, with a proper header including your name, the date of the seminar, and the program title.
Response papers will not be accepted late, at all. Since their purpose is largely to help you prepare for seminar and to inform that seminar, they can’t do that after the fact.
2. Reading Notes We expect you to take detailed notes on your reading all quarter. This means that you’ll need to have a notebook, or section of your binder, dedicated to reading notes. If you take notes on your computer, make sure that you print them and put them into your notebook for reference. Each of us has particular practices that are useful to us, but you can think about including quotations from the reading that seem particularly intriguing or puzzling (include page numbers). You can write questions that come up and to which you might want to return. You can record connections you make between the reading at hand and other texts and ideas. You might also have a section to write down vocabulary that is either new, or used in a way that is unfamiliar. You’ll include your reading notes in your portfolio.
3. Position Paper.
Due in week 6 will be a 3-5 page position paper. For this paper, you will formulate a thesis in response to the question: “What is the place of work within the human condition today?” In supporting your thesis, you are free to draw upon any of the texts that you have read in the entire program (that is, fall and winter quarter as well as spring quarter readings, if you were in the program in previous quarters). You must draw upon at least two program texts, though you are encouraged to draw upon more.
4. Documentary Project. We are going to produce a documentary record of a brief time in a few workers’ lives. The record will be in sound, photos, and words. It will not be conclusive or definitive, more like a little bit of time frozen and examined; nothing grand, just the average work and conditions of our neighbors. We will be looking around, not up or down—hoping to catch a sense of our own time; maybe a reflection of ourselves in the workplaces of our fellow citizens. We’ll use the insights gained during the first two quarters to—if we’re lucky—catch a fleeting glimpse of our own very human condition and share that vision with others. Returning students might find someone to interview who is doing work connected to their winter project, or they can interview someone working in a different field. We encourage students to work in pairs, but individual projects are also fine. Returning students also have an option to continue with their research project, working from their annotated bibliographies to write a well-developed academic research paper on the topic they researched during winter quarter; that work will need to include at least a brief interview with someone who is doing a similar kind of work in 2009.
5. Completed portfolio Your portfolio should include:
1. All seminar papers—the copy that has both peer response and “post seminar” notes.
2. Your reading notes—these can be hand written or typed, but should be gathered and included on a separate section of your portfolio.
3. Your mid-quarter Position Paper.
4. Lecture notes and notes from workshops.
5. Your completed Documentary Project or Academic Research Paper
6. Your self-evaluation—on the form, but consider it a draft. Your faculty may have some suggestions for revision.
6. Completed self-evaluation This must be submitted to registration and records if you are leaving the program. If you are continuing, you’ll keep it for reference, but the “official” self-evaluation is submitted only when you finish your work in the program.
7. Completed evaluation of faculty You can include this in your portfolio, bring it to your evaluation conference, or turn it in to our program secretary, Sharon Wendt (Sem II B 2124).
[edit] Some Important and Useful Resources
Integrative Essays: Fall Quarter
Summit-books from other college libraries
Dictionary of Philosophical Terms
JSTOR--Scholarly articles available through our library
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Philosophical Dictionary, at Philosophy Pages
Guide to the Study of Philosophy, at Philosophy Pages
[edit] Program Covenant
Work and the Human Condition Fall/Winter/Spring, 2008/9 Faculty/Student Covenant
Introduction Academic study is work we do both in solitude and together. As work we do in solitude, it requires consistent, sustained attention and effort. As work we do together, it requires making and keeping commitments to support each other’s best efforts, to listen carefully and speak sincerely to each other, and to offer and accept honest feedback in the spirit of helping each other learn and grow. This covenant is intended to guide us to do our academic work to the best of our abilities.
A Commitment to Respect
1-As participants in this program, we agree to act according to these principles based on respect:
2-We will take responsibility for our own work, words, actions and reactions.
3-We will listen and speak to people the way we would like people to listen and speak to us.
4-We will read and act in accordance with the Evergreen Social Contract, the Student Conduct Code, and the Sexual Harassment Policy.
5-We will abide by strong ethical standards in all our relations with members of other communities.
6-We will keep off all personal electronic devices during class sessions in order to fully engage ourselves and others in class activities. This includes laptop computers, cell phones, PDA’s, and MP3 players.
An Acceptance of Responsibilities (Students) By participating in this program as a student, I also agree to abide by the following:
1-I will attend all class meetings. I will be on time and prepared to participate.
If extenuating circumstances force me to be late, I will try not to interrupt the program activity and I will make sure I learn what I missed from my triad, not the faculty.
If I must miss a class due to illness or emergency, I will notify my faculty in advance by phone or e-mail. I understand that missed classes must be made up and that my make-up work must demonstrate that I have learned what I missed learning in class due to my absence. I also understand that it is my responsibility to develop a plan for my make-up work in conjunction with my seminar leader. I further understand that, if significant class time is missed and not sufficiently made up, I will receive reduced credit for the program. Missing and partial assignments may also result in lost credit.
I understand that, as a student in a 12-credit program, I am expected to put 30 hours of work into program attendance, activities and assignments each week.
2-I will complete and turn in all assignments on time. I understand that late work may not be accepted or, if accepted, may not be evaluated as fully or as quickly as timely work. Response papers will not be accepted late, at all. I will apply high standards of scholarship to all my work, including typing (double- spaced), proofreading and stapling multiple pages. As a college-level program, quality scholarship is essential.
3-I will not present others’ ideas and information as my own. I will acknowledge the ideas and information of others, whether published or those of my co-learners, when I incorporate them into my own work.
For example, I will include citations throughout my writings as appropriate and will clearly indicate when substantive ideas or language are drawn from a source; this might include quotation marks and/or phrasing such as, “according to Carr,…” 4-I will support the other students in the program, and especially the other members of my triad, in their learning. I will do so not only by coming prepared to discuss the texts for the day but also by providing prompt, honest and constructive feedback on their work.
5-I will address conflicts and grievances promptly and with the individuals directly involved. If this does not resolve the conflict or grievance, I will then seek guidance next from my seminar leader. If the conflict is still unresolved I will speak to the faculty team. If all of these avenues have been exhausted, I will speak to the Dean of Evening and Weekend Studies (Allen Olson, 867-5485)
6-Since learning experiences are typically challenging, I will take initiative to ensure that my needs are met as the program unfolds. There are a number of means by which I might do this. These include: • Being open to gaining from the unexpected or undesired • Being flexibly responsive to changes • Seeking out supplementary information as desired • Seeking opportunities to work with other students • Working with tutors • Giving timely feedback and creative suggestions to faculty with respect and with the anticipation of being heard and valued • Understanding that there may be more factors involved in the development, content and delivery of a learning program than I am aware of. 7-I will write a transcript self-evaluation, a faculty evaluation, and attend my evaluation conference, which will be scheduled during evaluation week of each quarter.
An Acceptance of Responsibilities (Faculty) By participating in this program as a faculty member, I agree to abide by the following: 1-I will do my best to create and maintain a high-quality program of learning opportunities. I will take full responsibility for my work, behavior, presence, and awareness, and allow others their own responsibility. And I will do my best to support the learning process of each student.
2-I will review and return homework in a timely fashion.
3-I will contact my program secretary, Sharon Wendt (x6588), in advance if an absence cannot be avoided and seek to make alternative arrangements for class activities.
4-I will advise students who are in danger of not receiving full credit during the fifth week of the quarter or when it becomes apparent. I will award each student full credit if he or she has good, completes all assignments on time, and does work that meets minimum college-level standards. I may award less than full credit for work that fails to meet these criteria. If I judge that a student is in danger of receiving less than full credit, I will inform him or her by the fifth week or at such time as I come to this judgment.
5-I will complete a written evaluation the program and myself.
6-I will be prepared for and attend weekly faculty team planning meetings focused on the facilitation of student learning. I also will work to support and encourage my teaching partner’s work in order to bring students the best of their scholarship and skills.
Credit and evaluation policy • Students receive credit for fulfilling minimum requirements. Plagiarism or academic dishonesty may lead to total loss of credit. Credit may be reduced due to unsatisfactory attendance (missing more than one class is unsatisfactory — Saturday meetings count as two classes), missed or late papers, failure to submit a transcript self-evaluation during evaluation week, or work that does not meet minimum college-level standards. • The evaluation process is a central feature of education at Evergreen that allows students to learn by reflecting on their experiences. Students are required to submit transcript self-evaluations and faculty evaluations in order to receive credit for the program. Credit will be issued only after both these evaluations, as well as a full portfolio, has been turned in. Evaluations and portfolio are due on the last day of class. If not turned in by this date, a “no credit” will be issued to the student. The student may petition to have the “no credit” changed if the portfolio is turned in within one week following the last class date. • Credit is not the same as a positive evaluation. It is possible to receive credit yet receive a poor evaluation.
[edit] Spring Schedule
[edit] Week 1
Activities
Monday:3/30 Small groups: Review of fall/winter and concepts and questions for Spring. Seminar: Arendt through chapter 5.
Tuesday 3/31: Introduce documentary project Watch the DVD from the first “Work and the Human Condition” Deed of Gift, Letter to Participants, Informed Consent, Share ideas about what each student is thinking right now.
Wednesday 4/01 Workshop on historical artifacts. Seminar: Carr through chapter 4
Assignments
For Monday 3/30: Read Arendt through Chapter 5. Write Seminar Response.
For Tuesday 3/31: Begin thinking about your project—decide whether you’ll do the documentary project or write a research paper based on your winter quarter Annotated Bibliography.
For Wednesday 4/01: Read Carr through chapter 4. Write Seminar Response.
[edit] Week 2
Activities
Monday 4/06: Lecture: Susan, U.S. in the 1930s. America in the 1930s Lecture Seminar: Let Us Now Praise Famous Men, first half.
Tuesday 4/07: Students come with project proposals. Frank Barber, technical workshop. We meet in the Mac Lab.
Wednesday 4/08: Guest Speaker: Carlos Sanchez, Campus Photographer. Overview: legal and policy aspects of the project. Go over “Deed of Gift,” Cover letter to interview subjects, Human Subjects Review Process. Writing Workshop—focus on the pictures. Seminar: Let Us Now Praise Famous Men to conclusion. Images Workshop
Deed of Gift; Informed Consent Form; Letter to Interview Subjects
Assignments
For Monday 4/06: Read first half of Let Us Now Praise Famous Men. Write Seminar Response.
For Wednesday 4/08: Finish Let Us Now Praise Famous Men. Write Seminar Response.
[edit] Week 3
Activities
Monday 4/13: Lecture: Stephen, MacIntyre’s Project in After Virtue. Movie: "Working"
Tuesday 4/14: Guest: Sam Schrager, Oral History. Interviewing Workshop.
Interview questions we generated in class Wednesday 4/15: Seminar and Workshop on MacIntyre, Chapters 1-8 Choose the movies for Film Festival. MacIntyre-4-8, but focus on 4-6.
Assignments
For Monday 4/13: Read After Virtue, chapters 1-3. Write Seminar Response.
For Wednesday 4/15: Read After Virtue, chapters 4-8. Write Seminar Response.
[edit] Week 4
Activities
Monday 4/20: Susan: Poetry Workshop. Poetry Workshop. And here they are--Poems About Work
and Poetry Workshop
Continue work with MacIntyre. Tuesday 4/21: Q and A with Frank Barber on the project. Seminar on MacIntyre, chapters 7 and 8. Workshop TBA.
Maybe, continue work with poetry.
Wednesday 4/22: Lecture: Stephen on Arendt's Critique of Modernity. Seminar: Arendt, The Human Condition, chapter 6.
Saturday, 4/25, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.: Program Film Festival!
The Tower, by Nathan Greenbaum IMPORTANT!!--We meet in Sem II C 1105 at 9:00. We'll also use Sem II B2107 and B2109 in the afternoon.
Assignments For Monday 4/20. Read: These poems: (coming soon!) .
For Tuesday 4/21. TBA.
For Wednesday 4/22. Read Arendt, chapter 6, and write seminar response paper.
[edit] Week 5
Activities
Monday 4/27: Workshop: What the movies said about work and the human condition.Movie Workshop
Seminar: Barbara Kingsolver, Animal Dreams.
Tuesday 4/28: Project work. Triad conferences.
Wednesday 4/29: Writing Workshop: Drafting the position paper. Bring all your response papers and your books for the writing workshop. Seminar: Animal Dreams through conclusion.
Assignments
For Monday 4/27: First half of Animal Dreams. Write response paper.
For Tuesday 4/28: Bring project work to date.
For Wednesday 4/29: Finish Animal Dreams and write seminar response paper.
[edit] Week 6
Activities
Monday 5/4: Lecture: Stephen, MacIntyre on Virtue. Seminar: MacIntyre, chapters 9-13.
Tuesday 5/5: Work with position papers in small review groups.
Wednesday 5/6: IMPORTANT NOTICE!!! WE MEET IN SEMINAR II E 1107 TONIGHT. Workshop on MacIntyre's structure for virtues.
Assignments
For Monday 5/4: Read After Virtue chapters 9-13, but focus on 9-12. Write seminar response.
For Tuesday 5/5: Position paper due.
For Wednesday 5/6: Read After Virtue chapters 14-19, but focus on 14-16. Write seminar response.
[edit] Week 7
Activities
Monday 5/11: Lecture: Susan on Walden as literature.
Tuesday 5/12: Project check-in.
Wednesday 5/13: Lecture: Stephen on Walden as philosophy.
Assignments
For Monday 5/11: Read Walden first half and write Seminar Response Paper.
For Wednesday 5/13: Read Walden second half and write Seminar Response Paper.
[edit] Week 8
Monday 5/18: Workshop: MacIntyre, Sennett and Communitarianism.
Tuesday 5/19: Workshop: Meet in Mac Lab for I-Movie workshop with Frank Barber.
Invitation to program party Wednesday 5/20: Workshop on Sennett continued.
Assignments:
For Monday 5/18: Read first half of Corrosion of Character. Write Seminar Response Paper.
For Wednesday 5/20: Finish Corrosion of Character and write Seminar Response Paper.
[edit] Week 9
Activities
Monday 5/25: NO CLASS -- Memorial Day
Tuesday 5/26: Seminar: The Mind At Work, first half..
Wednesday 5/27: Workshop: Practices in The Mind at Work. Seminar.
Assignments
For Monday 5/25: NO CLASS -- Memorial Day
For Tuesday 3/03: Read first half of Mind at Work and write seminar response paper. Send invitation to end of quarter party to the person you interviewed.
For Wednesday 3/04: Read to end of Mind at Work and write seminar response paper.
[edit] Week 10
Activities
Monday 6/1: Program Reflection---Seminar on our book/project.
Tuesday 6/2: Self-Evaluation Workshop.
Bring your portfolio(s)from each quarter. Wednesday 6/3: Party, with documentary project subjects and families -- both yours and theirs. Screen the DVD.
Assignments
For Monday 6/1: Make sure the person you've interviewed can get to the party.
For Tuesday 6/2: Bring your complete portfolio.
For Wednesday 6/3: Bring fabulous food to share -- families welcome, too.
Evaluation Week—June 8-12: Conferences
Have a wonderful summer!