Jim McGarry's FYS blog: September 2016

IDS 1300-02 Self and Other: A Testimony-based Inquiry into the Possibility of Altruism

First Year Seminar Jim McGarry, Instructor

Taught in collaboration with FYS sections of Professors Madeleine Fitzgerald

and Vince Fitzgerald St. Mary’s 113, 8:00-9:15am TTH

Philosophy of The Freshman Seminar

The instructors of the Freshman Seminar believe that great scholarship, academic success and 21^st century life and leadership skills require a strong academic foundation that transcends disciplinary boundaries. NDNU’s Freshman Seminar is taught with this premise in mind. This collaboratively-taught interdisciplinary course is intended to establish a rigorous foundation for academic excellence in a mission-driven university setting. The course is designed to be an intensive, transitional experience developing the intellectual vision, curiosity, interests and capabilities of the incoming student; promoting personal identity development and discernment; and providing an equitable introduction to NDNU’s high-impact pedagogical practices. We hope and trust that this integrated learning experience will encourage students to develop themselves as whole persons, agents in their own process of professional and vocational discernment, members of collaborative campus communities, and co-creators of a more just society. We are dedicated to helping every student succeed in these goals.

Course Theme

Is it really possible for one person to act with full regard for another? If this is possible in everyday situations, can it also be possible for a person to risk even one’s family and one’s self to protect the life of another individual, another family in crisis? We will explore these questions from several disciplines, but we will particularly use a very privileged source: the testimony of those who have been the beneficiaries of very dramatic and risky altruistic rescue. Specifically, we will hear directly from survivors of the Holocaust, most of whom are known as “hidden children.” We will do this in historical context—really the context of cruelty, the Shoah—in which these acts occurred. So we will be studying the possibility of goodness in a time of radical evil. On Call to Action Day, October 11, you will be meeting, interviewing and sharing a meal with several of these honored guests who were gifted with altruistic rescue.

In the second quarter of this class, we will be “testing” our empathetic listening as a foundation for altruism, as we read testimony from a variety of people in human rights crisis in our contemporary world. Your projects and your writing will help you towards the goal of a personal philosophy regarding the potential of human nature for evil and good.

It is the intention of my colleagues in this FYS pod that our themes of the meaning of happiness, the process of learning and the possibility of altruism will support each other and enhance student learning.

Learning Outcomes

Learning outcomes for the course revolve around NDNU’s Mission and its Institutional Learning Outcomes (ILOs) for Mission, Values and Engagement (MVE). Codes in parentheses below indicate how each course learning outcome maps to these broader areas. Course learning outcomes are pursued through a variety of activities including reading, writing, discussion, lecture and experiential engagement. Course activities will help students learn to…

Mission

· critically engage with the mission of the university and the Hallmarks of a Notre Dame de Namur Learning Community; (Mission Statement, MVE ILOs 1-7)

· demonstrate first-year academic skills in critical thinking, oral communication and information literacy, including introduction to and use of rubrics; (Mission Statement (academic excellence), MVE ILO 3)

· demonstrate first-year technology skills; (Mission Statement (academic excellence))

Values

· reflect on discernment of personal identities, values, vocation and curricular pathways, and identify areas of personal intellectual curiosity; (Mission Statement, MVE ILOs 1 & 7)

· identify campus resources to assist in personal and/or community leadership development; (Mission Statement, MVE ILOs 4 & 7)

Engagement

· distinguish between community engagement / service learning practices as conducted at NDNU and traditional forms of community service; (MVE ILOs 1-6) and

· demonstrate practical skills in working with community partners. (MVE ILOs 2-7)

Course Format

The Freshman Seminar is a collaborative and participatory course. Sections are grouped in Pods of three, and the three sections in a Pod are collaboratively planned and taught. Pods meet as a group for approximately one quarter to one third of all class meetings. The following campus offices participate in the planning and teaching of the Seminar: Student Leadership, the Sr. Dorothy Stang Center, Center for Spirituality, Library, Academic Success Center, Writing Center, Institutional Research. Course assignments are developed in collaboration with these offices and provide the basis for informed class discussions designed to stimulate and develop critical thinking and communication skills. Students are expected to complete each assignment in a timely manner.

Course Outline

Class # Date Group Theme/Focus Assignment Due_ rev.8/30

0 8/26 class Orientation Engagement Encounter Martyr of the Amazon writing assignment

1 8/30 pod Introductions and OEE Reflection Robert Coles, Call to Service writing

2 9/1 pod Sr. Dorothy Stang’s life and work Online Source # 1: viewing notes submitted

3 9/6 pod Holocaust Literacy/ Portfolio Portfolio started, 9/1 and 9/6 entries added

4 9/8 pod/class Rubrics/ discussion of writing Sr. DorothyStang 2 page paper due

5 9/13 class Altruism, the Problem Online Source #2: blog entry

6 9/15 class The Shoah: indispensable testimony? Man’s Search for Meaning (MSM) to p.41

7 9/20 class Shoah: the meaning of atrocity MSM to p.94 blog entry

8 9/22 class Albania’s Rescue of Jews during WWII Rescuers, 1-18, 230-234

9/22 Required Besa: The Promise, NDNU Theater, 7pm

9 9/27 class Understanding Rescue in Context: Holland Rescuers, 19-89; blog on Besa event

10 9/29 class* Nicki Bamberger, JFCS Holocaust Center: Online Source #3: blog summary

Training for I-Witness project and presentation—*time TBD

11 10/4 class Testimony of Individual Rescuers Rescuers, 90-157; blog entry

12 10/6 class Preparing for Testimony of the Rescued Rescuers, 158-229; blog entry

10/6 Optional Recommended Activity: Matt Black’s Photography, Wiegand Gallery;

Student visit during run of exhibit required, followed by blog entry

13 10/11 Call to Action Day; Interviews and Panel, St. Joe’s Lounge at 9:30am

14 10/13 class Reflection on Call to Action Day Rescuers, 235-249; blog entry

15 10/18 class Summary, Review Online Sources #4 and #5

10/18 Optional Recommended Activity: Internship and Volunteer Fair

16 10/20 class Summary and Review, paper preview I-Witness Projects due

17 10/25 pod Hallmarks of ND Learning Institutions Position Paper #1 due

18 10/27 pod Personal Discernment/Mentor presentation

10/28 Optional Recommended Activity: Lenci Farkas, Shoah Survivor, Province Center 2pm

10/31 Optional Recommended Activity: Halloween in the Tenderloin

19 11/1 class Presentations: I-Witness begin VOWR readings

20 11/3 pods Presentations: I-Witness (cont.) continue VOWR readings

21 11/8 class Palestine Speaks VOWR pps.9-32, 369-396; blog

22 11/10 class Surviving Justice VOWR pps.33-86; blog

11/11 Optional Recommended: Veterans’ Interfaith Prayer Service, Chapel at noon

23 11/15 class Voices from Storm/Underground America VOWR pps.87-148; blog

24 11/17 class Out of Exile/Hope Deferred VOWR pps.149-196: blog

11/17 Required SDSC/Library Speaker Series 4pm; Ruth Jacobs Gibson

25 11/22 class Nowhere To Be Home/Patriot Acts VOWR pps.197-246;blog on speaker

26 11/24 no class Thanksgiving Holiday

27 11/29 class Inside This Place/Throwing Stones VOWR pps.247-284; blog

28 12/1 class Refugee Hotel/High Rise Stories VOWR pps.285-330; blog

29 12/6 class Invisible Hands VOWR pps.331-368; Paper #2 due

30 12/8 class Universal Declaration of Human Rights VOWR pps.397-404

Week of December 12: Final Exam (TBD)

Required Books:

1. Frankl, Victor, Man’s Search for Meaning

2. Block, Gay and Drucker, Malka, Rescuers: Portraits of Moral Courage in the Holocaust

3. Eggers, David, (ed.), The Voice of Witness Reader: Ten Years of Amplifying Unheard Voices

4. Murphy, Roseanne, Martyr of the Amazon

5. Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, The Hallmarks of a Notre Dame Learning Community

Online Sources:

1. https://vimeo.com/80408522 The Student, the Nun, and the Amazon (film)

2. http://academics.triton.edu/uc/Ethics/PDF_Files/Hallie.pdf “From Cruelty to Goodness,” Philip Hallie

3. https://sfi.usc.edu/ and https://sfi.usc.edu/vha Shoah Foundation website and Visual History Archive

4. http://www.yadvashem.org/odot_pdf/Microsoft%20Word%20-%20699.pdf “A Glimmer of Light,” Nechama Tec

5. https://www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/righteous/pdf/resources/fogelman_the_rescuer_self.pdf “The Rescuer Self,” Eva Fogelman

Requirements

1) Formal papers and writings not to exceed 20 pages. Unless otherwise noted, all papers are due in hard copy at the beginning of the class period for which they are assigned.

2) Critical reading and discussion of full-length and other texts as assigned by the professor.

3) Attendance at the following six co-curricular activities which take place outside of normal class meeting times: Orientation Engagement Experience (8/26), Call to Action Day (10/11), Library Speaker Series (11/17), Freshman Research Conference (11/3), one Student Life activity, and one student performance event. For NDNU athletes, the student performance event must be a non-athletic event; for non-athletes, the student performance event must be an athletic event.

4) Technology skills are developed through research, e-readings, appropriate use of email communications, and creation of an online portfolio containing: reflections on the six co-curricular activities noted above, three examples of first-semester student work of which the student is particularly proud, and one end-of-semester reflection on mission, values and engagement. Special training will be given for the I-Witness program.

5) Information literacy skills are developed through rigorous research activities. All students will complete a research project relating to their course content and present this to their peers.

6) Effective personal discernment also proceeds through rigorous research activities as part of a series of guided reflections on personal identity and values. Therefore, students will also complete a discernment project and this project will give students an opportunity to apply their research skills.

7) Note-taking and careful reading are essential academic skills. Students are expected to keep appropriate and effective records of reading assignments and classroom activities, even when they must be absent from class. Following an absence, students should obtain notes from a peer, then follow up with the professor regarding any items that are unclear.

8) Oral communication opportunities develop confidence and skill in public speaking. These will include informal communication in discussions, impromptu speaking and formal presentations.

9) First-year community engagement activities form the foundation for success in subsequent courses incorporating community engagement and provide an experiential platform for exploration of course content and discernment of student’s own ethics and values. All students will participate in community engagement activities as part of their Freshman Seminar.

10) Attendance and participation are required. Each student may have up to 3 absences to deal with unexpected illness or emergency. Every absence greater than 3 will adversely affect your grade.

Evaluation

Attendance and Participation 20%

Final Exam and Quizzes 20%

Writing Assignments and Blog 20%

I-Witness Project and Presentation 20%

Position Papers 20%

· Attendance and Participation: Credit must be received for 30 class meetings plus mandatory special events. Any classes missed, up to a limit of three, must be made up through an alternative assignment which will usually involve attendance at an ancillary event on or off campus, including a report and reflection on the experience. See Course Outline for examples. No credit will be received in this category if more than three classes are missed. Three tardies equal one missed class. Unexcused absences include sports conflicts, illnesses (non-catastrophic) and family reasons (acute.)

· Exams and Quizzes: No midterm, but project due that day. Final exam the week of December 12, plus reading quizzes, announced and unannounced throughout semester.

· Writing Assignments and Blog: smaller written assignments based on prompts; blog entries as assigned.

· I-Witness Project and Presentation: Special training will be given for this assignment and library and computer help will be available. Presentations will be made to the class and selected projects will be presented at all-FYS event

· There are two position papers due just after the midterm and just before the final, describing your philosophical position, as it is forming, on the central theme of the class, altruism. Details on the elements of a “position paper” will be distributed and discussed.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism is a violation of NDNU’s code of student ethics and will not be tolerated. It is a form of intellectual dishonesty that involves the theft of another person’s ideas, language and/or written thought processes. One violation will result in a failing grade for the assignment; repeated or flagrant plagiarism may result in failure of the course or dismissal from the University. See Student Handbook.

Note to Students with Disabilities

Students with Disabilities: As required by section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, the instructor will make appropriate accommodations for all students with documented disabilities. In order for accommodations to be in place, you are required to bring appropriate documentation (evidence must be in writing) to the PASS office. You should notify the PASS office by either calling Dr. Peggy Koshland Crane at 650-508-3670 or stopping by the office at New Hall 19E or sending an email to mcrane@ndnu in order to schedule an appointment.

Course Learning Outcomes Mapped to Institutional Learning Outcomes (ILOs) and Mission

NDNU’s Institutional Learning Outcomes relating to Mission, Values & Engagement are as follows:

Upon graduating from NDNU, students will be able to…

1) reflect on the heritage of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur in the context of student’s own values and belief systems;

2) develop relationships that honor the dignity of each person;

3) connect ethical implications of professional and liberal arts course content to the promotion of justice and peace through personal decisions and actions;

4) apply classroom learning to address community and social problems, using the Reflection-Action-Reflection model;

5) demonstrate understanding of the value of diversity;

6) assess the role of community-building activities and collaborative decision making processes; and

7) demonstrate spiritual or ethical leadership skills in working toward a more just society.

The university’s Mission Statement is:

Founded upon the values of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur and rooted in the Catholic tradition, Notre Dame de Namur University serves its students and the community by providing excellent professional and liberal arts programs in which community engagement and the values of social justice and global peace are integral to the learning experience. NDNU is a diverse and inclusive learning community that challenges each member to consciously apply values and ethics in his or her personal, professional and public life.

Average Student Workload Expectations: Class time consists of 45 hours. Students are expected to engage in approximately 90 hours of out-of-class homework over the fifteen weeks, or approximately six hours per week. Course assignments are made in accordance with this expectation.

Jim McGarry's FYS blog

Tuesday, September 20, 2016

Sunday, September 18, 2016

Thursday, September 15, 2016

Wednesday, September 14, 2016

Monday, September 12, 2016

Wednesday, September 7, 2016

Course Syllabus