Course Syllabus

• Instructor: David M. Perry
• Class Times: MWF 12:30-1:20
• Location: Lewis 305
• Office: Fine Arts 313
• Office Phone: (708) 524-6052
• Office Hours: TR 10-11
• Email: dperry@dom.edu
• Course URL: http://domin.dom.edu/faculty/dperry/las284/

Course Description

In this class, we will access the core themes of the sophomore seminar by exploring travel and migration in various historical settings. We will focus especially on the individual traveler as he or she crosses divisions between cultures and communities and ask what the traveler teaches us about both the foreign lands in which they travel and the lands from which they come. We will look at medieval Vikings, wanderers on the Silk Road, the great travelers Ibn Battuta and Alexis de Toqueville, and look at the history of immigration and diversity within contemporary U.S. History. Throughout the course, will will think about our own stories and the stories of our communities, and try to analyze our lives critically.

A secondary goal is to develop our close-reading and critical analysis skills. You will be asked to analyze texts both verbally and in various forms of writing. At the end of the semester, you will take materials from different parts of the text and write an essay that brings them together around course themes.

Required Books: Please buy these books immediately. They are available in the bookstore.

• G. Takaki, A Different Mirror
• S. Whitfield, Life Along the Silk Road
• The Vinland Sagas: The Norse Discovery of America
• A. De Toqueville, Democracy in America & Two Essays
• Ibn Battuta, Travels of Ibn Battuta

There will be some other readings either handed out in class or made available to you through the website. You are required to bring all readings to class on the day for which they are assigned. This means that you must print out online sources, please.

Course Requirements and Assignments

• 3 short papers 15% each
  • These papers will examine course themes as they apply to specific readings. More details will be provided to you when they are due.
• One final paper
  • You will need to present on your final project - 5%
  • The paper itself will consist of an essay of about 1200 words that engages course themes from Takaki, your own life, and at least one historical period. - 15%
• Reading Journal - 10%
  • Every assignment marked with an R in the syllabus requires you to produce a reading journal. I will collect them, mark them as complete, and turn them back to you promptly. Keep them together in a single folder and I will collect them as a whole at the end of class.
    • If you miss class for an excused absence, you will need to email me a reading journal BEFORE class starts. You will also need to turn in a paper copy to me when you come to your next class. There will be no exceptions. Late work will not otherwise be accepted.
    • If you miss class with an unexcused absence, you get a ZERO on all work due that day.
  • I will give you guidance on how to write reading journals on the first day of class. Each entry will be about 250 words in length.
• Informal assignments 5%
  • 5% of your grade comes from all assignments given an entry above. This will include various short essays and presentations. Note that some of these assignments may also count for participation
• Participation and Attendance - 15%
  • Participation is more than just showing up, but it starts with just showing up. You cannot participate if you are not here. I will take attendance every day. Unexcused absences will weigh heavily against your grade. Essentially, every time you skip class, you lose a point. DON'T SKIP CLASS!
    • Excused absences for legitimate Dominican activities (i.e. official sporting or musical events) will obviously not incur any direct penalty. You need to let me know ahead of time (for events) and you are responsible for catching up on material missed by consulting both me and your peers.
    • Emergency absences (death or illness in the family, weather disaster, illness, etc.) will also not incur any direct penalty, but you need to contact me immediately upon discovering that you will miss class. Again, you are responsible for catching up on material missed by consulting both me and your peers.
  • But participation is about more than just showing up, especially in a seminar. It's about doing the reading, being prepared to talk about it, volunteering your input, being involved in group work, preparing for discussions, and generally being an asset to the class as a whole. We will have a variety of ways in which you can participate, but none matter more than being an active member in our small-group and full-class discussions. Your participation is a significant percentage of your grade. You will need to earn it. Take initiative. Do not expect to speak only when directly called upon and ace this section of the class.
    • This is a seminar. If you don't do the reading, if you don't think about the reading, if you don't talk, we'll all be miserable.
  • Finally, being late consistently may be counted as being absent. It will certainly lower your participation grade. Being late is disrespectful not only to me, but also to your peers.

The Grade

• Paper - Vinland - 15%
• Paper - Whitfield - 15%
• Paper - Ibn Battuta - 15%
• Final presentation - 5%
• Final Paper - 15%
• Participation - 15%
• Reading Journal -10%
• Informal Assignments - 5%
• Attendance - 5%

Course Policies

1. Follow all Dominican University policies in regards to Academic Honesty. If you are unsure about whether something is plagiarism or cheating, ask first. People caught cheating will be subjected to the fullest penalties allowable by Dominican.
2. No assignment, under any circumstances, will be accepted by fax or email. The one exception is a reading journal for a class that you missed with an excused absence, if emailed to me before class starts.
3. Students must bring readings to class on the day they are assigned. Print out online materials. If we don't talk about something in class, you need to bring it to the next class too unless told otherwise.
4. Writing assignments and examinations are due at the beginning of class. DO NOT EVER SKIP CLASS TO TRY AND FINISH YOUR PAPER. Printing errors and lost data are a fact of the computer age. If you wait until the last minute and encounter technical difficulties, your paper may still be counted as late.
5. For every day a paper or project is late, you lose one full grade per day (A to B, B to C, etc.). Do not test this system. Turn your work in on time. Stapled. With your name on every page. Typed. Double-spaced. In a 12-point font. With room on the margins for comments. Printed on only one side of the paper (for ease of comments). Please! I know this seems like a hassle, but it makes grading them and reading them easier. Be merciful to my eyesight.