Humanities 101 Course Syllabus
Professor: Elizabeth Meehan
Office: C224C Phone: 619 388-3509
E-Mail: emeehan@sdccd.edu
CRN # 72418 Days/Time/Room M/W 8:00-9:20 T313
Office Hours: M/W 9:30-11: a.m.; T/Th 11:00-12:00 C224C
Please drop in during office hours for questions or help. If you know in advance you are planning
to visit let me know. I check voice mail and e-mail Monday-Thursday. If you miss one class only,
check assignments with a classmate. If you miss a class, it is your responsibility to get handouts
from my office. Please do not interrupt the class to ask for assignments from previous sessions-ask at the end of class and if needed during an office hour. I will make every effort to assist you
at these times.
Texts:
Benton, Diyanni, Arts and Culture: An Introduction to the Humanities, Arts and Culture, 3rd ed.
The Epic of Gilgamesh ed. Mason
Online Resources—You can access all of these from the City College homepage under the
LRC and or the English Center, or use the URL’s listed below.
1. For MLA style research papers-- http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/
2. Library: City LRC homepage--http://www.sdcity.edu/CollegeServices/LRCLibrary
3. For online research use the URL below: (Academic OneFile, Discovering Collection, Country
Watch, Ethnic News Watch and JSTORE are some of the useful databases for this class)
http://www.sdcity.edu/CollegeServices/LRCLibrary/Library/BooksArticlesMore/ArticlesDatabas
es.aspx
Supplies:
15 point scantron forms, one pack—please bring to all classes.
Standard notebook, college ruled notebook paper, a pen and a number 2 pencil a blue or black
ink pen.
Recommended:
Hacker, A Writer's Reference,6thed. (or any current English Handbook that includes MLA
documentation; commonly used texts are by Raimes or Troyka)
Writing Requirement:
Short MLA-documented essays written outside of class must be word- processed.
Help is available in the English Center L 209; drop-in basis., online tutoring available.
Dear Student:
Humanities 101 surveys the major forms of expression and aesthetic experience in art, music,
and literature from humanity's early history to the Renaissance to better understand our past
values and their relationship to our own lives and times. After this class, you'll be able to apply
the broad spectrum of human history and its civilizations to your other academic pursuits and
discuss ancient civilizations, world religions, philosophy and art with confidence! Each of you
has unique insights on culture and you are encouraged to share them as we learn about our shared
human history and culture.
Course Content:
The course will survey the following early civilizations and cultural landscape: The Dawn of
culture, Egyptian, Aegean, Grecian, Roman, Judaism, Christianity, Byzantine, Islam, Indian,
Hinduism, Chinese and Japanese, American, Middle Ages and Romanesque, The Gothic and
Late Middle Ages. We will examine the connection between life and the visual, musical, literary,
and speculative arts. We will also understand why the critical evaluation of our past heritage
helps us "follow our bliss" (Campbell) and "lead the examined life" (Socrates).
Course Objectives:
By the end of this course you will be able to
1. Characterize some of the world civilizations from earliest times to approximately 1400 C.E.
2. Assess the influence of geographical, social and historical factors on these civilizations.
3. Interpret, analyze, criticize disciplines in the arts, literature and philosophy of these cultures.
4. Describe, analyze, and interpret the doctrines and rituals of some major world religions.
5. Interpret, analyze and criticize the origins, forms and content of some of the arts, literature and
philosophy of the various periods and cultures studied.
Attendance Policy: You have a limit of 3 unquestioned absences, and you may be dropped after
the third unexcused absence. An absence will be considered excused if you have a court
appearance or medical documentation for an emergency, but keep in mind it is not possible to
meet the course objectives with an excess of absences for any reason. Arriving late or leaving
early by more than 15 minutes will count as an absence. If you should drop, do so by logging on
to http://studentweb.sdccd.edu and click on Reg-e. Double-check your status with Admissions
and notify the instructors.
• It is the student's responsibility to add, drop or withdraw from classes before the
deadlines stated in the class schedule.
• It is the instructor’s discretion to withdraw a student after the add/drop deadline due to
excessive absences.
•Students who remain enrolled in a class beyond the published withdrawal deadline as
stated in the class schedule will receive an evaluative grade for this class.
Student Rights and Responsibilities:
Students have a right to due process as outlined in the college catalogue policy 3100.1.
Grievances must first be addressed with the instructor during an office hour. I will make every
effort to resolve concerns, or answer questions.
All class members have a right to a positive learning environment. The SDCC catalogue states
that "No students may interfere with a student's opportunity to learn." A student whose behavior
interferes with other students' rights t o learn will be notified by the instructor and if necessary
dropped from the class. Failure to achieve sufficient academic progress may constitute sufficient
reason for being dropped from the course once the student has been notified through grading
procedures, and/or conferences. When you are positive and motivated to learn you will enable
other students to learn at their optimum level.
Active participation in class by engaging in dialog, being respectful of other students and the
instructor, initiating questions, and sharing related materials, books, articles and other source
materials will positively impact a student's final grade. All students will be expected to
contribute to class discussions and group work, and may do some outside library research.
Students must have excellent attendance and participation to receive an A or a B in the class
participation category. Attentiveness will positively impact your learning experience and grade.
Classroom Rules: Turn off watch alarms, cell phones, beepers and do not use any electronic
devices in class. Text messaging in class is not allowed. If you have a special reason to need your
cell phone on for a sick child, job interview please put it on vibrate and leave the room quietly if
you must answer it. Do not eat in class. You may bring water. No children are allowed in class.
Enter and exit the room quietly for urgent needs; otherwise, you are expected to stay in the
classroom the full length of the class. Allow others to participate in class discussions.
Writing Requirements: All essays, and essay answers written outside of class must be wordprocessed. The essay on the Epic of Gilgamesh needs to be in MLA format. Tutors in the
English Center will help you with your writing. Attach one mandatory draft to the final essay that
shows you visited the English Center at least once. You need to attach the tutoring form to the
final essay that you submit. Please make sure the tutor puts his or her name on the form, as well
as a brief summary of what you worked on. You may also use the online tutoring to receive
feedback if it is challenging for you to make it to the times available. You are also welcome to
visit during an office hour for assistance on any class-work.
turnitin.com: We will be using a resource called turnitin.com. This is a service that will scan
any documented paper that you write and check for originality and plagiarism against a large
database of published works. The goal is for you to learn the proper mechanics for avoiding
plagiarism and taking responsibility for the standards of academic integrity held by colleges.
You will be given in-class instruction on how to submit your papers to Turnitin.com. Evidence
of plagiarism will result in meeting with the instructor to remedy the errors, and a required
revision, insistent plagiarism will result in failing the assignment.
Plagiarism policy: Plagiarism is the presentation of another person's work as your own. It also
applies to the appropriation of other's ideas which you state or imply are your own. Direct
quotations and/ or paraphrasing must be documented (See your handbook under MLA
documentation for correct citation mechanics). It is your responsibility to understand what
plagiarism is and how to avoid it. Students are expected to be honest and ethical at all times in
their pursuit of academic goals. Students who are found in violation of district Procedure
3100.3, Honest Academic Conduct, will receive a zero, or F on the assignment in question and
may be referred for disciplinary action in accordance with Procedure 3100.2, Student
Disciplinary Procedures.
Learning accommodations: Persons with a disability should notify the instructor and set up an
appointment to discuss accommodation needs. If you have a previously identified learning
disability it is your responsibility to enroll with DSPS; if you suspect that you may need a DSPS
evaluation because of performance issues in school please take this opportunity to do so, and or
discuss your concerns with the instructor. I will make every effort to make this class accessible to
all students. Students working with DSPS should visit about 3 times during office hours to make
sure you have appropriate accommodations. The class will view audiovisual materials. If a
student needs closed-captioned accommodations or alternate assignments, please notify the
instructor in the first week of classes.
DSPS-- Rm. A-115, 619-388-3513.
Evaluation: A grade- averaging program will be used to insure fairness and accuracy; total
points may vary depending on the number of quizzes and homework assignments given. The
grading scale follows: 90% and above = A, 80-89% =B, 70-79% =C, 60-69% =D.
Quizzes--
10-15 points each
Homework-10 Points each
Film Questions-10 points each
Maps-10 points each
Take home midterm
50 points
Essay on Gilgamesh-100 points
World Cultures Events Attended-10 points each, 30 point maximum
Study Guides-20 points each
Participation in Class-50 points
(attendance, attentiveness, group work, asking questions, note-taking).
Presentation/Essay on a person, artwork-50 points
Quiz Policy: There are no make-up quizzes; however, by attending 3 World Cultures events you
can make up lost points. You may not take a quiz if you arrive after the quiz is collected.
Documentaries: Take an active interest in the documentaries and take notes. You will be
required to answer questions on the films in class or as homework assignments.
Extra Credit Option: By attending world cultures events on campus and submitting a completed
world cultures event response form for each event attended, you may receive up to 10 points of
extra credit per event, up to three events. This is an excellent way to compensate for a missed or
poor quiz grade.
Evaluation: (Refer to the Class Calendar of Assignments for due dates)
The student will be evaluated on a combination of:
1. Periodic in-class or take-home quizzes, midterm and final composed of objective questions or
essay questions based on the texts, films or lectures—Required to receive a C or above.
2. Group work done in class, which may include short individual oral presentations.
3. Short essays and or presentation--Required to receive a C or above.
a. One short essay on The Epic of Gilgamesh (3-5 pages, typed and documented).
b. One short essay (3 pages) on a famous person, or artwork, place or text from the eras and
cultures studied.
4. Completion of assigned work from the student study guide—Required to receive a C or above.
To receive an A for the assigned work from the study guide you must:
a. Correctly respond to the individual exercises such as Vocabulary, Self Test, True/False,
and Fill in the blank exercises
b. Pick one of the links in the study guide and write a developed paragraph about one thing
you learned from the link that augments your study in the assigned chapter. If you need
help developing the paragraph please see a tutor in C226.
5. Additional Homework such as maps, film questions, or essay question--Required to receive a
C or above.
*Essay questions must have development of at least a lengthy paragraph. To receive an
excellent grade you must provide examples and demonstrate that you have thought about the
material in addition to information provided in the textbook. As in all written work you are
expected to provide in-text citation; page numbers for all quotes and paraphrased materials.
See a tutor in the writing center if you need help with citation mechanics.
6. Outline, MLA documented Works Cited Page, and oral presentation (5-10 minutes) or an
essay on a famous person, place, artwork, artifact, and or an excerpt from a famous text. –
Required to receive a C or above.
If you choose to write an essay instead of an oral report it needs to be about 3 typed pages and
must include your own thesis about what you found significant or interesting about the person or
artwork, or text, and include MLA in-text citation. If you do not know how to do an MLA
Works Cited Page or in-text citation please work in the writing center with a tutor. Reports that
are plagiarized from internet sources will receive a zero.
You are expected to do any assignments given orally in class, and to request clarification before
the work is due. Unless otherwise stated, homework will be due the following class period. No
late work will be accepted. You may see me during an office hour, or a tutor in The English
Center L209 having difficulty with an assignment.
• It is the student's responsibility to add, drop or withdraw from classes before the
deadlines stated in the class schedule.
• It is the instructor’s discretion to withdraw a student after the add/drop deadline due to
excessive absences.
•Students who remain enrolled in a class beyond the published withdrawal deadline (10/30)
as stated in the class schedule will receive an evaluative grade for this class.
***KEEP ALL COURSE-WORK AND QUIZZES IN A NOTEBOOK ALONG WITH
YOUR SYLLABUS, CALENDAR OF ASSIGNMENTS AND LECTURE NOTES***
Important Dates:
Jan 24 Spring semester begins
Feb 4 Add/Drop deadline
Feb 7 Refund deadline ‐ enrollment fees and/or non‐resident tuition
Feb 18 Holiday – Abraham Lincoln Day
Feb 21 Holiday – George Washington Day
Feb 28 Last day to file a petition for Credit/No Credit grade option
Apr 1 Withdrawal deadline – No drops accepted after this date
Apr 18‐23 Spring Break
Apr 22 Holiday – Cesar Chavez Day
May 21 End of Spring 2011 Semester
May 30 Holiday – Memorial Day
May 31 Spring 2011 grades available on e‐Grades
For this class, students are encouraged to visit the English Center in the Academic Success
Center in the L Building. Peer tutors will help you with writing and critical thinking
responses. Locations and phone numbers are subject to change.
STUDENT SUCCESS CENTER SERVICES
First Floor
EOPS–Extended Opportunities Programs and Services
L-117 619-388-3209
Other Important Campus Resources
MESA Program–
Counseling-Student Health-Mental Health-DSPS-Financial Aid--
A-110 (388-3540)
A-116 (388-3450)
A-221 (388-3539)
A-115 (388-3513)
A113 (388-3501)
Math Engineering Science Achievement
L-115 619-3883156
Puente Program
L-121 619-388-3668
TRIO Program
L-114 619-388-3407
Umoja Program
L-121 619-388-3796
SECOND FLOOR
Assessment
L-207 619-388-3274
Calworks
L-206 619-388-3797
English Center
L-209 619-388-3633
Math Center
L-208 619-388-3580
New Horizons
L-206 819-388-3424
Tutorial Center
L-205 619-388-3685