Traditions in Conversation
(Fall ‘06, ACS 1000-S22, ACS 1000-S23):
LOVE, FRIENDSHIP, FAMILY AND COMMUNITY
Michael Waddell, Ph.D.
Department of Philosophy
Office: St. Augustine Center, Rm. 167
Email: michael.waddell@villanova.edu
Phone: 610.519.6862
http://www.homepage.villanova.edu/michael.waddell
Office hours: T, Th 4:00-5:30pm; and by appointment
COURSE DESCRIPTION
What would human life be without relationships? The forces of love, friendship, family and
community that unite us with other people are among the most powerful influences on who we
are. And yet, these forces are notoriously difficult to understand. For example, love can be as
much beyond our control as Cupid’s arrow or as much within our power as the words “I do.”
Friendship is, at once, profoundly personal and irreducibly social. Most of us would kill to
protect their families; but few people are so likely to turn our thoughts to violence as our own
relatives. And, while community can sometimes destroy individuality, human individuals can
only come to exist within communities.
In this seminar, we will read, talk and write about these and many other dimensions of love,
friendship, family and community. Our reflections will be focused on (and by) some of the
greatest texts of the ancient, medieval and renaissance periods, including the Hebrew and
Christian Scriptures, Plato’s Symposium, Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, St. Augustine’s
Confessions, St. Benedict’s Rule, and Shakespeare’s plays Much Ado About Nothing and Romeo
and Juliet. We will read these texts not only in order to understand what sages of the past have
thought about our subject matter—which would be an ambitious undertaking in its own
right—but also to help us think about love, friendship, family and community in our own lives.
OBJECTIVES
This course has many aspirations, but five of the most important are:
1) to help students develop the skills and attitudes that foster fruitful discussion;
2) to cultivate the skills that contribute to sophisticated reading of primary sources;
3) to hone the skills needed to write well in the humanistic disciplines;
4) to refine skills in critical thinking;
5) to facilitate engagement with important intellectual traditions of the ancient, medieval and
renaissance worlds, especially the Catholic and Augustinian traditions.
REQUIREMENTS
The following assignments are required of all students in the seminar. All written assignments
are to be typed and double spaced, employing one inch margins and a font that allows
approximately 300 words per page (e.g., Times New Roman 12 pt.). Unless otherwise indicated
by the instructor, assignments are due at the beginning of class on the date specified in the
schedule (below). Work submitted on the assigned date but after the specified time will incur a
5% deduction; work will not be accepted after the due date except when prior permission has
been given by the instructor or in the case of a serious emergency (as judged by the instructor).
Work may not be submitted electronically unless prior permission has been given by the
instructor.
I. Readings: Careful reading is the foundation of everything we will do together in this seminar.
Accordingly, students are expected to read and think about all assigned texts before class
meetings. To ensure that seminar participants are preparing the readings adequately, five pop
quizzes will be given throughout the semester. These quizzes will be distributed during the first
five minutes of class; anyone who arrives more than five minutes late (according to the
instructor’s timepiece) will not be allowed to take that day’s quiz. Because these are pop
quizzes, they are not repeatable. Students who do not earn a passing grade (>60%) on at least
three quizzes will have 10% deducted from their final grade. Graded quizzes must be saved in
the seminar portfolio.
II. Discussion
A. Class Participation: Students are expected to contribute thoughtfully to seminar discussions.
To encourage students to participate actively and positively, 30% of the final grade will be based
on the quality and quantity of your participation in discussion.
B. Discussion Questions: Each student must submit four discussion questions. In each of these
exercises, the student should articulate a question based on the reading assignment and then
attempt to answer the question in approximately one page. Questions will be used to facilitate
discussion in class. Discussion questions must be emailed to all small group members and the
instructor by 9pm the night before the class meeting for which the relevant reading is due;
discussion questions not submitted on time will not receive credit. Discussion questions will be
graded at the end of the term as part of the seminar portfolio.
III. Essays
There will be three major essays required for this seminar. Assignment sheets with detailed
requirements, tips for success, grading rubrics, relevant deadlines, and so forth will be
distributed approximately two weeks before each essay is due. For now, please note the
following brief descriptions of the essay assignments.
A. Sic et non . . .
In the Bible passages we have read together, Lot offers his daughters to the people of Sodom,
and Abraham sets out to sacrifice his son Isaac as a burnt offering to God.
Step 1: Write a short position paper (1½–2 pages) arguing that either Lot’s or Abraham’s actions
were morally justifiable. Write a second short position paper (1½–2 pages) arguing that the
same person’s actions were not morally justifiable. (Your arguments should provide reasons
why the actions were or were not morally justifiable.)
Step 2: Share these two position papers with at least one other student in the seminar and with
the instructor. Discuss your arguments with your peer reader, and have a conference with the
instructor. Include your peer reader’s comments in your seminar portfolio.
Step 3: Drawing on the arguments from your position papers and the comments from your
readers, write a 3-5 page paper in which you answer the following questions: Were the actions
under consideration morally justifiable? Why or why not? Be sure to explain how you would
address arguments against your position that have arisen from steps one and two.
N.B.: This assignment will be evaluated in two parts. One grade will be given for the two short
position papers (collectively), and a second grade will be given on the longer (3-5 page) paper.
B. Love Your Neighbor as Yourself?
Write a five page essay answering the following question: Is Aristotle’s theory of friendship
egoistic or altruistic? Marshall evidence from the text in support of your interpretive thesis. Be
sure to discuss any counter-evidence that can be found in the text and explain how your thesis
can account for it.
C. Personal Confessions . . .
One can read Augustine’s Confessions as his attempt to understand how God has used various
forces—including Augustine’s experiences, his relationships, and the influence of society and its
institutions—to lead Augustine to Christianity. Using the Confessions as a model, write a 5-7
page essay in which you
1) analyze a decision that you presently face (or have recently faced)
2) in light of the relevant experiences, relationships and other forces that shape your life.
Feel free to delve as far into your past as you think relevant, and introduce as many relationships,
experiences, and so forth as you believe to bear on your current circumstances.
D. Writing Conferences: All students in Villanova Seminars are required to have at least two
writing conferences with their instructor during the semester. One of your required conferences
will occur when you submit your two position papers (see IIIA above). The second conference
must be devoted to discussing a draft of either essay IIIB or essay IIIC. Failure to have two
writing conferences with the instructor will result in a failing grade for the course.
E. Writing Center Visit: All first semester Villanova Seminar students are required to make at
least one visit to the Writing Center for a tutoring session. Failure to have this tutoring session
will result in a failing grade for the course.
IV. Cultural Events: All Villanova Seminar students are required to attend three cultural events
throughout the semester and to write a reaction paper for each event. Please consult with the
instructor about whether a particular event counts as “cultural.” Reaction papers should be at
least one page long. They may be submitted at any point in the semester, and will be graded
“pass/fail.” Reaction papers that receive a failing grade will not be counted toward the required
three submissions. Failure to attend three cultural events and submit three passing reaction
papers will result in a failing grade for the course.
V. Final Exam: The precise format of the final exam is yet to be determined. However, the
exam will likely consist of one or two essay questions that will be given to you well in advance
of the exam. The exam will be comprehensive, but will emphasize material from texts that are
not the focus of major essays (viz., the Gospel of Matthew, Plato’s Symposium, Benedict’s Rule,
and the two Shakespeare plays).
VI. Attendance: The university’s attendance policy requires that first year students have no
more than four unexcused absences from this class. Any first year student who has more than
four unexcused absences will fail the course. In order for an absence to be counted as
“excused,” students must provide the professor with documentation from an appropriate
university official attesting to the fact that the absence was due to illness, personal emergency
(e.g., death in the family), or official university business (e.g., travel with a Villanova varsity
athletic team, musical group, etc.). This documentation must be presented to the instructor no
later than the second scheduled class meeting after the missed class(es) in order to be accepted.
VII. Some Notes Regarding the Seminar Requirements . . .
A. The Seminar Portfolio: Villanova Seminars must use an assessment technique called the
portfolio method. Students are required to save all written assignments in a portfolio that will be
collected for informal feedback at midterm and collected again for grading at the end of the
semester. In our seminar, the three essay assignments will be formally graded at the time they
are due, but several other assignments—including the discussion questions and cultural event
reaction papers—will not be formally evaluated until the entire portfolio is submitted at the end
of the term.
B. Academic Accommodations: It is the policy of Villanova University to make reasonable
academic accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities. If you are a person with a
disability, please contact me outside of class and register with the Learning Support Office by
calling 610-519-5636 or emailing “nancy.mott@villanova.edu” as soon as possible. Registration
is needed in order to receive accommodations.
EVALUATION
Your final grade will be determined according to the following formula:
Class participation (30%) + Discussion questions (10%) + Position papers 1 & 2 (10%)
+ Sic et non essay (10%) + Aristotle essay (15%) + Confessions essay (15%)
+ Final exam (10%) = Final Grade
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
Violations of Villanova’s academic integrity policy will be dealt with according to the
procedures established by the university. Violations of the academic integrity policy
include—but are not limited to—cheating on exams, plagiarizing another person’s ideas or
statements, fabricating data, handing in the same work in two different classes, and so forth. A
first violation of the academic integrity policy will carry a minimum penalty of a failing grade on
the assignment. A second violation will carry a minimum penalty of a failing grade for the
course. The most severe penalty for a violation of the academic integrity policy is expulsion
from the university. If you have questions about the limits of academic integrity in specific
circumstances, please ask me.
MATERIALS
The following texts are required for the course and are available for purchase in the bookstore:
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Augustine, St. Confessions. Trans. Boulding. New York: New City Press, 2001.
The Catholic Study Bible. Ed. Senior et al. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1990.
Lunsford, Andrea. Easy Writer. 3rd ed. New York: St. Martin’s, 2006.
Plato. Symposium. Trans. Nehemas and Woodruff. Indianapolis: Hackett, 1989.
Shakespeare, William. Much Ado About Nothing. Ed. Stevenson. New York: Penguin
(New American Library), 1998.
Shakespeare, William. Romeo and Juliet. Ed. Bryant. New York: Penguin (New
American Library), 1998.
The following text is required for the course and will be available on WebCT and on reserve in
the library:
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Aristotle. Nicomachean Ethics. Second edition. Indianapolis, IN: Hackett, 1999.
The following text is required for the course and is available online:
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Benedict, Saint. The Rule. http://www.ccel.org/b/benedict/rule2/rule.html.
**Please note: you are expected to bring the assigned reading with you to every class meeting.
You may share books if you wish; but you should have a copy of the text with you to consult in
class. Habitual failure to bring the assigned text to class will impact a student’s class
participation grade.**
SCHEDULE
Date
Reading Due / Class Activity
TH, 8/24
Introduction
T, 8/29
Writing Workshop: Evaluating Arguments
Diagnostic Writing Exercise
TH, 2/31
Genesis, 1-10
Group A Discussion Questions
T, 9/5
Genesis, 11-25.18
Group B Discussion Questions
TH, 9/7
Genesis, 25.19-50
Group C Discussion Questions
T, 9/12
Symposium, 172a-177e
TH, 9/14
Written Assignment Due
Position Papers 1 and 2
T, 9/19
Symposium, 178a-185e
Group D Discussion Questions
TH, 9/21
Symposium, 186a-194e
Group A Discussion Questions
T, 9/26
Symposium, 195a-212c
Group B Discussion Questions
TH, 9/28
Writing Lab: Constructing Arguments
T, 10/3
Symposium 212d-223d
TH, 10/5
Group C Discussion Questions
Sic et Non Essay;
Portfolio Review
T, 10/10
***No Class*** (Midterm Break)
TH, 10/12
***No Class*** (Midterm Break)
T, 10/17
Writing Workshop: Evaluating Interpretive Theories
TH, 10/19
Nicomachean Ethics, bks. 8-9
Group D Discussion Questions
T, 10/24
Matthew, 1-10
Group A Discussion Questions
TH, 10/26
Writing Lab: Constructing Interpretive Theories
T, 10/31
Matthew, 11-28
TH, 11/2
Group B Discussion Questions
Aristotle Essay
T, 11/7
Confessions, bks. 1-3
Group C Discussion Questions
TH, 11/9
Confessions, bks. 4-6
Group D Discussion Questions
T, 11/14
Confessions, bks. 7-9
Group A Discussion Questions
TH, 11/16
Writing Workshop: Evaluating Essays
T, 11/21
The Rule of St. Benedict
TH, 11/23
***No Class*** (Thanksgiving Break)
T, 11/28
Romeo and Juliet
Group B Discussion Questions
Group C Discussion Questions
TH, 11/30
Writing Lab: Confessions Essay
T, 12/5
Much Ado About Nothing
Group D Discussion Questions
TH, 12/7
Confessions Essay
& Seminar Portfolio
TBA
***Final Exam***