Instructors Manual
Class Procedures:
It is recommended that the class begin with 2 conferences;
one only for announcements by faculty, and the other for the first week’s
topic: Departure. A new conference should begin at the beginning
of each new week focused on the new week’s topic. Discussions in
each conference will be allowed to continue after the class has moved on
to the next topic. It is expected that activity in the past conferences
will lessen considerably, but may be continued by a few students who may
have a special interest in the topic, and/or wish to work further in this
area as part of a Quarterly or Final Project. The instructor, however,
should devote most of their attention to the discussions in the most current
conference, while periodically scanning previous topics, encouraging interested
students to cultivate their inquiries with an eye toward formulating a
Final Project, while entering those discussions to help the students refine
and focus their interests. Discussions of new topics will end after
12 weeks; therefore, the class will have established a total of 12 conferences
for course topics plus the one for announcements.
After that first 12 weeks, the class will have entered
the “Advisement Period” which lasts 2 weeks. Questions concerning
papers, clarifications of ideas and procedures, etc., which may concern
all class members, may then be addressed in the conference previously reserved
for announcements. However, most of the advisement will occur through
personal e-mail so that individual problems may be addressed in detail.
Assignments must be presented in the fashion described
in the Course Outline. Quarterly papers
should be e-mailed to the Instructor by pasting the assignment directly
into the e-mail message. Please request that students do not "attach
files" in that some Instructors may not have the capacity to open them.
The final paper may be either in the form of an html file (uploaded on
the web) or text posted directly into e-mail.
A time should be designated for when the Instructor
will be available to the class at large for "interactive chats."
The chats should run for 1 and 1 half hour, three times per week.
The software used by the program monitors the amount of time spent by each
student in each area. Class participation in these "chats" and conferences
should be evaluated and counted as at least 10% of the final grade.
Course Content and Teaching Style:
Certainly, each instructor should use the teaching
style which works best for them. However, the course was designed
for the purpose of leaving a great deal unexplained so that the students
may find ideas in the material, compare them and come to their own conclusions.
The questions and commentaries provided should be sufficient to begin interesting
discussions. The instructor should include their own questions
and comments as the discussions progress in order to renew, stimulate,
and guide the discussion; bringing the discussion towards deeper levels
of understanding of the texts being studied, and the ideas they present.
The commentaries in the Syllabus is relatively minimal and were
written for the purpose of tying the reading material together in a meaningful
way, as well as for initiating and stimulating discussions. Thus
the substance of this course is interactive, and will take on shape and
clarity as the course evolves through a sincere engagement of the student
in the work. The commentaries also include clarifications of homework
assignments.
The class was designed to encourage the expression
of a diverse range of opinions, ideas and beliefs, and to allow each student
to search deeply in themselves for their own meaning and insight--as well
as those found in the required reading. Thus, the Instructor must
encourage a spirit of open-mindedness from all of the participants in order
to help create a supportive atmosphere.
The class should also be encouraged to attempt to
understand the ideas intended in the texts before judging these ideas by
one's own cultural or class standards. The text, The Quest of
the Holy Grail, being used to establish the structure for the course
may prove to be the greatest challenge for this approach. Week 10
offers the opportunity to criticize the philosophy promoted in this text.
The characters in the story may be used as devices on which students may
project their own feelings and concerns, as well as focus their criticisms.
The popular concept that faith is antithetical to
reason, and vice versa, has been consciously avoided in the class
in favor of more interesting concepts such as: “faith in reason,”
“reasonable faith,” “faith as the basis of perception,” etc. However,
students may be encouraged to pursue the controversies between faith and
reason on their own. Two books are recommended to support contending
positions:
Bertrand Russell: Why I am Not a Christian - Reason vs. Faith
Soren Kierkegaard: Fear and Trembling - Faith vs. Reason
The Instructor should always keep in mind that during the 12 weeks of study, the student should be finding an area of interest. The goal is to develop this area into a Final Project that will reveal, practice, and employ what they have learned; as well as reflect their own thoughts on the great dialogue between faith and reason as it has taken place in cultural and historical traditions, as well as within the individual.