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Michael R. H. Swanson, Ph. D.
Office: GHH  215
Phone:  ext. 3230
Hours:  M W. F. 11:00-12:00
T:  2-30 -4:00 or by appointment
E-mail:  ideaofdemocracy@gmail.com
Core 102  History and the Modern World
The Idea of Democracy
Roger Williams University
M- Th:   CAS   227  2:00 -   3:20
T - Th:   GHH  108  9:30 - 10:50
Fall Semester, 2011

Click to read Eliot's Biography
Clock  to visit the Foundation for Critical Thinking
Critical Thinking as an Academic Method.
Critical thinkers are clear as to the purpose at hand and the question at issue. They question information, conclusions, and points of view. They strive to be clear, accurate, precise, and relevant.  They seek to think beneath the surface, to be logical, and fair.  They apply these skills to their reading and writing as well as to their speaking and listening.

Richard Paul and Linda Elder,
The Foundation for Critical Thinking
I can start by introducing myself, I guess. I'm Mike Swanson of the American Studies and History programs in the Feinstein College of Arts and Sciences. My background is cultural history. I took my Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy degrees from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland Ohio, majoring in American Studies. I began here in the American Studies program in 1972 (wow, that's a long time ago).  I've always had an interest in material culture (the study of things people make) as well as intellectual history, and that interest took me into the historic preservation field about twenty years ago. I proposed the first Historic Preservation major here, and I expect to continue teaching in it from time to time, though I returned to my roots here in the College of Arts and Sciences in the fall of 2000.
About the Core Program itself:

The Core Program at Roger Williams University centers on three recurring questions in Western thought: "Who am I?" "What can I know?, and "Based on what I know, how should I act?". No single academic experience can provide satisfactory answers to these questions: five of them, working in concert, at least introduce the perspectives, which traditionally have provided tentative answers to these questions. Core 102 uses the disciplines of History and Political Science to look at socio/political answers to the question "Who am I?", the methodology of history and political science to explore "what can I know?", and at the results of behavior based on former answers to these questions to suggest avenues of responsible action in today's society
The course description gives an insight into the content of Core 102. It is more opaque concerning the rationale for a Core Curriculum in the first place. There was a time when the idea of a Core Curriculum would have made no sense: not because the idea seemed ridiculous, but because there was within the western world, at least, a universal agreement concerning what constituted a fit education.   Throughout most of the periods we're studying, this was the case.  The link will take you to a brief (30 p.) history of higher education curriculum in the United States.  Imagine yourself entering Harvard or Yale (women you’ll have to imagine yourselves as men) and think what your four years would have been like.  Would those have been the “good old days,” from your educational perspective?
Though the content varied across time, the categories of content proved remarkably stable. It wasn't until a little over a century ago that the idea of "electives" was put forth in academic circles. The culprit was a President of Harvard University.  That's Charles Eliot to the right.  Click on his picture and learn a bit more about him.
A decade or two before, the idea of specialties began: not as an undergraduate mode of investigation, but as what one did in graduate school. Here, the first American venture was based on a German model, and Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore was the grand innovator. Now, of course, specialty education is shattering the cohesion of what Thomas Jefferson called the "Academical Village". Perhaps that's a bit too strong: "threatening to shatter" might be a more appropriate turn of phrase.
Core Curricula such as the one at Roger Williams University are responses to this sense of fragmentation. We are participating in an attempt to forge a universal educational experience for all members of the Roger Williams student community, regardless of major, regardless of age, regardless of the majors they take or the schools in which those majors are located. This might be a brilliant exercise: it might also be a noble folly. I have the kind of mind that can hold both of these views simultaneously. It is worth the effort, in my judgment, to bring this diverse group into a common enterprise. I'm planning to have a good time doing it.

Each faculty member of the Core 102 team shapes the general content of the course to his or her individual interests and expertise. My sections will use different materials and in a different sequence, than you'll find in the other sections. At this stage of its development, the Internet is perhaps the most democratic medium ever invented. It is certainly the most potent educator since the invention of moveable type. I make that statement fully recognizing we've a few other means of disseminating information which have been invented since Gutenberg's day: movies, radio, television, to name the big three. Yet none of these allows the level of public access that the Internet does.
I teach two sections of this course, because I like teaching Freshmen.  Convictions about the potential of the Internet have caused me to emphasize its use in all the courses I teach, including this one. My sections of Core 102 have their own website and you may be reading this on that website now. 

http://ideaofdemocracy.homestead.com

Notes on each week's reading and discussion activities will be found there.  Assignments and links to additional resources will be there, as well.  Bookmark the URL. There will be one page of notes and assignments per week, and these will develop as the semester progresses. There will be an index on the home page at the left, with links to the page appropriate for the week’s work, and I’ll publish these one week in advance. So make sure “we’re all on the same page”.  All required reading assignments will be posted on the class website. Notes on each week's reading and discussion activities will be found there. A printer friendly copy can be found by clicking the button, top center, of the web version.
The Work Ahead

The Core Readings:

At the center of this course are a series of classic readings related to the idea, “democracy”. The earliest of these documents dates to nearly five centuries B.C.E.  The most recent dates to last spring.  Faculty refer to this collection as the “Core Canon”.  (Canon is a word used to describe a collection of representative and authoritative texts on a subject,...in this case, Democracy.)  Several years ago we began the  posting the “Core Canon” online.  The experiment worked very well, and we have repeated this procedure ever since.  The entire canon can be found at
http://corematerials.homestead.com

We won’t be using all the documents in the Core Canon: It would be a good idea to look the list of documents over, however.  The documents are published as Portable Document Format (.pdf) files.  This format  is useful because it maintains formatting regardless of which browser or printer one has.  Pdf. files are read by the Adobe Acrobat Reader.  Most computers come with this software installed.  Should you not have it, you can get it at

http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readermain.html.   The download is free.

If you do not have a computer and printer there are free machines available for use in the library and on the second floor of the Gabelli School of Business
One of the objectives of Core 102 is to introduce college freshmen to the kinds of thinking behaviors which are rewarded in college. These may be quite different from those which are rewarded in other environments–workplaces, for example, and even other educational levels. 

There are a number of different Critical Thinking techniques.  There are a number of excellent sources on the internet, including Critical Thinking on the Web. Acquiring and consistently practicing these techniques will make a significant difference in your academic success. The Foundation for Critical Thinking has many  resources available, and they’re not expensive.  You might find some of them useful to you.  Check them out at http://criticalthinking.org. There are other aids, too.  If you’re interested, drop by the office and I’ll point some out to you.

You will not have to purchase any other books for this section. Be aware that other teachers do require supplemental readings. If you have purchased a book by mistake, you can return it to the University Bookstore for a refund if you haven't marked it up.  You will need to purchase a large, three-ring, notebook. I also recommend you purchase a three-hole punch, though you can find those for use around the campus if you don't wish to make that particular investment. The central assignment for this course will be to download and annotate the required readings (using highlighters and marginal notes) according to principles I'll explain as the course progresses.  On the basis of your analysis of these readings you’ll be doing informal writing in an Online Journal.  More about that later.  The resulting notebook and journal will be graded, and the work you do here will help in the two papers you’ll write for me.
Your Responsibilities in Core 102

  http://ideaofdemocracy.homestead.com.

 


ALL WORK FOR THIS COURSE WHICH IS WRITTEN OUTSIDE OF CLASS MUST BE SUBMITTED THROUGH BRIDGES UNLESS OTHER INSTRUCTIONS ARE GIVEN.  THERE WILL BE SOME ROCKY GOING FOR ALL OF US REGARDING THIS NEW SYSTEM.  BUT IF A GUY RAISED ON THE TYPEWRITER CAN FIGURE IT OUT, SO CAN YOU–PROBABLY FASTER THAN I CAN. DON’T GIVE UP.  THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO CAN HELP YOU!
Evaluation and Grades

I don't like to do it but it comes with the territory. One of my goals for this course is to help you become more articulate and persuasive in presenting your ideas at the same time you are learning to frame questions, access information and form judgments and solutions. Consequently I'm going to have you do as much writing for me as I can find time to evaluate. Your Mid-term Examination and your final examination will be done outside of class.  In terms of proportions of your grade, I expect to use the following:
Classroom Practices and Procedures
The primary objective of this course is to trace the development of a number of ideas associated with the central idea, Democracy.  Historians understand that ideas don't just "pop up" out of nowhere, fully developed and isolated from what happened before.  Ideas have antecedents and ideas have consequences.  Consequently, we can create "genealogies" of ideas and thereby understand them better.

This year we’re going to begin with an article entitled Was Democracy Just a Moment? published in the Atlantic Monthly in 1997 by Robert D. Kaplan.  It’s a little longer than some of the materials we’ll be reading, but I think you’ll find it interesting.  Note the date–this was written before 9/11, before the second war in Iraq and the war in Afghanistan, and before most of the other hot spots we read about were erupting in violent ways.  I wonder if he had a crystal ball.
ALWAYS BRING YOUR NOTEBOOKS WITH ASSIGNED READINGS WITH YOU

Generally my classes are pretty informal.  I talk, you talk, and out of the conversation comes knowledge of a sort.  We are not going to construct a linear narrative this semester.  I am aiming to provide you with a richer, more complex, and more sophisticated understanding of The Democratic Idea.  Much of your final understanding will result from what you piece together yourself.  Some of you will be much more comfortable with this approach than others will be, at least initially.  If you are a person who requires a lot of structure you're going to have to switch gears and trust the system I'm using.  But give the system a fair trial, and you may be surprised at how your skills grow through practice.
Attendance Policy

USE THE CLASS E-MAIL ADDRESS.

Ideaofdemocracy@gmail.com. 

Use the website to keep informed.

Undergraduate Pledge to Academic Integrity









For a number of years now, this pledge has been the centerpiece of the convocation which begins the fall term.  It is worthwhile taking a minute or two to reflect on what it says.  The twin supports of Academic Life are collaboration and independence of thought.  In this class, there is no curve. In the largest sense, you're not in competition with each other, and to the degree that you can assist each other in learning you'll win nothing but praise from me.

Yet it is equally important that each student exercise his/her own independent judgment, and have confidence in his/her own mind.  Plagiarism defeats the whole purpose of the enterprise, and the University will not tolerate this particular form of intellectual theft.  For the university statement on plagiarism, and for a general exposition of its Academic Standards, consult the University Website.

You will learn appropriate techniques for incorporating ideas from others with your own in writing classes and elsewhere.  When in doubt about something you've written, don't hesitate to show it to me or any other professor and ask for an opinion.  The Roger Williams University Writing Center is very helpful to those who make the effort to use it.  It has also posted a number of helpful documents online.
We, the undergraduate students of Roger Williams University, commit ourselves to academic integrity. We promise to pursue the highest ideals of academic life, to challenge ourselves with the most rigorous standards, to be honest in any academic endeavor, to conduct ourselves responsibly and honorably, and to assist one another as we live and work together in mutual support
I'm looking forward to meeting you all and getting to know you.  I hope you'll be able to tell that I love the way I make a living, and that meeting with and teaching a group of students such as yourselves is as pleasurable way to spend a few hours as any I can possibly imagine. Good luck this semester, and if there's anything I can do to be helpful to you, call upon me.
Index Secton 01.
Index Secton 02