Contact Information
Email: arosenth@gustavus.edu
Phone: 933-7437
Office: Old Main 204H
Course Description
This course is a survey of ancient Western political and social thought. We will focus on the ideas and theories of a variety of political theorists including Plato, Aristotle, Marcus Aurelius, and Augustine. Because one of our purposes in this course will be to survey, in roughly chronological order, some important political theories, we will situate each theorist in the particular historical periods in which they lived and analyze the various answers that they sought to offer to the permanent questions of soulcraft (how should we live as good and happy people) and statecraft (how should we live together). In doing so, we shall consider questions of human nature, and the nature of justice, freedom, obligation, and community.
But this is not simply a course designed to teach you what others have thought. Rather, we will turn our critical and analytic skills to these theories to evaluate and assess their cogency, coherence, and usefulness in engaging the concrete political and social problems their authors intended to address. In addition, we will consider their relevance and importance for our own political and social questions. These goals will demand that you develop an understanding of how these thinkers thought, not simply that you remember what they said. Writing assignments and exams will ask you to demonstrate your knowledge of the thinkers' specific writings and your understanding of their approach to social and political questions.
Writing Intensive (WRITI) courses are also intended to introduce students to the writing process, to writing as a means of learning, to rhetorical issues such as purpose, audience, and context, and narrative and to argumentative strategies used most frequently by writers educated in the liberal arts tradition. Consequently, we will regularly discuss student writing in class, develop your abilities to make appropriate rhetorical choices, and use a process-based approach which affords you the opportunity to draft, revise, and edit several writing assignments.
Course Objectives
1. Develop familiarity with, comprehension of, and an evaluation of significant works of ancient political theory.
2. Recognize political phenomena, cultural values, and power structures that shape central issues of political thought.
3. Engage in critical analysis of ancient political theories through writing, in-class discussion, and examinations.
4. Assess the applicability and relevance of ancient political theory to contemporary political thought and political practice.
5. Develop and elaborate reasons and explanations for one's own political beliefs.
6. Use writing as a means of self-expression, critical inquiry, creative expression, argumentation, communication, and exploration. (This course carries a WRIT designation. Thus, we will engage discussion of writing explicitly and will treat the act of writing as integral to the subject matter.)
Course Requirements
Attendance
Consistent attendance is a minimum condition of class membership. Students do not receive credit for attending but failure to attend class will negatively affect grades. In a discussion-oriented class such as this, missing class discussion is missing coursework that cannot be made up.
Participation (20%)
We will proceed largely by means of discussion. Thus, attendance, preparation and participation are essential. You should approach each class with a good grasp of the assigned reading and your own perspective toward it. These texts can be dense and complex, so you will need to take time to read carefully, figuring out what claims the authors are making and what questions you have about them.
Students should be prepared to raise questions and offer critical insights about the reading material and the issues that it raises. To facilitate this, I may, on occasion, administer "mini-quizzes" in class. These may or may not be announced in advance. Such quizzes are counted as part of your participation grade.
Vigorous class debate and discussion is both expected and desirable. Presence alone does not earn participation credit: a passively silent and/or clearly unprepared student earns no credit for participation. Note that there is a difference between passive silence and active listening. You need not speak constantly to participate meaningfully in class. Attentive, thoughtful, respectful, and reflective listening to others constitutes active participation. I construe class participation broadly. Come to class having read the material carefully and thoughtfully. Participate in class to the greatest extent you can. Speak when you have something to say. Ask questions when you have them. Listen carefully and respectfully to others. Engage in small group discussions. Come to my office hours. Send me e-mail. Engage in whatever other ways make sense for you.
Late arrivals are distracting and disrespectful. Persistent tardiness will lower your participation grade.
Microessays (22.5% - 7.5% each)
Each student will write three "microessays" of approximately 750 words each. There will be five opportunities to submit microessays. If you choose, you may submit microessays on four dates and I will drop the lowest grade received. Because you have flexibility regarding which microessays you choose to write, I will permit extensions or late papers only under the most dire of circumstances. Printer and disk mishaps do not qualify. Poor time management or "lots of work due the same week" do not qualify.
Essays (30% - 15% each)
Each student will write two essays of 8-10 pages each. By asking you to synthesize and evaluate issues raised in the course, these essays are designed to enhance your understanding of course material and capacity for critical analysis, to improve your abilities to articulate these understandings in writing, and to assess the knowledge you have gained from the class. Due dates for these assignments are listed below. Paper topics will be distributed approximately 2 weeks before each essay is due.
Late papers will be docked 1 full letter grade per day for 2 days after the original due date. After 48 hours, late papers will not be accepted.
Students will have the opportunity to rewrite and resubmit the first of these essays. Students choosing to complete a re-write must meet with me within one week of receiving the graded essay to discuss their essay and plans for revision. The revised essay is due two weeks after the original graded essays were distributed to the class. Revised essays will be graded; the final grade for the essay will average the original grade and the grade on the revised essay.
Exams (27.5% - 12.5% and 15%)
Midterm Exam: October 23rd in-class
Final Exam: Tuesday, December 18th, 10:30-12:30
Exam formats will be discussed in class and sample midterm and final exams will be made available.
Course Policies
Accessibility
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act (1990) work together to ensure 'reasonable accommodation' and non-discrimination for students with disabilities in higher education. A student who has a physical, psychiatric/emotional, medical, learning, or attentional disability that may have an effect on the student's ability to complete assigned course work should contact the Disability Services Coordinator in the Advising Center, who will review the concerns and decide with the student what accommodations are necessary.
Accomodations for Religious Observances
If you will require academic accommodations for a religious observance, please provide me with a written request to consider a reasonable modification for that observance by the end of the second week of the course. Contact me after class, during my office hours, or by individual appointment to discuss the issue. I will make every reasonable accommodation.
I may use email occasionally to communicate with the class about assignments and changes to the schedule. You are responsible for the contents of these emails. Thus, you are required to maintain and regularly check your Gustavus email account. If you use an email address other than your official Gustavus address, you are responsible for having Gustavus email forwarded to that address.
N.B.
Failure to complete all of the projects and papers, or a pattern of failure to complete reading assignments, attend class, and/or engage in informed participation will result in failure of this course. If you have a problem, please see me before it becomes a crisis.
Academic Honesty
I take the principles of academic honesty seriously and will uphold the policies and procedures of Gustavus Adolphus College.
Dishonesty of any kind with respect to examinations, course assignments, alteration of records, or illegal possession of examinations is considered cheating. Students are responsible not only to abstain from cheating, but also to avoid making it possible for others to cheat.
Submitting someone else's work as your own constitutes plagiarism. Academic honesty requires the full acknowledgement of ideas taken from another source for use in a course paper or project. You must include citations for material that you quote or paraphrase from another text; in general, it is better to overcite than to undercite.
All work that you submit for this course may be submitted only to this course and should be based upon work and thought undertaken only for this course.
Violations of the Academic Honesty Policy will result in at least a grade of zero for the specific assignment and/or failure of the course. Students accused and/or penalized for these violations and students who become aware of such violations have specific rights and responsibilities as outlined in the Honor Code section of the College Catalogue.
Each exam and graded paper will contain the statement, "On my honor, I pledge that I have not given, received, or tolerated others' use of unauthorized aid in completing this work."
Please follow this link for copies of the Gustavus academic honesty policy.