ILS 2215: Integrative Learning (The Earth in Peril, From Transcendence to Obsolence: Earth as Paradise and Prison)

Tentative Course Schedule
Fall 2019



WEEK 1        WEEK 2      WEEK 3     WEEK 4     WEEK 5        WEEK 6

WEEK 7       WEEK 8      WEEK 9     WEEK 10    WEEK  11


NOTE:  This schedule may change as needed.  Your presence in class ensures correct assignments



WEEK 1


 M 9/9     Course Introduction; Video:  Planet Earth:  The Future; Discuss Presentations
                 Sign up for presentation; Discuss Franzen Article (read before class)

                  Homework (Due 9/11):
  •        Complete Syllabus Quiz in Ulearn; See Quizzes link
  •        Set Up Blog; email the Web address to your page (http://wordpress)
                 to Professor Harmon:  [email protected] by class time.
  •        Read Thoreau's "Huckleberries" (See handouts in Ulearn)
  •        Study for Quiz



W 9/11    Discuss Kingsolver & Thoreau; Quiz 1 & Blog Post 1

                 Homework (Due 9/16):
  •       Do Reader Response 1:  What do you see as a significant connection between this text and either Kingsolver or      Thoreau? Your answer should be a minimum of 300 words, and your  response must be posted no later than class time 
  •      You will post your completed response in TWO LOCATIONS:  1) in the essays folder in Ulearn (submit                essays/assignments>reader responses) & 2) on the discussion board for Carolyn Merchant's Reinventing Eden 
  •      Complete Quiz in Ulearn (see quizzes link in Ulearn)


WEEK 2

M 9/16     NO REGULAR CLASS MEETING; MEET ONLINE
                 Return to the Merchant discussion Board and read through some of the posts
                 there and respons to the posts of two other students for a total 
                 of 300 words total between the two.  Imagine that your classmates' responses are comments
                 that they made in a traditional classroom setting.  In your response back to them, explain
                 what new ideas their comments prompted for you about our readings or how they may have
                 perhaps led you to view the texts in a way that you had not considered.  You must complete
                 your responses back to other students no later than 11:59pm today (9/16)


                 Homework (Due 9/18):  
  •        Read "Planet of Weeds" by David Quammen (See Handouts/Readings
                 link in Ulearn)
  •        Do Reader Response 2:  What  do you see as a significant connection between one of these texts (Quammen         and Solnit) and an earlier text that we read.  Your answer should be a minimum of 300 words, and your                   response must be posted to Ulearn no later than class time in the essays folder (submit essays/assigments 
                > reader responses) & 2 on the discussion board for Quammen & Solnit



W  9/18   Discuss Quammen & Solnit
                Return to the Quammen & Solnit discussion Board and read through some of
                the posts there (your classmates' reader response 2) and respond to any two in a minimum of
                300 words total between the two. Imagine that your classmates' responses are comments
                that they made in a traditional classroom setting. In your response back to them, explain
                what new ideas their comments prompted for you about our readings or how they may have
                perhaps led you to view the texts in a way that you had not considered. You must complete
                your responses back to other students no later than 1:35 pm today (3/20)

                Homework (Due 9/23):  
  •       Do Reader Response 3:  What do you see as the central theme (central idea) of this work?  How does the author   communicate this ideas through the story's symbols?  Explain. Provide at leastone quote from the text.  Your response must be a minimum of 300 words and posted to Ulearn by class time.
  •       Be prepared for quiz



WEEK 3

M 9/23    Review fiction terms; Two Quizzes & Blog Post 4; Discuss Hawthorne


                 Homework (Due 9/25)::  
  •        1st Version of Essay 1 Due (Upload to Ulearn as MS Word file
  •        Submit Essay 1 to SmartThinking Tutor (see instructions in Ulearn)




W 9/25    1st Version of Essay 1 Due; Why Peer Critique?; Watch Avatar

               Homework (Due 9/30):
  •      Do Reader Response 4 :  What connections do you see between Avatar and another course reading so far this term?   Your answer should be a minimum of 300 words and your response must be posted  to Ulearn no later than class time
  •     Upload Smarthinking report and revision plan as one MS Word file; Go to SUBMIT                         ESSAYS/ASSIGNMENTS <SMARTHINKING REPORTS & REVISION PLANS
  •      Revise Essay 1 draft
  •     Work on Revisions: See Revision Checklist
  •     Ulearn: SUBMIT ESSAYS/ASSIGMENTS > PEER CRITIQUES



WEEK 4
M   9/30     Discuss peer critique of Essay 1 with partner; Discuss What is Due with Final Draft; 
                   Complete Avatar; Discuss Avatar;

                   Homework (Due 10/2):                        
  •          be prepared for quiz


 W 10/2     Discuss Kirby and watch “A Decade of the Human Genome” (BBC Documentary, 2012)


                  Homework (Due M 10/7):   
  •         Read "The Evening, The Morning, & The Night" by Octavia Butler (see handouts in Ulearn)
  •        Do Reader Response 5: What do you see as an emerging theme in Butler's story and how is that connected to something you saw in the BBC documentary in class?  Express this theme as        a single word/idea.  Support your assertions with evidence from the text and the film.  Your answer should be a minimum of 300 words, and your response must be posted no later than class time
  •       Return to this discussion board  for Kirby and the BBC documentary and respond to the posts of a minimum of two other students for a total of 300 words between the two.  Imagine that your classmates' responses are comments that they made in a traditional classroom setting.  In your response back to them, explain what new ideas their comments prompted for you about our reading and video or how they may have perhaps led you to view the texts in a way that you had not considered.  Again, these posts must be completed no later than the beginning of class time on M 10/7 (1:45pm) 


WEEK 5

M 10/7    Final Draft of Essay 1 Due with Reflection; Discuss Butler; Quiz
                Discuss Essay 2

                 Homework (Due 10/9):   
  •        Do Reader Response 6:   Your answer should be a minimum of 300 words, and
                your response must be posted no later than class time on R 4/7
  •       Polish Final Draft of Essay 1

W 10/9     Film: Gattaca (106 min); Presentation:  The 
                 Ethics of Genetic Modification (plants, animals, and humans) (Grover & Shelley)

                 Homework (Due 10/14): 
  •        Read "Fooling with Mother Nature" by William Gaylin and prepare 3 questions for discussion
                (see Course Readings link)
  •        Watch film for Essay 2; See link for suggestions.


WEEK 6

M 10/14    Gattaca Discussion; Discuss Presentation and Gaylin article

                 Homework (Due 10/16):   
  •         Submit 1st draft of Essay 2 to SmartThinking Tutor


W 10/16   Film: Most Hated in the Nation (Season 3, Episode 6 of The Black Mirror), 89 min.


                 Homework (Due 10/21):  
  •        Read Oryx & Crake, pp. 1-43 (1-25 up to "Downpour" in .pdf file)
  •        First Draft of Essay 2 due; Submit to Ulearn and Submit to SmartThinking Tutor.


F 10/18    LAST DAY TO WITHDRAW FROM AN ACADEMIC COURSE


WEEK 7

M 10/21    Quiz 4; First Draft of Essay 2 due; Exchange for Critique; Discuss Atwood; 


                 Homework (Due 10/23):   
  •        Upload Smarthinking report and revision plan as one MS Word file; Go to SUBMIT        
                 ESSAYS/ASSIGNMENTS <SMARTHINKING REPORTS & REVISION PLANS
  •        Read Oryx & Crake, pp. 44-87 (26-51 in .pdf file)



W 10/23  Quiz 5; Discuss Atwood;  Peer Critique, Essay 2; Presentation

                Homework (Due 10/28):  
  •       Read Oryx & Crake, pp. 88-131 (52-78 in .pdf file)
  •       Do Reader Response 7:   Connect the content of this section to one of the other readings we have completed this term.  Your response must be a minimum of 300 words and posted to Ulearn by class time




WEEK 8
M 10/28      Quiz 6: Discuss Atwood; Presentation

                  Homework (Due 10/30): 
  •         Final Draft of Essay 2 due with Reflection
  •         Read Oryx & Crake, pp. 132-177 (79-104 in .pdf file)



W 10/30    Quiz 7; Final Draft of Essay 2 with Reflection; Discuss Atwood

                 Homework (Due 5/3):  
  • ​       Read Oryx & Crake, pp. 178-218 (105-131 in .pdf file)
  •       Do Reader Response 8:   Connect the content of this section of the novel to one of the other readings we have examined this term. Your response must be a minimum of 300 words and posted to Ulearn by class time. 



WEEK 9
M 11/4    Quiz 8; Discuss Atwood; PRESENTATION

                Homework (Due 11/6):  
  •       Read Oryx & Crake, pp. 221-261 (132-155 in .pdf file)
  •       Complete Quiz in Ulearn


W 11/6    Quiz 9; Discuss Atwood; Final Exam Essay Questions Available

                Homework (Due 5/10):  
  •       Read Oryx & Crake, pp. 265-306 (156-182 in .pdf file)
  •       Complete Quiz in Ulearn 



WEEK 10
M 11/11   Quiz 10; Discuss Atwood; 
                For Next Time:
  •       Read Oryx & Crake, pp. 307-end (183-end in .pdf file)
  •       Work on Final Exam

W 11/15    Workday for Exam? Discuss Organization, etc.; PRESENTATION


WEEK 11

M 11/18    Reading Day (no class meeting)

W 11/20    Final Exam due with Reflection