HUMANITIES OPENING BULLETIN 2009–2010

Course Philosophy and Content

Your Humanities teachers believe that, to truly understand a culture, you must hear its music, look at its works of art, read its stories, examine its system of government, and consider the ideas of its philosophers. While many classes examine these disciplines in isolation, Humanities integrates them into one interdisciplinary class. Humanities students will study the art, music, literature, and history (with a major focus on philosophy and political theory) of what has come to be known as Western civilization.

Humanities traces the development of Western civilization from pre-history through the twentieth century. While our study emphasizes European culture, this culture was influenced by, and in turn has influenced, a variety of cultures. Thus, we start our study with an examination of key elements of the earliest human civilizations that arose in Egypt and Mesopotamia. Throughout the year we will examine the exchange of ideas and encounters between cultures to enrich our understanding of Western civilization.

Format

Humanities is a two-hour team-taught class. The first hour is a large lecture class. All students should also be enrolled in a seminar hour, or small discussion group, which meets 2^nd, 4^th, and 5^th hours. Both hours are explained below.

LECTURE

Lecture is held first hour in the Little Theater. It is generally a college-style lecture delivered by one of the five Humanities teachers in his or her specialized discipline. This hour may also take the form of a team presentation, play, film, guest speaker, performance, panel, etc.

SEMINAR

Students also must be enrolled in a seminar hour, which meets either 2^nd, 4^th, or 5^th hours. Seminar time is divided between history seminar and literature seminar. Students will generally attend two history seminars a week (with Ms. Bruggers or Mr. Brennan) and two literature seminars a week (with Ms. Vail or Mrs. Graff). Art history will be covered during first hour only.

While lecture will provide broad historical context and overviews of certain works, seminar is reserved for discussing specific readings. With only very few exceptions, these will all be primary documents, that is, documents written during the historical period in question. It is critical that you read these works in advance and come in with your questions and reactions. Please note that we do not expect you to fully understand these readings! In fact, we are delighted when students come in with questions about what they did not understand. These are often the most productive and stimulating seminars.

SAMPLE SCHEDULE

A week’s schedule during our study of the Renaissance might look like this:

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
1^st Hr	History Lecture The Reformation	Music Lecture Renaissance Madrigals	Literature Lecture Othello	Art History Lecture Renaissance Sculpture	Art History Lecture Northern Renaissance Painting
2^nd,^4th, OR 5TH Hr	Literature Seminar Shakespeare’s Othello – I & II	History Seminar Machiavelli’s The Prince	Literature Seminar Shakespeare’s Othello – III & IV	History Seminar Machiavelli’s The Prince	Exam/Additional Seminar/ Additional Lecture

Team Teaching

As a Humanities student, you are directly responsible to three teachers: the art history teacher, Mr. Benedict; your assigned history teacher (Ms. Bruggers or Mr. Brennan); and your assigned literature teacher (Ms. Vail or Mrs. Graff).

If a problem arises in any particular subject, you should see the teacher of that subject. See Ms. Vail about any problems that are not the concern of any particular teacher: lecture attendance, the combination grade, audience credit, etc.

Lecture Courtesy and Rules

There are some 160 -170 students in the Little Theater first hour. For many of you, this is your first (but certainly not your last) big lecture class. Please respect the teachers, your classmates, and our lecture hall by observing the following rules:

1. Always sit in your assigned seat, unless you are tardy (see number 6). If you do not, you will be marked absent.
2. Obviously, be quiet during lectures. If you are disruptive, you may expect to be spoken to by any member of the team, not just the person lecturing. If your problem persists, more serious action will be taken.
3. Turn off and put away your cell phones during lecture.
4. Refrain from eating and drinking anything besides water in the Little Theater. (Water is permitted only in clear containers.)
5. If you are late, please sit in a seat toward the back so that you do not distract the class. It is your responsibility to ensure that the teachers taking attendance are aware of your arrival.

Attendance – Policies and Advice

Attendance is critical in Humanities, both in lecture and seminar. While you can (and should) get notes from a friend if you miss a lecture, this can never fully replace your attendance and note-taking during the lecture. Because history or literature seminar only meets two or three times a week, missing even one seminar can mean you have missed half the classes for that week. (Think of it as missing 2 and ½ classes in a week for your other classes!)

If you must miss class, it is up to you to take the initiative to see teachers about make-up work. Also, try to get a friend you trust to collect assignments and take notes for you. If you know you will be gone in advance, see the teachers about work in advance of your absence. Be sure to clear those pre-planned absences with school administrators. Keep in mind, however, that frequent absences – even if they are excused – will greatly jeopardize your ability to succeed in this class.

Grading

You receive two grades: Humanities Literature and Humanities Social Studies. Both are considered AC classes and receive the third of a letter grade boost (+.33). The Humanities Literature grade reflects the work done for your literature seminar teacher and appears on your grade card under 2^nd or 4^th or 5^th hours under the class title Humanities Literature. The Humanities Social Studies grade appears under 1st hour. It is a combination grade: 70% History and 30% Art. Music instruction and assessment will be folded into the other disciplines.

Performance Credit Hours

All students will be required to attend at least five hours of performance time each semester. This might include a theater performance, a musical performance, or a museum visit. Students who do not fulfill this requirement will have their Humanities Social Studies grade lowered by 1/3 (a B, for example, will become a B-).

Please see handout for complete guidelines.

Advanced Placement Tests

Humanities students have historically done well on Advanced Placement examinations for Art History, Literature, and European History. That said, our curriculum in Humanities is not determined by these tests. To do well, most students will need to supplement Humanities instruction considerably, especially for the Art History and European History exams. If you are interested in taking the Art History AP exams please see Mr. Benedict. For European History, please see Ms. Bruggers. For Literature, please see Ms. Vail. We will be happy to provide additional guidance to help you prepare for these exams.

Humanities Study Lab

Each Monday, there will be a Humanities Lab, from 3:30 – 4:00 in Portable D. At least one history teacher and one literature teacher will be in the “lab” to assist students with their Humanities work. All students are encouraged to come for help with papers, readings, test preparation, study skills, etc., though priority will be given to students who are struggling with the course. Computers with internet access and a designated printer are available.

Beginning at the first interim, all students who have a C- or below will be required to attend the lab for at least an hour each week until they have raised their grades to at least a C, unless they have parental permission to opt out of this opportunity. Grades will be recalculated at the interim and at the quarter.

Humanities Email Policy

1. Correspondence with teachers. Email is a useful tool, but please do not abuse it. Do not email your teachers asking for assignments you lost. Check the web site, and if they are not there, get them from a friend and copy them. Please use good email etiquette and always use a clear subject title and sign with your first and last name and seminar hour
2. Emailing assignments. In an absolute emergency, you may email an assignment. However, please observe the following guidelines:
1. Include your full name and the assignment title in the heading.
2. Email the assignment by the hour it is due (or it will be considered late).
3. Both attach the assignment and (in case the attachment doesn’t work or is infected with a virus) copy and paste the assignment into the text of the email.
4. We will reply that we have received your assignment. If you do not receive a reply within 24 hours, assume your email has not gone through. Please do not tell us three weeks later that you emailed an assignment we’ve never received.
5. Emailed documents are place-holders only. Please follow up with a hard copy as soon as possible, 48 hours at the latest.
6. Again, this is for emergency only. Do not abuse this because you are too lazy to replace your toner cartridge or print something out in the library! Abusers will have this privilege revoked.