Humanities 1110 with Richard Jewell - Inver Hills Community College

Contact  Richard

Office: Business 136

Home Page

Wk.-by-Wk. Assign.

Readings+Resources

How To Do Hmwrk.

Grading

Attendance+Particip.

Bull. Board

FAQs

Term Paper

You may always navigate our Hum 1110 Web site by going to the pages listed in the yellow bar at the top.  This bar appears at the beginning of all the pages in this 1110 Web.

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Tips: "Opening Yourself To Experience"

This class is really about trying out new experiences - feeling how the ancients felt, seeing and hearing through their ears and eyes, and taking into oneself the ways of knowing that many people from many times and places have tried.  The more you open yourself to the feelings and experiences of people of other times and cultures, chapter by chapter, the more you will gain from this class.  Humanity links hands with each other throughout the ages: become a time traveler with us in this class and join hands, thoughts, and hearts with people from other times.

2. Are you good at writing?  The class involves a large amount of rough-draft writing for homework and online attendance. It also requires good, formal writing in a final term paper.  BEFORE the class starts, you should have already finished Read 96 and Eng 99.  Or you should have tested into college-level reading and college-level writing (which means you should be beyond developmental reading and writing levels on your entrance tests.)  And for the final paper, you should be done with or presently taking Eng 1108--the first college-level writing course--or its equivalent. 

(If you are not done with Eng 1108 or its equivalent, or taking it this semester, then you should not take this course, or you should plan on working with an IHCC Writing Center tutor or an online Smarthinking tutor individually for 1-4 hrs. to complete the term paper for this course.)

3. Can you handle working 12 hrs. per week or more on this class?  This class is a 4-credit course (not a 3-credit course, like most others), and so it requires 33% more work than a regular course.  In addition, it is not made easier just because it is online.  The national standard for weekly work in a 4-credit class is 12 hrs./wk.  If you want an "A" in this course, you probably will have to work that hard--or harder and longer if you are a slow reader, a slow writer, or someone who likes to take his or her time reading or writing.

4. Are you able to attend 5-6 class events on Thursday nights?  The first event, a meeting, is required: it is a general meeting of the class on the first Thursday night of the semester at Inver Hills College in a computer lab--see the top of this page.  The last is an individual 15-min. consultation about your term paper (which can be done in person or by phone).  The other 3-4 are trips to museums and plays as a class group (which can, instead, be done individually at different times or online).  (If you live more than one hour's drive from campus, you are not required to attend the first meeting.  However, attending it may be greatly to your advantage anyway, if you are not used to taking online courses.)

Please note that the class uses D2L only for discussion boards.  Otherwise, for communication and turning in homework, it uses the Web and email.  By the end of the course, those who have stuck with it usually say they are surprised not only by how much they have learned but also by how much they have enjoyed it.

Grading System - Choose Your Goal for the Semester:

A = 90-100 X's (90-100 points, or 90%-100%)

B = 80-89 X's

C = 70-79 X's

D = 60-69 X's

F = 0-59 X's

Your grade for the class is based on a system of X's, with 100 X's (100 points or 100%) equaling a perfect A+.  90 X's is the minimum for an "A," 80 X's for a "B," etc., as shown above..  You choose what grade you want.  You may earn your X's in four ways:

(a) Homework (about 45 X's)

(b) Attendance (about 35 X's)

(c) Term paper/project (up to 20 X's)

(d) Extra credit (70 min. = 1 X)

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TOTAL: "a"-"c" above: about 100 X's

Absolute Minimums for Passing:

To get a "D" or better in this class, you must do the following:

1. Earn at least 60 X's/points overall.

2. Complete a term paper earning at least 5 X's.

3. Be active in the class at least once every two weeks (or be dropped).

Other Minimums:

• When you write homework, discussion board messages, or extra credit, the writing must be a minimum of 150-200 words, depending on the assignment or activity..
    

• When you write 150+ w. for homework, you must write a minimum of 50 words for each chapter.
    

• An "X" in this class is assumed to be the equivalent of 70 minutes of work.
    

• This is a 4-credit class (not 3 credits), so it assumes a workload of at least 12 hrs./wk. (not 9 hrs./wk.) to receive an "A."  Some people--those who read more slowly or more thoroughly and/or who write more slowly or take a lot of time while they write --may need more than 12 hrs./wk. to receive an "A."  See below for more about workload.

Your Workload:

This class is a 4-credit class (not 3 credits).  As such, it requires 1/3rd more total work time than in a 3-credit class.  In addition, the hours required for this online class are not less than the same class when taught on campus in a regular, physical classroom.  An online class should not have "fewer hours" just because it is online (except possible time saved in driving to and from campus), nor should it be "easier"--the workload is supposed to be the same.  You do not get to "skip class time" in an online class: instead, time normally spent in a physical classroom on campus is supposed to be converted, in an online course, to additional time spent online.  In fact, the overall work load of a course, whether online or traditional, is governed by a national understanding among colleges and universities.  This understanding states that a first- or second-year college course should require about 3 hours of work each week for every credit (counting both class attendance and homework time).  This would mean that in a 3-credit class, the total amount of work time - both class attendance and homework time - should be about 9 hrs./wk.  In this class, since it is a 4-credit class, there should be about 12 hours of work per week to pass the class.  Some people may need to do more than that if they want more than a "D" or a "C."  If you cannot handle this much work per week, then you should drop this course.

Museum and Play Visits:

We will be going as a class group a couple of times to a major art museum on Thursday evenings, and to one or two plays somewhere in the Twin Cities.  The great majority of students say these activities were one of the highlights of the course and also allowed them a great chance to meet some of their classmates.  It is assumed that if you live within 100 miles of the Twin Cities, you will be able to go.  However, those who will be located further away than 100 miles and those who cannot attend because of work conflicts may find other ways of making up these events as outlined in the "Attendance & Participation" page.

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VERY  IMPORTANT--DON'T BUY BOOKS UNTIL YOU READ THIS!

Note #1: Please note: you do NOT need the books immediately.  We have a physical meeting Thurs. evening (see top of page): you may get the books that same evening--before our evening class, but to do this, call the bookstore first to see what time it closes: (651) 450-8533.

Note #2: Do NOT buy all three books that are in the bookstore!  There are choices for you: most of you will want to buy two of the books (which are listed as "required"), but some of you may only need to buy one of the books (the one listed as "optional").  Please see the "Readings+Resources" page (click on the tab at the top) of this Web site to decide which books you should buy.  If you need to return or exchange any books, you usually only have through Tues., Week 2 of classes to do so.

Getting Started:

Please start the class by working your way down the items in the left-hand column on this page:

• "Starting Online Instructions,"

• maybe the "course summary/syllabus" (if you haven't decided whether to take the class),

• the PSEO page if you are PSEO, and

• the "Student Information Sheet" that you should fill out. 

(Some of the directions are repeated to help those who are not used to taking Web classes.) 

Then, when you've read what applies to you in the right-hand column, take a few minutes to look around the Web site.  After you've done that, you can go directly to the "Wkly. Asgnments." page.  That will outline for you in detail what you need to do each week, starting with Week 1.

IMPORTANT!  (1) Again, this class does not run on D2L, except for bulletin boards (discussion boards).  (2) Please fill out and mail the "Student Information Sheet" (available online by clicking here; I also will  pass it out at the first physical-class meeting), and (3) send me your email address--as this is how I keep in weekly contact with everyone.  I will send a reply email for both, letting you know I got them.  If you don't hear from me, contact me immediately.  (3) You also should be aware that I always return your emailed homework, marked to show I got it.  And you can always check your records by clicking on "FOL Records" above.  If you are not receiving your homework back and seeing credit for it appear by each Sunday evening on the "FOL Records," contact me immediately!  (You can always find my contact info by clicking on the very-top, upper-left corner--or on the very-bottom "Questions" line--of every Web page in this Web site.)

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Adding my Email Address to Your Sender List:

Please also note the following!  If you are using an email system of your own (other than "Metnet"--the school's system), please READ THE FOLLOWING IMPORTANT MESSAGE.  I send absolutely necessary weekly emails to you.  And I send assignments back to you after giving you credit for them.  So you MUST BE SURE you are getting my emails.

          Your email system may reject email from people it does not recognize, or from people who send emails frequently.  For this reason, you may need to add two of my email addresses to your "safe sender" or "trusted sender" list.  The email addresses you should add are as follows:

(1) richard at jewell dot net
(2) jeweL zero zero one at umn dot edu  --but write it as email addresses normally are written.
E.g., smith zero zero one at umn dot edu would be written as smith001@umn.edu.

(Why have I written my email addresses in this unusual way?  I get over 600 spams per week already.  And spammers have software engines that automatically search the Web for email addresses.  If people avoid typing their actual email addresses on Web sites, they can avoid more spam.)

If you do not know how to do add my email address to your own email program, then please use your email program's "help" function or, if there is none, then look in "tools," "options," "settings," or other places where you are allowed to control who sends you email and who doesn't.

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Conclusion:

I hope you enjoy the class!  Many people are surprised, by the end of it, not only by how much they have learned but also by how much better they feel they now understand the roots and meanings of our entire Western civilization.  If you need anything, be sure to contact me by email, phone, or in person.

                                      

Schedule of Consultations about Final Paper/Project

FALL 2009 Consultations: 

The consultations will come late in the semester, a few weeks before the final term project/paper is due.  The times are not yet set up.  After the consultation times are set up, below, I'll let you know by email.  Then please send 2-3 times that work for you.

At the consultation: The purpose is to talk about your Final Project.  Bring your Draft 1 and your Draft 2 final project to the consultation.  The Draft 2 is required and due at your consultation, no matter which day of Wk. 15 you have the consultation.