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**Mondays 1:00-3:30 - SHC 9**

 * Michael Thomas Ph.D. Instructor**
 * 573-1656 (Cell)**
 * E-mail Address:** mthomas@unm.edu

Humans have an extraordinary propensity for violence against one another. This propensity, while not technically unique to humans, still sets us apart from our animal peers. The ubiquity and scale of human violence is something special. A visitor from another planet would certainly conclude that humans are obsessed with violence, torture, and murder. The societal expression of this capacity is war. One could argue that war has always been maladaptive but until the invention of nuclear weapons, the issue was unresolved, open to debate. Since the development of these weapons, however, it's become clear. War, given the potential for escalation to the nuclear level, is a threat the survival of the human species (and probably many other specie as well). No one understands with certainty the reasons that war is so ubiquitous and pervasive in the history of humanity. The imperative for this understanding is obvious. Students in this class will use the tools of their major disciplines in an inquiry into the enigma of war and its inexplicable persistence.
 * COURSE DESCRIPTION: **

Extended Readings will depend upon the direction student inquiry suggests. Students should use The Elements of Style by W. Strunk and E.B.White and a style manual appropriate to their major (the MLA style manual, for example).
 * READINGS: **
 * Homer, The Iliad
 * Chris Hedges, War is a Force that Gives Us Meaning
 * Lt. Col. Dave Grossman, The Psychological Cost of Killing
 * James Hillman, A Terrible Love of War


 * FILMS: **
 * Robert Gardener - DEAD BIRDS
 * Errol Morris, THE FOG OF WAR - Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert McNamera


 * AUDIO: **
 * BBC - The My Lai Audio Files
 * War Ballads Collection

The class is a reading/discussion class. In addition to the assigned reading, students will do research explorations that will suggest additional readings and enrich discussion. Students in this seminar will do research grounded in their major disciplines to study the phenomenon of war and its persistance. Biology students, for example will be exploring the topic or war and intraspecies killing from a biological point of view. Sociology students will contribute the perspective of war as a social artifact and institution. Engineering students will contribute via an understanding of the development of killing/defense technologies, Etc.
 * EMPHASIS: **

**LEARNING OUTCOMES** (skills that students should attain through meeting course requirements):
 * 1) Students should be able to critically examine readings, and discourse on the topics of war and its place in human evolution, psychology, society, and history.
 * 2) Students should be able to write effective, defensible essays and engage in informed discourse on these topics.
 * 3) Students should also be able to apply the methods of scholarly research to produce thoroughly researched formally sound research papers addressing specific issues that emerge from consideration of the general topics noted above.
 * 4) Students should be able to present effective oral reports based on class assignments and/or their research.
 * 5) Student expressive skills (writing, speaking, discussing) should improve and they should be able to see connections across disciplinary lines and examine opinions and political rationales critically.
 * 6) Students should increase their capabilities in collaborating effectively with others.
 * 7) Students should end the seminar with a more profound understanding of the existence, persistence, and impact of war in human society.

**REQUIREMENTS/GRADING:** Grades are based on 100 points possible


 * 1) Opinion Essay: The fact that no one understands just how it is that violence is so endemic to human beings means that theories addressing the issue are controversial. Each student should compose an essay analyzing asserting and supporting an opinion he/she holds connected to the issue of the nature and persistence of war and/or human violence. This essay should be around 5 typewritten pages in length. The essay will be due on Feb. 19 (20 points)
 * 2) Analytic Essay: Each student should report critically on a work that reflects on the nature and persistence of war in any medium. The reports should be around 5 typewritten pages in length. The work could serve as a source for the research project students will undertake This paper will be due on March 26 (20 points). A
 * 3) Research Proposal: Each student should create a two page research plan/bibliography which will be due April 2 . The research plan/bibliography should include 1) a brief rationale for the project 2) a series of steps to complete the project 3) a projected time table 4) a preliminary bibliography listing at least 4 sources. (5 points)
 * 4) Research Paper: This paper should report on: 1) an ample exploration of an idea engaged by at least one of the assigned authors or 2) an exploration of an issue that has emerged in class discussion. The report should be around 8 typewritten pages in length (plus notes and bibliography). The papers will be due April 23. (25 points).
 * 5) Research Presentation: Students will make brief reports on their research projects to the class at large. These presentations should mimic the form of research presentations that professional researchers deliver to peer groups at research conferences or colloquia organized for the purpose (10 points).
 * 6) Seminar Participation: This is a discussion based seminar. In UHP seminars, we expect students to participate in all seminar activities. The instructor(s) will make an overall assessment of participation in seminar activities. (20 points)

Notes:
 * //Since this is a discussion class, attendance is crucial. We expect students to arrive in a timely manner attend all sessions, maintain// // courtesy // //and decorum in demeanor, and participate in all discussions. Students who miss class for any reason will lose participation points. Similarly, students who arrive late, show discourtesy, or fail to contribute to discussions can expect to lose participation points//.
 * // Procrastination, printing problems, misplaced thumb drives, etc. sometimes result in students facing the following situation: they have not completed an assigned paper by class time on the due date. In this case, students should come to class and make arrangements to submit the paper late. The penalty for submitting a paper late will be two points if the paper is submitted before the next class meeting, and three points per week after that. The penalty for missing class on the day an assigned paper is due will be three participation points (this is in addition to the aforementioned late paper penalty). //

Grades: A -85 -100, Cr - 55-84, Ncr - 54 points or less.


 * GUIDELINES: OPINION ESSAY **

An opinion essay is required of all students. These papers should be about five pages (12 point font, 1” margins). Conventionally, an opinion essay states a reasoned, supported opinion. In such an essay, you indicate your opinion, clarify that initial indication, and then support that opinion, showing by authority, evidence and logic that your opinion is correct. The paper should show your reader the consideration of clarity, easy readability, and proper citation of sources you've used.

Evaluation will be on the basis of:


 * 1) The energy and enthusiasm you are able to convey for the topic you address.
 * 2) The effectiveness of the paper in making a convincing case for your opinion.
 * 3) The logic or reasonableness of your argument.
 * 4) The clarity of your writing and your adherence to the conventions of grammar, style, and citation.

The opinion essay is ubiquitous in literate discourse. The structure of the opinion essay is central to all persuasive discourse in modern society from newspaper editorials to television advertisements.


 * GUIDELINES: ANALYTIC ESSAY **

An analytic essay paper is required of all students. These papers should be about five pages (12 point font, 1” margins). Conventionally, an essay states a reasoned, supported opinion. An analytic essay is an exploration of a work in terms of what the author has illuminated. In such an essay you indicate your assessment of the author’s achievement and then explain the reasoning behind your assessment. Ideally, the subject of the analytic essay can also be the subject of the research project and subsequent paper and presentation (I recommend this).

For this assignment you should address something the author has accomplished. Using analysis, reason, examples, informed authority, and/or personal experience, you should explore that accomplishment and evaluate it using standards you chose. Make a case for or against the author as a thinker whose work explains the phenomenon of war or one of its components. The paper should show your reader the consideration of clarity, easy readability, and proper reference to sources you've used.

Note: This essay can be personal and address important issues from your point of view. You can present your reactions using the first person and referring, perhaps, to your experiences. The essay could, however, deal with the issues from a more detached, "objective" viewpoint. Such an approach would be most effectively rendered in third person.

Evaluation will be on the basis of:
 * 1) The energy and enthusiasm you are able to convey for the topic you address.
 * 2) The effectiveness of the paper in making a convincing case for your opinion.
 * 3) The logic or reasonableness of your argument.
 * 4) The clarity of your writing and your adherence to the conventions of grammar, style, and citation.

The analytic essay is a very standard and key form for structuring ideas in a clear communicable form. It has conventions in terms of the structure that are articulated in all freshman composition courses.


 * RESEARCH PAPER GUIDELINES **

A final research paper is required of all students. This paper should reflect a proportionately greater expenditure of effort than the earlier papers. It should be a "crescendo" and incorporate perspectives attained in the course. Ideally the research component will extend and deepen the work of the analytic essay. Students should submit their topic, suggested bibliography, and research plan (two pages) by April 2. The paper will be due April 23.


 * **Topic**: Research involves inquiry into the unknown. A research paper summarizes and documents that inquiry. Many topics, many issues will emerge in class readings and discussions. You will, doubtless, find some of these topics interesting, profound, important, offensive, or in some other way, intriguing. Pick a topic that engages your interest and curiosity. Use the assignment to learn something of genuine interest and intrigue. You may be curious about one of the authors or a particular general, pacifist, scientist, or artist, etc. whose story intrigues you. You may want to know more about the social or historical background of a particular event or phenomenon. You may want to find detailed information about a topic that was lightly touched on in class discussion. There are many options. Do follow your own interests.


 * **Purpose**: There is some overlap between essays and research papers. Essays are designed to persuade, and often use research to bolster credibility. Research papers, while not value free, are more slanted towards the presentation of discovered information than persuasion to a given viewpoint. Choice of a topic is always based in one's values, but the primary purpose of research papers is to inform, analyze, and classify rather than persuade.


 * **Primary Research and Scholarly Research:** As I indicated above, research involves inquiry. Direct inquiry is primary research. In "hard" scientific fields primary research involves experimentation. In fields where experimentation is impossible or unethical (such as the social sciences) primary research involves methods such as observation, interview, questionnaire, etc. Primary research involves implementation of a well thought through research design. Research procedure produce data that will by design answer the question the investigator wants answered. Indirect inquiry is the path most of you will take. Indirect inquiry is scholarly research, exploration of an issue by reading what's been written about it. To undertake scholarly research, you use the resources of a library or appropriate data base.


 * **Essential Elements:**The paper you write will simply (1) Summarize what you have learned in your research. (2) Document either your direct methods (research design) or your scholarly sources. The paper should be around 8 typewritten pages (using a 12 point font and 1.25” margins).


 * **Structure:** In structure, the paper should first identify the topic and discuss its importance or interest. Second, the paper should present several major points or issues you've discovered in your inquiries. Third, the paper should conclude with an extended statement of the perspective(s) that are attained through the research you've completed. Finally, you need to document your methods or sources. This can be accomplished within the text in the form of footnotes, in a bibliography which lists the sources you've used, or in an appendix describing direct research methods.


 * **Style and Style Manuals**: The research paper is the primary form of professional communication for scientists and scholars. For that reason, style and form are important and often rigidly specified. You should name the style manual (MLA, University of Chicago, etc.) when you submit your research plan/bibliography. You can choose your style manual, just specify it and then use it consistently.


 * **Every Page Perfect:** In terms of mechanics and grammar, every page should be perfect.


 * PRESENTATION GUIDELINES: **

Short Presentations based on the research summarized in the research paper will be scheduled in late April/early May. As stated above, this presentation can be a conventional formal presentation of the research, a poster presentation, or a PowerPoint multi-media presentation. Here are some tips. Presentations should both entertain and inform. Bells and whistles are not necessary but do engage your audience, make connections to issues of interest in previous meetings and presentations and pay attention to eye contact and diction. Presentations should be precise. They should not run longer than the allotted time and should not vary in pace (If you have to rush, do so consistently). Using media is taking risks - to minimize the risks, prepare - if possible, do a test run of the video, music, PowerPoint, etc. on the machine you will use. Otherwise, cross your fingers and pray. If you collaborate, work out your “choreography.” To open discussion use open-ended questions that connect to the experiences, opinions, and thoughts of your audience. End discussion explicitly. Be courteous throughout and at the end thank the audience for their attention to your work.

Statements of Policy and Proceedure Common to All Honors College Classes

 * **Accommodation Statement: **In accordance with University Policy 2310 and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), academic accommodations may be made for any student who notifies the instructor of the need for an accommodation. It is imperative that you take the initiative to bring such needs to the instructor’s attention through official channels, they are not legally permitted to inquire. The Accessibility Resources Center (Mesa Vista Hall 2021, 277-3506) provides academic support to students who have disabilities. If you think you need alternative accessible formats for undertaking and completing coursework, you should contact this service right away to assure your needs are met in a timely manner.


 * **Title IX Statement: **All UNM faculty members are required to inform the Title IX Coordinator at the Office of Equal Opportunity (oeo.unm.edu) of any report they receive of gender discrimination which includes sexual harassment, sexual misconduct, and/or sexual violence. You can read the full campus policy regarding sexual misconduct at policy.unm.edu/university-policies/2000/2740.html. If you have experienced sexual violence or sexual misconduct, please ask a faculty or staff member for help or contact the LoboRESPECT Advocacy Center at loborespect.unm.edu.


 * **Academic Integrity Statement: **Each student is expected to maintain the highest standards of honesty and integrity in academic and professional matters. The University reserves the right to take disciplinary action, up to and including dismissal, against any student who is found guilty of academic dishonesty or otherwise fails to meet the standards. Any student judged to have engaged in academic dishonesty in course work may receive a reduced or failing grade for the work in question and/or for the course. Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, dishonesty in quizzes, tests, or assignments; claiming credit for work not done or done by others; hindering the academic work of other students; misrepresenting academic or professional qualifications within or without the University; and nondisclosure or misrepresentation in filling out applications or other University records


 * **Email Use Statement: **Students often use email to inquire about protected and sensitive matters, including grades and class progress, and faculty often use email to individually report such protected and sensitive matters. Unless students opt out in writing to the Honors College, the Honors College and Honors Faculty will assume that all email sent individually to students via their official UNM email address (generally their @unm.edu address) is private and confidential and that the student assumes all risk of inappropriate interception of email transmissions. If students opt out of this policy, they are agreeing to only receive such information either in person (students may be required to show identification before information is shared with them) or through regular mail to the student's official address on file with UNM.