F
CHP
2960 [Honors] Introduction to Critical Thinking: Growing
Up in
Instructor:
Dr. Mary Todd
228
West Annex
3
credit hours
Americans love
their children. Or do they? This course will examine some of the major themes
in the history of childhood in America. The narrative of the nation’s history
will serve as both outline and context for our study, just as history provides
context for each of our individual lives. Topics to be considered will include:
America’s changing and often ambivalent attitudes toward children; approaches
taken by institutions and the state to issues of child welfare and social
policy; changing concepts and patterns of the family and childrearing; and the
definition and representation of the child in popular culture. The impact of
race, ethnicity, gender, religion, region and social class will be central to
our study. And in the process we will also learn about the con
to
be an American – who can be, and who says so?
People learn best when they ask their own questions and try to
integrate their own ideas and observations with readings and instruction. To
that end we will be involved together in process-oriented pedagogy – students
are expected to be active participants in their own learning. Goals for the
student in this interdisciplinary course include gaining a sense of history (an
integration of the past into one’s perspective on both the present and the
future), an appreciation of the genre of autobiography both in literature and
as a historical primary source, and engagement with the ideas, concepts and
information presented. This course serves also as an introduction to critical
thinking through skill development in reading, oral and written expression.
Neil Postman, The Disappearance of Childhood,
Joseph Illick,
American Childhoods,
Russell Baker, Growing
Up,
Annie Dillard, An American Childhood,
Alex
Kotlowitz, There
Are No Children Here: The Story of Two Boys Growing Up in the Other
handouts
The current focus of the Honors Program
is on the development of intentional critical thinking skills. To that end,
honors courses differ in reading and writing expectations and assessment from
other courses. While the structure of the course may differ, the skills you
gain in this introductory class should be applicable, transferable and
beneficial in your other coursework,
both current and future.
Givens
for CHP 2960:
- Regular and timely attendance
- Completion of
reading assignments before scheduled class period. Please note the
fairly rigorous reading schedule
and pace yourself accordingly.
- Participation in class discussions, including
attentive, reflective and respectful listening [15%]
- Writing assignments [60%]: 3 essays [45%] and
5 The Logic of . . . exercises [15%]
- Large group/sm
together decide on the scope,
content and focus of this project that will be on display in the Krentz lobby during finals week. The exhibit
that time — with the larger
University community.
- Honors quality
work.
You
can expect me to be available during office hours, by email or by appointment
in order to discuss any questions or concerns you wish to raise outside of
class. You can also expect reasonably prompt return of papers with comment.
You are strongly encouraged to keep a
personal journal for this class.
Within
the context of a journal you can:
1. identify questions that
arise from your reading [especi
2. develop your own
interpretation or critique of an author’s claims
3. note comparisons with other
reading you have done or with which you are familiar
4. reflect and respond to the
readings, videos, and class discussions
5. track and record your
responses and reactions to the learning
Other than the “logic of .
. .” exercises, writing assignments will be assessed
on a 12-point scale using a rubric based on four equ
-
Did you answer the
question you were asked?
-
Did you support your claims
with evidence?
-
Did you apply critical
thinking in your analysis?
-
Did you write in clear,
coherent and cohesive expression?
The
maximum score in each category is 3, reflecting best effort, 2 indicates good
effort, 1
inconsistent or inadequate effort, 0 no
effort. The maximum score on each assignment is 12 [A].
Respond to each question in a well-crafted, typed,
double-spaced essay of 3-4 pages.
Essay 1 Due Thursday, September 18th
Visit
the following websites:
The Children’s Defense Fund
http://www.childrensdefense.org/data.php
[in particular pp.8-9 of The
State of
Childstats.com http://www.childstats.gov/
America’s Forgotten Children http://www.savethechildren.org/americasforgotten.shtml
Children Now Child Advocacy http://www.childrennow.org/
From
your review of the evidence presented, what are the prospects for children
growing up in America today? What factors influence those prospects?
Essay 2 Due Tuesday, November 11th
Jill Ker Conway suggests that “the
need to examine our inherited scripts is just beneath the surface of
consciousness, so that while we think we are reading a gripping story, what re
inner reflection on our own
lives [it] sets in motion.”
In a well-written autobiographical essay, discuss what you
consider the primary influence on your childhood and youth. What brings you to
this point in your life? What defines you as an individual? Has a particular
person or an experience had a marked imprint on who
you are? Or has an event of significance been a turning point? What is your
“inherited script”? Please limit yourself to the factor you consider most
influential – of course there are many, but for purposes of this assignment,
focus on only one. Use your reading of Baker and Dillard as prompts. The usual
rubric applies, but the genre is your choice.
Essay 3 Due Thursday, December 4th
The final assignment ch
[subject to revision]
Week 1
Aug 26 Introduction/s and —
Aug 28 Defining
childhood
Week 2
Sept 2 considering its current state
Postman, op-ed pieces
The State of
Sept 4 Postman, Illick
preface
Week
3
Sept 9 Plugging
ourselves into the picture: autobio exercise on
literature
Logic of Postman due
Sept
11 Native American childhood Illick 3-17
Week 4
Sept
16 17th c. European
American childhood Illick
18-29
Sept 18 Essay
1 due
Week
5
Sept 23 18th
c. transitions Illick 29-33, Childrearing #1
Sept
25 19th c. models Illick 33-35,
Childrearing #2, McLoughlin
Week
6
Sept 30 Enslaved children Illick 36-51, Harriet Jacobs, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
Chapters 1 and 5 http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/JACOBS/hjhome.htm
Oct 2 19th c. child savers part 1 Illick 55-75, Demos on abuse, Logic of Ilick chapter
Week
7
Oct 7 Children
at work and in the city Illick 76-89
Oct 9 19th c. child savers part 2
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/award99/miemhtml/svyhome.html
http://www.uoregon.edu/~adoption/archive/BraceDCNY.htm
Week
8
Oct 14 Native American children Logic of Demos due
video: In the White Man’s Image
Oct 16 Project organizing —
Week
9
Oct 21 From city
children to farm children video: The
Orphan Trains
Logic
of Brace due
Oct 23 20th c. child savers Illick 90-100
Week
10
Oct 28 Juvenile
justice, Guest speaker
Oct
30 Modern times? Illick 103-130, childrearing #3
Week 11
Nov
4 Children of Depression and war Baker
Nov 6 No
class – National Collegiate Honors Council meeting
Week
12
Nov
11 Postwar:
the best of times? Essay 2 due video: Seeds of the Sixties
Nov 13 Gender, Dillard
Week
11
Nov 18 Race and the children of civil rights Illick 131-159 video: Eyes on the Prize
Nov 20 Race and social class, Kotlowitz
Week 14
Nov
25 Logic of Kotlowitz due
Nov 27 Thanksgiving
break
Week 15
Dec
2 The future of childhood Illick
16-163, Postman reprise
Dec 4 What we learned and didn’t Essay 3 due
Course evaluation
Exam
week Exhibit and
reception