UNI101 Professor Mead
Fall 2014
From a Closed, Intentional Community
to an Unplanned, Global Community
UNI101 is an introductory class to the Saint Martin’s University experience. It is designed to familiarize students with the core skills of reading, writing, listening, speaking, critical thinking, and information literacy. Further, UNI101 brings to the forefront the distinct Saint Martin’s values of hospitality, community, and the spiritual dimension that appears most obviously in the members of the Abbey. This section of UNI101 is composed entirely of Benedictine Scholars, so that Cohort III can bond not only as members of the Benedictine Scholars Program (BPS), but also bond academically as thinkers, learners, and readers.
Acts of Faith was chosen as a text common to all sections of UNI101; to this common text I have added Boethius’ Consolation of Philosophy, Mark Salzman’s Lying Awake, and The Desert Fathers. Together, these books will allow us to explore the theme denoted in the course’s title: “From a closed, intentional community to an unplanned global community.” The idea here is to learn what we can from the Benedictine model and to see how we can transform that model into the non-religious, non-monastic, non-traditional global village of the twenty-first century. I have no idea where this query will take us, but I am excited to be making the journey with you.
UNI101 is also educates students about non-classroom issues, and so you will note there are several presentations every First Year student is required to attend. We also need to decide on a class project. Traditionally, these projects have involved 15-20 hours and included some kind of community outreach. I have a list of possible projects, but I want the class to have a chance to choose, or even make up, its own project, rather than having one assigned.
My Office is OM312b. Please come and visit me to talk about the class, school, assignments—anything you might like. Students who visit their professors out of class always do better than those who do not. Tel. 438-4336. smead@stmartin.edu. You can email or voice mail me, but I cannot always promise to respond before the next class meeting.
Also, visit my blog at http://stephenxmead.blogspot.com/ This blog has the syllabus, useful class materials, helpful links, AND my class policies (under “policies” label) on attendance, plagiarism, and, you know, other stuff.
Students with special needs must contact the instructor within the first two weeks of the semester, and he will make all reasonable accommodations.
GRADES:
First Four Papers: 15% each 60%
Final Paper or Project: 20% 25%
Participation in classroom: 15%
You will notice a lot of days with no particular task at hand; these are days in which we will have broad ranging discussions of your first-semester experiences. We will also use the time to catch up, perhaps going into more detail about the readings. Finally, we will use the days to plan our projects and edit our papers.
Syllabus (subject to revision)
August
25 M Introduction—Listening
27 W Tour of Learning Center. Meet at the O’Grady Library.
28 R Mass of the Holy Spirit: 10:45 Abbey Church
29 F Brenda Burns: Study Abroad
September
1 M NO CLASSES
3 W Ann Adams: Career Development. Sex Signals: 4PM or 8PM NWCC
5 F Lodge Retreat Prep. Friday to Sunday Morning: Retreat at Lambert Lodge.
Bring Acts of Faith with you. (leave electronics at home)
7 S 1PM-4PM Benedictine Scholars Meeting on Campus
8 M Acts of Faith
10 W Acts of Faith
12 F Acts of Faith
15 M EDIT SESSION
17 W Paper #1 Due. Alcohol: 6PM or 7:30 PM Baran Hall Great Room
19 F Lodge Retreat Prep. Friday to Sunday morning Retreat at Lambert Lodge
22 M Consolation of Philosophy, Book 1
24 W Consolation of Philosophy, Book 2
26 F Consolation of Philosophy, Book 3
29 M Consolation of Philosophy, Book 4
October
1 W Consolation of Philosophy, Book 5
3 F EDIT SESSION
5 S 1PM-4PM Benedictine Scholars Meeting on Campus
6 M Paper #2 Due
8 W 5th Paper or Project Proposal Due.
10 F
13 M NO CLASSES
15 W
17 F NO CLASS
20 M Lying Awake
22 W Lying Awake
24 F Lying Awake
27 M Lying Awake
29 W EDIT SESSION
31 F Paper #3 Due.
November
3 M The Desert Fathers
5 W The Desert Fathers
7 F The Desert Fathers
9 S 1PM-4PM Benedictine Scholars Meeting on Campus
10 M The Desert Fathers
12 W EDIT SESSION
14 F Paper #4 Due.
17 M
19 W
21 F
24 M NO CLASS (probably)
26 W 5th Paper or Project
28 F NO CLASSES
December
1 M 5th Paper or Project
3 W (maybe) NO CLASS
7 S 1PM-4PM Benedictine Scholars Meeting on Campus
Required Texts:
The Desert Fathers, Helen Waddell (trans.). Loreto P, 2011.
Acts of Faith: The Story of an American Muslim, the Struggle for the Soul
Of a Generation, Eboo Patel, Beacon P, 2007.
Lying Awake, Mark Salzman. Vintage Books, 2000.
Consolation of Philosophy, Boethius. David R. Slavitt (trans.). Harvard UP: 2008
Recommended Texts:
The Rule of St. Benedict in English, Timothy Fry (ed.) Liturgical P, 1982
The New Oxford American Dictionary, Second Edition Oxford UP, 2005.
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