A homeopathic response to terrorism.
What did Preview Family Movie and TV guide really say about The Lion King?
B
Monday, September 24, 2007
Monday, September 17, 2007
About half of you have been very naughty...
Don't make me send in the nuns! They have rulers and know how to use them...
I just wanted to remind you that you have a blog entry that is already due. I can absolve you this time, but they need to be in by 9:00 at the very latest.
We are looking into Holocaust deniers this week. No more entries on biblebelievers.org, please. Everyone seems to have found them.
I'm serious. Nuns with guns.
B
We are looking into Holocaust deniers this week. No more entries on biblebelievers.org, please. Everyone seems to have found them.
I'm serious. Nuns with guns.B
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
WebCT is up! Huzzah!
Thank your lucky badgers.
Anyway, the readings are posted in the left sidebar. I will be putting a copy of earlier readings, the syllabus and a message board on the WebCT page.
How to get the readings:
On a fast computer (the files are biggish), go to webct.[ourschoolsinitials].edu
Click on the first tab, which is courses 2007/2008
your login name is the first part of your school email address, ALL IN CAPS
your password is the last four digits of your SSN.
The readings are:
FROM THE TEXTBOOK: EOA Support, EOA Readings
FROM ELSEWHERE: RassinierConcl, Shermer1, Shermer2
When you look at the Holocaust material, I'd like you to do it in the following order:
First, read the Rassinier article
Then watch the following little clip from Iranian television (you can watch all of it if you like):
Then go to the Institute for Historical Review web site and look around (this can't be the site you write up on your blog).
Then do the Shermer stuff.
Meet in the computer lab next week.
B
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
September Schedule (will be updated)
Sept 4— What is an argument?
HW: Read Rottenberg Ch. 4 (104-156; "Claims"); Read Gardner: "Claiborne Pell, Senator From Outer Space" (175-184); Gardner: "Heaven's Gate: The UFO Cult of Bo and Peep" (197-208); On your new blog, make a link to an article/blog entry from someone who believes in UFOs and in your own entry, identify the claims that they are making. Give examples/quotes examples, and be prepared to talk about what you have written in class.
Sept 11— Short paper 1 due
HW: Read Rottenberg Ch. 5 (157-219; "Support"); Read TBA
Sept 18—
HW: Read Rottenberg Ch. 6 (220-268, "Warrants"); Read TBA
Sept 25—
HW: Read Rottenberg Ch. 7 (269-313; "Induction, Deduction, Logical Fallacies"); Read TBA
HW: Read Rottenberg Ch. 4 (104-156; "Claims"); Read Gardner: "Claiborne Pell, Senator From Outer Space" (175-184); Gardner: "Heaven's Gate: The UFO Cult of Bo and Peep" (197-208); On your new blog, make a link to an article/blog entry from someone who believes in UFOs and in your own entry, identify the claims that they are making. Give examples/quotes examples, and be prepared to talk about what you have written in class.
Sept 11— Short paper 1 due
HW: Read Rottenberg Ch. 5 (157-219; "Support"); Read TBA
Sept 18—
HW: Read Rottenberg Ch. 6 (220-268, "Warrants"); Read TBA
Sept 25—
HW: Read Rottenberg Ch. 7 (269-313; "Induction, Deduction, Logical Fallacies"); Read TBA
Short Papers
Short Papers
Paper 1: Know Thyself (Due Sept 11)
Write a short (4-page) paper in which you describe how you came to a strong opinion about a debatable issue. You may select any topic. Very important: DO NOT ARGUE THE CONTROVERSIAL POINT! I want a description of how you CAME to have that opinion. I do NOT want a paper with the thesis: “The death penalty is wrong” or “We should bomb Japan again.” I want to see a thesis that identifies the historical, personal and social influences that helped shape your opinion, no matter what that is. Indeed, two people on opposing sides of the issue could write papers that cited the same influences: parents, church, personal expertise in the area, etc.
Paper 2: Know Thy Enemy (Due Oct 2)
Find a published editorial or opinion piece with which you disagree. Write a short (4-page) critical response to the editorial. Your response should have three components: 1) a brief summary of the article and the argument, 2) an analysis of the author’s rhetorical strategies, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of their case, and 3) your argumentative response. You should also turn in A COPY OF THE ORIGINAL ARTICLE.
Extra credit shall be lavished upon anyone who can get his/her response published in part or in its entirety in the magazine/newspaper! Yay!
Paper 3: Know Thy Stuff
This paper represents a step toward writing your final paper. Compile a “review of research.” This is a paper that surveys the state of the debate of your topic. You may address the following questions or any other aspect that you find relevant to your project. Please do not simply answer the following prompts formulaically, as by themselves they make for extremely dull reading. What is the (relevant) history of the argument? What are the various positions and who holds them? What is at stake? What are the implications of the issue according to the various interested parties? What questions need to be resolved? Attach a full, formal bibliography. Your paper should draw on at least 8 sources, a maximum of two Web sources (articles in Pius’s subscription databases do not count as Web sources, but, boy, it would warm this old instructor’s heart to see some print sources in there). (That bib is not included in the page count, by the way. Sorry. And I am not old.)
Paper 4: Know Thy Weird Stuff
This is intended to be a brief argumentative paper that is not related to the final monster paper. Speaking of monsters, they are one of the possible topics (cryptozoology) for this one. Using the skills developed in the first two papers, I want you to thoroughly evaluate any one of the following movements/topics/practitioners. Be fair and show both sides of the argument. Be ye warned: Some of the practices, like acupuncture, may have some legitimate uses (even if it is perhaps a placebo effect), and pseudohistory may mix fact and fiction. It is your job to differentiate between the hooey and reality, making clear which is which.
Paper 1: Know Thyself (Due Sept 11)
Write a short (4-page) paper in which you describe how you came to a strong opinion about a debatable issue. You may select any topic. Very important: DO NOT ARGUE THE CONTROVERSIAL POINT! I want a description of how you CAME to have that opinion. I do NOT want a paper with the thesis: “The death penalty is wrong” or “We should bomb Japan again.” I want to see a thesis that identifies the historical, personal and social influences that helped shape your opinion, no matter what that is. Indeed, two people on opposing sides of the issue could write papers that cited the same influences: parents, church, personal expertise in the area, etc.
Paper 2: Know Thy Enemy (Due Oct 2)
Find a published editorial or opinion piece with which you disagree. Write a short (4-page) critical response to the editorial. Your response should have three components: 1) a brief summary of the article and the argument, 2) an analysis of the author’s rhetorical strategies, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of their case, and 3) your argumentative response. You should also turn in A COPY OF THE ORIGINAL ARTICLE.
Extra credit shall be lavished upon anyone who can get his/her response published in part or in its entirety in the magazine/newspaper! Yay!
Paper 3: Know Thy Stuff
This paper represents a step toward writing your final paper. Compile a “review of research.” This is a paper that surveys the state of the debate of your topic. You may address the following questions or any other aspect that you find relevant to your project. Please do not simply answer the following prompts formulaically, as by themselves they make for extremely dull reading. What is the (relevant) history of the argument? What are the various positions and who holds them? What is at stake? What are the implications of the issue according to the various interested parties? What questions need to be resolved? Attach a full, formal bibliography. Your paper should draw on at least 8 sources, a maximum of two Web sources (articles in Pius’s subscription databases do not count as Web sources, but, boy, it would warm this old instructor’s heart to see some print sources in there). (That bib is not included in the page count, by the way. Sorry. And I am not old.)
Paper 4: Know Thy Weird Stuff
This is intended to be a brief argumentative paper that is not related to the final monster paper. Speaking of monsters, they are one of the possible topics (cryptozoology) for this one. Using the skills developed in the first two papers, I want you to thoroughly evaluate any one of the following movements/topics/practitioners. Be fair and show both sides of the argument. Be ye warned: Some of the practices, like acupuncture, may have some legitimate uses (even if it is perhaps a placebo effect), and pseudohistory may mix fact and fiction. It is your job to differentiate between the hooey and reality, making clear which is which.
- Acupuncture
- Alien abduction
- Ancient astronauts / "Aliens built my pyramids and then sunk my Atlantis"
- Angels (The surge in popularity over recent years, I suspect, does not a reflect a surge in the number of angels.)
- Alchemy
- Alternative medicine
- Astrology
- Area 51
- Atlantis
- Bermuda Triangle
- “Back to Nature” movement (you see this in survivalism or “all natural” foods, especially the organic movement)
- Cattle mutilation
- Channeling
- Chiropractic medicine
- Conspiracy theories (pick one: Kennedy, 9/11, Aliens-government diplomacy, any other one you can conjure.)
- Creation science/Intelligent design
- Crop circles
- Cryptozoology
- Deconstruction (Deconstruction, by definition, cannot be defined. Man, I hate deconstruction.)
- Elvis sightings
- ESP
- Exorcism / The exorcism at SLU!
- Electromagnetic fields and their effects on the body
- Faith healing / psychic surgery
- False memories / past life regressions
- Feng shui / Charms/Crystals
- Glossolalia (“Speaking in tongues”)
- Ghost hunting
- Herbalism
- Hoaxes (scientific and religious—from relics to cold fusion)
- Homeopathy
- Hypnosis / Mind control /Therapeutic Hypnosis
- Mass hysteria (The various War of the World Hoaxes, the Tulip Mania, Crusades…even the War on Terror)
- Mediums/psychics/psychic detectives
- Nostradamus / prophesy
- Numerology
- Ouiji boards
- Out-of-body experiences / Near death experiences / astral projection
- Pseudohistory/Holocaust denial
- Recycling (I strongly suspect that this is more complex than you think.)
- Ritual Satanic abuse
- Signs from God / “Matrixing” (the Virgin appearing on a cheeseburger bun, that sort of thing)
- UFOlogy
Your Online Journal
YOUR ONLINE JOURNAL—We’ll call it a “Blornal”
In the past, I have required students to keep a personal writing journal for the duration of the semester, only to have them ask me at the end of the semester, “So, how many journal entries should I have?” You can tell that they have not been keeping up with the writing requirement, which defeats the purpose of the class. For this reason, I am utilizing the latest in “Big Brother” technology to monitor these journals by requiring students to maintain a blog for the duration of this class. Every week, you are required to post at least one journal entry about the readings or topics that we have discussed in class. These may be reflective or argumentative, but, regardless, they must be substantive and give your subject as full treatment as is possible. I will receive them all automatically and will be able to keep tabs on your work.
The topics are up for you to decide. Blog entries should be several paragraphs long, and may include hyperlinks, photos from the web, or other data. Postings are due by 7:00 on the Monday night before class; this is so I have a chance to read them all before we meet.
You will turn in 5 carefully revised and edited versions of these entries with your final paper. I leave it to you to give me the best version of your best work. The version you turn in will count as 20% of the final paper/project grade.
Go to Blogger.com to set up a new account.
(https://www.google.com/accounts/NewAccount?sendvemail=true&followup=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.blogger.com%2Floginz%3Fd%3D%252Fhome&continue=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.blogger.com%2Floginz%3Fd%3D%252Fcreate-blog.g&service=blogger&naui=8&hl=en)
• Type in your school email address (or another one that you already have) and fill in the blanks to set up your account. WRITE THIS INFORMATION DOWN NOW AND SAVE IT—HECK, WRITE IT IN YOUR BOOK!
• Next you will name your blog. It needs to be simple so I can easily recognize whose blog it is just by looking at the title, so put your first name in it somewhere. Example: Herod’s Blog (If your name is Herod. Or, for that matter, if your name is Blog). You will get to pick the first part of your URL: for instance, WeLoveHerod.blogspot.com
• Then you will choose a template. (You will be able to change this later if you like, so spend almost no time on it.)
• Next you will create a very brief greeting, publish and view your blog.
Adding an RSS feed (this is how I will retrieve your postings without visiting every page—this is soooooo easy.)
1) Go to www.feedburner.com
2) Type in the URL of your new blog and hit enter.
3) On “Identify Feed Source” page, select the RSS option.
4) Create your Feedburner Account (and write down your information, of course) and click “Activate Feed”
5) You will get a message that reads: Congrats! “Your FeedBurner feed is now live. Want to dress it up a little?” I do not care if you want to dress it up or not. I want the URL that appears below the question. I need to type that address into my feed reader in order to retrieve what you have posted. Write it down. Print it up. I do not care, just get it to me. Save a copy of this page for yourself as well.
Blogging and Privacy
There is no privacy. It is a blog.
For your own safety, do not include any personal information (aside from your first name) on your blog or in your posts. (This includes the name of your school and my name, by the way). No personal pictures. No contact info. Nada. For the duration of the semester, this blog will be devoted to this class. Remember, I will be grading whatever you are posting, so if you have pictures of you and your fraternity brothers doing keg-stands, your are going to hear about it. Whatever you want to do with it after the semester ends is your business.
In the past, I have required students to keep a personal writing journal for the duration of the semester, only to have them ask me at the end of the semester, “So, how many journal entries should I have?” You can tell that they have not been keeping up with the writing requirement, which defeats the purpose of the class. For this reason, I am utilizing the latest in “Big Brother” technology to monitor these journals by requiring students to maintain a blog for the duration of this class. Every week, you are required to post at least one journal entry about the readings or topics that we have discussed in class. These may be reflective or argumentative, but, regardless, they must be substantive and give your subject as full treatment as is possible. I will receive them all automatically and will be able to keep tabs on your work.
The topics are up for you to decide. Blog entries should be several paragraphs long, and may include hyperlinks, photos from the web, or other data. Postings are due by 7:00 on the Monday night before class; this is so I have a chance to read them all before we meet.
You will turn in 5 carefully revised and edited versions of these entries with your final paper. I leave it to you to give me the best version of your best work. The version you turn in will count as 20% of the final paper/project grade.
Go to Blogger.com to set up a new account.
(https://www.google.com/accounts/NewAccount?sendvemail=true&followup=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.blogger.com%2Floginz%3Fd%3D%252Fhome&continue=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.blogger.com%2Floginz%3Fd%3D%252Fcreate-blog.g&service=blogger&naui=8&hl=en)
• Type in your school email address (or another one that you already have) and fill in the blanks to set up your account. WRITE THIS INFORMATION DOWN NOW AND SAVE IT—HECK, WRITE IT IN YOUR BOOK!
• Next you will name your blog. It needs to be simple so I can easily recognize whose blog it is just by looking at the title, so put your first name in it somewhere. Example: Herod’s Blog (If your name is Herod. Or, for that matter, if your name is Blog). You will get to pick the first part of your URL: for instance, WeLoveHerod.blogspot.com
• Then you will choose a template. (You will be able to change this later if you like, so spend almost no time on it.)
• Next you will create a very brief greeting, publish and view your blog.
Adding an RSS feed (this is how I will retrieve your postings without visiting every page—this is soooooo easy.)
1) Go to www.feedburner.com
2) Type in the URL of your new blog and hit enter.
3) On “Identify Feed Source” page, select the RSS option.
4) Create your Feedburner Account (and write down your information, of course) and click “Activate Feed”
5) You will get a message that reads: Congrats! “Your FeedBurner feed is now live. Want to dress it up a little?” I do not care if you want to dress it up or not. I want the URL that appears below the question. I need to type that address into my feed reader in order to retrieve what you have posted. Write it down. Print it up. I do not care, just get it to me. Save a copy of this page for yourself as well.
Blogging and Privacy
There is no privacy. It is a blog.
For your own safety, do not include any personal information (aside from your first name) on your blog or in your posts. (This includes the name of your school and my name, by the way). No personal pictures. No contact info. Nada. For the duration of the semester, this blog will be devoted to this class. Remember, I will be grading whatever you are posting, so if you have pictures of you and your fraternity brothers doing keg-stands, your are going to hear about it. Whatever you want to do with it after the semester ends is your business.
Monday, September 3, 2007
HEIL SPODE!!!
Welcome to the Black Shorts Party Headquarters! We follow very much in the tradition of our esteemed leader, Roderick Spode, the Earl of Sithcup. We are a political party determined to bring the world together under a single leader and to achieve progress through the application of science. Remember to bookmark this page for future updates as our firm knees march toward victory!
HEIL SPODE!
HEIL SPODE!
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