WR3 | Syllabus

Post-apocalyptic Fiction, Film, and Art
Course Description
Why do we feel such an attraction to disaster? Why do we produce novels, films, and other forms of art that contemplate the end of humanity? Scholars from many disciplines have offered theories about the appeal and meaning of such spectacles of apocalyptic destruction. We will read some of this critical literature, examining views from disciplines such as psychology, sociology, cultural studies, and religion. In addition to these assigned readings, each of you will engage in your own original process of inquiry on a related topic of your choosing. You will present your findings frequently to the community of scholars in our class, sharing and discussing your research discoveries and insights. Ultimately, you will produce a lengthy work of original scholarship that will contribute to this field of inquiry.
COVID-19 Policies & Resources
COVID-19 Information
Classroom Safety
- Do not attend class if you have any symptoms of COVID-19.
- If you test positive: wear a mask, follow isolation protocol, and notify close contacts.
- If you are a close contact, wear a mask and follow the college’s policies on testing.
- Students must report positive results to the Dartmouth College Health Service.
Course Policies
- There will be no penalty for missing class due to COVID-19 illness or its prevention.
- If you miss class or a TA session due to illness, please email me to receive makeup information.
Health & Wellness Resources
- The Dartmouth College Health Service (primary care, counseling, wellness).
- For general information on Dartmouth’s COVID policies, visit Dartmouth Together.
- If you would like to get vaccinated, find a shot near you.
Course Objectives
Writing 3 continues our focus on inquiry, critical thinking, and argumentation. The course additionally involves an introduction to academic research. Our libraries hold an impressive collection of traditional and electronic research tools as well as hundreds of thousands of books, journal articles, and assorted media. Navigating this ocean of information can be intimidating; however, excellent research skills are fundamental to your training. Therefore, we will spend a significant amount of time learning how to perform academic research and use our library resources effectively. By the end of this course, you should be able to do the following:
- Formulate research questions that may be used to guide a research process.
- Discover background information on a topic using reference materials.
- Locate books, periodicals, and other physical media within library collections.
- Locate electronic databases and query them with precision.
- Understand the importance of the process known as “peer review.”
- Critically evaluate sources for credibility and suitability for research.
- Use bibliographic software and a research journal to track and manage references.
- Craft a lengthy argument that contributes to an ongoing critical conversation.
Required Texts
- Open Handbook, by Alan C. Taylor
- Winter readings (.pdf)
- The Road, by Cormac McCarthy
Important Links
Link | Purpose |
---|---|
No Silo | Course website, syllabus, readings, assignments, the Open Handbook. |
Canvas | Submit assignments, contact others, view media. |
Hive | A shared Google drive for collaborative work. |
Author Pages | A research archive built by our class. |
The End | Random aphorisms on the (post)apocalyptic |
Academic Honesty
All work submitted in this course must be your own and be written exclusively for this course. The use of sources (ideas, quotations, paraphrase) must be properly documented. Please read the Academic Honor Principle for more information about the dire consequences of plagiarism. If you are confused about when or how to cite information, please consult the course handbook or ask me about it before submitting your work.
Attendance Policy
Regular attendance is expected. Bracketing religious observance, severe illness, or personal tragedy, no more than three unexcused absences in a single term will be acceptable for this course. This policy applies to regular class meetings, assigned X hours, and TA meetings. Four or more unexcused absences may result in repercussions ranging from significant reduction in GPA to failure of the course. If you have a religious observance that conflicts with your participation in the course, please meet with me beforehand to discuss appropriate accommodations.
Pandemic exceptions to the attendance policy:
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Do not attend class if you have any symptoms of COVID-19.
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If you have COVID-19 symptoms, stay home and contact Dartmouth Health Service immediately for instructions.
-
There will be no penalty for missing class due to COVID-19 illness or its prevention.
-
If you miss a class or a TA session due to illness, please email me to explain and receive makeup information.
Typical Weekly Workflow
Here is a list of the typical assignments and activities that we will do each week:
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Before we meet to discuss a reading as a class, each of you should carefully read and critically engage the text on your own—interrogating, analyzing, and questioning the arguments, ideas, and assumptions you discover there.
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As you read, I ask that you annotate the text—that is, mark up the text by adding meaningful symbols, marginal notes, and questions on the document itself. Note: this requires that you print out the text before you begin reading it. Bring this annotated copy of the reading with you to class to help you engage in the group discussion and analysis.
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After making your annotations, take critical notes on the text in a separate document. These notes will be valuable to you later, when you write your essays.
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After annotating and taking notes, contribute to Hive—our open-source repository of notes, ideas, and questions about our course readings.
The following three numbered sections explain these practices in more detail:
I. Annotating Texts
Rather than use a laptop or tablet to read our course readings, I ask that you print them out and annotate them as part of your preparations for class. Annotation refers to the process of marking up a text by adding your own words and symbols to the document itself. There is no right or wrong way to mark up a text, but you should develop a system that you are comfortable with and try to stick with it. Your objective in annotation is to flag the key elements of a piece of writing—the thesis,
argumentative claims,
and pieces of evidence.
In addition, use the margins of the text to ask questions, make brief notes, indicate confusion, define unfamiliar terms, and make connections to other texts. This kind of work serves two purposes: first, it helps you maintain a critical focus as you read; second, it helps you later if the text must be used for study or your own writing. If you plan on being successful in college, the ability to rigorously annotate texts is perhaps the most helpful and important skill you can develop.
It is not required to print out and annotate readings from the Open Handbook.
Further advice and caveats about annotation may be found in the “Annotation and Critical Reading” chapter of the Open Handbook.
II. Critical Reading Notes
Take detailed notes on each reading. Since you will write essays about these texts, these notes will be of significant help to you later. Your aims here should be to 1) reduce the entire argument to its bare essentials using paraphrase, summary, and selective quotation—carefully documenting page numbers during this activity; 2) interrogate the text by asking questions, raising objections, and making observations; 3) connect and compare the reading to others we have read; 4) define any unfamiliar terms and link the text to any outside research you perform. At the end of this rigorous process you should have a simplified version of the essay as well as a number of critical observations, questions, and ideas that emerged in the process of reading.
For more detailed information on the creation and purpose of these notes, read the chapter on “Critical Notes” in the Open Handbook.
III. Contribute to Hive
Hive is an open-source repository containing notes, ideas, and questions about our course readings and class discussions. We will build this resource together as a class—sharing the work of interpreting, analyzing, and questioning the complex course readings we encounter.
Our objective for Hive is to explore meaning, discover argumentative structures, evaluate supporting evidence, ask probing questions, connect to other readings, link to relevant resources, and think critically about the implications of a text. The “hive mind” is capable of discovering and creating far more than any one individual. With luck, Hive will become a central resource in our class discussions and an indispensable aid to you as you craft your essays.
You might contribute to Hive by doing some of the following tasks:
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Help create a simplified version of the text’s argumentative structure by presenting an ordered list of claims, reasons, and evidence.
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Ask a question about a difficult passage in the text or offer an answer to one posed by another student.
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Define difficult vocabulary.
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Flag a key portion of the essay that seems worthy of discussion or analysis and explain why it seems significant, or build on the thought of another student who has done so.
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Make a connection between an idea found in one text with others we have read in class (or elsewhere).
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Constructively question, respond, or correct the ideas or work of another student.
We will use a shared Google drive and Google docs to create the Hive resource. Each reading in the syllabus has a corresponding Google document within the shared drive which we will use to collectively explore and interrogate the text.
When you make your contributions to Hive, please ensure that you post in the Google drive associated with your course section. To make this easier, I have flagged the links to each section with an exponential notation, as in the example below:
- 3 : Hive page for section 3 @ 11 hour
- 4 : Hive page for section 4 @ 12 hour
You must use your Dartmouth login credentials to access the drive, not your personal Gmail account. Please authenticate using this G-Suite link: https://google.dartmouth.edu/
Grading
Decades of research on grading concludes that it is counterproductive, even harmful, to the process of education. If you care to examine it for yourself, Alfie Kohn has conveniently summarized the key findings of this scholarship.
For the reasons described by Kohn (and ones we explored in the fall term), this class will not feature traditional letter grades for evaluation. To be sure, I will evaluate your writing and give you rigorous feedback on how to improve (at least from where I’m sitting). You will receive similar feedback from your colleagues in the class. And you will also perform reflective self-evaluation of your writing and thinking. Ultimately, you will have to decide how best to express your ideas. But at no point will this complex, important work be reduced to a percentage or letter grade.
At the end of the term we will reflect together on your progress, effort, participation, and performance; we will decide together what final grade to enter into Banner. This discussion about your performance in the class will involve our mutual reflection on the following topics, inspired by the grading contract in Asao B. Inoue’s Labor-based Grading Contracts:
- Participation
- Attendance
- Collaboration and sharing
- Late, incomplete, missing work
- Growth
- Effort
Nota bene: To pass this course all assignments must be completed and an acceptable attendance record must be kept.
Major Assignments
1. Formal Research Essay
You will write one formal research essay. The project will involve many of the core competencies we developed in the previous term including argumentation, critical thinking, close reading, synthesis, and theoretical analysis. You may write on any topic you wish, so long as it is a contribution to our course conversation and theme. Please discuss your ideas with me before you get too far along. I am happy to meet with each of you to discuss ideas and help formulate a research plan.
Essay requirements:
The essay must be submitted in the Chicago format. You may choose to use either footnotes or endnotes for your citations; no bibliography page is required.
It must contain a minimum of 15 peer-reviewed sources.
Sources that are not peer-reviewed may also be used. However, be judicious if you do so.
Your essay should be 3,700 words, or about 15 pages in length.
2. Research Workshops
Several workshop assignments will help you gain confidence with using library resources, constructing bibliographies, and managing a large research project.
3. Presentations
You will make one formal presentation at the conclusion of the term to explain your research project to our class. You will also make a number of informal presentations about your ideas, research, and writing as they evolve over the term. These informal presentations may not be announced, so be prepared to discuss your project at any time.
4. Author Page
Each of you will curate a webpage dedicated to your research project. We will call this site your Author Page
. You may create this page as a shared Google Doc or use the Dartmouth Journeys platform. After creating your page, link to it on the course research projects page so that we may locate it. We will use these Author Pages to view your project as it evolves over time. One of your most important responsibilities this term is to keep this page updated. Your author page should contain the following:
- a short research proposal/statement of no more than 250 words.
- an
annotated bibliography
of all the sources used to construct your research project.- Use
permalinks
to link to the book or article within the library system.
- Use
- a current draft of your research essay.
- a weekly reflective blog post about the progress of your research project (see #7 below).
I have created a model author page on the course website that you may use as a template.
5. Contribute to Hive
Hive is an open-source repository containing notes, ideas, and questions about our course readings and class discussions. We will build this resource together as a class—sharing the work of interpreting, analyzing, and questioning the complex course texts we encounter.
- Your contributions to Hive are a key element in your class participation.
We will use shared Google docs to create the Hive resource. Each week containing course readings or films has a dedicated Hive document. Please make sure to contribute to the Hive document for your course section.
Instructions and ideas for Hive contributions are described in more detail above.
6. Critical Reading Notes
Take detailed notes on each course text. Your aim here should be to reduce the entire argument to its bare essentials using paraphrase, summary, and selective quotation. Carefully document page numbers during this activity. Interrogate the text by asking questions, raising objections, and noting observations. Connect and compare the reading to others we have read. Link to any outside research you perform and define unfamiliar terms or words. At the end of this process, you should have a simplified version of the essay as well as a number of critical observations, questions, and ideas that emerged as you read. If the text is a film, take detailed notes on elements of the film that seem significant. Don’t forget to note the timestamp.
For more detailed information on the creation and purpose of these notes, read the chapter entitled “Annotation and Critical Reading” in the Open Handbook.
7. End-of-Week Journal Reflection
Compose a weekly reflective “blog” post on your Author Page that details your efforts that week to further your research project. At the beginning, these posts will likely be searching, inarticulate musings as you think through possible ideas for a research project. However, as your research intensifies and comes into focus, these posts should begin to include the steps that you took that week to further the project in some way. What kind of research problems or difficulties did you encounter? What sources did you locate? How is the project evolving as you read and think more deeply on your subject? In essence, I would like you to blog your experiences as a novice researcher engaged in your first big research project. Significantly: the things you say in your posts will help me, the teaching assistant, and your colleagues assist you with your project.
Help With Your Writing
There are many sources of help for your writing assignments. I am happy to meet with you all term during my office hours or by appointment. Each of you will meet with our TA for 45 minutes per week to go over your writing and plan revision. If you require further help, the RWIT program offers excellent peer tutoring on all phases of the writing process—from generating ideas to formal citation.
Students With Disabilities
Students requesting disability-related accommodations and services for this course are required to register with Student Accessibility Services (SAS; Getting Started with SAS webpage; student.accessibility.services@dartmouth.edu; 1-603-646-9900) and to request that an accommodation email be sent to me in advance of the need for an accommodation. Then, students should schedule a follow-up meeting with me to determine relevant details such as what role SAS or its Testing Center may play in accommodation implementation. This process works best for everyone when completed as early in the quarter as possible. If students have questions about whether they are eligible for accommodations or have concerns about the implementation of their accommodations, they should contact the SAS office. All inquiries and discussions will remain confidential.
Mental Health & Wellbeing
The academic environment is challenging, our terms are intensive, and classes are not the only demanding part of your life. There are a number of resources available to you on campus to support your wellness, including:
- Your undergraduate dean.
- The Counseling Center.
- The Student Wellness Center.
- The student-led Dartmouth Mental Health Union.
- The student-led Sexual Assault Peer Alliance (SAPAs).
Please make me aware of anything that will hinder your success in this course. I will help and I will put you in touch with others who can help even more. The earlier I am aware of issues, the more I can do to assist you.
Symbol Legend
Symbol | Note |
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Student presentations | |
Homework | |
In-class work | |
A new major assignment | |
Workshop assignment | |
Assignment due | |
Print out work and bring to class | |
Contribute to Hive | |
Peer work, in pairs or groups | |
Discussion topic | |
In-class lecture | |
Course reading download (.pdf) | |
Learn something new | |
Question of the day™ | |
Friday Soap Box | |
Film | |
Audio lecture | |
Research progress checkup |
Schedule of Readings and Assignments
1 - Course Introduction
Wednesday, 1.4
In-class work
- Question of the Day™
- Class reunion, course overview, syllabus tour, housekeeping matters.
Friday, 1.6
Homework
-
Introduction to Academic Research
| A brief introduction to the processes involved in a research project. The lectures and workshops that follow build on this initial description.
In-class work
- Friday Soapbox
- Introduction to academic research
- Discuss possible research ideas
2 - Introduction to Library Research
This week we will continue our overview of library research, learning some basic skills for querying catalogs and databases. We will also learn about a form of analysis known as cultural studies
(much of our course and its readings are inspired by this breed of criticism).
Monday, 1.9
Homework
-
Searching with Precision
| Watch the video and study the information on searching with precision.
In-class work
- Question of the Day™
- Lecture: Searching with Precision
-
Workshop 1: Searching with Precision
| This workshop will help you learn how to query databases and catalogs with precision, saving you time and headaches.
Wednesday, 1.11
Homework
-
Finding Periodicals & Electronic Databases
| Read about periodicals and electronic databases. We will do the workshop portion in class.
In-class work
-
Workshop 2: Finding Periodicals & Electronic Databases
| This workshop will help you learn how to locate online periodicals (such as scholarly journal articles). - Discuss lecture and do workshop
Friday, 1.13
Homework
-
Introduction to Cultural Studies
| This class will frequently use a mode of analysis associated with cultural studies. This audio lecture provides a brief introduction to this form of inquiry/analysis.
In-class work
- Question of the Day™
- Discuss lecture.
Due
- Create a barebones Author Page and link to it on our research projects page.
- Submit an end-of-week reflection to your Author Page.
3 - Disaster, Apocalypse, & the State of Nature
Philosophers and social scientists have attempted to explain the origins of civilization and the rise of the modern state for centuries. A key concept in this conversation is the “state of nature,” a hypothetical condition where human beings lived without government. In this primitive state there is no law or authority, only anarchy and the pervasive threat of violence. Thinkers of the past such as Hobbes, Rousseau, and Locke used this hypothetical condition to explain why the state of nature no longer exists and how civilized orders came to be. Today, however, many writers, filmmakers, and social scientists imagine apocalyptic scenarios of disaster wherein society regresses again to chaotic states of nature. Why do we produce such imaginings? What purpose(s) do they serve? And why have these narratives become so prominent of late?
Monday, 1.16
Tuesday, 1.17 (X-hour session)
Homework
-
Thomas Hobbes, selection from Leviathan (1651) | Print out, read, annotate, and take critical notes on the reading, then post your contributions to the week’s Hive page. Read and engage the work of your peers there as well.
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Finding Books and other Physical Holdings in the Library
| Study the portion about finding books and other items in the library stacks; we will complete the workshop portion in class.
In-class work
- Question of the Day™
- Discuss reading
-
Workshop 3: Finding Books and other Physical Holdings in the Library
| This workshop will help you learn how to locate physical items in the library’s stacks.
Wednesday, 1.18
Homework
- Claire Curtis, Post-Apocalyptic Fiction and the Social Contract, “Introduction.” | Print out, read, annotate, and take critical notes on the reading, then post your contributions to the week’s Hive page. Read and engage the work of your peers there as well.
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What is Peer Review?
| Complete the reading to understand the purpose of peer review and how to recognize peer-reviewed articles and books; we will do the workshop portion in class.
In-class work
- Question of the Day™
-
Workshop 9: What is Peer Review?
| This workshop helps you understand the purpose of peer review and how to recognize peer-reviewed articles and books. - Discuss reading and workshop.
Friday, 1.20
Homework
-
Mathias Nilges, “The Aesthetics of Destruction: Contemporary US Cinema and TV Culture.” | Print out, read, annotate, and take critical notes on the reading, then post your contributions to the week’s Hive page. Read and engage the work of your peers there as well.
In-class work
- Friday Soapbox
- Discuss reading.
- Research progress checkup.
Due
- Submit an end-of-week reflection to your Author Page.
- Submit work for Workshop 3.
4 - The Apocalypse & the Other I
Cultural Studies scholars argue that post-apocalyptic narratives proliferate during periods of social crisis. During these moments of extreme social stress cultures transmute fear, anxiety, or dread into popular art forms such as novels or films. Thus, by examining popular media produced during these particular historical moments we are afforded a glimpse of how a culture worked through difficult social problems, reacted to challenges to its foundational values, and related to its various “Others.” In this section we will examine two films, The Last Man on Earth (1964) and I Am Legend (2007), both adaptations of Richard Mattheson’s 1954 novel I Am Legend. What cultural anxieties or problems do these films articulate? What social solutions do they seem to offer? Significantly, how do the differences between these two films provide a metric for measuring the evolving concerns of America from the 1960s to today?
Monday, 1.23
Homework
-
Film, The Last Man on Earth (1964) | Film is in the “Panopto Video” section of Canvas. Resist the urge to watch the film at faster than 1x speed. View and take critical notes on the film, then post your contributions to the week’s Hive page. Read and engage the work of your peers there as well.
-
Wikipedia page on the 1960s | Skim this reading to gain an overview of the important historical/cultural events in this decade.
In-class work
- Question of the Day™
- Discuss film and Hive submissions.
Wednesday, 1.25
Homework
- Deborah Christie, “A Dead New World: Richard Matheson and the Modern Zombie.” | Print out, read, annotate, and take critical notes on the reading, then post your contributions to the week’s Hive page. Read and engage the work of your peers there as well.
In-class work
- Question of the Day™
- Discuss reading and Hive submissions.
Friday, 1.27
In-class work
- Friday Soapbox
- Discuss film, reading, and Hive submissions.
- Research progress checkup.
-
Workshop 4: Works Cited or Bibliography
| This workshop will help you gain familiarity with constructing a Chicago style bibliography for a research paper or project.
Due
- Author Page: research proposal (250 words), annotated bibliography of current research.
- Submit an end-of-week reflection to your Author Page.
5 - The Apocalypse & the Other II
Monday, 1.30
Homework
- Film, I Am Legend (2007) | Film is in the “Panopto Video” section of Canvas. View and take critical notes on the film, then post your contributions to the week’s Hive page. Read and engage the work of your peers there as well.
- Alternate ending of I Am Legend (only watch after completing the original film).
In-class work
- Question of the Day™
- Discuss film and Hive submissions.
Wednesday, 2.1
Homework
In-class work
- Question of the Day™
- Discuss film and Hive submissions
-
Workshop 5: Cutting Corners in Research
| The best researchers know how to cut corners and work efficiently. This lecture presents you with some tips that will save you time. -
Workshop 6: "Getting Sh*t the Library Doesn't Have"
| As a researcher you will encounter many problems, but one of the most annoying is discovering that some other person has rudely checked out your book. Sometimes our library doesn’t own a book or article that you want to read. What do you do when these things happen? You have many options that won’t cost you a dime.
Friday, 2.3
- Friday Soapbox
- Discuss film and Hive submissions.
- Research progress checkup.
Due
- Update research proposal and annotated bibliography on your Author Page.
- Submit an end-of-week reflection to your Author Page.
6 - The Zombie, Civil Rights, & Race
“[T]he true subject of the horror genre is the struggle for recognition of all that our civilization represses or oppresses.”
—Robin Wood
Vampires, werewolves, and Frankenstein are all monsters of European extraction; the zombie, however, was made in America. This prompts several questions: Why was the zombie born here rather than someplace else? What is it about the Americas and their history that made the figure of the zombie possible and popular? What does it say about us and our culture that we have created precisely this type of monster? In this section we will attempt to answer these questions by tracing the evolution of the zombie—from its origins in the slave-based plantation cultures of the Americas through modern interpretations of the figure in contemporary literature and film. Significantly, the zombie of today differs markedly from its precursors in the cinema of the 30s, 40s, and 50s. In these earlier films the zombie was a figure within an imperialist discourse that expressed racist ideologies and the anxieties of post-slavery cultures throughout the Americas. However, just as the figure of the zombie had nearly been forgotten, a new form of the creature appeared in 1968 in George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead. No longer was the zombie a folkloric figure born of the struggle between master and slave; now it was a cannibalistic creature that stalked the countryside in swarms, mindlessly searching for human flesh. How do we account for this sudden transformation of the zombie? What cultural “work” did the zombie perform?
Monday, 2.6
Homework
- Film, Night of the Living Dead (1968) | Film is in the “Panopto Video” section of Canvas. View and take critical notes on the film, then post your contributions to the week’s Hive page. Read and engage the work of your peers there as well.
In-class work
- Question of the Day™
- Discuss film.
Wednesday, 2.8
Homework
- Peter Dendle, “The Zombie as Barometer of Cultural Anxiety.” | Print out, read, annotate, and take critical notes on the reading, then post your contributions to the week’s Hive page. Read and engage the work of your peers there as well.
In-class work
- Question of the Day™
- Discuss film and reading.
-
Workshop 7: Bibliographic Software / Research Journal
| Over your career as a student and a professional you will encounter and make use of thousands of books and articles and assorted media. Many of these texts will be very useful to you later, if you take the time to save and organize them now. There is an app for that.
Friday, 2.10
Homework
- Complete your essay draft.
In-class work
- Friday Soapbox
- Peer Review: During class time today you will meet with two of your colleagues to perform peer review.
Due
- Update research proposal and annotated bibliography on your Author Page.
- Submit an end-of-week reflection to your Author Page.
- Research Essay Draft I (3-5 pages).
7 - Imagining the End: Cormac McCarthy
Monday, 2.13
Homework
Cormac McCarthy, The Road, 1-96. | Annotate and take critical notes on the reading, then post your contributions to the week’s Hive page. Read and engage the work of your peers there as well.
In-class work
- Question of the Day™
- Discuss reading.
Wednesday, 2.15
Homework
Cormac McCarthy, The Road, 96-190. | Annotate and take critical notes on the reading, then post your contributions to the week’s Hive page. Read and engage the work of your peers there as well.
In-class work
- Question of the Day™
- Discuss reading.
Friday, 2.17
Homework
Cormac McCarthy, The Road, 190-287. | Annotate and take critical notes on the reading, then post your contributions to the week’s Hive page. Read and engage the work of your peers there as well.
In-class work
-
Lecture: Managing Large Research Projects
| How do you begin when you’ve collected a large pile of books and articles that will be parts of your research project? Often, a large collection of sources leaves you feeling paralyzed. This lecture gives you some ideas about how to process your research and start writing. - Question of the Day™
- Discuss reading.
Due
- Update research proposal and annotated bibliography on your Author Page.
- Submit an end-of-week reflection to your Author Page.
8 - TEOTWAWKI: Prepping for the End
Recent years have seen an explosion of “reality” television programming based in survival skills or challenges. Popular shows in this regard include game shows like Survivor and adventure shows like Man vs. Wild and Survivorman. Newer programming includes the Discovery Channel’s Dude, You’re Screwed, Alaska Bush People, Dual Survival, and the rather prurient Naked and Afraid. While these shows give viewers the vicarious thrill of braving the wilderness from the comfort of their armchairs, there has recently been an explosion in real survivalist culture, known as “prepping.” Preppers build bomb shelters and other fortifications where they stockpile food, supplies, firearms, and ammunition in preparation for TEOTWAWKI: The end of the world as we know it. A number of shows have emerged in response: Doomsday Preppers, Doomsday Castle, and Doomsday Bunker. The list of prepper fears is long: generalized civil unrest, total social collapse, global weather catastrophes, the return of Christ, peak oil, attacks using EMPs, and, of course, zombies. Are these views largely fueled by paranoia or a desire for self-reliance? Do these fears and anxieties signify some larger, unarticulated criticism or anxiety about modernity or capitalism?
Monday, 2.20
Homework
- Doomsday Preppers.
- Gwendolyn Audrey Foster, “Consuming the Apocalypse, Marketing Bunker Materiality.” | Print out, read, annotate, and take critical notes on the reading, then post your contributions to the week’s Hive page. Read and engage the work of your peers there as well.
In-class work
- Question of the Day™
- Discuss film and reading.
Wednesday, 2.22
In-class work
- Question of the Day™
- Discuss film and reading.
Friday, 2.24
In-class work
- Friday Soapbox
- Peer Review: During class time today you will meet with two of your colleagues to perform peer review.
- On Introductions.
- Discuss research proposals.
Due
- Update research proposal, annotated bibliography, paper draft on your Author Page.
- Submit an end-of-week reflection to your Author Page.
- Research Essay Draft II Due (7-10 pages).
9 - Drafting, Revising, Presenting
This week is dedicated to our presentations. Each of you will make a short presentation around 5 minutes in length. Your presentation may take any form you like, but consider your audience. Your fellow classmates have not read your essay or researched your topic. How can you help them understand your ideas and arguments? What context will they need to know? What terms or historical details do you need to unpack? Make sure to practice and time your talk so that you don’t go over the allotted time. Feel free to use a visual aid, such as PowerPoint slides or handouts.
- Each of you should be prepared to present on Monday. I will have my son Abel randomly number you from 1-15 to avoid any appearance of favoritism or ill will. He will get to practice his numbers as a result!
Monday, 2.27
In-class work
Wednesday, 3.1
In-class work
Friday, 3.3
In-class work
Due
- Submit an end-of-week reflection to your Author Page.
10 - The End

Monday, 3.6
In-class work
- Final Question of the Day™
- Eat celebratory donuts!
- Tearful goodbyes.
- End-of-term Reflection and Self-Assessment.
Friday, 3.10
Due
- Final Essays Due.
- Final draft of Author Page Due.
Monday, 3.13
Due