PERSPECTIVES ON AMERICAN CHARACTER AND SOCIETY

Honors 25-302/FYS 22-302 Instructor: R. Hariman

Fall 1999 Office: 105 Medbury

TR 11:00-12:15 Phone: 271-2840; 255-2283

Medbury 201 robert.hariman@drake.edu

Course Description

This course is a study of selected theories and observations about the nature of American society. It will address the question: What are the predominate beliefs and practices that constitute the American social order and shape the character of its citizens? Beginning with Tocqueville and continuing through Bellah et al., numerous observers have argued that political equality and individualism are fundamental traits of American culture. This course examines how these abstract values are realized in the ordinary, everyday activities of American life, it considers how they often are in fundamental tension with each other, it questions how they are or are not influencing contemporary public culture, and it asks how they could be the means for changing our communities and ourselves.

While pursuing these objectives, the course will give special attention to the argument that American society is becoming ever more misshapen due to our excessive individualism. As Bellah et al. have claimed:

It seems to us that it is individualism, and not equality, as Tocqueville thought, that has marched inexorably through our history. We are concerned that this individualism may have grown cancerous--that it may be destroying those social integuments that Tocqueville saw as moderating its more destructive potentialities, that it may be threatening the survival of freedom itself.

This argument highlights the question of "community" in the United States. Is it possible for community to exist in a society that emphasizes radical individualism? Could self-actualization be socially destructive? What are the individual's responsibilities to fellow citizens, to his/her city, state, or nation? If we are to have individuals who contribute to communities, and communities that nurture individualism, what should we do? If other elements of American life are obstacles to such goals, what are they and how ought they be changed?

Texts

Course Procedure

This course is a seminar, which means that the class periods are devoted to discussion of selected texts. The purpose of discussion is to understand the topic of inquiry while improving our skills at reading, writing, and oral argument. In order to have a good seminar, we will need to read carefully, voice our questions, observations, and opinions in class, engage one another in argument, and review, reread, or continue talking together after class as prompted by the discussion. When you come to class, I expect you to be ready to discuss the readings scheduled for that day, even if only to identify your lack of understanding. You are more likely to be prepared to contribute to the discussion if you take notes while reading that identify key questions or other points for analysis. I often will assign students to lead the discussion for a portion of the class; the leader may raise questions, offer interpretations, provide examples from everyday life, or otherwise work with the text to direct our understanding of the text or topic. (See the oral report guide at the back of the syllabus for additional guidance.)

Assignments: I expect you to attend all classes. The formal course work includes the discussions and four papers, all focused on the assigned readings. For the fourth paper, you also will participate in a peer review process to improve your writing. On November 23, each student will share a draft of his or her final paper with two others in the class, while receiving two papers in return. On November 30, the drafts will be returned with editorial comments. You will include these edited drafts with your final copy of the paper. The fourth paper also will be presented to the class as an oral academic research report.

Grading: Because this is a seminar, I do not use a fixed calculus for determining your final course grade. A student who wrote sterling papers but never spoke in class would not be likely to receive an "A". A student who wrote strong papers and often provided insightful comments and spirited arguments in class but wrote a weak because overly ambitious final paper could receive an "A" even if the numerical calculation was in the high "B" range. Generally, I expect that the grading will follow this distribution:

I will grant an Incomplete (I) if the student suffers a medical or familial emergency, requests the grade, and agrees to a plan for completing the course. I do not expect plagiarism but if I have reason to believe it has occurred I will follow the University's policy for prosecution.

Additional Features of the Course

This course is part of a learning community. As members of the community, you have rights, privileges, and responsibilities. Distinctive features of this community include:

Dual sections of the seminar: Professor Ron Troyer of the Department of Sociology teaches the other section which meets at the same time. Professor Troyer and I have worked together to develop the course and we are using a common syllabus. Throughout the semester, we will communicate about the course and there may be occasions when the two sections meet together.

Linked courses: This seminar is joined with Professor Sanders' course on the American Political System. As you see opportunities to more closely coordinate the work in the seminar with your Political Science course, you should bring them to the attention of both classes.

Money: The community has $300 to spend in a manner that facilitates interaction and inquiry. Options you might consider include a film series, a party, bringing in guest speakers, hosting a forum with another FYS seminar, etc.

Course design: The community has the opportunity to redesign elements of the course. The professors retain final power of decision in accord with their institutional responsibility for the course, but some of the syllabus is negotiable.

Common living space: Many of you share a dorm floor. This concentration of a course in a living space may provide a number of options for extending or shaping the academic work.

Town meetings: In order to address these and other common interests, we will have at least one common meeting of the two seminars for the purpose of organizing to take advantage of the opportunities listed above. You may wish to schedule additional meetings.

Email discussion list: Messages for the entire community can be posted on a list entitled "character-l". Instructions for subscribing and posting messages are attached to this syllabus.

Miscellaneous:

I am available by appointment if you cannot use my posted office hours (TTh 1-2:15; WF 2-3). My office is Medbury 105, my phone number is 271-2840, and my e-mail address is robert.hariman@drake.edu. I check phone and computer mail regularly and will reply as promptly as I can. You also can leave a message with the department secretary at 271-2874.

Schedule:

Papers

Writing is a means for focusing, testing, and extending one's thinking about a subject, and for engaging with an audience for those and other purposes. In each of your papers for this course, you should strive to make a contribution to our understanding of the course texts and topics.

Understanding a subject includes knowledge of those texts that provide significant accounts of the subject, familiarity with informed commentary on those texts, consideration of alternative interpretations of any important assertion, and application to one's experience in the world. It is important that we can see these disciplines at work in your writing. You should provide specific references to the course texts, attend to other discussions of their meaning, craft arguments on behalf of your claims, and demonstrate understanding of actual features of our social world. Feel welcome to bring in other texts and experiences as long as they are introduced adequately; a succinct description of their content and significance should do (e.g., don't assume that I am familiar with your favorite music or that I can see why Beloved is important). In any case, your papers should reflect careful reading of your texts, thoughtful participation in our class discussions, and clear and systematic exposition of your ideas.

Each paper should have a title suggesting your basic problem, idea, or theme. You also should follow an appropriate pattern of development. You might write a conventional essay that identifies a problem, proposes a thesis toward the resolution of that problem, offers a series of arguments in support of that thesis, and concludes by addressing the question of action. You might write a more narrative account that follows a character through a series of actions leading to a crisis and resolution (e.g., you as you are trying to understand Tocqueville while going about your day). You might write a systematic textual commentary that works through a text paragraph by paragraph or line by line to develop an interpretation of the whole. You might identify a dramatic event (e.g., a popular trial or a family quarrel) and analyze that event using concepts discussed in the course. You might write a series of aphorisms that provoke a radical break with conventional wisdom and a new program of inquiry. However you proceed, the essay should be your best effort to argue about and understand some important idea regarding the character of American life.

The formatting of each paper should include: no title page; one-inch margins; double-spaced; page numbers in the upper right corner; 12-point font (I recommend Palatino for laser printing). Use parenthetical citation and, if referring to texts from outside the course, a bibliography.

The general tasks for each paper are set out below. As each assignment approaches, we will identify in our class discussions more specific initiatives that you might follow to complete the assignment.