Courses

CVSP 110

Syllabus

Gods and Creation

1. Course Learning Outcomes

By the end of the course, students will have grown in their ability to:

1. Describe mankind's attempt to investigate, explain and understand the origin of the world, its creators, and the components of creation: stimulus, raw material, tools, process, and final product.
2. Analyze critically and cross-culturally the various concepts of gods-creators and their relationship with their creation.
3. Discover the similarities and the differences, the common and peculiar patterns of thought which characterize these concepts, and the distinctive conditions of the cultures which produced them.
4. Present their interpretation and critical evaluation adequately, consistently, relevantly and coherently.
5. Demonstrate awareness of the other as different-neither superior nor inferior.

2. Resources Available to Students

1. Mimeographed Selections.
2. Library References:
    - Encyclopedia of Religion & Mythology
    - Encyclopedia of Creation Myths. (Leeming David A. & Margaret A. Leeming)
    - Myths of the World: A Thematic Encyclopedia (Micheal Jordan).
    - Primal Myths: Creation Myths around the World (Barbara Sproul).

3. Grading Criteria

Written Homework:                      10%
Class Presentations:                     10%
Participation in class discussion:    5%
MIDTERM interpretation:               25%
Final interpretation:                       50%
                                      TOTAL     100

4. Schedule

5. Course Policy

Academic integrity and honesty are central components of a student's education. Ethical conduct maintained in an academic context will be taken eventually into a student's professional career. Academic honesty is essential to a community of scholars searching for and learning to seek the truth. Anything less than total commitment to honesty undermines the efforts of the entire academic community. Both students and faculty are responsible for ensuring the academic integrity of the University. (AUB Student Handbook, p. 33)

For definitions of cheating and plagiarism as well as the consequences for such, see the AUB "Student Code of Conduct" as found in the Student Handbook (esp. pp. 85-86 and 88) and on the AUB website. http://pnp.aub.edu.lb/general/conductcode/158010081.html

At minimum, anyone caught in violation of academic integrity will receive, as per the "Student Code of Conduct," a failing grade of forty points for the assignment in question. Should the violation deserve greater punishment, it will be referred to the Dean and the Dean's Administrative Committee.
Classes meet three times a week: one common lecture and two discussion sessions.