Semester at Sea, Course Syllabus Colorado State University, Academic Partner

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1 Semester at Sea, Course Syllabus Colorado State University, Academic Partner Voyage: Spring 2017 Discipline: English Course Number and Title: E 339 Literatures of the Earth Division: Upper Faculty Name: Gregory Mason Semester Credit Hours: 3 Class Meeting Time: A Days, (Vierjahres) Prerequisites: One college composition course COURSE DESCRIPTION In this course we will read and write about the earth, the sea, and nature from many perspectives: mythological and religious, historical and social, lyrical and scientific. Our extended ocean voyage away from and finally back to home will offer students a direct visceral encounter, as well as a powerful metaphor to reflect on their own life journeys. We will read creation narratives, and we will consider how humankind has both worshipped and abused the earth through history. We will read accounts, nonfictional and fictional in a range of genres, both of specific places, as well as of the elements of earth, sea and sky. We will also read of the life on earth of our fellow creatures, from ants to whales, reflecting on what we might learn from them, and how we might better live together. We will also study some science fiction scenarios to better speculate on the fate of the earth and on our shared futures. Students will engage in both reflective and analytical writing as they investigate and report on their readings and on their voyage experiences. You will be required to write journals, informal and formal papers and in-class examinations. LEARNING OBJECTIVES Study literatures of the earth, sea, and sky in a variety of genres, with a special focus on works from the countries and regions of the voyage. Gain a stronger sense of our planet Earth as a living entity material, spiritual, and social of its unfolding changes and of the endless variety of its inhabitants. Situate ourselves individually in this drama of interrelationships, to see where we each belong spatially, temporally, and relationally in, in Pablo Neruda s words, our residence on the earth. Become more critical and discerning readers of literature through textual analysis, class discussion and individual and group projects in interpretation. Develop skills in analytical and reflective writing about literature through short response papers and a more formal piece involving research on an approved topic of the student s choice.

2 REQUIRED TEXTBOOKS AUTHOR: Wade Davis TITLE: The Wayfinders: Why Ancient Wisdom Matters in the Modern World PUBLISHER: Anansi ISBN #: DATE/EDITION: 2009/ paperback AUTHOR: Bill McKibben, editor TITLE: American Earth: Environmental Writing Since Thoreau PUBLISHER: Library of America ISBN #: DATE/EDITION: 2008/ hardcover AUTHOR: Anthony Doerr TITLE: The Shell Collector PUBLISHER: Viking/Penguin ISBN #: DATE/EDITION: AUTHOR: Katherine Boo TITLE: Behind the Beautiful Forevers PUBLISHER: Random House ISBN #: DATE/EDITION: 2014/ paperback. AUTHOR: Rebecca Solnit TITLE: A Field Guide to Getting Lost PUBLISHER: Viking/Penguin ISBN #: DATE/EDITION: TOPICAL OUTLINE OF COURSE DEPART ENSENADA JANUARY 5 A1 January 7: Introduction Introduction to the scope of the course: to study literatures of the earth in several genres, with a special focus on works from the regions of the voyage. Through readings from many perspectives: mythological and religious, historical and social, lyrical and scientific, we will gain a stronger sense of our planet Earth as a living entity, of its unfolding changes and of the rich variety of its inhabitants. Our focus will also be subjective, reflecting on, writing about, and situating ourselves individually in this drama of interrelationships during, in Pablo Neruda s words, our residence on the earth. Overview of course expectations and formal 2

3 requirements: engaged participation, and timely completion of reading, discussion leading, investigative and reflective writing assignments. Collect writing sample from each student. A2 January 9: Wayfinders: Why Ancient Wisdom Matters in the Modern World Anthropologist Wade Davis is alarmed at the threat of extinction facing many of the world s older cultures. Such cultures, he asserts are not failed attempts at modernity but unique answers to a fundamental question: What does it mean to be a human being and alive? How should we judge the success or failure of a culture? What has our culture achieved and in what ways has it failed? What do these many cultures under threat have to teach us about how to relate to the Earth? Reading: Davis, 1-34, , , A3 January 11: Wayfinders: Finding Hawaii by Reading the Stars, Waves and Birds Following the voyage of the Hokule a to appreciate the astonishing navigational skills of the ancient Polynesians. Seeing this voyage as showing skills comparable to a moon shot and landing. How can we recapture a sense of the earth as a sacred place, and what can we learn from cultures around the world that have lived gently and successfully on the earth in times past and today, in contrast to our Western predatory, consuming approach to nature? How did the ancient Hawaiians imagine and describe the creation of their islands. [E = Electronic Folder] Readings: Davis: 35-78, , , Kumulipo [E] 58-60, [Elec file A3] HONOLULU JANUARY 12 January 12: E 339 Field Class. See details below. A4 January 14: Earth Seen Through Spiritual Eyes Reflection on Hawaii port stay. The Earth and its majesties and mysteries seen through prescientific eyes. Native American views of the Earth and the place of humankind in the larger scheme of nature. How did our relationship to the earth change from an organic one to a mechanistic one? What aspects of organic and mechanistic views of the Earth are satisfying and what aspects are inadequate and frustrating for our modern sensibilities? Readings: Momaday, [M ] ; Walker, [M] [M = McKibben] JANUARY 16 INTERNATIONAL DATE LINE: LOST DAY A5 January 17: The Christian Earth Heritage: Domination or Stewardship? Review of the religious beliefs and social practices that we in the West share through our Judaeo- Christian heritage. Comparing two Christian traditions, one of domination, and the other of stewardship. How much have our achievements and civilization been built on dominating the Earth and harnessing it for our use? What are the requirements for an ethic of stewardship and what would be its cost for our accustomed way of life? Readings: White, [M] ; DeWitt, [M] , Eiseley [E] 5p. NO CLASS JANUARY 19 3

4 A6 January 20: At Sea: Experiencing the Ocean in Its Primal Terror and Wonder The Ocean as a primal element, a source of great beauty and possibilities and a source of great danger and the dark unknown. What is most arresting and memorable about the Ancient mariner s tale? Why is he loitering around a wedding feast and what does he have to teach his listeners? What is the experience of the Open Boat? What language do we use to describe the experience of boundary situations at sea? How do they differ from such experiences on land? Why do often think of the sea and the ocean in mystical terms? How does life in and on the ocean relate to our life on earth? Readings: Coleridge [E], Crane [E], Merwin [E] A7 January 22: Nature Observed and Experienced Directly observed accounts of the natural world and how it operates. Unsentimental records of the wonder and the beauty beside the ugliness and horror of the natural world. Is nature moral, immoral or amoral in how it operates? Which aspects of nature are beautiful and which are sometimes shocking and ugly? How can nature nurture and comfort us? What can observing the living processes of the Earth teach us about how to behave as a social human group living among the rest of creation? Readings: Eiseley, [M] ; Dillard, [M] ; Wilson, [M] FIRST PAPER DUE JANUARY 24: 08:00 ARRIVE KOBE JANUARY 28: 1800 ON-SHIP TIME KOBE A8 January 29: Industrial Civilization and Its Discontents Living lives of quiet desperation is how Henry David Thoreau describes the lot of his fellow citizens in Review of the American tradition of cultural dissenters from Thoreau through Muir to Leopold. What specific changes in our behavior are these prophets calling for? Can we go backwards on technological changes, once they have been instituted? How content are we with our lot today, and what changes could we make to feel a greater sense of wellbeing? Readings: Thoreau, [M] 9-25; [M] 84-89; Leopold, [M] ; Chuangtse, [E)] 2p. JANUARY 31: 0800 ARRIVE SHANGHAI FEBRUARY 5:1800 ON-SHIP TIME SHANGHAI A9 February 6: Earth Seen Through Scientific Eyes Reviewing the behavior of homo sapiens in relation to the earth we walk on and the rest of creation that we live with. Considering the Earth as a total system, Spaceship Earth. In what ways is spaceship earth and astonishingly efficient and robust entity, and in what ways is it fragile and imperiled? How should we attend to the care and feeding of our only home? Readings: Marsh, [M] 71-80; Shaler, [M] ; Fuller, [M] ; Thomas, [M] ; Boulding, [M] ; Brower, [M]

5 HO CHI MINH CITY FEBRUARY 8-12 A10 February 8: Finding Exactly Where We Are: The Search for Longitude The Move from a Flat Earth to Navigating a Circular globe, with its attendant practical, psychological and spiritual consequences. The discovery, exploitation, and colonization of the Earth by competing European powers. Traditional Western navigational practices, frequent losses at sea, and the need to easily and accurately discover longitude. What were the previous alternative methods for calculating longitude? Why had it been so hard and why was his triumph bittersweet? How has the successful calculation of longitude changed world travel and our knowledge of the Earth? Reading: Sobel, FIRST PORT FIELD ASSIGNMENT DUE FEBRUARY 10: 1200 ARRIVE HO CHI MINH CITY FEBRUARY 14: 1800 ON-SHIP TIME HO CHI MINH CITY A11 Losing Ourselves to Find Ourselves The Blessings and Limitations of Relying on global positioning systems to know where we are. The difference between getting lost and losing oneself. What kind of knowledge is lost when languages disappear? What did John Keats mean by the phrase negative capability? What does the story of Cabeza de Vaca s expedition into Florida and beyond have to teach us about the limitations of conquering a land and a culture compared to discovering them? Why did some of the white settlers who were captured by Native Americans end up happier than they were before? Reading: Solnit: 3-25, FEBRUARY 17--NO CLASS A12 February 18: Losing Ourselves to Find Ourselves, Continued The Associations and Overtones of the color Blue. Colors, color symbolism, and how they relate to our experience of the Earth. The magic and the aura of place names. How they are taken up and mythologized in popular music, Country and Western, Rhythm and Blues? The house as the locus of life, whether for human or turtle. What can we learn from adventurers and explorers who successfully negotiated and survived being lost? What are the virtues of losing ourselves? Reading: Solnit: , FEBRUARY 20 ARRIVE YANGON FEBRUARY 24 ON-SHIP TIME YANGON A13 February 25: Life, Death and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity 5

6 Annawadi is a mud and cardboard city illegally built on a reclaimed, snake-infested swamp in the shadow of Mumbai s ultramodern airport and luxury hotels. To the outsider it is merely squalid and chaotic, but it has a complex life to be discovered. Who built Annawadi, and what are its cultural and social associations? What are the principal places or physical markers of Annawadi? Who are the main players in the domestic drama of the undercity? How do they relate to each other, and what do they want from each other compared to the citizens of a normal city? Reading: Boo, Prologue plus Parts One and Two. A14 February 27: The Life and Times of Annawadi, Continued How does the lot of those living in rural India compare to those urbanites living in slums like Annawadi? Why do 1,000 men and women wait at the crossroads every morning and where have they come from? What do we learn about the typical distribution of nonprofit funding in the Indian context? How is corruption viewed by Annawadians? What are the relative benefits and risks of working in the overcity versus working in the undercity? How do you now feel about the situation of those living in Annawadi compared to how you were feeling about such communities before you read this book? Which character or characters did you come to feel most invested in, and which did you most dislike? Why? Reading: Boo, Parts Three and Four. MARCH 1: 0800 ARRIVE COCHIN MARCH 6: 1600 ON-SHIP TIME COCHIN A15 March 7: IN CLASS WRITING ASSIGNMENT NO CLASS MARCH 9 A16 March 10: And No Birds Sang What did Rachel Carson alert us to with her book The Silent Spring? Why was it so original and groundbreaking? Where does her work stand today in the context of what we have learned and done or not done to heed her warning since 1962? How has further research on the food chain confirmed or otherwise modified Carson s findings. What precautions or new practices should we be adopting to protect ourselves, at the top of the food chain, from further contamination? Readings: Carson, [M] ; Steingraber, [M] ; MARCH 12: 0800 ARRIVE PORT LOUIS, MAURITIUS MARCH 12: 20:00 ON-SHIP TIME, PORT LOUIS A17 March 13: Tales of Life Lived Close to the Earth In The Shell Collector, What drives the shell collector in his passion to collect, classify and understand shells? What aesthetically pleasing and what dangerous qualities do shellfish possess? How is the shell collector an iconic or symbolic figure in the landscape and culture of 6

7 the ocean? In Chances, What role does the ocean play for the immigrant teenager Dorotea who at the Maine coast sees the first time. How does her interaction with the shore and with fishing help her successfully negotiate the difficult passage of coming of age? How does her close contact with nature nurture her when her parents and social situation cannot? Reading: Doerr: Shell Collector, So Many Chances NO CLASS MARCH 9 A18 March 16: Tales of Life Lived Close to the Earth Analysis of further tales from The Shell Collector Reading: Doerr: Shell Collector stories TBA A19 March 18: Kinship With our Fellow Creatures Readings: TBA MARCH 19: 0800 ARRIVE CAPE TOWN MARCH 24: 1800 ON-SHIP TIME CAPE TOWN A20 March 26: Global Warming The Long Term and Proximate Causes of Global Warming. The influence of the greenhouse effect and of different kind of pollution, industrial, vehicular and animal, on the progress of global warming. What is meant by a carbon footprint? What can be done by individuals, institutions and nations to counteract and reverse the progress of global warming? What might be the likely consequence of unchecked global warming 20, 50, or 100 years from today? What progress is being made to address the looming catastrophe? Readings: McKibben, [M] ; Gore, [M] Films: An Inconvenient Truth; A Fierce Green Fire. SECOND PAPER OR PORT FIELD ASSIGNMENT DUE A21 March 28: Public Choices to Make Living on Earth Considering our Earth as altered by human presence. How can we improve our life on earth, make it more beautiful, make our earth more livable. What are our living spaces and our communities like to live in? How can they be transformed to better serve our needs? Why should we live in commerce-serving ugliness? Do we need to consume as much as we do of our Earth s bounty? Does this make us happy? Could we reset our habits and values to live more directly and simply in harmony with the earth? Readings: Barnum, [M] 81-83; Jane Jacobs, [M] ; Durning [M] ; NO CLASS MARCH 29 MARCH 31: 0800 ARRIVE TEMA APRIL 3: 1800 ON-SHIP TIME TEMA 7

8 A22 April 4: Private Choices to Make Living on Earth How will we order our private lives and personal relationships to live more purposefully and happily? Are we merely driven to consume and perpetuate our species, or can we devise other, better pleasures and goals? Are we eating right? Do we care enough, not just about the fate of the earth, but also about the fate of all of us living on it. What choices do we need to be making about our own carbon footprint, our own drain upon the earth resources, and our own bequests to the future? Readings: Mills, [M] ; Pollan, [M] ; Solnit, [M] Oliver Wild Geese [E] A23 April 6: Living in a Mediated Cyberworld and its Challenges: Imagined Scenarios of the Future How has the arrival of the computer and the smartphone affected how we live on the earth and how we relate to each other? Have we lost touch with the Earth and with each other or are we live in an enhanced expanded reality? How do we distinguish between reality and virtual reality? What have we gained and what have we lost by having irretrievable entered a cyberworld? Possible future scenarios involving space travel, gene splicing and human modification, and radical realignment of our relationship to Earth. How do earthlings appear to extraterrestrials? Can our species be improved through modification? What would be the price? Are we capable of further positive evolution to become a superior species on a superior planet than ourselves on present Earth? Readings: Life as Player One [E]; Bisson [E] Films: Lo and Behold; Gattaca; Ex Machina A24 April 8: Which is my Earth? Where is Home For Me? Summary of materials and themes covered in the course. Finding each person s sense of place, comfort zone, home. Meditations on the idea of home. Why is it that there is no pace like home? Is home a fixed entity or are we in danger of losing it? Should we free our notion of home from a rigidly fixed location? If so, where on earth do we want or need to be and why? Reading: Kingsolver, [M] ; Hogan, [M] ; Berry, [M] OTHER, EITHER SECOND PAPER OR PORT FIELD ASSIGNMENT DUE APRIL 10 STUDY DAY APRIL 11: 0800 ARRIVE CASABLANCA APRIL 14: 1800 ON-SHIP TIME CASABLANCA A25 Final Exams April 15: ARRIVE HAMBURG APRIL 19 8

9 FIELD WORK Semester at Sea field experiences allow for an unparalleled opportunity to compare, contrast, and synthesize the different cultures and countries encountered over the course of the voyage. In addition to the one field class, students will complete independent field assignments that span multiple countries. Field Class attendance is mandatory for all students enrolled in this course. Do not book individual travel plans or a Semester at Sea sponsored trip on the day of your field class. Field Classes constitute at least 20% of the contact hours for each course. Field Class and Assignment The field class for this course will take place on Thursday, January 12 in Honolulu. Hawaii: Volcanic Islands of Destiny Our class will begin with a visit to the USS Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor, where we will revisit history to honor our fallen servicemen and gain a sense of Hawaii s vital maritime importance as the foremost strategic port on the Pacific Ocean. Next, as the academic center of our day, we will visit the Bishop Museum. Together with viewing the artifacts at the museum, we will attend the J. Watumull Planetarium s presentation of Wayfarers, Waves, Winds, and Stars. This program illustrates and dramatizes the voyage from Tahiti to Hawaii of the Polynesian sailing canoe Hokukle a that we will have been studying in class. We end our day with an invigorating hike up Diamond Head, a 300,000-year-old volcanic crater tuff cone. This will give us a sense of Hawaii s pre-historic formation as a series of volcanoes, and also a spectacular view of Honolulu. Field Class Objectives: to experience the island of Oahu first hand in a way that illustrates its geologic beginnings, its rich and complex history, and its unique role in the Pacific Ocean as an historic destination, a proud and diverse society, and a strategic crossroads. Field Class Assignment: Students will be evaluated for this assignment by 1) their engaged participation in all aspects of the day s program and 2) by a written reflection on the day s events. This should be both impressionistic, conjuring the feel and texture of the day, and critical, reflecting on how the student personally feels and where he/she stands in relation to all that was seen, spoken and heard in the course of the day. This reflection must also refer to and incorporate references not just to the sites we visit, but also to the student s reading in preparation for our visit. Beyond this, each student can use a camera or sketchpad to record visual evidence to complement the written record. Students will be evaluated for this field class, based on attendance at all parts of the day s program, on curious and engaged participation, and on the quality of their response papers. First informal drafts of response papers must be submitted within 48 hours. Revised versions may be submitted at a later date, after receiving instructor feedback. Minimum final length: 1500 words. Field Class is worth 20% of course grade. 9

10 INDEPENDENT FIELD ASSIGNMENTS Beyond our required Field Class, you will be required to complete the following assignment at TWO ports of call of your choice during the voyage: conduct a personal investigation and file a brief report on some aspect of the situation you encounter there that relates to our study of the Earth. This could be a visit to a school other non-profit, or an encounter with a teacher or environmental worker of some kind, or with someone or somewhere that gives you an insight into local conditions. Beyond this, you may use a camera or sketchpad to record visual evidence to complement the written record. These two pieces will provide you material to draw on for your reflective, synthesizing final paper, and are together worth 20% of your final grade. Required length: two-page maximum, including written copy and visuals. FORMAL REQUIREMENTS (grade values in parentheses) 1. Attend all classes, carefully complete all reading assignments and participate in class discussions. With a partner, each student will be responsible for leading two discussions in the course of the semester. (20%) 2. Attend and participate in our course Field Class, and complete the assigned paper reporting and reflecting on the Field Class experience, required of all class members. (20%) 3. Keep an intellectual journal, including brief written responses to reading assignments and their study questions, together with personal reflections. (20%) 4. Write two brief literary response papers. (15%) 4. In two ports of your choice, conduct a personal investigation and file a brief report on some aspect of the situation you encounter there that relates to our study of the Earth (10%) 5. Write a paper at the Final Hour time that attempts to synthesize what you have learned about the Earth and your relationship to it during the semester (15%) METHODS OF EVALUATION / GRADING SCALE The following Grading Scale is utilized for student evaluation. Pass/Fail is not an option for Semester at Sea coursework. Note that C-, D+ and D- grades are also not assigned on Semester at Sea in accordance with the grading system at Colorado State University (the SAS partner institution). Pluses and minuses are awarded as follows on a 100% scale: Excellent Good Satisfactory/Poor Failing %: A %: A 90-93%: A %: B %: B 80-83%: B %: C %: C 60-69%: D Less than 60%: F ATTENDANCE/ENGAGEMENT IN THE ACADEMIC PROGRAM Attendance in all Semester at Sea classes is mandatory, but it is at the instructor s discretion to assign a grade to the participation and attendance requirement. Remember to include information concerning the evaluation of Field Assignments and the Field Classes, which must constitute at least 20% of the total grade in a course. 10

11 Students must inform their instructors prior to any unanticipated absence and take the initiative to make up missed work in a timely fashion. Instructors must make reasonable efforts to enable students to make up work which must be accomplished under the instructor s supervision (e.g., examinations, laboratories). In the event of a conflict in regard to this policy, individuals may appeal using established CSU procedures. LEARNING ACCOMMODATIONS Semester at Sea provides academic accommodations for students with diagnosed learning disabilities, in accordance with ADA guidelines. Students who will need accommodations in a class, should contact ISE to discuss their individual needs. Any accommodation must be discussed in a timely manner prior to implementation. A memo from the student s home institution verifying the accommodations received on their home campus is required before any accommodation is provided on the ship. Students must submit this verification of accommodations pre-voyage as soon as possible, but no later than November 19, 2016 to academic@isevoyages.org. STUDENT CONDUCT CODE The foundation of a university is truth and knowledge, each of which relies in a fundamental manner upon academic integrity and is diminished significantly by academic misconduct. Academic integrity is conceptualized as doing and taking credit for one s own work. A pervasive attitude promoting academic integrity enhances the sense of community and adds value to the educational process. All within the University are affected by the cooperative commitment to academic integrity. All Semester at Sea courses adhere to this Academic Integrity Policy and Student Conduct Code. Depending on the nature of the assignment or exam, the faculty member may require a written declaration of the following honor pledge: I have not given, received, or used any unauthorized assistance on this exam/assignment. RESERVE BOOKS AND FILMS FOR THE LIBRARY FILMS: Longitude. BBC Horizon Special, The Light at the Edge of the World: The Wayfinders. Wade Davis. National Geographic. 2007? Winged Migration. 98 mins Planet Earth. Richard Attenborough. 5 part DVD (instructor could provide) An Inconvenient Truth Gattaca. 106 mins A Fierce Green Fire, ( mins. eco doc) SAS lib# 121 AUTHOR: Bill McKibben, editor TITLE: American Earth: Environmental Writing Since Thoreau PUBLISHER: Library of America ISBN #: DATE/EDITION: 2008/ hardcover 11

12 ELECTRONIC COURSE MATERIALS AUTHOR: Martha Beckwith ARTICLE/CHAPTER TITLE: JOURNAL/BOOK TITLE: The Kumulipo VOLUME: PUBLISHER: U of Hawaii P ISBN #: DATE: 1972 PAGES: 55-60, [Elec file A3] AUTHOR: Loren Eiseley ARTICLE/CHAPTER TITLE: Man the Firemaker. PAGES: 5.pp [Elec file A8] AUTHOR: Chuangtse ARTICLE/CHAPTER TITLE: The Man Who Spurned the Machine. JOURNAL/BOOK TITLE: The Wisdom of China and India, ed. Lin Yutang VOLUME: PUBLISHER: Modern Library ISBN #: DATE: 1955 PAGES: [Elec file A8] AUTHOR: Samuel Taylor Coleridge ARTICLE/CHAPTER TITLE: The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner (poem) DATE: 1798 PAGES: 13 pp. (instructor supplied) [Elec file A6] AUTHOR: Stephen Crane ARTICLE/CHAPTER TITLE: The Open Boat (short story) DATE: 1898 PAGES: 15 pp. (instructor supplied) [Elec file A6] AUTHOR: William Merwin ARTICLE/CHAPTER TITLE: Blue PAGES: 1 pp. (instructor supplied) [Elec file A6] AUTHOR: Terry Bisson ARTICLE/CHAPTER TITLE: They re Made of Meat (short story) JOURNAL/BOOK TITLE: VOLUME: PUBLISHER: ISBN #: DATE: PAGES: (instructor supplied) [Elec file A23] 12

13 ADDITIONAL RESOURCES A laptop computer and a digital camera are both highly desirable, if not essential additional resources. It would be possible but difficult for students to complete all their assignments without these two devices. Students will also need a sturdy notebook to hold their journal entries, or a binder to hold their loose sheets. 13