LLT 180.899
Online Hero & Quest in War - Spring 2009
Instructor: J. A. Johnson
Office Hours: 7:45-9:15 & 12:15-1:15 TTH
Office: 105 Siceluff Hall
and by appointment
Campus telephone: 836-5122
Electronic Contacts: Email checked am & pm daily
Email: juliejohnson@missouristate.edu
Required Texts (hard copy, available used at Amazon and elsewhere):
Platoon Leader: A Memoir of Command in Combat by James McDonough (Praesidio
Press)
Remembering Korea 1950: A Boy Soldier’s Story by H. K. Shin (University
of Nevada Press)
Online Texts (Hard copies of Iliad and Red Badge available at any bookseller.):
The Iliad by Homer at
http://records.viu.ca/~johnstoi/homer/iliad_title.htm
The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane at
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/CRANE/badge.html
My Guadalcanal by Genjirou Inui at
http://www.nettally.com/jrube/Genjirou/cover.htm
Films: Available through Blockbuster and Netflix. Also on reserve at Media
Collections in Meyer Library on campus.
Gettysburg (US 1993), Stalingrad (German 1993), Tae Guk Gi
(Korean 2004), Green Dragon (US 2001)
| Schedule | Study Guides |
| Syllabus |
Schedule
Date
Class
Reading/Writing Assignments
Unit 1
Wk 1
Introduction: Heroes and Course
Homer, Books 1 & 2
(Aug 24/30)
Ancient Greek warriors – Values?
Journal #1
Wk 2
Greek domestic side & Rules in War
Homer, Books 6 & 7
(Aug 31-Sept 6)
Journal #2
Wk 3
Culmination of the clash – Who wins?
Homer, Books 21 & 22
(Sept 7-13)
Video: Sergeant Hinterleiter
Journal #3
September 14- Quiz 1; Journals 1-3 due (Unit 1 unavailable
midnight September 20th)
Unit 2
Wk 4
Basic Military Terminology; Civil War army life
Crane, Chapt I-VI
(Sept 14-20)
Journal #4
Wk 5
Differences from Homer to Crane
Crane, Chapt VII-XV
(Sept 21-27)
War poetry - Walt Whitman and medical matters
Journal #5
Wk 6
Point of the novel? 19th century heroics?
Crane, Chapt XVI-XXIV
(Sept 28-Oct 4)
Film: Gettysburg and Col. Chamberlain; US Medal of Honor
Journal #6
October 5th - Quiz 2; Journals 4-6 due (Unit 2 unavailable
midnight October 11th)
Unit 3
Wk 7
WWII Pacific Background
Genjirou Inui, Part I
(Oct 5-11)
Japanese culture
Journal #7
Wk 8
Japanese Heroics & American Experiene on Guadalcanal
Genjirou Inui, Part II
(Oct 12-18)
WWII Europe background
Journal #8
Wk 9
WWII Europe – Eastern Front - Video: Prof. Trobisch
Genjirou Inui, Part III
(Oct 19-25)
Film: Stalingrad
Journal #9
October 26 – Quiz 3; Journals 7-9 due (Unit 3 unavailable
midnight November 1)
Unit 4
Wk 10
Korean War background
Shin, pps 1-45
(Oct 26-Nov 1)
Video: Denzil Batson, Korean War veteran
Journal #10
Wk 11
Film Tae Guk Gi
Shin, pps 46-113
(Nov 2-8)
Journal #11
Wk 12
Video: Bob Brose, Korean War veteran
Shin, pps 114-163
(Nov 9-15)
Heroics in Korea -Rudy Hernandez, MOH
Journal #12
November 16th – Quiz 4; Journals 11-12 due (Unit 5
unavailable midnight November 22)
Unit 5
Wk 13
Vietnam background
McDonough, Chapts 1-9
(Nov 16-22)
French in Vietnam
Journal #13
Wk 14
Film: Green Dragon
McDonough, Chapts 10-17
(23-29)
Impact on Vietnamese
Journal #14
Wk 15
Video: Jack Hunter, Vietnam veteran
McDonough, Chapts 18-end
(Nov 30-Dec 6) Heroics in
Vietnam - Bruce Crandell, MHO
Journal #15
December 7 – Quiz 5; Journals 13-15 due (Unit V unavailable
midnight December 13th)
December 14th -- Final Quiz and
Reflection due (entire course disappears midnight, December 15)
top
Syllabus
Course:
This course fulfills 3 hours of General Education requirements under the area of
inquiry "Self-Understanding, Humanities Perspective". As such, it aims at the
General Education Goals under both Part One: Intellectual Abilities and
Dispositions and Part Two, C., Self-understanding. The details of these goals
are laid out at the following web site and factor into the specific sectional
course objectives:
http://www.missouristate.edu/GeneralEducation/Faculty_Senate_Approved_GenEd.htm
.
LLT 180 also connects to the MSU Public Affairs mission by addressing the three
main themes of Public Affairs: (1) Ethical Leadership; (2) Cultural Competency;
and (3) Community Engagement.
This specific section focus fulfils #1 by covering issues of leadership in war
from point of view of field grade officers, #2 by covering Greek, Japanese,
German, and Korean source materials, #3 by investigating connection between
military service and public duty, personal sacrifice, etc.
LLT 180 is designed to examine conceptions of the hero from diverse perspectives
and to prompt explorations into our own value systems and their foundations.
This particular section will deal with heroes and heroics in the context of war
drawing from a multicultural and multi-temporal sources, including fiction,
non-fiction, and film. The course aims both to understand non-US points of view
and to illuminate, expound, and refine our own. In consequence, the course will
be participatory. You are expected, as Dewey, the great American educator urged,
to ‘learn by doing’. We will cover war literature and films from ancient Greece,
19th century America, 20th century America, Japan, Germany, and Korea.
COURSE OBJECTIVES:
• To enhance your understanding of the unique context of combat and its effects
on individuals and groups and the staying power of those effects
• To help you acquire some basic knowledge about military terminology and
organization, with special attention to issues of leadership within a military
context
• To encourage your investigation into different concepts of military heroes
from the viewpoints of many times and of several different cultures
• To aid you in articulating your own value system and your judgment of heroic
behavior in war, sorting out connecting concepts of human courage, cowardice,
fear, and the like as they arise in war (and also in civilian events)
• To allow you to note and reflect upon the connections among different peoples
and times--both differences and similarities--in their responses to extreme
situations such as war and in their assessments of 'heroics'
• To introduce you to classics of military writing and to autobiographical
military narrative.
OVERALL ONLINE ORGANIZATION: This course is divided into 5
Units, each dealing with a war narrative and often also a film. These works are
selected to provide an approach to the topic of war heroes from different times
or cultural perspectives.
1. Greek Trojan War - using Homer's Iliad
2. American Civil War - using Crane's novel Red Badge of Courage and
the film, Gettysburg.
3. Japanese & German WWII - using online Genjirou Inui's diary My
Guadalcanal and German film, Stalingrad
4. South Korean Korean War - using Shin's memoir Remembering Korea 1950
and S. Korean film, Tae Guk Gi
5. American & Vietnamese Vietnam War - using McDonough's memoir Platoon
Leader and film Green Dragon
UNIT - Each unit contains work divided into three sub-folders,
one for each week. For each of the five units there are three weeks scheduled
for completion with one week of grace at the end, overlapping the first week of
the next unit. Folders containing each of the five units are located under the
gray 'Unit Assignments' button on the main menu at left of the first course
page. Each unit will be available at the start of the semester, but will become
unavailable at midnight on the Sunday after the quiz and journal assignment is
due. You must have all work completed by the end of the 16th week of the
semester.
In addition to texts and films, other online material will also be assigned in
the sub-folders to provide context for your look at these wars.
Each unit begins with a study guide (linked to the unit folder) and ends with an
online exam and the submission of your course journal (for details of format and
length, refer to the syllabus). The exam is timed for 60 minutes and you must
complete it on your first attempt. If you are cut off by computer problems
during that attempt, contact the Blackboard help staff (on the menu under
'Contacts') and email me to clear you to try again.
Do not fall behind. Email your instructor with any questions
(juliejohnson@missouristate.edu
.
Cautionary: Some of the assigned texts and the planned films contain language
and images that some may construe as offensive and disturbing. Psychic distance
should be applied. Should these matters become a difficulty for you, please
email or call my campus office during office hours to discuss it with me.
Graded Assignments/Activities
I. Journal of Weekly Readings/online resources/Thoughts – 100 points (5 @ 20
points each unit)
II. eQuizzes – 100 points (5 @ 20 points each)
III. Final eQuiz & Essay (2 page reflection on course materials ) – 40 points
total
IV. Discussion Boards – 30 points Total: 270 points
• Journal of Weekly Readings/Classes/Thoughts
Weekly one page journal: Because experience shows that there is benefit from
keeping a regular record of readings, activities, and reactions, and because
writing both clarifies ones own thinking and creates a record for future
reviews, each student will maintain a weekly journal. Each page of the journal
will cover one week and will be organized into three parts: I. a short, neutral
synopsis of the week’s reading assignment, II. a short, neutral synopsis of the
online supplemental materials for the week, and III. your own, thoughtful
evaluation of the readings and the classes (e.g. Did the writer deal with
matters that are significant or interesting to you? If so, what? If not, why
not? did you learn anything from the classes or films or videos? If so, what? If
not, why not?)
Grading will be based on coherence, clarity, grammar, and punctuation, as well
as thoughtfulness. Incomplete journals can receive no higher grade than ‘C’. In
order to receive an ‘A’ a journal must be complete, free of grammar or spelling
errors, and must display original thinking as necessary elements. Submit all
written assignments saved as documents in the ‘rich text format’ (rtf).
N.B.: Each weekly entry should be produced on a word processor or typewriter and
saved in rtf format. Each weekly entry should be no more than one sheet of
paper. Shrink the font or widen margins as you please. These entries will be
submitted for grading at the end of each three-week unit and must be handed in
via Blackboard’s ‘Assignment’ format before midnight on the due date. The
submission item is at the end of the weekly Assignments and Goals in each Unit
folder.
• eQuizzes
There will be a 20 point online quiz covering each of the five units (Greek,
Civil War, WWII, Korean War, Vietnam) using any of the following: essay, short
answer, identification, matching, ordering, and multiple choice questions. You
will be given 60 minutes to complete each quiz. Study guides for each Unit will
be posted in the Unit files in Blackboard under ‘Unit Assignments’.
• Final Quiz and Final Reflection Paper
You will have one week from the closing date of your last unit (December 7) to
complete your final equiz (20 points) and you must hand in a two page reflection
on the course materials on that same day. The two page paper should include what
was most useful to you and what you learned from all the class sources. It will
be graded on both form and content and worth 25 points.
• Discussion
Learning is not a spectator sport (Cf. John Dewey, Democracy and Education). You
learn not only from books, films, and speakers, but also from each other. Speak
up. Engage the material. Make suggestions to me, either on the discussion page
or through email contact. Check out the discussion board weekly and make at
least one post each week. Posts will be assessed on pertinence to the topic
posed, mastery of the material, comprehension and coherence. Weekly
contributions will be a necessary, but not sufficient element for a grade. The
posts should be thoughtful, as well as there.
Discussion Board comments will each be graded on a scale from 0-2 based on the
following general guidelines:
• 0 - for no participation at all or participation that shows little thought or
familiarity with the text assignment it covers
• 1 – for participation that shows some thought but has problems in form
(spelling and/or grammar and/or punctuation) or content (i.e., the comment shows
a mis-reading of the text)
• 2 – for participation that displays good prose and shows the student has read
the material, is aware of the basic facts of the material, and can express his
or her opinions using supportive data from the material
Always, on Discussion Board or Quizzes, support your views with specific
evidence from the texts or from the online support materials.
Grade Calculation: At the end of term all points from graded
assignments will be totaled and a course grade will be assigned based on the
percentage achieved out of the total possible points (275) based on the
following scale: 100-90% = A; 89-80% = B; 79-70% = C; 69-60% = D; 59-0% = F.
Some of you (e.g., athletes, pledges, scholarship recipients, etc.) may require
regular feedback on your grade. Blackboard’s gradebook should give you access to
how you are doing in the class at any time. Consult it often. Ask for help if
you need to.
If you feel that I have misjudged your performance on any point, please arrange
a conference with me and make your case. (Note the Procedures below.)
Procedures for Grade Inquiries: To raise an enquiry about
course formalisms (grades, procedures, progress) you should consult your
instructor in the first instance. Should we be unable to resolve the matter, I
shall then refer you to Professor Madeleine Kernen, Head of Modern & Classical
Languages, as the next step in the process. If you cannot come to campus, her
telephone number is (417) 836-5122, email:
Mkernen@missouristate.edu .
All inquiries about individual grading during the term should be made within one
week of the date on which the quiz/journal/discussion board grade in question
was posted. Questions about final course grades should be raised within one
semester.
Courtesies: Please attend to ordinary courtesies and show due
respect to other members of the class and to your instructor. Explore the
information on ‘netiquette’ available under the ‘Start Here’ button and
assimilate its lessons. Use appropriate speech for an academic context, whether
emailing or posting to the discussion board.
Integrity: I presume at the outset that everyone is of the
highest moral character and probity. However, in a case of suspected cheating or
plagiarism (‘Plagiarism’ means the theft of intellectual property, stealing the
ideas or words of another and passing them off as one’s own.), the quiz or
journal will remain ungraded and the student must contact me immediately. When
good faith has been restored, a grade will be given. In the case of unquestioned
dishonesty, the test or written material will be given an automatic zero; and
the student must still see me immediately. In the latter instance, the student
will be counseled to drop the course and the Academic Integrity Council may be
notified.
Your journal and e-quiz essays must be based on your own observations and
expressed in your own words. Do not cut and paste from another source without
crediting that source. Use quotation marks when you quote, and cite the source
when you paraphrase.
Missouri State University is a community of scholars committed to developing
educated persons who accept the responsibility to practice personal and academic
integrity. You are responsible for knowing and following our student honor code,
Student Academic Integrity Policies and Procedures, available at
http://www.missouristate.edu/registrar/acintegrity.html and also
available at the Reserves Desk in Meyer Library. Any student participating in
any form of academic dishonesty may be subject to sanctions as described in this
policy.
Accommodations: To request academic accommodations for a
disability, contact Katheryne Staeger-Wilson,
http://www.missouristate.edu/disability/11035.htm Director, Disability
Services, Plaster Student Union, Suite 405, (417) 836-4192 or (417) 836-6792
(TTY), . Students are required to provide documentation of disability to
Disability Services prior to receiving accommodations. Disability Services
refers some types of accommodation requests to the Learning Diagnostic Clinic,
which also provides diagnostic testing for learning and psychological
disabilities. For information about testing, contact Dr. Steve Capps, Director,
Learning Diagnostic Clinic, (417) 836-4787,
http://psychology.missouristate.edu/ldc/ .
Nondiscrimination: Missouri State is an equal opportunity/affirmative action
institution, and maintains a grievance procedure available to any person who
believes he or she has been discriminated against. At all times, it is your
right to address inquiries or concerns about possible discrimination to Jana
Estergard, Equal Opportunity Officer, 111 Park Central Office Building (PCOB),
telephone (417) 836-4252. Website:
http://www.missouristate.edu/equity/ . Other types of concerns (i.e.,
concerns of an academic nature) should be discussed directly with your
instructor and can also be brought to the attention of Professor Madeleine
Kernen, Head, Department of Modern & Classical Languages, 376 Craig Hall.
Any difficulties with the Blackboard system should be brought to the attention
of your instructor and to the attention of the Blackboard help desk. Contact
information for our tech support is available under the ‘Contacts’ button on the
course menu.
Emergency Response
Students who require assistance during an emergency evacuation must discuss
their needs with their professors and Disability Services. If you have emergency
medical information to share with me, or if you need special arrangements in
case the building must be evacuated, please make an appointment with me as soon
as possible.
For additional information students should contact the Office of Disability
Services, 836-4192 (PSU 405), or Larry Combs, Interim Assistant Director of
Public Safety and Transportation at 836-6576.
For further information on Missouri State University’s Emergency Response Plan,
please refer to the following web site:
http://www.missouristate.edu/safetran/erp.htm .
