LLT 180 Course Description, Course Objectives, and General Education Goals – Fall 2013

Course Description
The literary pattern of the “heroic quest,” in which a protagonist journeys to far-off lands in pursuit of an important goal, is literally the oldest story known to humankind, dating back to the Gilgamesh Epic of 2500 BCE. Beginning from a scarcely literate world with no mass media, stories about the “heroic quest” have instructed individuals and civilizations alike for millennia upon important topics such as cultural awareness, the boundaries of ethical conduct, and the necessity for leading a good life. Stories about the “heroic quest” continue to entertain and inform down to our own times. Through close study of the context and content of several such “heroic quest” stories, selected from a wide range of civilizations and time periods, students will develop an awareness of their own inherited identity of culture and language, and to address the challenge of leading an ethical and civically engaged life.

Course Objectives and General Education Goals
As part of the Missouri State University General Education program, LLT 180: The Heroic Quest fulfills a Public Affairs requirement. As detailed below, the LLT 180 Course Objectives directly address the Specific Learning Outcomes (SLOs) for General Goal 13 (Cultural Competence) and General Goal 14 (Ethical Leadership).

General Goal 13 (Cultural Competence): Students will be able to recognize and consider multiple perspectives and cultures.

• SLO 13.2: Understand, critically examine, and articulate key similarities and differences between their own cultural practices and perspectives and those of other cultures, past and present.
  In LLT 180, students will learn to conceptualize the key similarities and differences between the student’s cultural perspectives and those of the diverse other cultures, past and present, addressed in the course readings.
• SLO 13.4: Analyze the role that different languages, cultures, institutions and beliefs have in shaping individual and collective behavior.
  In LLT 180, students will learn to analyze how diverse languages, cultures, institutions, and beliefs have shaped individual and collective behavior, as revealed through study of the literary pattern called “the heroic quest.”

General Goal 14 (Ethical Leadership): Students will be able to articulate their value systems, understand the ethical implications of their actions based on these values, and develop skills consistent with having a positive impact on individuals, groups, or communities.

• SLO 14.1: Engage in self-evaluation of their personal values and the degree to which their ethical values and the degree to which their ethical values and behaviors are congruent.
  In LLT 180, students will learn to construe the student’s values and behaviors both in his or her own personal life and in the diverse society at large, as reflected in course readings.
  
• SLO 14.3: Identify areas of difficulty in responding to situations demanding ethical inquiry.
  In LLT 180, students will learn to appreciate through application of pertinent examples from texts studied in class the ethical dimensions of providing leadership in difficult situations.
• SLO 14.5: Understand and evaluate the causes of societal problems and potential solutions.
  In LLT 180, students will learn to discern via the literary pattern of the “heroic quest” the ways in which individuals from diverse societies, past and present, have evaluated and worked to solve important problems.