LLT 180.997 Hero & Quest: Heroics in War
11:00 TTH, 220 Siceluff
Instructor: J. A. Johnson
Office Hours: 7:30-9:15 & 12:15-1:15 TTH
Office: 105 Siceluff
and by appointment
Campus telephone: 836-5179
Email checked daily – AM & PM
Email:
juliejohnson@missouristate.edu
Course page:
http://courses.missouristate.edu/JulieJohnson/ . Click on link to your
particular section.
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:
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
| Schedule | Study Guide |
| Syllabus |
Tentative Schedule
Class
Reading/Writing Assignments
Wk 1 Introduction: Heroes and Course
YouTube presentation on
Homer, Book 1
Homer, Books 1-4
(Jan 12/14) Ancient Greek warriors – Values?
YouTube
- Greek reading
Journal #1
Homeric Warfare
Trojan War Basics
Iliad 1-4
Wk 2 Greek domestic side & Rules in War Iliad
6-9
Homer, Books 6-9
(Jan 19/21) Challenges to the ethos - Archilochus
Journal # 2
Wk 3 Culmination of the clash – Who wins?
Homer, Books 19-22
(Jan 26/28) Iliad 19-22
Journal #3
Wk 4 2th - Quiz 1; Journals 1-3 due.
Crane, Chapt I-VI
(Feb 2/4) Ranks & Units
Journal #4
Wk 5 Film: Gods & Generals
Crane, Chapt VII-XV
(Feb 9/11) 9th- Professor Piston on daily life of Civil
War soldiers
Journal #5
Col.
Joshua Chamberlain and Battle of Little Round Top (from Gettysburg):
Part I
Part II
Part III
Part IV
Confederate Song
Union Song
Wk 6 Veterans History Project 16th
- Doyle Cox &
Bob Brose, KW Veterans on Interviewing
Crane, Chapt XVI-XXIV
(Feb 16/18) Poets' Take on the War: Whitman
Bret Harte
Journal #6
Local Resource for the Civil War -
Ozarks
Joshua Chamberlain's Medal of Honor
Wk 7 23rd-Quiz 2; Journals
4-6 due.
Genjirou Inui, Part I
(Feb 23/25) Background WWII Media:Images
of Japan
US
Wartime Cartoon
Cartoon #2
Journal #7
US Documentary on Japanese
US Doc.
#2
Wk 8 Japanese heroics and background for Battle of Stalingrad -
Prof. Stephen Trobisch Genjirou Inui, Part II
(Mar 2/4) Film: Stalingrad Audio
- USMC Eugene Sledge
Journal #8
----------------------------------------Spring
Break-------------------------------------------------
Wk 9 Discussion – Japanese & Germans
Genjirou Inui, Part III
(Mar 16/18) Stalingrad
documentary
Guadalcanal documentary
Journal #9
Wk 10 23rd - Quiz 3; Journals 7-9 due
Shin, pp 1-45
(Mar 23/25) Background Korean War
Journal #10
Wk 11 Film: Tae Guk Gi
Shin, pp 1-80
(Mar 30) Documentary
on Korea 1950- Part 8
Part 9
Part 10
Journal #11
Wk 12 Denzil Batson, Bob Brose, Doyle Cox, Clyde Queen - Korean War
veterans Shin, pp 81-163
(Apr 6/8)
Journal #12
--------------------------------------Spring
Holiday------------------------------------------------
Wk 13 15th Quiz 4; Journals 10-12 due
McDonough, Chapts 1-6
(Apr 13/15)
Journal #13
Wk 14 Background on Vietnam McDonough, Chapts 7-12
(Apr 20/22) Documentary
on Battle of Dien Bien Phu
Journal #14
22: Valentine; Johnson/Rice/Schellack;
Ball
Wk 15 Presentations
McDonough, Chapts 13-17
(Apr 27/29) Presentations
Journal #15
27: McCormack/Hayes;
Squires; Holmes
29: Kramer; Albenesius/Stocum;
Thomas/Markway;
Wk 16 6th Quiz 5; Journals 13-15 due
McDonough, Chapts 18-end
(May 4/6) Presentations
Link for McDonough Video (click
on 'View Recordings List', scroll down to Julie Johnson 05May09
recording and click "Watch" on the left. It will go to a page where you click on
a tab "Start
Streaming" Do this on a campus computer.)
4: Kenney;
Martin/Walters; Jones; Pederson
Final Quiz – Tuesday, May 11th, at 11:00
Syllabus
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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 two of the
main themes of Public Affairs: (1) Ethical Leadership (in the consideration of
Congressional Medal of Honor winners and military leadership from several
cultures) and (2) Cultural Competency (in understanding military and human
values from a variety of cultural perspectives).
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. Since
this is an honors section, as a term project you will interview war veterans on
their experiences in the service and learn firsthand their views on heroism.
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.
Class: Class time will be spent in discussion of the sources,
in conversations with frontline veterans, and in viewing a number of films that
present combat from various viewpoints (Japanese, German, Korean, Greek,
American). I will provide background materials as needed. This is not a lecture
course; it is hands-on and predominantly interactive. There will be invited
speakers, films, presentations, and term activities. All students are expected
to participate in all class conversations. Always come prepared to respond to
the week’s assigned reading. Engagement with class activities will be weighed in
your course achievement as the “participation” grade.
Attendance Policy: It is policy that students should attend
class. Attendance is necessary, but not sufficient for a grade of “C” or above
in ‘Participation’. In extraordinary circumstances (e.g., accident, or sickness)
notify Ms. Miriam Burlison , 836-5122 and your instructor via email as soon as
possible.
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 discuss it with me.
Weather Advisory. Let rationality and prudence be your guides: if the roads are
bad, stay home. Whenever a question arises about whether class might be/has been
cancelled due to hazardous road conditions, you can check the course web page
and/or check your email and/or call the MCL department secretary at 836-5122 for
the latest information.
Graded Assignments/Activities:
I. Journal of Weekly Readings/Classes/Thoughts – 100 points (20 points each
unit)
II. Veteran Interview Project – 100 points (75 project/25 presentation)
III. Quizzes – 100 points (5 @ 20 points each)
IV. Final Quiz (20 points)
V. Participation – 25 points
Total: 345
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
class activities 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.
N.B.: Each weekly entry should be produced on a word processor or typewriter and
should be no more than one sheet of paper (2-sided printing is permissible).
Shrink the font or widen margins as you please. These entries will be collected
for grading at three times during the semester. A fouled printer is NOT AN
EXCUSE for failure to turn in journal entries on time. Have work ready in
advance and avoid last minute SNAFUs. I do not accept electronically transmitted
assignments unless I have agreed to it in advance. These will be collected at
five times during the semester as scheduled.
Term/Individual Project: Veterans History Project
Students may organize into 2 or 3 member teams in order to undertake the term
project. If so organized, each member is expected to contribute to the team
effort, and presumptively each member of the team will receive the grade given
to the team project. (Should there be problems within a team, it is first the
team’s responsibility to resolve them. If a group comes to me with complaints
about a slacker member, I will be interested not only in the complaints but also
in an account of the team’s efforts to handle the issue on its own. If need
arises for an Article 27-A hearing, all sides will meet to for open evidence and
rebuttal.)
Tasks: (1) Undertake a Veterans History Project interview with one area war
veteran to be completed
and turned in during the last three weeks of the semester and (2) prepare a
presentation to the
class on your veteran’s experience (including whatever is pertinent for the
class to
understand his/her specific story) and (3) write up a two page reflection on the
process of interviewing
a veteran and what you learned from it. [Items 1 and 2 can be undertaken by
team; item 3 must be
an individual effort.]
VHP Project
The Veterans History Project was authorized by Congressional legislation on
October 27, 2000 and is housed in the American Folklife Center of the Library of
Congress. The Project undertakes to capture and preserve the oral histories of
American war veterans, (along with documentary materials such as letters,
diaries, maps, photographs, etc.), as well as those of civilians who supported
war efforts. For this purpose the VHP serves as an organizing agent for a
grass-roots effort to tape individual memories and collect them in public
archives. Full guidelines and forms for participation in the VHP are available
at http://www.loc.gov/vets. Your task is to produce a set of tapes or DVDs (with
full paperwork) that can be submitted to the Library of Congress for permanent
housing in its VHP archives, copies of which will also be housed in the Missouri
State Meyer Library archive as a local resource.
Organization: You will be responsible for contacting a war veteran, researching
his or her military background and context, arranging the interview, securing
the proper paperwork (releases, biography, etc.), checking out and returning
equipment (whether borrowed from your instructor, from ETC, or elsewhere),
getting 3 VHS or DVD copies made, and returning one copy immediately to
your veteran. Meyer Library’s Educational Technology Center will assist
with all technical questions.
Order of procedure:
1. Familiarize with VHP aims and requirements (www.loc.gov/vets).
2. Settle on a veteran and secure his/her agreement to be interviewed and
videotaped for the Library of Congress
and for the Meyer Library archive.
3. Get biographical details and begin research on his/her unit, job, area of
service, weapons used, etc., etc.
4. Settle on questions using the VHP ‘suggested questions’ as a starting point
and your own research for details.
5. Meet with veteran, fill out all other release forms, and discuss how the
interview will be conducted.
6. Videotape interview.
7. Dub interview onto 3 DVD or 3 VHS copies and fill out the tape log form
COMPLETELY.
8. Return one copy of the videotape on VHS or DVD to your veteran.
9. Organize presentation to teach the class about your veteran and his/her
combat experience.
Contacts with veterans can be made through local veterans’ organizations or
through family, personal, or business contacts. In addition, your instructor has
a list of area veterans willing to be interviewed.
Product: The following must be turned in on the day of your presentation:
1. VHP paperwork fully completed (veteran release, interviewer release(s),
biographical data sheet, tape log)
2. MSU paperwork fully completed (veteran, interviewer(s), and cameraman
releases available on course page)
3. Original master tape (whether mini-dv or VHS or other disk or tape format)
4. VHS or DVD copy for Library of Congress
5. VHS or DVD copy for Missouri State library
6. Any other materials a veteran wishes to donate with appropriate VHP paperwork
(photos or manuscripts)
The product will be graded on the basis of competence and consistency in
completing the work according to the VHP protocols, NOT on the basis of artful
editing or liveliness of the interview subject. Please remember that this
project is for collection of primary data via an oral history. All information
is worth preservation. Your instructor can supply MINI-DVs, blank DVDs, and VHS
tapes as needed.
NB: I am open to suggestions for improvements to this activity plan. Please keep
me apprised of any difficulties.
Presentation:
In the last two weeks of class, you or your team will make a 10 minute
presentation to the rest of the class on your veteran and his/her experience,
including entry into the service, training, where and when he/she participated,
how he/she participated, what part he/she played in the war as a whole, etc.,
providing whatever background information that would be helpful to the rest of
the class. The presentation will be assessed on the basis of clarity, accuracy,
and interest.
Quizzes
There will be a 20 point quiz over 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. Study guides
for each book will be posted on the internet and linked to the course page.
Participation
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. Turn
up. Speak up. Engage the material. Make suggestions. Always come with a short
list of questions, puzzles, topics of interest, or other material that you want
to present for class consideration. Failure to do so can substantially impact
your participation grade.
Note well: Should you find it necessary to miss a class, you are nonetheless
responsible for the material covered.
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 (370) 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. If so, please let me know at the start of term.
‘Snapshot’ estimates of participation grades are available at any time upon
email request.
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. All inquiries about individual
grading during the term should be made within one week of the date on which the
quiz/exam/paper in question was returned to the class. 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, to the instructor, and to all guests.
(For example, it is dismaying for a speaker to observe students doing homework,
leafing through books or notes, napping, etc.) Class guests are veterans who
served with honor and picked up the tab for all of us. Treat them accordingly.
Further, as late arrivals to and early departures from class can be both rude
and disruptive to the entire group, do not come late or leave prematurely except
under extreme duress. If special circumstances pertain (e.g., a 50-mile drive
coming in), please let me know at the start of term.
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.), I shall return
the assignment without a grade, and the student must see me immediately. If 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.
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 Lea rning 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, (417) 836-4252.
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,
223 Siceluff Hall.
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 .
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