Course Goals
This class is designed with constant attention on achieving three primary goals. Every assignment, in both explicit and implicit manners, is linked to the fulfillment of these distinct, but interrelated goals.
This class is designed with constant attention on achieving three primary goals. Every assignment, in both explicit and implicit manners, is linked to the fulfillment of these distinct, but interrelated goals.
- American Virtues
– this course will introduce students to five enduring American virtues as identified
by Dr. Jacob Needleman. Some assignments will require the evaluation of the
virtues through readings and/or events. The evaluation of these virtues is
quintessential in our attempts to understand what it means to be an American.
- Knowledge,
appreciation, and evaluation of U.S. History – this course will, obviously,
focus on the history of the United States. Students will be granted the
opportunity to gain knowledge of their nation’s history and become increasingly
aware of the symmetry that exists between the past, present, and future. It is my
hope that you gain appreciation for this unfolding process.
- History and the
humanities – While events, battles, laws, and struggles will be well covered in
this course there will be an additional, underlying focus of the class. This
undercurrent will be the concept of evaluating our humanity by examining
historic figures. History is a unique course because we can look at how people
acted under duress and in times of success. It is, once again, my hope, that by
emphasizing the humanness of historic figures we, inevitably, examine ourselves
as well.