The Professor and his home page

Students are responsible for knowing the contents of this syllabus and completing all assignments in accordance with the schedule herein. If it is in here, you are expected to know it.

Or, at least what it looks like in early-mid December as the end of semester train wreck is about to happen, let alone the holidays and all the attendant uproar.

This is kind of a strange class to teach in such a compressed format because I do not see any way of having you write the traditional long scholarly paper on some topic in the very broad range of possible choices available. So... we will have to have some short papers, probably a quiz or three, and. even though I don't much like them, a final exam. All of which I will figure out in fairly short order.

All of which means that you had best check in here frequently over the next couple of weeks to see how things are progressing.

Books you have been asked to buy:

Walter Miller's A Canticle for Leibowitz, which is available in many, many editions. A classic science fiction tale that has much to say about the transmission of knowledge. Style points for whomever first notes the TV series that did some borrowing from the book along towards the end of the series.

Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, likewise available in many, many, editions. Another classic science fiction story with something to say about the subject at hand. And the movie had the ever luminous Julie Christie... what more could we wish for? I hear rumors of a re-make, but am not holding my breath.

Lucien Febvre and Henri-Jean Martin's The Coming of the Book- what you will find is probably the Verso edition, but there are others kicking around. If you can read French, try L'Apparition du Livre, first published in 1959 if memory serves. This is the book that kicked off the whole modern scholarly approach to the field.

As of this writing I am not going to make specific reading assignments from The Coming of the Book. I expect you to look at the schedule, look at the book, and be able to put the two together. By the end of the course you should have read the whole thing.

In addition there will be assorted readings available on the UA electronic reserve system. As of 12/11/02 there is nothing there, but apparently there will be. There are a couple of packages of stuff, heavy on the graphics, that you will need to print out and bring to class on Monday of residence week.

The course is going to be, in Missouri terms, "web-assisted." That is part of the course will be here, on WebCT, and part of the course will be delivered by the Professor in person, the week of January 6-10. Because there is simply no way of scheduling 45 contact hours in that one week we will spread the course out over the entire three week session, December 26, through January 14. The schedule, as I see it right now, is going to look something like this:

Date	Topic	Notes
12/26 WebCT	Introduction to Everything: Class, Expectations, my approach to the topic at hand. What Gutenberg needed in 1454 to kick off the print era.	By now you should have started reading The Coming of the Book, Fahrenheit 451, and A Canticle for Leibowitz. If not, kick it into gear as there will be a paper due on the two works of fiction on Tuesday of residence week. I will add some specific directions/expectations for this paper a little later.
12/27 WebCT	Basically a continuation of the state of intellectual development, and available technology in 1454.	I'll actually post this the 26th as it turns out CCIT is going to be down between 5 p.m. on the 27th, and 8 p.m. on the 28th. Did they not know we were doing this course?
12/30 WebCT	The first 50 years (more or less,) of printing, and some observations on Gutenberg
12/31 WebCT	The Post-Incunable Period: Roughly through the mid-18th Century	After this the Professor will be on the road and out of touch. Class resumes on January 6th, in Tucson.
1/6 Live	More introductions, general housekeeping matters. The Print Shop, and attendant processes	Bring the graphics packages from the electronic reservations system. I'll have overheads but you might want to take notes on your versions of the pictures.
1/7 Live	Class discussion on Canticle/F451 Quiz 1:Printing, the first 50 years Spread of Printing; the Rise of Literacy	Canticle/Fahrenheit 451 essays are due.
1/8 Live	The Modernization of Everything, 18th 19th Centuries	Somewhere along in here we'll have some guest speakers, and if I can work out the schedule, a visit to the special collections area at the UA library
1/9 Live	Newspapers, Journals, Printing in the New World	see the notes for 1/8
1/10 Live	Beautiful Books: Way back when through William Morris to today Quiz 2:Since Gutenberg... Last chance at live Q&A
1/13 WebCT	Modernization, 20th Century; Special Collections as a Library Enterprise; End of the Print Hegemony?	Final exam posted
1/14 WebCT	On E-Books, and other Alternatives	Final exam due

IMPORTANT INFORMATION :

1. Late material will be graded down. No exceptions.

2. I expect papers to be written in clear, concise, and grammatically correct English. Papers not meeting these standards will be redone until they do so, losing points along the way. Suggestions on how to write for this course are attached.

3. THE FOLLOWING POLICY APPLIES TO WORK DONE FOR THIS CLASS:

Students assume full responsibility for the content and integrity of the academic work they submit. The guiding principle of academic integrity shall be that a student's submitted work, examinations, reports or projects must be that student's own work. Actions constituting a violation of the Code shall include those outlined below. Students shall be guilty of violating the Code and be subject to proceedings under it if they: a.. Represent the work of others as their own. b. Use or obtain unauthorized assistance in any academic work. c. Give unauthorized assistance to other students. d. Modify, without faculty approval, an examination, paper, record, or report for the purpose of obtaining additional credit e. Fail to meet other conditions of academic integrity as required by a faculty member for a specific course.

That is pretty much my policy on academic honesty. I borrowed it from the University of Arizona, but it fits here just as well.

If you are not sure what any of this means, find out. I interpret this very strictly. Unless specific permission is granted for group, or team projects, we expect that your work will reflect only you own efforts.

I further expect you to know the meaning of the term "plagiarism," and make very sure you understand how to properly use, and cite, the work of others in your papers. This is a zero tolerance situation.

William James

I expect that papers for a graduate level course will be written as if for publication. Not only must the basic facts of the subject be mastered, and all the relevant sources explored, but the text must be written clearly:

1. Who, what, where, when, and exactly how much must always be obvious.

Know what you wish to say, and say only that; define new terms or new uses of old ones.

2. Avoid ambiguity.

"You can't put too much water in a nuclear reactor."

3. Link sentences and paragraphs logically and intelligibly. The reader shouldn't have to rearrange your ideas to make sense out of them.

4. Sentences should not be so long that the reader loses his or her way. Otherwise you are likely to lose the readers attention, as so often happened with the prose of 19th century essayists such as Oliver Wendell Holmes, who was not only a doctor, professor, and novelist, but also the father of the famous Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. (an intriguing character who combined the ideals of New England humanism with the prejudices of the upper­class, wealthy society in which he moved)...and before you know it you will have wandered very far afield.

For practice, read lots of Jesse Shera. Or Winston Churchill.

5. Avoid irrelevant or tangential topics. Stick to the point.

[see number 4}

6. No obstacle should come between you and your reader.

When revising, imagine the reader over your shoulder and apply the rules listed above before typing your final product.