Dr. Hannah Schell ? Fall 2010 ? Monmouth College

Course meets on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays 1-1:50 pm in Wallace 201

Course description: Why is there suffering and evil? What is our responsibility in the face of suffering? Are there grounds for hoping that suffering may one day cease? This class focuses on the long tradition of religious and philosophical reflection on these and related questions. This course serves as a Reflections course i.e. the junior-year segment of the Integrated Studies sequence (ILA, Global Perspectives, Reflections, Citizenship).

Required texts: These texts are available for purchase at the college bookstore – they are listed in the order in which we will be using them. There will also be copies on reserve at Hewes Library.

Bart Ehrmann’s God’s Problem. HarperOne, Feburary 2009. ISBN: 0061173924 

Edward Linenthal’s The Unfinished Bombing: Oklahoma City in American Memory.  Oxford UP, 2003. ISBN: 0195161076.

Phillip Hallie’s Tales of Good and Evil, Help and Harm.  Wesleyan UP, 2001. ISBN: 0819564591  

“This I Believe” essays (available electronically).

Other short selected readings to be distributed.

General, shared goals of Reflections courses:

1.   Students will explore how humans have formulated answers to questions of meaning and value and be given chances to reflect on their own assessment of those answers.

2.   Students begin to understand how people have represented their place in the cosmos, and grappled with the human condition.

3.   Students should be able to reflect individually on the material studied, its intellectual and spiritual implications for their lives and for the communities of which they are a part.

4.  Students will understand the historical-cultural-social context of the ideas explored, approaching the material comparatively where appropriate.

Objectives of this course:

Ø  To encourage students to consider human suffering in its many manifestations and the philosophical, theological and existential issues raised by suffering.

Ø  To introduce students to the philosophical problem of evil, and to become attuned to some of the classical responses to the problem of evil and the problems with such responses.

Ø  To provide students with an occasion to consider religious and non-religious responses to suffering.

Ø  To encourage students to think about suffering at an individual level but to also consider it at a cultural and communal level; to consider the issues in terms of the specific cultural context.

Ø  To encourage students to reflect on the challenge but possibility of hope in the face of evil and suffering.

Making contact with professor. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you find yourself struggling with this class, want to discuss the material, etc. You can reach me in my office at 457-2256 and by email at hschell@monm.edu. I expect any email correspondence to be professional in tone and composition, e.g. written in complete sentences and free of grammatical errors. (I do not speak “text-messageese”). Please also note that, while I am frequently online and can often reply to email quickly, you should not assume that I can or will respond immediately, especially if a message is sent after 5 pm or over the weekend.

Office & office hours. My office is located on the second floor of the Weeks House, the large house located on the corner of Broadway and 9^th Street (near Austin Hall). My office hours this semester are  MWF 11-noon and Tuesdays 2-3 pm. If you cannot make it during these times, please feel free to email me in order to schedule an appointment. If you do schedule an appointment, make every effort to keep the appointment and call or email if for some reason you are not able to make the appointment.

Regarding learning disabilities. Students with disabilities should provide written notice the first week of class in order to be accommodated.

Course Requirements. Your grade in this course will be computed on the basis of the following scale. You must complete all assignments in order to pass the course.

Short reflection papers. You are required to complete six short (1-2 pages) reflection papers that engage the ideas of the recent readings. These papers are opportunities for you to engage the material on your own – you must get permission from me in advance if you want to draw upon outside material (including material from the internet). If these papers insufficiently respond to the week’s readings (or give the impression that you only read, for example, a quarter of the assignment) I may ask you to re-write them. These are an integral part of the course work. Papers are due by Saturday at 5pm and will be submitted electronically using the course’s Moodle site.

Initial and concluding statement. At the beginning of the course, and again at the conclusion of the course, I will ask you to write a short reflection on the course themes. These are your opportunity to personalize the course – to make it connect to your own thoughts and experiences. They will be submitted electronically via Moodle.

Essays. Details about the specific essays will be distributed and we will talk in-depth about the assignments in class. They will directly engage the reading material from the previous weeks. Please feel free to consult with me at any time about the essay assignments. These formal essays will be submitted in hard-copy.

“This I Believe” essay project. We will read several selections from the series “This I Believe,” sponsored by National Public Radio. You will be asked to write your own “This I Believe” essay, which you will present to your classmates at our final session.

Participation. You are expected and required to attend all seminar classes and required meetings of this course. Since this course is a seminar that revolves around class discussion, it is particularly important for you to be in class. You are expected to not only to be physically present in class, but also to come to class prepared, having not only completed but having reflected upon the reading, and to participate actively in the discussion. This includes asking meaningful questions, reacting to the material, and responding to your classmates in a thoughtful and respectful manner. Make sure to turn off your cell phones before class and put them away. I also do not allow laptops during our class meetings since they disrupt the conversation.

Attendance. Excused absences are granted in the event of: a medical problem (documented by a doctor’s note), a family emergency (which must be documented by the Dean of Student’s office), or a school-sponsored event (which much be documented by the teacher or coach organizing the event). Your third unexcused absence will severely impact your participation grade; additional absences may lead to failure in the course.

Late paper policy. Because there is a fair amount of writing in this course, it is important that each assignment be turned in on time. Late papers are marked off 1/3 of a grade for each day they are late (for up to five days). Extensions will only be granted for reasonable, extenuating circumstances and must be negotiated at least a week in advance (if possible).

Academic Honesty. From the college’s statement regarding academic dishonesty: “We view academic dishonesty as a threat to the integrity and intellectual mission of our institution.  Any breach of the academic honesty policy – either intentionally or unintentionally - will be taken seriously and may result not only in failure in the course, but in suspension or expulsion from the college.  It is each student’s responsibility to read, understand and comply with the general academic honesty policy at Monmouth College, as defined here in the Scots Guide, and to the specific guidelines for each course, as elaborated on the professor’s syllabus.” See http://department.monm.edu/stuserv/student-handbook/academic.htm for more information about the college-wide policy. Please understand that it is your responsibility to understand what constitutes plagiarism. If you find yourself tempted to borrow words from a source because you have left the assignment to the last minute, you should take the extra time to do your own work, and the grade penalty for turning the assignment in late.  I report all cases of plagiarism, regardless of degree or magnitude, to the Dean’s office.