e-mail: jwright@triton.cc.il.us
Phone: 708-456-0300, ex 3242
Office: Science Building, S-106
Getting to the course web site: To acess the course, go to Triton's Homepage (www.triton.cc.il.us) and follow the links to the on line courses OR click on the "login" button at the bottom of this page. Be sure you are accessing the correct class section number. You will not be able to access the course web stie until the first day of the semester.
You are responsible for knowing all the material in this syllabus and other requirements and direction provided in the Course Website
Now that we have briefly reviewed the mechanics of on line instruction in this course, we can get to the heart of the content. However useful the on line system is, it only has one purpose and that is to help you learn humanities.
The central question for all the humanities is the question of human values. Values are those things that give our lives purpose and direction. Values are central to culture and values differ between cultures as they do between subcultures and even between individuals within a culture. As an academic discipline the humanities deal with those fields of human and artistic expression where values are expressed, in particular, the arts -- painting, music, film, poetry, television and so on. Humanities 101 focuses on popular culture. Popular culture concerns art forms produced for the mass audience, those presented through the mass media. These art forms have a particular form of expression and affect all of us because they are all pervasive in an age of mass communications.
Students are always encouraged to ask questions and seek help from the instructor. Call, write, e-mail, drop in to my office, leave a note, ask your mother to call, etc. etc. It's part of my job to answer your questions. You are not imposing on me when you ask a question.
Using the computer is easy -- once you know how. Students who are very familiar with the computer and the internet will find using the class website and searching the internet easy. If you are new to the computer or have realtively little experience it may be more of a challenge to successfully navigate throught the course assignments, but it will come quickly. You must work at it a bit and I will help you in any way I can. The big thing is not to become discouraged, it will work, anybody can do it, and there is help if you run into problems. It's something like learning to ride a bike. It seems like it might be impossible when you first try, but later you wonder what all the fuss was about..
When you click on the Login button from the Welcome Page, you will be prompted for a user name and password.
Your user name is your full name (as you are registered at Triton College) without spaces, in all lower case letters.
Example: John Smith = user name = johnsmith
Your password is your social security number, again without any spaces.
Example: SSC# 123-45-6789 = password = 123456789
Only registered students will have access to password protected materials. Students will be able to access course materials starting the first day of class, but not before.
Effective writing is an essential skill in college. It is assumed that you have developed these skills in high school. In fact, many students have weaknesses in their writing. If you do not write well, there mayl be difficulties for you in this course. I will help you as much as I can, but the major responsibility is yours. Fortunately, there is also help available in the Learning Assistance Center (Liberal Arts Building, second floor), or possibly from your rhetoric instructor if you are currently enrolled. Writing is important because it means formulating and expressing ideas clearly and effectively. Part of that effectiveness has to do with knowing the mechanical and spelling rules of English, but organization of ideas and materials is more important. If you are weak in writing mechanics or organization and presentation skills, you should use this course to improve in those areas.
An issue related to writing is vocabulary. How large is your vocabulary? You may have heard the radio ad "People judge you by the words you use." Your vocabulary will be larger at the end of this course than it is now. It will be much larger if you work on it a little bit and take the trouble to look up words that you don't know or are vague on as to their meaning. A strong vocabulary does allow you to express yourself more effectively. The textbook web site has a glossary that will also help you as well. "I didn't know what that word meant" is not an excuse in this course.
Nachbar and Lause: POPULAR CULTURE: AN INTRODUCTORY TEXT, Bowling Green State University Press, 1992
Minor purchases of newspapers and/or magazines or similar inexpensive materials will also be required.
