Honors Interdisciplinary Seminar ( IDS 175) TRUTH Course Schedule

"I AM THAT I AM"

Week 1 (9/14): Combined Session: Introduction

• Combined Session: Introduction & Course Overview (Clow 23)
  Flatland: Collect Writing Assignments / Group Discussion
• Individual Section Meetings (final hour): Szydlik, 004 (Clow 109); Henson, 005 (Clow 23)
• Assignment for Next Week:
• Plato, The Republic
  • Part VII: The Philosopher Ruler, Sections 1, 2, 5, 6, 7 (pages 189-208, 226-248)
  • Part VIII: Education of the Philosopher, Sections 1-3 (pages 249-67)

Week 2 (9/21): Literature and Philosophic Truth

• Quiz #1
• Plato, The Republic
• Assignment for Next Week:
  • Study Questions (Plato) due 9/28
  • Plato, The Republic
    • Part III: Education: The First Stage, Section 1 (pages 67-93)
    • Part X: Theory of Art (pages 335-353)

Week 3 (9/28): Literature and Philosophic Truth

• Plato, The Republic. 
• Assignment for Next Week:
  • Response Paper #1 due 10/5
  • Ferdinand de Saussure, “Nature of the Linguistic Sign”; “Linguistic Value” (e-reserve).
  • Friedrich Nietzsche, “On Truth and Lying in an Extra-Moral Sense” (e-reserve).

Week 4 (10/5): Language and Semantic Truth

• Quiz #2
• Saussure
• Nietzsche
• Assignment for Next Week:
  • Study Questions (Saussure, Nietzsche) due 10/12
  • Oscar Wilde, “The Decay of Lying: An Observation” (online)
  • Tim O’Brien, “How to Tell a True War Story” (e-reserve)

Week 5 (10/12): Fiction and “Story Truth”

• Wilde
• O’Brien
• Assignment for Next Week:
  • Response Paper #2 due 10/19
  • Study Questions (Wilde, O’Brien) due 10/19
  • Jorge Luis Borges, Ficciones.
    • "Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius"
    • "Pierre Menard, Author of Don Quixote"
    • "The Library of Babel"
    • "The Garden of Forking Paths"

Week 6 (10/19): Possible Worlds and Ontological Truth

• Quiz #3
• Borges
• Begin Section Exam Review
• Assignment for Next Week:
  • Response Paper #3 due 10/26
  • View Stranger than Fiction
  • Review for Exam

Week 7 (10/26): Fiction or Reality?

• Stranger than Fiction
• Section Exam
• Introduction to 2nd Session (final hour)
• Assignment for Next Week:
• Section 005: See Professor Szydlik's Page
• Section 004: Plato, The Republic
  • Part VII: The Philosopher Ruler, Sections 1, 2, 5, 6, 7 (pages 189-208, 226-248)
  • Part VIII: Education of the Philosopher, Sections 1-3 (pages 249-67)

Week 8 (11/2): Literature and Philosophic Truth

• Quiz #1
• Plato, The Republic
• Assignment for Next Week:
  • Study Questions (Plato) due 11/9
  • Plato, The Republic
    • Part III: Education: The First Stage, Section 1 (pages 67-93)
    • Part X: Theory of Art (pages 335-353)

Week 9 (11/9): Literature and Philosophic Truth

• Plato, The Republic.  (selected parts)
• Assignment for Next Week:
  • Response Paper #1 due 11/16
  • Ferdinand de Saussure, “Nature of the Linguistic Sign”; “Linguistic Value ” (e-reserve).
  • Friedrich Nietzsche, “On Truth and Lying in an Extra-Moral Sense” (e-reserve).

Week 10 (11/16): Language and Semantic Truth

• Quiz #2
• Saussure
• Nietzsche
• Assignment for Next Week:
  • Study Questions (Saussure, Nietzsche) due 11/23
  • Oscar Wilde, “The Decay of Lying: An Observation” (online)
  • Tim O’Brien, “How to Tell a True War Story” (e-reserve)

Week 11 (11/23): Fiction and “Story Truth”

• Wilde
• O’Brien
• Assignment for Next Week:
  • Response Paper #2 due 11/30
  • Study Questions (Wilde, O’Brien) due 11/30
  • Jorge Luis Borges, Ficciones.
    • "Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius"
    • "Pierre Menard, Author of Don Quixote"
    • "The Library of Babel"
    • "The Garden of Forking Paths"

Week 12 (11/30): Possible Worlds and Ontological Truth

• Quiz #3
• Borges
• Begin Section Exam Review
• Assignment for Next Week:
  • Review for Exam

Week 13 (12/7): Section Exam; Final Project Preparation

• Section Exam
• Final Project Preparation
• Assignment for Next Week:
  • Final Projects Due, 12/14

Week 14 (12/14): Combined Session: Final Projects & Course Review

• Combined Session: Final Projects