392 Online / Home Page / Fall 2008

Welcome to Mike Bryson's homepage for BGS 392 online, the Seminar in Humanities, which will introduce you to several disciplines within the humanities and develop advanced skills in analysis and interpretation. This page provides an overview of the course's theme, goals, activities, and requirements. For more detailed information, including useful tools for web-based research, consult the above links.

Introduction and Overview

Given the broad and breathtaking scope of the humanities--the study of art, ideas, and culture--every section of BGS 392 is designed with some kind of focus. This class takes the urban landscape--both the natural and the built environments--as its central focus, a point of reference to explore literature, art, history, architecture, and other forms of human expression. The overarching goal of the seminar is simple yet immodest: to inspire you to see the urban environment in a completely new way. The specific ways in which your angle of vision on the city changes will depend, to a great degree, on your previous assumptions and experiences as well as on your thoughtful engagement with the course readings.

But, you may be thinking . . . nature in the city? Aren't these diametrically opposed terms? If we want to study nature, why in the world would we focus on its urban presence? Isn't nature "better" when it's remote, out there . . . more, um, natural? I don't want to give away too much here; but suffice it to say that such questions, while perfectly understandable, are shaped by our culture's assumptions about such terms as nature, culture, wilderness, city, suburb, and country. Learning about and questioning such assumptions are two important goals of this seminar, as we'll explore how historians, philosophers, geographers, writers, naturalists, landscape architects, photographers, and others have confronted the presence of nature within urbanized space--the nature that we see every day, but often ignore or take for granted; the nature that's constructed as much as any road or building; the nature that persists in a wild state despite our efforts to control or eradicate it. In our journey together this semester, then, we will explore the great new frontier of ecology and nature studies: the urban landscape.

Aerial perspective of the stockyards (source: Chicago Historical Society)

Our course readings include selections set in various American cities, from New York to New Orleans to Los Angeles. But I've selected Chicago as the geographic heart of our investigation of urban nature. One reason is that Chicago's history, both natural and cultural, is not only well-studied and documented, it's inextricably linked with how we've thought about, confronted, transformed, and even restored the natural environment. From its beginnings as a marshy trading post on the banks of the Chicago River, to its amazing expansion as an industrial power during the 19th and 20th centuries, to its reshaping of the physical landscape in that process (think about the reversal of the Chicago River, for example), to its self-proclaimed identity as the "City in a Garden," to its ascension as a global city in the 21st century that strives to be environmentally progressive--Chicago is the ideal laboratory in which to study the history and current manifestations of urban nature.

Want more reasons? There's a compelling argument that the historical, literary, and architectural legacy of Chicago is complex, immense, fascinating and utterly central to understanding the broader sweep of American history and artistic endeavor. Consider the sheer vitality and energy of this Midwestern Metropolis, known variously as The Windy City, the City by the Lake, The City of Broad Shoulders, My Kind of Town, City on the Prairie, the Second City (now third in population behind NY and LA), and Hog Butcher of the World (to Carl Sandberg). Questions of nature vs. culture aside, it's not only important to explore and understand some of this city's history and culture as educated citizens of the region, it's a crying shame not to--especially when you attend Roosevelt University, a distinctly Chicagoan institution of higher learning based downtown in the historic Auditorium Building, a national landmark that embodies Chicago-based architecture, as well as in Schaumburg, a quintessential 21st-century "edge city" suburb.

Schaumburg, IL (source: Chicago Wilderness Magazine)

Besides this emphasis on nature in the city, the broader goal of BGS 392 is to understand more fully how the arts and humanities reflect and shape our lives by looking closely at a wide variety of works and learning to recognize how themes, motifs, characters, settings, ideas, language, and/or images are developed in a given text/artwork/landscape. We'll do this by reading widely in literature, history, geography, and other genres; exploring a variety of texts, documents, and art productions; and taking field trips to significant cultural institutions and urban landscapes right here in the city. In the process, we'll explores the mysteries of literary prose and the analytic insights of science; we'll consider the relations between our anthropocentric perspectives on the world and the abundance of nonhuman life in the city; we'll learn about Chicago landscapes and ecosystems, people and places and structures; and ultimately, we'll critically reflect upon the human condition amidst the grand sprawl of nature within the built environment.

View of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition from Lake Michigan
(source: Chicago Historical Society)

The Online Format

What makes this particular section of BGS 392 special, beyond the obvious appeal of its Chicago focus, is that it takes place completely online. We'll be using the virtual learning interface at Roosevelt, called RU Online, which is supported by Blackboard (hereafter referred to as "Bb," for short). The key thing to understand about online courses like this one is that they're interactive--just as my on-campus 392 students read assignments, write papers, construct arguments, do research, and come to class to engage in lively discussion, so do online 392 students share ideas and interact in creative and intellectually rigorous ways. Bb gives us the web-based tools to do just that.

For the vast majority of our interaction, we'll use threaded discussion forums, which are asynchronous (i.e., not in real time) means of communicating, to exchange ideas and materials on a weekly basis. Reading and posting to the discussion board is like coming to class, except that you can do it any time of day throughout a given week. Just as the on-campus version of 392 requires you to be in the classroom for five hours per week, the online version necessitates your devoting at least five hours per week to exploring our website, reading and posting to the board, etc.--and that does not count the time you'll need to spend reading your assignments and writing papers. Another important point here is that 392 online is not an independent study experience: you'll be moving through the semester with your fellow students, week by week, and interacting with them and me regularly. And of course, you can always contact me by email, by phone, or simply by dropping by during my office hours.

: : More specific information is available on this must-read question and answer page on participation and interaction.

Basic Requirements

The online section is 14 weeks (with a week off for Thanksgiving) and the unique format dictates a different and distinct rhythm for the course. Basic class activities will include regular reading assignments, online class discussions, short "lectures" by yours truly delivered in the form of "Mike's Notes," and a field trip to the Chicago Humanities Festival. Required reading will include the assigned texts, assorted websites related to each week's topic, and selected documents available on our Blackboard site. Formal assignments include:

one "reading reaction" posting to the Discussion Board of comments/questions about the assigned reading for the week (each student will be assigned weeks during the semester)
two analytic essays (5-7 pages) that ask you to creatively engage your ideas about/observations of the urban landscape as well as reflect on our course readings
a research project which includes a short formal proposal (2-3 pages) and a final presentation (in Word or PowerPoint) which explores a topic of your choice related to the course theme

More information on specific assignments as well as grading policies is available on the Assignments page.

Our field trip to a couple of Chicago Humanities Festival events not only will be a fun change of pace but also will give us a chance to meet face-to-face and build a class community beyond the borders of the computer screen. We will discuss logistical information for the trips early in the semester. For those unable to attend the scheduled trip, alternatives (including web-based options) will be suggested.

Contact Information

Email (mbryson@roosevelt.edu) is probably the best way to get in touch with me; the phone (312-281-3148) is next best. Please feel free to talk to me during office hours or to make an appointment, should you have questions or feel like you need some individualized help beyond what I can provide in the virtual classroom. Keeping up is vitally important in this class, for our schedule is both tight and complex. Please do not disappear! I check my voicemail and email regularly, and I do my best to return messages within a day during the work week. Remember that there's no substitute for regular participation and timely submission of your assignments.

Accommodation of Persons with Disabilities

"When a student . . . with a documented disability is able to perform the essential functions of the academic and program requirements, the University will provide reasonable accommodations to the needs of that individual, unless such accommodations would provide undue hardship to the University.

"Reasonable accommodations . . . will be determined on a case-by-case basis. Students with medically recognized and documented disabilities and who are in need of accommodation should notify the University of their needs. Students should contact the Office of Disability Services [ph. 312.341.3810] and provide documentation of their disability to this office" (RU Student Handbook, p. 75).

Accommodation of Students for Religious Holidays

"Roosevelt University respects the rights of students to observe major religious holidays and will make accommodations, upon request, for such observances. Students who wish to observe religious holidays must inform their instructors in writing within the first two weeks of each semester of their intent to observe the holiday so that alternative arrangements convenient to both students and faculty can be made at the earliest opportunity. Students who make such arrangements by the deadline will not be required to attend classes or take examinations on the designated days, and faculty must provide reasonable opportunities for such students to make up missed work and examinations. However, all work missed for such absences, including papers and examinations, must be made up. Students who do not arrange for excused absences by the deadline are not entitled to such accommodations" (RU Student Handbook, p. 69).