Pro-Seminar in Critical Skills

Tentative Class Schedule

Last updated 04/10/04

• M 1/26:  Class intros and course guidelines; overview of Roosevelt University history and the BGS program; Reader's/Writer's Autobiography assigned
• W 1/28:  Dissecting newspapers -- information vs. argument; news vs. editorials; the marketplace of ideas; accessing news on the web  
  • Login to the NY Times website and read Bill Keller's essay "Not Just for Wrapping Fish" and  Steven Knowlton's essay on reading and understanding the New York Times 

• M 2/2:  Critical thinking and examining assumptions -- read Barnet and Bedau (BB), ch. 1;  Reader's/Writer's Autobiography due 
• W 2/4:  Read BB, ch. 2 (pp. 27-45); discuss arguments by Jacoby and Brownmiller

Week Three -- Analyzing Arguments

• M 2/9:  Critiquing arguments -- read BB, ch. 4 (pp. 133-146 plus the Joseph and Jacoby essays)
• W 2/11:  Non-rational appeals and other issues --  read ch. 3 (pp. 83-87) and ch. 4 (Pollitt and Swift essays); discuss news of the week and analyze selected letters to the editor  

Week Four -- In-Depth Critical Reading

• M 2/16:  Definitions, evidence, and logical reasoning -- read BB, ch. 3 (pp. 59-79 and Wilson essay); bring 2 copies of your rough draft for a rough draft writing workshop
• W 2/18:  Ch. 3, cont. (Levin and Brady essays); Critique Essay due

Week Five -- Visual Rhetoric:  Images as Arguments

• M 2/23:  Read BB, ch. 3 (pp. 88-102); check out this website on Dorothea Lange's photographs (a web presentation by Prof. Brad Hunt, BGS)
• W 2/25:  Analyze images in the news -- bring an example of an image on an overhead transparency (ad, photo, graphic illustration to a news articles) for discussion (1 per student) 

Week Six -- Library Tools and Research Skills

• M 3/1:  Library orientation -- meet in library at 6:30; read BB, ch. 6 (pp. 218-228)
• W 3/3:  In-class web-searching workshop (meet in rm. 701) -- finding and evaluating web sources
  • Review the Alexander and Tate website before class

Week Seven -- Film as Visual Rhetoric

• M 3/8:  Film screening:  Roger and Me; Clippings Folder I due
• W 3/10:  Discuss film; schedule advising conferences for week 10

Week Eight -- Spring Break

• Work on image/film analysis paper and research proposal

Week Nine -- Evaluating Statistical Information

• M 3/22:  Research Proposal Due; read BB, ch. 3 (pp. 79-83) and review Robert Niles' website on statistics for non-mathematicians
• W 3/24:  Bring in examples of articles (overhead transparency, 1 per student) citing/discussing statistical information for in-class discussion 

Week Ten -- Individual Advising Conferences

• M 3/29:  Individual conferences to discuss research topic/methods and for BGS program advising; regular class does not meet this week
• W 3/31:  Image/Film Analysis due (6:30pm, my office); individual conferences, cont.

Week Eleven -- The Art of Argumentation and Using Sources

• M 4/5:  Creating good arguments -- read BB, ch. 5 and essays by Thomas Jefferson (p. 486) and Martin Luther King (p. 491)
• W 4/7:  Quoting and paraphrasing; plagiarism and the principles of ethical research; documenting your sources -- read BB, ch. 6 (pp. 229-253)
  • Key resource:  Academic Integrity at Roosevelt University

Week Twelve -- Research Writing Techniques

• M 4/12:  Class critique of Washington essay (p. 260); use the evaluation rubric for research papers
• W 4/14:  Class critique of sample research papers (handouts)

Week Thirteen -- Thinking Ethically / Oral Presentation Skills

• M 4/19:  Issues and case studies in research ethics
  • Kirkpatrick, "2 Accuse Stephen Ambrose, Popular Historian, of Plagiarism" and "Author Admits He Lifted Lines from '95 Book," NY Times (class handouts) 
  • Rimer, "A Campus Fad that's Being Copied:  Internet Plagiarism Seems on the Rise," NY Times (avail. via LexisNexis)
  • Case studies from the Center for Study of Ethics:  Plagiarism, Delayed Honesty, The Student and the Source  
• W 4/21:  Research paper draft due (submit draft with copies of selected paraphrased sources and bring extra copy of draft for writing workshop); rough draft writing workshop; discussion of oral presentation skills and techniques

Week Fourteen -- Writing Week / Advising

• M 4/26:  Individual writing conferences in my office to discuss rough draft (regular class does not meet); Clippings Folder II due at conference; rough drafts returned
• W 4/28:  Individual conferences, cont.

Week Fifteen -- Oral Presentations of Research Projects

• M 5/3:  Oral presentations.  
  • Optional conferences for follow-up BGS advising issues. 
  • Optional revisions of critique essay and image/film analysis due.
• W 5/5:  Oral presentations.  
• [Last day of regular classes is F 5/7]

Week Sixteen -- Last Week of Semester

• M 5/10:  Final papers due (include rough draft, my comment sheet, and SASE for return); course evaluations; pizza party and wrap-up session [Final exams begin]
• S 5/15:  [Graduation]
• T 5/18:  [Semester Grades Due]

-- I reserve the right to revise this schedule as needed --

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Lobby of Roosevelt's Alfred A. Robin Campus (opened 1996)

Roosevelt's National Landmark, the Auditorium Building, downtown Chicago

The Gage Building: Roosevelt's Center for Professional Advancement (opened 2000) and another downtown landmark

Last updated 
04/10/04