Columbia College Fall 2004

DR. STEPHEN T. ASMA

Office: Torco Bdlg. Room 1000

Office hours: MW 11-12:15 pm (and by appointment)

telephone: 312 344 7583

email: sasma@colum.edu (no written work will be accepted via email)

Required texts

1. The Upanishads
2. The Bhagavad Gita
3. What the Buddha Taught (by Walpola Rahula)
4. A Sourcebook in Chinese Philosophy (by Wing-Tsit Chan)

Various Handouts

Course Description

This course is designed to explore Eastern spiritual traditions, including Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism. We will compare and contrast these different philosophical systems with each other as well as dominant Western systems. We will try to understand these philosophies in their historical context, but also reflect upon their contemporary spiritual relevance.

Syllabus

"We must respect the other fellow's religion, but only in the sense and to the extent that we respect his theory that his wife is beautiful and his children smart." —H.L. Mencken

"We should not value education as a means to prosperity, but prosperity as a means to education. Only then will our priorities be right. For education, unlike prosperity, is an end in itself...power and influence come through the acquisition of useless knowledge...irrelevant subjects bring understanding of the human condition, by forcing the student to stand back from it." —Roger Scruton

Basic Laws

Students are expected to attend all classes. The nature of such a course requires impeccable attendance because day to day in-class discussion frequently directs the subject matter for exams and papers. The student is allowed 3 absences. A 4th absence lowers the student's final grade by one letter (e.g., B becomes C, D becomes F, etc.). A fifth absence may result in course failure. Students are expected to be on time. Two instances of tardiness will count as one absence. Students will be expected to come to class (with the text) prepared to discuss the readings, lack of preparation will be counted as an absence. Written work must be handed in on time. If an assignment is handed in one week after the due date, its grade will be automatically reduced by one letter (e.g., B becomes C, D becomes F, etc.). No written assignments will be accepted after the one week grace period. No make-up exams will be given.

Grades will be based on: (1) midterm exam; (2) one presentation paper (6-8 pgs.); (3) a comprehensive Final Exam. The First Exam and Final are each worth 100 points, the presentation paper is worth 150 points (thus 350 points possible for the whole course). Completion of all three requirements (on their respective due-dates) is necessary to pass this course. If I find that class discussion lacks depth, I will initiate pop-quizzes in order to insure that students are carefully reading the texts. (Poor performance on such quizzes indicates lack of preparation, and will hurt the student's final grade.)

Evaluation Principles

Discussion is an important part of this course and a student's intelligent contributions can go some distance in raising his/her grade, but written work will be of crucial importance. Students who have trouble writing are encouraged to get help at the Writing Center. The Writing Center provides tutoring for a variety of writing skills. If you have problems in this area, a trip to the Center will raise your skills and your grades. As a basic requirement, all essays will be expected to have good grammar and punctuation. I am not your pr oofreader. In addition, essays will be evaluated using the following three criteria: (1) logical organization, (2) mastery of the course material, and (3) creativity--in that order.

1. LOGICAL ORGANIZATION
   This criteria is designed to measure your ability to organize your arguments, ideas and observations into a clear and cogent presentation. Your ability to make claims and systematically back them up with evidence and argument, without wandering aimlessly through vague beliefs, is extremely important.
2. MASTERY OF THE COURSE MATERIAL
   This criteria is designed to measure the degree of your grasp on crucial ideas contained in the assigned texts. The degree to which you understand and articulate the concepts entailed in the readings and the discussions will be vital to your grade.
3. CREATIVITY
   In addition to good structure and evidence of comprehension, you are encouraged to infuse your written work with some creativity. Good writing should include some level of imagination and originality. Nota Bene: Cleverness, while appreciated, is not a substitute for logical organization, nor does it substitute for an understanding of the texts.

Plagiarism

To steal and use (the ideas or writings of another) as one's own. To appropriate passages or ideas from another author and use them as one's own.

All use of another author's writings and ideas must be properly acknowledged and cited in your own writing. Failure to do so is tantamount to plagiarism and can result in failure of the course and expulsion from the college.

Seminar Style

The seminar style is significantly different from the lecture-based and regular discussion courses. In a seminar, the students are expected to contribute strongly to the daily class agenda. The instructor presupposes an intelligent interest on the part of the students and, therefore, will not consume the class time with a simple review of the reading. It is imperative that each student read the material carefully and come into the class with questions and concerns—ready and willing to talk. Intelligent class discussion is expected from each student.

The "presentation-paper" is an essay that the student must present orally to the class (reading or presentation time should be approximately 10 minutes). The presentation will be based upon the specific reading that falls on the student's assigned day. The expectation is that the presenter should have explored some important aspect of the assigned text in greater depth than the other class participants. A good paper should illuminate some obscure argument, or develop the implicit consequences of some doctrine, or give historical context, or otherwise significantly promote general comprehension of the text and provide a fruitful focus for class discussion. There is significant opportunity for creativity and originality in this assignment. A presentation is not a mere summary of the reading. After the presentation, the whole class will be invited to take up the direction which the student has suggested and we will incorporate the presentation into a wider discussion of the text and the issues in question.

I will be happy to evaluate outlines or drafts of your presentation paper no later than one week before the oral reading. This allows you the opportunity to get feedback from the instructor before it's too late. The final version of the paper must be complete and in easily readable form at the time of the oral presentation--to be handed in at the close of that class period. (If the presenter sees fit, he/she has the option of including insights from class discussion into a revised version of the essay—which must be handed in one week after the oral presentation.) If you have questions about your topic, do not hesitate to speak with me—but do so well in advance of your presentation (not the night before). Failure to give your presentation on the assigned day will result in zero points and subsequent failure of the course.

Some Essay Strategies

Here are four basic strategies for writing a good essay. If in doubt, adopt one of these strategies when writing your paper. All of these options will require additional research beyond the text in question (e.g, library or Internet research).

1. A critical explanation or analysis (exegesis) of part of the text. What is the text trying to say? Take some specific argument or theoretical claim and translate it into your own terms (preserving the author's point)--thereby shedding light upon it for your reader. This is not the same as a "book report" where one merely summarizes the reading—simply paraphrasing the reading assignment is not acceptable. You must use your own examples and insights to help us understand one or two of the author's points (not the whole text). (example: What does the Dali Lama mean when he says that all things are empty?)
2. An historically based analysis of the text. Analyze what some of the historical origins might be for a particular event, argument or theoretical claim. Or examine some of the historical effects or repercussions that occurred after a specific event, argument or theoretical claim. (ex: The Buddha's concept of enlightenment was influenced by earlier philosophical debates in Hinduism . . . Or, The Hindu idea of pantheism influenced the 1960s counter-culture movement in the following ways...)
3. A compare/contrast analysis. Examine a specific issue from the reading in light of some comparative event, thinker or theory. (ex: How do contemporary scientific theories of matter compare and contrast with Buddhist abhidhamma theories?)
4. Is the textual claim true or false? An assessment of the validity and truth of a particular argument, interpretation or theoretical claim. Using compelling arguments, evaluate a specific doctrine or idea for its truth or falsity. (ex: The argument that karma provides justice is wrong because…)

Surviving Asma's Class

In addition to all of the above points, it is worth mentioning a few general reminders.

• Always take careful notes on the material that you're reading. This seems obvious, yet students rarely follow such a simple strategy. Remember, you're not reading a magazine here; the readings for this class are difficult. Logical arguments can be complicated, confusing and tricky. Taking notes will aid your comprehension, and aid your memory when you're asked to recall things. It's good practice to start a "reading journal" to keep track of your notes, questions, and ideas.
• Take notes on our classroom discussions. Again, this seems obvious, but it's rarely adopted. Many people erroneously believe that: "if we're all "rapping" about a topic, nothing very important is happening; and I'll take notes if the teacher writes something on the board." Rid yourself of this confusion. Even our casual conversation and debate will take us through some important arguments —keep track of them.
• Start working on your paper weeks in advance. This paper is bigger and tougher than you think it is. I'm not kidding. This is college, and highschool essay techniques produce "F" papers.
• Be sure to do some additional research for your paper. The Internet cannot be your only outside research source. Any cyber-moron in his basement can post bogus info on a webpage without the important filter of "peer review." You can't always trust what you're getting (e.g., "Is this webpage a mask for advertising?"; "Are the writers or site publishers adequately credentialed and qualified?" etc.).
• Students are responsible for all handouts. If you were absent on the day that something was originally handed out, it is your responsibility to see me and procure and complete the reading.
• Students are responsible for collecting any of their graded work. If you are absent on the day that I return work to you, it is your responsibility to track it down afterwards.

For your sake and my sake, try to enjoy yourself. The intellectual pleasures are very underrated in our culture. When you're in gradeschool and highschool, some people try to convince you that intellectual pursuits are for nerds or geeks or misfits, and 'cool' people don't get excited about abstract ideas. I hope you weren't convinced by such profound stupidity. If you were convinced and find yourself way too cool for studying science and religion and philosophy, then please do the rest of us misfits a favor and try to find a different class to take this semester.