Course Description
There are certain experiences that are common to human beings. We are born, we die, we love, we suffer losses, we work, we play. In this second semester of the Valparaiso First-Year Core Course we will try to develop new ways of thinking and talking about love and friendship, about work and play, and about loss and death, by a careful reading and writing of texts which address these experiences or their analogs.
Course Objectives
to continue the process of academic study and participation in this academic community through a sustained conversation about important aspects of human experience;
to encourage careful reflection and better understanding of our lives together;
to encourage habits of skilled writing, critical thinking, careful analysis and interpretation of texts, and persuasive presentation of ideas.
To achieve these goals we will devote significant attention to reading, thinking carefully about, and discussing some important texts addressing the human experience. We will enter into conversation with some gifted thinkers and writers as we attempt better to understand our human experience, and we will continue to develop those basic academic skills and work habits conducive to success at the university: how to recognize different types of texts and the types of reading appropriate to them; how to write imaginatively, clearly, and persuasively about these texts and our experience, how to make connections, and how to discuss questions with passion, care, and civility.
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