HST149 - Extra Credit
A reminder from the course syllabus.
A failing student cannot pass the course by doing extra credit work. Extra
credit may ONLY influence a borderline final grade (not the grade on each exam or
assignment). For example, students may use extra credit to go from a D+ to a C- or
from a B+ to an A-.
Students interested in extra credit MUST contact the instructor ON OR BEFORE Friday,
October 11, 2002, the end of the third week of class. This contact MUST be in written
form via the internet. Include the following information on the extra
credit web page form. This form is always available on the class homepage under
Links.
Hello,
My name is John Doe and I am interested in doing extra credit over the course of the term.
***Students will not be penalized for notifying the instructor of the desire to
do extra credit and then deciding not to complete any assignments. If you ace the
midterm and written assignments, you don't need extra credit. You may not, however,
decide to start doing extra credit in the 10th week of the term.
What exactly is the assignment
One, two, or many things may strike you when watching the videos and/or
reading the material in the study guide and anthology of readings. Simply put, take
one such item and write a dialog to your instructor. This assignment, unlike the
required written assignments for class, is informal and needs no real structure,
thesis, required paragraphs, etc. It needs no footnotes or bibiography. You may speak/write
in familiar (not formal) language. I may be one paragraph or you may be inspired
to go on for pages. Regardless, you need to link something from the course to you
own experience or belief system. Here is an example.
In the Introduction video, The Hero's Journey, Joseph Campbell spoke of the problems that occur when we human beings "factualize" myths... when we make them real historical events or people or places instead of keeping them in their metaphor form. He spoke about a Jewish boy/student who had a difficult time with the concept of the Holy Land. He, unlike the orthodox or hardcore believers in his church/synagogue/temple did not consider Jerusalem and Israel to be the one-and-only Holy Land in the world. When I consider all of the hatred and death and warfare that has occured throughout the centuries in that part of the world, I thought to myself, wouldn't it be wonderful if they all accepted Joseph Campbell's metaphorical interpretation of the Holy Land, that which is similar to the Native American's concept of Mother Earth... that all land, and the creatures which inhabit it, are holy and worthy of respect. It seems like such a simple solution, but I have a feeling that Joseph Campbell's views would not be widely accepted, if not outright dismissed in that part of the world. In fact, it almost seems that the only solution (to cure the region of its hostility) would be to teach the young children of the region about mutual respect and acceptance of alternative views. But these efforts would be futile, unless these children could be separated from their environment and the generational hatred of their parents passed down from one generation to the next.
On a related note, I wonder what Joseph Campbell would say about one of the latest trends in Christianity in this country, especially among the younger generation. I am thinking of the phrase "accepting Jesus as my personal Lord and Savior". Talk about concretizing myth/metaphor. Even as a Christian myself, this approach seems almost too personalized and intimate. I actually enjoy having a certain distance from God. For me, it helps keep awe and mystery and faith as important components of my religion. I think Campbell touches on this with the idea of mysticism, things science and reason can't explain. So far, I find myself agreeing with Joseph Campbell, or at least he's presented me with ideas which are intriguing. How open-minded can I be? Do I want to be?
and so on .......