This syllabus outlines a discussion-based course on values and culture that will explore topics like the future, technology, sports, popular culture, and media. Students will develop critical thinking skills to analyze what they experience through different senses and media. Course requirements include weekly readings, class participation, index cards with discussion questions, a midterm paper, and a final multimedia project. The grading policy and schedule of topics are also outlined.

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HUM 220.03
Instructor: Shawn Taylor
Values and Culture
email [email protected]
W 1810p-2055p
Office HUM 219
Humanities Room# HUM 115
Office hours: W. 2100p-2200p
Schedule Number: 4220
(GE C2: Humanities)

2. This syllabus is not set in stone and is subject to change at any
time.
Course Description: This is a discussion-based course that will
interrogate: the future, technology, sports, popular culture, and
media. You will be using your selves as maps through our
shared culture. We will explore how speculation can be a form
of creative inquiry. We will watch films, listen to music, read
books (it is university, you kind of have to read), and have
conversations to make the argument that one of the best ways to
know the world is to imagine it.
What do you get?: In exchange for your full participation, you
will develop the skills to think critically about what you receive
through all of your senses and sense-making apparatus.
Thinking critically means that you can call “B.S.” when you see
or hear it. You will learn how to formulate and defend written
and spoken arguments; along with being able to see past the
surface explanation of things. This means that when you call
“B.S.”, you’ll be able to explain “why” you think this, as well
as offer up information to bolster your point.
Learning Objectives:
(a) Students' papers consider questions of how values intersect
with/influence/diverge from culture as they are addressed in a
range of literary and visual texts produced across the globe.
(b) Students' papers require close reading of written texts and
close examination of images, and articulation of the student's
own understanding of them, while acknowledging the possibility
of multiple interpretations.
(c) Papers require in-depth analysis of works and ideas, and
attention to appropriate methods of inquiry in the humanities.
(d) Papers and course discussions require comparisons between
works representing various global communities past and

3. present, which ensures that students will gain understanding of
other value systems and ways of life.
(e) Papers require close engagement with the works under study,
stimulating students' appreciation of literature and the arts and
laying an indispensable foundation for their active cultivation.
Course Requirements: Class participation is a must. If you want
a good grade, you have to participate. We only meet 150
minutes per week, but if you work hard, I’ll work even harder.
Attendance: Come to class. It isn’t algebra. Show up, you learn
and earn a grade. If you don’t show up, you miss out and your
grade is negatively impacted. You get three (3) absences. After
that, you lose two (5) points for each subsequent absence.
3x5 index cards: A 3x5 index card with your name, date, and a
question about the current material is due at the start of each
class period. These cards will be used as prompts to help
engineer our class discussion. They are also a secondary
attendance check.
Cell phones, iPods, etc: Turn them off—not to vibrate—off. If
you are discovered texting or talking on your phone during class
you will receive a zero for that day.
Required Materials (that aren’t pens, pencils, and/or paper):
3x5 Index cards
Required Texts:
Barthes, Roland – “What Is Sport?” ISBN: 9780300116045
Benedetti, Paul and DeHart, Nancy – “On McLuhan” ISBN:
9780262522335
Brown, Adrienne Maria and Imarisha, Walidah - “Octavia’s
Brood” ISBN: 9781849352093
Butler, Octavia – “Bloodchild and Other Stories” ISBN:

4. 9781888363364
Lanier, Jaron – “You are Not a Gadget” ISBN: 9780307269645
Sterling, Bruce – “Tomorrow Now: Envisioning the Next 50
Years” ISBN: 9780812969764
Disclaimer/Trigger Warning:
We may watch and listen to things that have “adult content” or
other triggering materials. No, not porn. But there may be
swearing, violence, nudity and the like. If you do not feel as if
you can handle it, please let me know and we can make other
arrangements. These materials are not meant to shock you. They
serve a purpose—adding to the discussion.
Assignments:
- All assignments should be handed in on the due date. No late
work. None.
· The midterm will be a paper five (5) pages in length. All
written works (if applicable) should be written in APA format.
Here is a great source if you are unfamiliar:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/. Cite your
sources!
· The final will be a multimedia project with a written
component addressing what you want to explore (following a set
of criteria. You’ll get more detailed instructions, as we get
closer to finals time). You will have to provide me with a ½
page outline for your final to see if it fits within the set subject
parameters. Cite your sources!
· All assignments should be handed in at the beginning of class.
I do not accept papers through email, fax, yeti, carrier pigeon,
owl, or slid under my office door. Please hand them to me
directly.

5. · Keep copies of all your work!!!
· I do not give “incompletes” except in documented
emergencies.
Due dates (midterm and final):
Midterm is due: 10/21/2015.
Final is due: 12/16/2015
- A note on the final: If you want any portion of your final
returned to you, please provide me with a self addressed
stamped envelope (SASE) and turn it in with the final.
- All other written assignments should have your name, the date
the assignment is due, the course number, and the grade you
think your work deserves (A-F—be honest!).
Grading Policy
Participation/Attendance 10%
Floating Quiz 10%
Index Cards 5%
“What I want from this class” Paper (1page) 5%
Quiz (2 pages) 10%
Midterm (5 pages) 25%
Final (3 pages and project) 35%
There will be ample extra-credit opportunities.
I use the four (4) ‘Cs’ when I grade” Creativity, Content,
Clarity, Conclusion. It breaks down like this:
· Creativity: Are you pushing yourself in regards to the subject
you want to explore? How are you approaching it?
· Content: Now that you have your subject, are you doing it
justice?

6. · Clarity: When I’m reading it, can I understand it? Is your
thesis clear? (Grammar, spelling, etc.)
· Conclusion: How did you end the piece? Are all of the loose
ends tied?
Plagiarism:(As defined by the College of Humanities):
Plagiarism is a form of cheating or fraud; it occurs when a
student misrepresents the work of another as his or her own.
Plagiarism may consist of using the ideas, sentences,
paragraphs, or the whole text of another without appropriate
acknowledgment, but it also includes employing or allowing
another person to write or substantially alter work that a student
then submits as his or her own.
http://www.sfsu.edu/~collhum/plagiarism.html Don’t do it. You
plagiarize, you fail the course. Done and done.
SF State fosters a campus free of sexual violence including
sexual harassment, domestic violence, dating violence, stalking,
and/or any form of sex or gender discrimination. If you disclose
a personal experience as an SF State student, the course
instructor is required to notify the Dean of Students. To
disclose any such violence confidentially, contact: The SAFE
Place - (415) 338-2208; http://www.sfsu.edu/~safe_plc/
Counseling and Psychological Services Center - (415) 338-
2208; http://psyservs.sfsu.edu/ For more information on your
rights and available resources: http://titleix.sfsu.edu
Students with disabilities:
Students with disabilities who need reasonable accommodations
are encouraged to contact the instructor. The Disability
Programs and Resource Center (DPRC) is available to facilitate
the reasonable accommodations process. The DPRC is located
in the Student Service Building and can be reached by telephone
(voice/TTY 415-338-2472) or by email ([email protected]).
(Academic Senate Policy)

7. Class Schedule (subject to revision):
Week 1
(8/26/2015) W-Introductions/Syllabus/Introduction to
vocabulary and concepts. “What I want…” paper assigned.
Week 2
(9/2/2015) W – Butler Bloodchild (pps. ix-70)
Week 3
(9/9/2015) W – Butler Bloodchild (pps. 71-144) “What I
want…” paper due.
Week 4
(9/16/2015) W– Brown & Imarisha Octavia’s Brood (pps. 1-5,
7-14, 15-21)
Week 5
(9/23/2015) W – Brown & Imarisha Octavia’s Brood (pps. 89-
108, 123-133, 167-175)
Week 6
(9/30/2015) W – Sterling Tomorrow Now (pps. 1-65) Midterm
Assigned.
Week 7
(10/7/2015) W – Sterling Tomorrow Now (pps. 69-154).
Week 8
(10/14/2015) W – Sterling Tomorrow Now (pps. 157-210)
Week 9
(10/21/2015) W – Sterling Tomorrow Now (pps. 213-320)

8. Midterm due.
Week 10
(10/28/2015) W – Lanier Gadget (pps. ix-64) Final Outline
Assigned.
Week 11
(11/4/2015) W – Lanier Gadget (pps. 65-120)
Week 12
(11/11/2015) W – No Class Lanier Gadget (pps. 120-192) Final
Outline Due.
Week 13
(11/18/2015) W – Barthes What is Sport? (pps. entire book)
Final Assigned.
Week 14
(11/25/2015) W – No Class
Week 15
(12/2/2015) W– Benedetti & DeHart On Mcluhan (pps. 1-100)
Week 16
(12/9/2015) W – Benedetti & DeHart On Mcluhan (pps. 101-
198) LAST DAY OF INSTRUCTION.
Week 17
(12/16/2015 – Finals Week) W– Final due. (location and time to
TBD) LAST DAY OF CLASS!!!!!!