GS 204: Spirit & Nature - Religion & Science

Course Requirements - Block 1

Course Objectives

Block 1 Requirements

Block 2 Requirements

Weeks 1&2 Schedule

Weeks 3&4 Schedule

Weeks 5&6 Schedule

Weeks 7&8 Schedule

Honor Code

Course Requirements for Block 1

• Class Participation (8% of final grade--4% for each block):
  A. Because of the intensity of the block system, attendance at every class session is essential. If you cannot be present, you must arrange for an excused absence.
  B. Active participation in class discussion and class activities, particularly the Darwin Re-Acting Game, is expected. This means having completed the assignment and coming with specific responses (questions and/or observations) and thoughtful attention to the contributions of each member of the class.

• Electronic Journal (12% of final grade--6% for each block):
  A. Because we will not be able to discuss every aspect of the materials we study or the varied responses that may be evoked, I ask each of you to keep a course journal, one that responds to ideas and issues encountered, and experiences you’ve had in the course.  Each class member will have an individual folder for their own journal entries.  In addition there will be a class folder, The Darwin Game, in which entries made in conjunction with the Darwin Re-acting Game are to be placed.  Your individual folder will be accessible only to yourself and the instructor.  The class folder will be accessible to all class members and the instructor.
  B. There are 4 “Rs” in journal writing for courses:
       1. Reporting what you’ve experienced.
       2. Reacting to ideas, issues, experiences
       3. Reflecting on course materials and experiences
       4. Relating course materials & experiences to your
           own aspirations as student & citizen of the world.
  Reporting and reacting journal entries are primarily for you as a record of your experience in the course. Reflecting and relating entries are the ones that I will be most interested in, as a measure of the parts of the course that have engaged you.
  C.  A course journal is not a collection of reading notes! Keep notes for yourself in another note book.  Include in those notes a Glossary of Key Terms.
  D. Keeping a journal requires getting into a pattern of regular entries. You should write no less than 3 times a week. On occasion I will specifically assign a topic for you to reflect on in your journal in preparation for the next day’s discussion.  Remember that you can also make entries in the class folder, The Darwin Game, if you want the whole class to be able to read them.
  E. I will read your journals occasionally to provide feedback to help you with R’s 3 & 4.
  F. The evaluation of the journals will be based both on the quantity of your journal entries and the quality of reflecting and relating within the entries.
  G. For Instructions on E-journaling, click here: (if you cannot view this MS Word document try in Internet Explorer)

• The Garden of the Gods Project (10% of the final grade):
  In conjunction with the field trip to the Garden of the Gods you will be asked to write, based on your observations, sketches and other field reflections, a narrative account/story (3-4 pages) of how the Garden of the Gods came to be as it is. (More information on this assignment will be provided on September 2.)

• The Carrying Capacity Project (3% of the final grade):
  You will be asked to calculate the Earth’s carrying capacity for human population and determine when the human population will reach that capacity, using materials in E. O. Wilson, Conserving Earth’s Biodiversity.

• The Diversity Project (18% of the final grade):
  This project will consist of 4 parts and will entail working in teams of 3 or 4:
  A. Learning to program in QuickBasic, testing a simple diversity indexing program and more complex programs for population diversity indexing.
  B. Field research, counting and recording species in 2 distinct tracts.
  C. Written report interpreting the diversity indices of the tracts in relation to Darwin’s hypothesis concerning the relation of diversity to abundance, or your team's hypothesis involving plant diversity and abundance.
  D. A poster presentation of data clearly supporting the interpretation.

• The Darwin Re-Acting Game (22% of the final grade, 11% for each block): 
  Re-enacting the Royal Society's meetings during which it is decided (among other issues) whether to award Charles Darwin the Copley Medal for his work.