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Math 245, Spring 2004 Office Hours:
Dr. Fenster TBA
204 Jepson Hall & by appt.
287-6567
dfenster@richmond.edu
Course Overview: Linear Algebra
serves as the bridge to a great deal of higher mathematics. All of
the upper level mathematics courses draw from the material in this
course. In fact, one of our recent senior mathematics majors commented, "if I would have known how much
I would need Linear Algebra, I would have learned it better." By
the end of the semester, you will want to have a working knowledge
of topics such as vectors, matrices, vector spaces, bases, linear independence,
row spaces, and column spaces. You will also want to be comfortable
solving systems of linear equations. From a broad perspective, linear
algebra helps you learn how to integrate a theoretical and computational
understanding of mathematics. Thus, as one mathematician recently expressed
in Focus, a Mathematical Association of America publication, "Students
who have learned how to learn linear algebra have learned how to learn
mathematics!"
Text:
David C. Lay, Linear Algebra and its Applications, 3rd ed. and the
Study Guide.
Attendance:
Class time gives us guaranteed meetings for the presentation of new
material, a forum for questions, and an opportunity to discuss problems
as a group. Thus, I expect you to attend class regularly. More than
two unexcused absences will influence your grade in a negative way
(approximately one half of a letter grade for each set of two unexcused
absences.)
Reading:
Simply put, read your text and Study Guide. Make this a new school-year
resolution if you have found yourself intimidated by this prospect
in the past. If you become discouraged, try again later; Isaac Newton
himself had difficulty reading mathematics texts.
Homework:
I will assign homework daily. We will go over the homework at the beginning
of the following class. Bring your homework stapled (I'm serious)
and ready to submit. I will collect the homework every class period.
No late homework (two minutes after I collect homework is late).
To compensate for incidentals, I will drop at least two homework
grades (your two lowest grades). Collaboration often plays a key
role in the advancement of mathematics. Hence, I encourage you to
work together on homework exercises. You may, however, submit only
what you know and understand. From time to time I will designate
problems for you to complete solely on your own.
In-Class Grade:
Class time works best when we all participate. The combination of well-prepared
class members (i.e. students and faculty) and good attitudes creates
an optimal setting for learning Linear Algebra. Speak in turn, listen
to your classmates, and be eager (!) to cogitate on some new mathematics.
Technology:
Mathematica now handles many linear algebra techniques with ease. Once
we have acquired an understanding of these tools, we will "computerize" them.
These assignments will be included among your homework problems.
On my home page on the web, you will find a Linear Algebra tutorial
for you to download to your UR account. This tutorial provides commands
you will find useful for this course.
Examinations:
Exam 1: Friday, February 6, 2004
Exam 2: Friday, March 5, 2004
Exam 3: Friday, April, 12, 2004
Final Exam: Tuesday, May 4, 2004, 2-5 p.m.
Please note: Exams may not be rescheduled. If you are unable to take one exam
at the designated time for a legitimate reason, you may, with my prior approval,
replace one missed exam with your final exam score. The Final Examination is
comprehensive and may not be rescheduled without written permission from the
Dean of the College.
Grading Scheme:
Homework/In-Class Grade 10%
Exam 1: 20%
Exam 2: 20%
Exam 3: 20%
Final Exam: 30%
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SYLLABUS
Core 102: Exploring Human Experience
MWF 10:25-11:15 Ryland Hall 207
SPRING 2004
Professor: Dr.D. Fenster Office Hours: TBA,
Professor of Mathematics Office: Jepson Hall 204
Office Phone: 287-6567
E-mail: dfenster@richmond.edu
Required Texts
Augustine, Confessions (Hackett)
Friedrich Nietzsche, On the Genealogy of Morals (Vintage)
Tsitsi Dangarembga, Nervous Conditions (Seal)
William Shakespeare, Antony and Cleopatra (Penguin)
Sigmund Freud, Civilization and Its Discontents (Norton)
Richard Peck, A Long Way from Chicago (Penguin Books)
Adrienne Rich, Adrienne Rich’s Poems and Prose (Norton Critical)
Genesis (Norton)
Toni Morrison, Song of Solomon (Plume)
Be sure you have the editions that are on sale at the campus bookstore
for the Core Course, so that everyone can turn to the same pages for
discussion.
Discussion
This is a readings and discussion course. Our operating premise is
that one of the most effective ways of developing sophistication
in thought and judgment is by learning to articulate independent
readings of works that are recognized for their depth and sophistication.
And one of the best ways to become independent of the judgment and
authority of others is to practice the weighing of different analyses
and interpretations together in class. The more sophisticated you
become at talking about argument, evidence and judgment, the more
sophisticated you will become in your reading, thinking, and writing
as well.
Everyone is expected to participate in discussion at every class meeting,
because we need everyone's insights and questions. It can be just as
useful to raise a question as to respond to one posed by the instructor
or another student. Remember that when you have a question in your
mind, chances are others have it too, and often the entire group can
benefit from hearing the issue clarified.
Please note, since this is the second semester of Core, I expect solid, insightful
comments right from the start.
Written Work
Written work for this course will consist of three one-page response
papers, two analytical essays of 1500-1600 words each, a one-hour
midterm examination, and a three-hour comprehensive final examination.
Examinations will be entirely essay. Other written work may be assigned
at the discretion of the professor.
Attendance Policy
Students are expected to attend all classes.
If you must be absent from class, you are responsible for everything
you miss. Checking with other students for handouts and notes is essential,
but generally not enough in a discussion course like this one. Try
to talk over what you miss with several other students. Talking over
discussions outside of class helps everyone.
Grading
Discussion and Response Papers 20%
Essays 40%
Midterm exam 15%
Final exam 25%
Discussion is a vital part of this course and deserves recognition
just as written work does. And, just as in written work, the quality
of your contributions matters more than the quantity. Discussion grades
will reflect the scale below:
A exceptional contributions
B useful contributions that help advance the discussion
C minimal contributions
D listening without contributing or frequently absent, unexcused
In the interest of fairness, late work will be docked one letter grade.
Excessive absences will result in a reduction of the course grade.
Excessive absences means more than two per semester.
Honor Code
All students are bound by the University Honor Code.
COURSE SCHEDULE
You will need to bring the text we are discussing with you to class
each day. We will always want to take a close look at important passages
together, and you will have to be able to see the passages in front
of you and mark them as we go.
THE SENSE OF SELF
In spring semester the focus of
our attention will shift to how we make meaning through a sense of
self. from how we make meaning through culture. We will be working
to understand: How do we arrive at a sense of self? Is it something
we find or something we create? What do we do when it’s called
into question? How much do we owe to the self and how much do we
owe to others? And how can the conflicting claims of self and others
ever be reconciled? To that end we will first consider the role of
human will in the making of personal identity, then explore the relationship
between a sense of self and a sense that we belong somehow to circumstance
and time.
A. Identity and Will
The problem of autonomy. We begin this section with an autobiographical
account of a search for personal identity and happiness, one that
looks first to worldly pleasures and then to divine love; a critique
of Judeo-Christian moral values as inauthentic and destructive of
life; a story about one individual’s will to personal autonomy
and self-fulfillment, and its conflicts with the demands of authenticity
and the bonds of love; and a play that articulates identity as a
complex relationship between sensual indulgence and heroic virtue,
between will and public duty.
These texts will raise such questions
as: How free are we to be what we choose? Can we be autonomous actors,
or are we at the mercy of the world we’re given? Should human
will be subjugated or liberated? Should we indulge our desires and
try to fulfill them, or should they be distrusted and denied? Can
the order of art redeem a disordered self? How do human beings use
language and self-display to order experience and act on the world?
How much does a sense of self have to do with happiness? How are
we to find solid grounding for the self in a world governed by doubts
and uncertainties?
Mon. Jan. 12 Course Introduction
Wed. Jan. 14 Augustine 3-31
Fri. Jan. 16 Augustine 35-66
Mon. Jan. 19 Augustine 69-104
Wed. Jan. 21 Augustine 107-25
Fri. Jan. 23 Augustine 129-70
Mon. Jan. 26 Nietzsche 15-35
Wed. Jan. 28 Nietzsche 35-48, 52-56
Fri. Jan. 30 Nietzsche 84-88, 97-98
Mon. Feb. 2 Nietzsche 116-29
Wed. Feb. 4 Nietzsche 129-43, 159-63, 95-96
First essay assignment will be distributed at the end of class.
Fri. Feb. 6 Dangarembga 1-57
Mon. Feb. 9 Dangarembga 58-102
Wed. Feb. 11 Dangarembga 103-148
Thesis and argument for first essay due at the start of class.
Fri. Feb. 13 Dengarembga 149-175
Mon. Feb. 16 Dangarembga 176-205
Tues. Feb. 17 Coordinate Event, Bringing Shakespeare from Page to
Stage, Cousins Studio Theater, Modlin Center, 6:30 P.M.
Wed. Feb. 18 Shakespeare 5-27
Fri. Feb. 20 Shakespeare 27-59
One-page response paper on Bringing Shakespeare from Page to Stage
due at beginning of class
Mon. Feb. 23 Shakespeare 59-92
Wed. Feb. 25 Shakespeare 93-120
Fri. Feb. 27 Shakespeare 120-139
First essay is due at the start of class
Mon. Mar. 1 Freud, 10-36
B. Circumstance and Time
The problem of history. We begin
our final section by looking at a theory that we are creatures locked
in endless conflict—conflict
within the self, conflict between culture and desire, conflict that
explains how we’ve come to be what we are and that determines
our prospects for the future. We’ll then spend a day looking
at a text which invites us to stand back from our diverse readings
in the Core Course this year so as to consider the fundamental human
drive that is reflected in all of them, a drive to find meaning in
human experience, especially in situations where extreme suffering
might lead us to believe that life is without positive meaning. With
this broad perspective on our work in mind, we’ll turn out attention
next to a poet’s explorations of necessity and freedom, of the
ways that circumstance and time define, disguise, and deny the self,
but also of the possibilities for self-creation, our power to imagine
an alternative civilization and transform the laws of history. Next
we turn to a narrative that locates the origins of human suffering
in a collective fall from grace and grounds identity in a historical
plan for reconciliation with the divine. C We conclude the year with
a story that shows how severance from one’s cultural past can
complicate the search for a sense of self, and distort any reckoning
of how much we owe to self and how much we owe to others.
Our reading will raise such questions
as: If all is chance and fate, how can we demand responsibility?
How can we preserve our sense of self when we’re caught up
in circumstances beyond our control? How are we to deal with social
systems that thwart and oppress our sense of identity and selfhood?
Can the order of art redeem a disordered self? How can we know ourselves
without knowing our roots, and our place in human history? What does
identity have to do with material conditions? What do we stand to
gain when we imagine ourselves into collective stories, and what
do we stand to lose?
Wed. Mar. 3 Freud 10-36
Fri. Mar. 5 Midterm Exam
Mar 5-14 Spring Break
Mon. Mar. 15 Freud, 37-74
Wed. Mar. 17 Freud, 75-112
Fri. Mar. 19 Peck, A Long Way from Chicago 1-78
Mon. Mar. 22 Peck, A Long Way from Chicago 79-148
Second essay assignment will be distributed at the end of class.
Wed. March 24 Rich, “Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers,” “Snapshots
of a Daughter-in-Law,”
“Planetarium,”
Fri. March 26 Rich, “Diving into the Wreck,” “The
Phenomenology of Anger”
Mon. Mar. 29 Rich, “Love Poems” (nos.
1, 3, 6-12, 17, 21)
Thesis and argument for second essay due at the start of class
Wed. Mar. 30 Rich, “Sources,” “Poetry: I,” “Final
Notations”
Fri. Apr. 2 Genesis 3-96
Mon. Apr. 5 Genesis 97-207
Wed. Apr. 7 Genesis 208-306
Fri. Apr. 9 same
Mon. Apr. 12 Morrison 3-62
Second essay is due at the start of class.
Wed. Apr. 14 Morrison 62-134
Fri. Apr. 16 Morrison 134-209
Mon. Apr. 19 Morrison 209-69
Wed. Apr. 21 Morrison 269-337
Fri. Apr. 23 Morrison, same
