| (1) The reading assignments always specify in boldface either Read
or Skim. Generally I want you to attend to a lot of the details
of what you're reading (after all, I've picked the reading assignments
because they're important), but I know that your time is finite and some
of the things we are reading are either rather challenging or dense.
So sometimes I suggest you just skim some of the material. My hope
is that you'll come back, later in the week or later in the course, to
some of the material that you skimmed earlier, when you need to understand
a particular issue in more detail. So 'skim' doesn't mean 'ignore';
rather, it means read without worrying as much about keeping track of all
the details. And to some extent reading and skimming are points on
a continuum, not polar opposites. Students with classics backgrounds
will probably read everything more carefully, since they'll be more at
home with the material. Or students with severe time constraints,
like those who work full-time or student athletes, might want to skim everything
initially, to get an idea what's in the weekly assignment, and then go
back to reread before class with whatever time they have left.
What I want to emphasize is that different people need different study habits, and for a course like this a lot of people are liable to beat their heads against the wall if they try to read everything equally carefully, memorizing all the details as they go. So the read/skim distinction is my way of indicating the value and difficulty of particular assignments. But by now you probably know what sort of study habits work best for you, so take my study suggestions in light of what works best for you. I also have included for some assignments brief explanations of what to look for in the reading or how to go about a particular assignment. These are based on my familiarity with the material and my vision of how the class should go, so look at them before you do the reading. (2) I do want to emphasize that this course requires a fair amount of work (like any other humanities course at this level). Because I say some people can skim a lot of the readings, and because there won't be an objective final exam to test your knowledge of details, does not mean that you aren't responsible for a lot of the details. I expect all the papers to be good, especially the final papers, and I'll grade accordingly. I know what Penn students are capable of, so I've got a clear expectation of standards that I'll apply. And the final paper in particular will show how good a grasp you have of the big picture. The big picture includes a good knowledge of possible primary sources, of arguments that have been made for or against a particular point, etc. So while you won't need to catalog these things for me on an exam, you still need to know them in order to make the choices that underlie the paper you will write for me. (3) On weeks where we will have one person leading discussion, I have specified what that person should focus on, how (s)he should prepare for class, etc. Sometimes the session leader will also have an additional reading assignment --- in this case the idea is to give a short report on that reading for the rest of the class who have not read it. Of course, everyone is encouraged to do these optional readings; they just aren't required for most people. (4) On some weeks I can anticipate the direction the class discussion will go, and I want to let you know ahead of time. That advice is listed under the heading Discussion. Other weeks, I have several alternatives for how class can go, and I want to leave the choice up to you; or I have pedogogical reasons for waiting until you've done the preparation before I tell you what we'll do in class. So not every week has the 'discussion' heading. (5) Every week I'll post an outline for lecture before class.
If possible, you might want to print this out and bring it with you.
The outline won't be a complete summary of class, and might not make much
sense until you hear my lecture. In some cases it will be more like
a handout, giving you the spelling of names, etc., so you can attend more
to my main points and not worry about detailed note-taking. So reading
the outline won't be a good substitute for class attendance. But
it should make class attendance easier and more rewarding. Also,
if you do have to miss a class, it will at least give you an idea what
we covered (I'm neither able nor willing to repeat lectures for students
who are forced to miss class).
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