Assignments

Due Dates and Links

Sat. September 19:
Introductory Unit Essay

Tues. September 29 – Mon. October 5:
Live Like a Confucian Week

Tues. October 6:
Unit 1 Synthesis Essay

Tues. October 13 – Mon. October 19:
Live Like an Aristotelian Week

Sat. October 24:
Unit 2 Synthesis Essay

Wed. October 21:
Midterm Debate: Cancel Ancient Philosophy?

Tues. November 3 – Mon. November 9:
Live Like a Daoist Week

Sat. November 14:
Unit 3 Synthesis Essay

Tues. November 17 – Mon. November 23:
Live Like a Stoic Week

Sat. November 28:
Unit 4 Synthesis Essay

Wed. December 2:
Final Debate: Callicles on Trial

Sun. December 13:
Final Project

Course Work

Readings: For most M/W class sessions, there will be assigned readings. These should be read before class and you should be ready to access them in class as well. Readings will be available electronically, linked from the course site and available in Perusall (see section on Perusall). Students will be expected to annotate and comment on the texts regularly, and to interact with other students’ comments and questions. There will sometimes be optional readings as well, which will provide more depth or background and additional perspectives on the material.
Exercises: For each unit, there will be several immersive exercises which are designed to help us get some experience putting philosophical approaches to living well into practice. The format for doing these will vary—some will be in-class, others daily journaling—and some but not all will involve turning in a brief written reflection.
Unit essays: There will be one written assignment for each unit. These will generally be 3-5 page papers, which will be turned in via the website and Google Docs.
Final paper/project: There will be a final paper/project to be turned in during exam week.
Dialogue sessions: On Fridays, there will be peer-led dialogue sessions. Some of these will be based on material discussed in class during the week and others will involve independent activities. Students are expected to attend and participate in their dialogue section each week.
Attendance and participation: Students are expected to attend all plenary lecture, breakout, and dialogue sessions, and to be ready to participate, particularly in the breakout sections and dialogue sessions. Your professors reserve the right to “cold call” people who have not raised their hands.