Raymond J. Schneider

219 McKinney Phone: 828-5623 Email: rschneid@bridgewater.edu

Course Overview:

An Introduction to the Liberal Arts

The phrase “liberal arts” designates the type of education we seek to offer here at Bridgewater College. Educating students in the liberal arts tradition means, on a basic level, giving them the broad skills and knowledge one acquires from study in such areas as literature, history, philosophy, and the arts, as opposed to the more specialized and technical education one would receive in professional and vocational training programs. But on a deeper level, acquiring a liberal arts education refers to the development of a certain habit of mind, an ability (and a desire) to question, to examine, and to understand issues and ideas with increasing clarity and depth. Whether the subject under discussion is political science or the development of western music, students at a liberal arts college learn to go beyond simple acquisition of information and instead embrace a process that involves measuring any new information against their own growing store of knowledge as well as their own individual experiences, a willingness to go beyond the comfortable processes of memory and simple recall into the less certain realms of analysis and synthesis. The process we call reflection, and it is a process is at the very heart of a liberal arts education.

The process of reflection can be applied to anything one cares to examine and understand...a text read for a class, a difficult personal experience, a piece of music or art, a laboratory experiment, a service learning experience, or even a simple encounter or casual conversation. The process involves various stages or steps, which will be elaborated on and practiced more and more as the course unfolds, and as the four years unfold, until the process becomes second nature and the habit of examination becomes so thoroughly internalized that it becomes not only the basis of a liberal arts education, but more importantly, it becomes essential to who we are as people. This is part of what we mean when we speak of educating the whole person—helping students acquire these transformative skills and apply them to their lives as a whole.

The Process of Reflection

In their coursework over the four years, students will be asked to reflect on a great variety of things: perhaps a satiric novel in an English course, or an essay of social criticism in a Sociology course, or a piece of music in a Music course, or a work of art in an Art course, or an historical event in a History course, and so forth. The list is really endless, but the process is the same and involves five key steps or phases. The first phase, which we call the “explanation and exploration” phase, involves identifying what is to be examined and measuring it by our own prior knowledge and experience. This phase also involves a careful and honest critical examination of our assumptions and attitudes that might affect understanding while, at the same time, remaining open and willing for those assumptions to be challenged. The second phase involves developing what in some disciplines would be called a hypothesis or in others an organizing statement or in still others a thesis or conjecture. No matter what it may be called, the task is to imagine some original way to understand what is being examined, some organizing idea through which further thinking can be structured and understood. Once that is accomplished, the third phase is to engage in a detailed analysis of the material, using our conjecture or organizing statement as a starting point and guide. Then, finally, comes the fifth and last phase, which we call the “synthesis phase” or the “re-examination phase” in which we examine the implications of our analysis and then judge the strength of our conjectures based on that analysis.

Practicing Reflection—Classroom Activities in PDP 150

One of the major goals of PDP 150 is to teach the fundamentals of the process of reflection. To that end, there will be material assigned throughout the term that students will be encouraged to reflect on and discuss, sometimes in classroom conversations and sometimes in writing. These assigned materials can take a great variety of forms. It could be an essay in a journal, a novel, an article in a magazine or newspaper, a film, an academic text, or even a song lyric. But whatever the instructor assigns should be seen as prompts for reflection, as exercises designed to help students practice their skills at reflection. In fact, one of the ideas behind this course is that the only way to develop the habit of critical reflection is to practice, practice, practice. Students may be asked to keep a journal of their responses to the readings, or asked to focus on one step or the other in the process in a written exercise or a classroom activity, or they may be asked to write an essay on a single topic that demonstrates the entire process of reflection. Whatever the particular material examined or assignment created, the goal is to develop and practice thoughtful exploration, analysis, and synthesis...the goal is to become better critical and reflective thinkers.

The Personal Development Reflective Essay

All of this practicing also helps prepare students for the cumulative task of writing their first personal development reflective essay, which is the substantive written requirement for PDP 150, and ultimately for the PDP program as a whole. The reflective essay will become the primary component of the senior portfolio a few years from now, but the process begins here in PDP 150 as students learn to apply their new reflective skills in developing of an effective portfolio. The reflective essay provides the opportunity to describe and document one’s growth as a person during this time in a student’s life, and the key to understanding the task is to emphasize the term “reflective.” In PDP 150, students learn that reflection can sometimes be confused with words such as “reaction” or “response.” Through the many reflective exercises in PDP 150, students learn that to document their reactions or responses to experiences would be to merely document how they feel about them or to describe the emotional or practical impact the experience had on them; whereas reflection is something more than this. To reflect on experiences is really to engage in an intellectual activity whereby students review in detail what they know (what they’ve read, or learned, or observed, or felt, or experienced) and then draw some conclusions about the experience’s significance in relation to the context of their lives as a whole.

The personal reflective essay assignment isn’t something radically different from the other classroom assignments of the course, but in this assignment the focus of the reflection is the student’s own development. However, earlier assignments should help in a direct way in that when students discuss their intellectual development and discovery, they will probably include readings or films or discussions from either their PDP 150 class (or perhaps their History or Sociology class) that especially provoked their thinking. Or, perhaps they will recall some reading or film or discussion from their English or Religion class that made them challenge their ethical assumptions, or some discussion from their Political Science or Economics class that helped them understand their relationship to the community in a different way. All experiences at college, both in the classroom and outside the classroom are fair game for exploration as students document their growth and development in the context of the personal reflective essay.

The Four Dimensions of PDP

To help insure that students’ reflection is as thorough as possible, and to encourage development of the whole person, one of the requirements for the personal development reflective essay is that it cover four distinctive areas, or dimensions, of students’ lives. These dimensions are 1) intellectual growth and discovery (Mind); 2) emotional maturation and physical health (Body); 3) ethical and spiritual growth (Spirit); and 4) citizenship and community responsibility (Community). Each of these areas should be explored and documented in the personal development reflective essay, and each of these areas should be examined using the reflective skills practiced in the classroom activities of PDP 150. Think of these dimensions as the measure of the reflective essay’s breadth, that is does it stretch to include all aspects of the student’s life? Reflection, using the same metaphor, represents the essay’s depth, that is does it go deeper and deeper into the meaning and significance of the experiences it describes? Together, the inclusion of four dimensions and the process of reflection work together to give the personal development reflective essay its defining shape and quality.

Overview of the PDP Program

During the freshman year, then, the emphasis is on introducing the fundamental concepts of the liberal arts, the basic components of the PDP program as a whole, and the necessary skills needed for serious reflective thinking. As the program continues during students’ sophomore and junior years, the emphasis changes as the program evolves. During the sophomore year, the emphasis is on the concept of integration, that is learning to integrate the various aspects of one’s education and experience. During the junior year, the emphasis is on planning for the future and goal setting. Also along the way, students include substantive reflection on their service learning experiences. By the time students’ reach the senior year, where the emphasis is on overall synthesis, the goal is that serious reflection has become second nature and that the senior portfolio has matured into a powerful and meaningful record of growth and development of the whole person.

Course Objectives:

The course has three major objectives, which are listed below, along with a brief description of each.

1. To introduce students to the liberal arts.

Students will explore the purposes, goals, and values of a liberal arts education. The phrase “liberal arts” designates the type of education we seek to offer here at Bridgewater College. Educating students in the liberal arts tradition means, on a basic level, giving them the broad skills and knowledge one acquires from study in such areas as literature, history, philosophy, and the arts, as opposed to the more specialized and technical education one would receive in professional and vocational training programs. But on a deeper level, acquiring a liberal arts education refers to the development of a certain habit of mind, an ability (and a desire) to question, to examine, and to understand issues and ideas with increasing clarity and depth.

2. To develop students’ skills in critical reflection.

To that end, there will be material assigned throughout the term that students will reflect upon, sometimes in writing and sometimes in class discussion. Critical reflection involves the practice of liberal learning: being open to new ideas, evaluating ideas in the light of experience and our preconceived values and ideas, and exploring the implications of the conclusions we come to for ourselves and our society.

3. To begin the student’s personal development reflective essay, the central component of the personal development portfolio.

The reflective essay will become the primary component of the senior portfolio a few years from now, but the process begins here in PDP 150 as students learn to apply their new reflective skills in developing of an effective portfolio. The reflective essay provides the opportunity to describe and document one’s growth as a person in the four dimensions of personal development during this time in a student’s life.

Course Requirements:

Students will be expected to read all assigned material completely and on time, participate fully in classroom activities and discussions, produce a reflective journal that will include at least six reflective writing exercises, and produce a draft and final version of the personal development reflective essay. Students will also be expected to complete at least five hours of public service during the term.

Grading:

Students will receive up to 200 points (20%) for class attendance and participation. The reflective journal will receive 200 points (20%), and the personal development essay will receive 500 points (50%). Students will also receive 100 points (10%) for completing their public service hours. Please note that while I will always be willing to discuss individual student performance on an assignment, I will not negotiate grades. The grade a student receives for any specific assignment is final.

Academic Honesty:

Any fraudulent use of material or any attempts to deliberately mislead the instructor as to the authenticity of the student’s work will result in a serious reduction of the student’s grade, possible grounds for failure of the course as a whole, and even grounds for dismissal from Bridgewater College. [See your Student Handbook for more information].

A Note on Absences:

Class attendance is mandatory. If students must miss a day, they should notify me in advance, although notification does not constitute excused status. Be aware that missing class six times during the semester, no matter how valid the reason(s), will result in an F grade for attendance and participation. Any absences after six will cause failure in the course.

Texts:

1. Roger von Oech, A Whack on the Side of the Head

2. Richard Feynman, The Meaning of it All (see 2003 syllabus)

3. Robert DiYanni, Fifty Great Essays, 2^nd edition (ABLongman)

4. C. S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters

5. G. K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy