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    Syllabus - Big Ideas, Great Thinkers - Harvard 2016 PDF

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    Mitch
    This document provides information about a summer course at Harvard University titled "Big Ideas, Great Thinkers" taught by Professor Thomas Ponniah. The course will take a historical look at influential philosophical and literary traditions from ancient Greece, China, and India. Students will examine original writings that address questions about social and political organization, humanity's place in the universe, and how to live one's life. Readings will include works by Plato, Aristotle, Confucius, Lao Tzu, and the Buddha. The course will be discussion-based and include student presentations and two essays. Assignments, policies, and a class outline are provided.

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    Syllabus - Big Ideas, Great Thinkers - Harvard 2016 PDF

    Uploaded by

    Mitch
    241 views3 pages
    This document provides information about a summer course at Harvard University titled "Big Ideas, Great Thinkers" taught by Professor Thomas Ponniah. The course will take a historical look at influential philosophical and literary traditions from ancient Greece, China, and India. Students will examine original writings that address questions about social and political organization, humanity's place in the universe, and how to live one's life. Readings will include works by Plato, Aristotle, Confucius, Lao Tzu, and the Buddha. The course will be discussion-based and include student presentations and two essays. Assignments, policies, and a class outline are provided.

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    This document provides information about a summer course at Harvard University titled "Big Ideas, Great Thinkers" taught by Professor Thomas Ponniah. The course will take a historical look at influential philosophical and literary traditions from ancient Greece, China, and India. Students will examine original writings that address questions about social and political organization, humanity's place in the universe, and how to live one's life. Readings will include works by Plato, Aristotle, Confucius, Lao Tzu, and the Buddha. The course will be discussion-based and include student presentations and two essays. Assignments, policies, and a class outline are provided.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    241 views3 pages

    Syllabus - Big Ideas, Great Thinkers - Harvard 2016 PDF

    Uploaded by

    Mitch
    This document provides information about a summer course at Harvard University titled "Big Ideas, Great Thinkers" taught by Professor Thomas Ponniah. The course will take a historical look at influential philosophical and literary traditions from ancient Greece, China, and India. Students will examine original writings that address questions about social and political organization, humanity's place in the universe, and how to live one's life. Readings will include works by Plato, Aristotle, Confucius, Lao Tzu, and the Buddha. The course will be discussion-based and include student presentations and two essays. Assignments, policies, and a class outline are provided.

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    DRAFT - NOT FOR CLASS USE

    Harvard University Summer School 2016


    Course: “Big Ideas, Great Thinkers”
    Professor: Thomas Ponniah
    Course Email: Thomas.Ponniah2@gmail.com
    Office Hours: TBA

    Course Description
    Great thinkers have existed around the world and across time. Their ideas have been an integral
    part of social, economic, cultural and political life. Their philosophical and literary contribution
    has not simply been the isolated speculation of a few remarkable individuals but has extended
    much further: they have shaped their communities historically and continue to form our
    contemporary global society and culture. This course takes a cross-cultural historical look at
    some of the most influential philosophical and literary traditions: the ancient Greek, Chinese
    and Indian. In each tradition the course will examine various original writings on the following
    questions: How should we organize our social, economic, cultural and political life? What is the
    place of humans in the grand, cosmological, scheme of things? And how should one live one’s
    life? Some of the writings that we will review to answer the above questions are those of Plato,
    Aristotle, Sappho, Herodotus, Confucius, Lao Tzu, Chuang Tzu, Sun Tzu, the Brahmannical
    tradition and the Buddha.

    Required Text
    The Norton Anthology of World Literature: Volume A, 3rd Edition. (W.W. Norton & Company, New
    York: 2012. General Editor: Martin Puchner, Byron and Anita Wien Professor of Drama and of
    English and Comparative Literature. We will also use online resources as indicated below.

    Pedagogy
    My teaching style emphasizes a student-centered participatory approach. I will come to class
    with a series of questions related to the readings to facilitate a substantial discussion. I will open
    the class with a brief presentation that explains context and key terms. The course goal is to
    enable each student to articulate their own interpretations of the great texts. I will provide office
    hours after every class to ensure that students can regularly check in.

    Evaluation System
    Reading Assignments & 10%
    Participation/Attendance 10%
    Presentations 10%
    Essay I 35%
    Essay II 35%
    Total 100%

    Reading Assignments (250-500 words)


    Write a 250 word summary of each reading. The summary should answer the following: “what
    were the three-five key ideas in the reading?” Students should include three to five citations for
    every 250 words in the summary. Email a digital copy of your assignment to
    (Thomas.Ponniah2@gmail.com). You must email each assignment on the morning (before
    830am) that we discuss the reading.

    Group Presentations

    Ponniah: “Big Ideas, Great Thinkers” Harvard University


    Presentations consist of a memorized, 5 minute presentation summarizing the key ideas in the
    class reading.

    Essays
    Students are required to submit two essays (1500-2000 words each). Each essay should be
    submitted via email and as a paper copy. The essay should have a cover page that includes the
    student’s name, email address and ID number. The essay should have a table of contents
    indicating page numbers of the major sections. The citations and bibliography should be
    completed via the information found in the Harvard Guide for Using Sources (see below).

    Academic integrity and other course policies


    Course policies on absence, behavioral expectations, and academic integrity can be found in the
    HSS Student Handbook or website.
    See: http://www.summer.harvard.edu/policies/student-responsibilities.
    For citations and bibliography please see the Harvard Guide to Using Sources, which is
    available at http://usingsources.fas.harvard.edu.

    Accessibility issues
    Students with accessibility issues should get in touch with the Accessibility Services office at
    Accessibility@dcemail.harvard.edu or 617-998-9640.

    Class Outline
    1. Introduction to Mediterranean and Near Eastern Literature and Philosophy (Norton
    Anthology p. 3-22)

    2. Introduction to Plato Phaedrus (Norton Anthology 1143-1148)


    Plato The Apology (http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/apology.html)
    Weekly Reading Assignments Begin/Group Presentations Begin

    3. Plato, The Symposium (Norton Anthology 863-908)


    Sappho, (Norton Anthology 635-643)

    4. Introduction to Aristotle “Poetics” (Norton Anthology p.1149-1153) and


    Sophocles, Antigone (Norton Anthology p. 747-782)

    5. Aristophanes “Lysistrata” (Norton Anthology p. 823-862)

    6. Aristotle, “Politics” (Books I and II) http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/politics.html

    7. Conceptions of History:
    Herodotus, Histories (Norton Anthology p.919-925)
    Thucydides, The Peloponnesian War – “Pericles Funeral Oration” see Second Book,
    Chapter VI.
    http://classics.mit.edu/Thucydides/pelopwar.mb.txt
    Sima Qian (Norton Anthology p. 1398-1416)
    Essay I Due

    8. Introduction to Ancient Chinese Thought (Norton Anthology p. 1311-1319)


    Confucius, The Analects (Norton Anthology p. 1330-1343)

    9. Basic Concepts of Taoism Part 1 (Norton Anthology p.1344-1346)


    Lao Tzu, The Tao Te Ching (Norton Anthology: 1347-1354)
    Ponniah: “Big Ideas, Great Thinkers” Harvard University
    10. Basic Concepts of Taoism (Norton Anthology p. 1374-1376)
    Zhuangzi Zhuangzi (Norton Anthology: p. 1374-1397)

    11. Introduction to Sun Tzu, The Art of War http://classics.mit.edu/Tzu/artwar.html

    12. Basic Concepts of the Indian Brahmannical Tradition (Norton Anthology p.1161-1170)
    The Mahabharata (Norton Anthology: p. 1234-1281)

    13. Introduction and Krishna Dvaipayana The Bhagavad-Gita (Norton Anthology: p.1282-1300)
    Essay II Due

    14. Basic Concepts of Buddhism, Sayings of Siddhartha –Gautama Buddha The Jataka (Norton
    Anthology: p. 1301-1310)

    Ponniah: “Big Ideas, Great Thinkers” Harvard University

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