The Collegiate Seminar addresses literary, philosophical, religious, and historical texts through dialogue and shared inquiry. Accordingly, the required coursework includes close, careful reading and active, collaborative participation in class discussion. Initially, students may feel apprehensive, puzzled, or even overwhelmed by these requirements, as some of these texts are the products of times and cultures quite different from contemporary society. Feeling this way is eminently reasonable. Allowing such feelings to dictate behavior and undermine success in this course is not. Through practice, engagement with other seminar students, and the professor, puzzled reticence yields coherent questions, collaborative insights, and surprising perspectives. As students develop their ability to interpret and engage with even the most difficult texts, they gain confidence in understanding, expression, and collaboration. Please read through all the information on this site.
About this site:
Every semester, as students matriculate into their chosen courses, they are given a syllabus that is meant to guide the course, informing students of the course expectations, the rubric, the outcomes and objectives, and the important dates. Syllabi are valuable documents, and they can hamper a student’s progress if they get lost. This site has been made with these thoughts in mind. I want to help you as much as possible by ensuring you have access to all the available information and tools to help you successfully complete this course. An added benefit to transfer students is that the resources collected here will aid you in becoming more familiar with Saint Mary’s campus and capacities. Often, I find that helping students means providing access. In this case, access is enabled simply by making a phone/tablet-ready website that houses all the important information about the course. This will mean that you will always be able to stay updated on the schedule, readings, and homework messages. This site will be used in addition to SMC’s Canvas learning platform, which will be used to disseminate and collect homework and assignments.