First Year Seminar Fall 2002

ZINT 101-35

“Not Your (typical) Course” (NYC)

Anne & Patrick Chang

Updated: December 2, 2002

Home phone: (201) 818-8578 Pat’s office: (201) 684-7591

Anne’s e-mail: achang@ramapo.edu Pat’s e-mail: pchang@ramapo.edu

Office hours by appointment.

The international cultural and commerce center of the world is 28 miles east of Ramapo College: New York City. If you are coming to college not merely to accumulate a collection of credits, but to become a truly educated citizen of the world, then this course is a good start! We'll be regularly in Manhattan to visit Ramapo faculty and staff in their lives as ethnomusicologists, writers, scientists, international advocates, professionals in theater arts, and residents of "The Big Apple." Potential activities might include trips to museums and avant garde plays, adventurous dining, exploration of neighborhoods, and analyses of city architecture culminating in a rigorous but creative academic project that will forge an individual connection between you and New York.

Caveats:

-- Although efforts will be made to keep student costs down, you should expect to incur some extra expense with this course, for ex., some transportation, food.

-- If you're looking to do "classic" NYC tourist activities like big Broadway shows or visiting The Hard Rock Cafe, this is not the course for you.

-- Since our class does not meet at regular intervals, you need to pay close attention to our schedule of class times. We will hold you responsible for being in the right place at the right time.

-- We hope to make this class an enjoyable and engaging experience, but make no mistake: you will be doing a lot of work. Do not judge the difficulty of this class by the first walking tour held during orientation. Your research and writing skills will be challenged in this class, and there will be a good amount of work required outside of our class time.

Course Policies

Attendance: Because of the unusual nature of our class schedule (we meet for longer sessions, but less days) attendance is paramount. So much will be covered each time we meet and we expect you to be at each and every class. Extenuating circumstances should be discussed with the instructors ahead of time.

Grading: Your final course grade will be determined by the following:

25% Attendance & Participation

20% Midterm Project

30% Final Project

25% Short Assignments

Assignments: Assignments are due at the beginning of class time on the date required. No late assignments will be accepted without prior approval from the instructors. In other words, unless you have arranged with us ahead of time for another due date, any assignment turned in after the due date will be an “F.” There will be no extra credit opportunities for you to “make up” an assignment.

All written assignments must be typed, double spaced, stapled, and have a cover page. The cover page must include your social security number, the date the assignment is due, the course and section number, and some sort of title for the assignment. If you hand in an assignment not in the correct format, we will not accept that assignment and it will be an “F.”

All references and citations must be done in MLA (Modern Language Association) format. You should consult an MLA style manual for proper format requirements for a given citation.

You will be graded on spelling, grammar, word usage, etc. as well as content.

There will be assignments given throughout the semester, usually specifically pertaining to the various topics and areas of Manhattan that will be covered at that time in the course. In addition to these smaller assignments, there will be two quite substantial projects required. You will be given specific details during the second classroom session, but so that you can plan your semester, here are the basics about the two projects.

The midterm project, due Saturday, October 26, will require you to read a work of fiction (of your own choosing) set in Manhattan at any time period (for ex., Ragtime , The Alienist, The Catcher In The Rye, etc.), choose a chapter involving a specific section of Manhattan, walk through that neighborhood, and analyze it in relation to what you read. This paper should be approximately 5-7 pages in length and include citations.

The final project, due Wednesday, December 4, will require you to research an area of Manhattan not covered in our class and write a 10-15 page “chapter” of “The Not Your (typical) Course’s Not Your Typical Guide to Manhattan.” This will involve you doing extensive research incorporating several fields of study (for ex., history, architecture, political science, arts and entertainment, sports, etc.).

Service Learning: In lieu of the midterm and final projects, you may elect to do an approved service learning experience. This option, coordinated by The Cahill Center For Experiential Learning and Career Planning, will be explained in detail during our first classroom session.

Note: If you fail First Year Seminar, you cannot retake this course.

Books:

An MLA style manual.

Feirstein, Sanna. Naming New York: Manhattan Places and How They Got Their

Names. New York: New York University Press, 2001.

Murphy, Bruce and Alessandra de Rosa. New York City for Dummies. New York:

Hungry Minds, Inc., 2001.

The New York Times Company. The New York Times Guide to New York City 2002.

New York: The New York Times, 2002.

Class Schedule

Tuesday, September 3, 10 a.m. – 9 p.m. Walking Tour of Lower Manhattan (South Street to Times Square)

Saturday, September 7, noon – 1:15 p.m., H203, Syllabus Review and Service Learning

with Guest Presenter Karen Booth

Saturday, September 14, noon – 1:15 p.m., H203, Web CT and Project Descriptions

Wednesday, September 18, 2 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. SC137-138, “Alcohol & Substance

Abuse”

Saturday, September 21, noon – 8 p.m., Visitor’s Circle (to NYC) The Land of the 12 Inch Single-the Underground Music Scene Guest Presenter: Professor Kai Fikentscher

Saturday, October 5, noon – 8 p.m., Visitor’s Circle (to NYC) Research Skills at the New York Historical Society and American Museum of Natural History Guest Presenter: Professor Eddie Saiff

Wednesday, October 9, 2 p.m. – 4:30 p.m., The Trustee’s Pavilion, “Sexual Assault”

Saturday, October 19, noon – 8 p.m., Visitor’s Circle (to NYC) Walking Tour of Upper Manhattan (Times Square to Columbia University)

Saturday, October 26, noon – 8 p.m. (to NYC) The United Nations, Grand Central Terminal and a Midtown Scavenger Hunt Guest Presenter: Vivian Nilsson MIDTERM PROJECT DUE

Wednesday, October 30, 2 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. The Trustee’s Pavilion, “Diversity”

Saturday, November 9, noon – 8 p.m., (to NYC) Writers and Musician’s Haunts in the Village Guest Presenter: Professor Al Romano

Wednesday, November 13, 2 p.m. – 3:30 p.m., The Trustee’s Pavilion, “Personality

Type and Career Choices, 3:45 p.m. – 4:30 p.m., The Trustee’s Pavilion, “Choosing a Major”

Saturday, November 23, noon – 8 p.m., (to NYC) Demystifying Upper Manhattan Guest Presenter: Dean Steven Perry

Wednesday, December 4, 2 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. SC137-138, “Every Body: Stress

Management and Nutrition” FINAL PROJECT DUE

Saturday, December 7. 11 a.m.-8 p.m.., (Bus to NYC) Circle Line Tour of Manhattan, Final Class

Important Dates (The following are important dates for you to be aware of, and, although we will not take attendance at these events, they would be to your benefit to attend.)

Sunday, September 8, 8 p.m., to be announced, Class Council Meeting

Wednesday, September 11, all day, September 11 Commemoration Events

Thursday, September 12 and Friday, September 13, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m., Student Center

Atrium Class Council Elections

Friday, September 13, 8 p.m., Berrie Center, Richard Shindell In Concert

Saturday, September 14, 7 p.m., The Trustee’s Pavilion, President’s Dinner (you must

RSVP at Roadrunner Central)

Saturday, September 14, 10 p.m., Berrie Center, MOUNTAINTOP DANCE PARTY

Wednesday, September 18, 4 p.m., Gym, Academic Convocation with guest speaker

Julian Bond

Friday, September 27, 2 p.m., Berrie Center, Victoria Williams In Concert

Practical Travel Matters

We want you to become savvy New Yorkers, to that end, we will provide bus transportation into NYC for the first four trips. After that, we will reimburse you up to a set amount for your cost of getting into NYC on your own, and meeting us at a predetermined location in Manhattan (note on the class schedule when we will be gathering at the Visitor’s Circle, and when we will not).

For bus trips, departures will be promptly at noon. If you fail to catch the bus, it is your responsibility to meet us at our destination, or you will be considered absent. You should be certain to eat brunch before departing, as only dinner will be provided in the city. If, for some reason, you are unable to continue on during one of our city visits, it will be your responsibility to get back to campus on your own. ALWAYS bring extra money for purchasing water, snacks, or other incidentals you might need while in NYC. Unfortunately, because of budgetary constraints and also because this is a course like any other college course, we cannot accommodate guests not enrolled in the course.

Please realize that whenever you are off-campus, you are representing Ramapo College. We expect you to maintain high standards of decorum at all times. This includes consideration and respect for all of our guest presenters, current Ramapo faculty/staff or not – in other words, we do not expect to see you listening to your CD during a tour/presentation/guided walk.