Essay Assignment
Essay 1
Length: 750 words.
Knowledge Systems
Minimum 750 words, 12-point Times New Roman Font GUIDELINES
? Use close reading techniques in your answer. You'll need to follow the process and methods for close reading techniques as we worked on these specific methods extensively in the last four weeks of classes. Without following those specific processes to write your essay-the approaches and terminology I created with you in class and the critical thinking that emerged in those classes-you'll be unable to meet the objectives of the assignment/essay. You will not find those methods, the terminology that I created for analysis, or that thinking more generally outside of this class. You need to have been in class to ensure your success here.
? Your essay should have a title ("Essay 1," "Midterm," Or "Question 1" will not serve as a title) that you create/construct out of the key idea you are pursuing. We can talk more about this in class if you want/need to, but your essay title should be brief but indicative of what key idea or ideas your readers will expect to follow/find in your work.
? Essays need to be free of misspelling, grammatical errors, sentence structure issues, as well as be developed into paragraphs (no one or two sentence paragraphs-your goal should be to work in paragraph units of 5-8 well-developed sentences). All ideas in your paragraphing should be working toward supporting a main idea or thesis.
INSTRUCTIONS: WORKS TO CHOOSE
Choose two of the following readings we've read and discussed in class (if you wish, you can refer to a third reading in this group, but you will still need to include one additional reading from among Klein, Kurzweil, or Simonton below):
? David Hume, "Part 3," Dialogues
? John Locke, "State of Nature" & "Purposes of Political Society"
? Karen Barbour, "Embodied Ways of Knowing"
? Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi "The Anatomy of Consciousness"
? Jeremy Rifkin, "Empathic Civilization"
? Christakis, "Hidden Influence of Social Networks"
Choose one of the following:
? Melanie Klein, "Notes on Some Schizoid Mechanisms"
? Ray Kurzweil, "Hybrid Thinking"
? Simonton, "Science of Genius"
Choose question (1.) or (2.) below-DO NOT attempt to answer both questions!
The questions below require the reading, analysis and writing techniques we've been working on in class-to compare works and orient class discussions-in order to work through the complexity of these readings. Without applying the techniques we've worked on, focused on, in class in the latter part of the semester, you will not be able to meet the guidelines of the assignment.
1. Based on previous knowledge systems-the beginnings of our own, western knowledge, empirically-based epistemological systems, and our more recent arrival to the concepts of "embodied," "situated," "hidden impacts of social networks" or influence on the self and/or "flow" states of consciousness-how would you say that our own current knowledge systems are structured? How do these structures reveal their own/our own limitations in the ability to support claims that come from our own epistemological systems?
2. What components of knowledge systems would you combine to move the world, or yourself, to a "new" configuration for, a new way of seeing, knowledge? How would your system attempt to address the limitations that seem to get structured into our ways of knowing? (for example, we seem to emphasize empirical ways of knowing over other ways; we privilege epistemological systems for stating how we know what we know over ontological systems for articulating and understanding our own reality; the foundation of our knowledge systems is almost exclusively "experience," sensory data, empirical evidence, etc., rather than other combinations for originating knowledge).
Another way to approach this question: knowledge systems can exclude particular social groups from participating directly in the design, production, and dissemination of knowledge. How might your identification of limitations of current knowledge systems and your system address some of these kinds of limitations?
Essay 2
Length: 300 words +/- Hansen Dam, California, USA
Hansen Dam
Field Trip Prompt
Capture three images (drawing, sketching, or photographs) that allow you to create an exploration of multiple viewpoints of a cultural, economic, environmental or political dimension, or dimensions, of Hansen Dam. In this way, you're using Hansen Dam to test out some of the theories of Schmookler's Parable of the Tribes: in particular, what is the relation between "progress" as Schmookler describes this in the in-class excerpt, and what has happened across the history of the region of Hansen Dam? Does the shifting notion of progress, in your opinion, appear in the terrain of Hansen Dam?. Does Schmookler's idea of human "progress" emerge in your reading of Hansen Dam? As Schmookler notes, "the idea of progress has relied...on a lack of a clear vision of the distant past..."
We have multiple framings that express our knowledge systems as well as our values embedded in knowledge systems, without thinking consciously about those values or pre-organized meaning structures that form our knowledge of a place and time. Using these multiple framings as a critical thinking device can also create multiple perspectives on a site-for example, working this way on what you see at Hansen Dam can help you unearth the history and present tensions embedded in this region of Los Angeles, and the method of close observation to create multiple perspectives can work in any region across the globe.
Prompt:
1. Capture and then, use, at least three images to attempt to articulate the multiple perspectives that interest or intrigue you.
2. Write three short (minimum 100 words each) narrative explorations that tease out the elements of the images you want to foreground (that you would want other people to note or actually see in the images). Focus by using Schmookler's ideas-or even a single idea-from the excerpt that you want to use Hansen Dam as a field site to explore.
Format your assignment according to the following formatting requirements:
1. The answer should be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides.
2. The response also includes a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student's name, the course title, and the date. The cover page is not included in the required page length.
3. Also include a reference page. The Citations and references should follow APA format. The reference page is not included in the required page length.