Exported from the Blackboard site for this course, fall 2008.

FSCC 100: FIRST SEMINAR (LIFE OF THE MIND)

Assignments

Under construction and subject to revision. Further information will be added, including additional fourth-hour activities, assignments, deadlines, and events.

Week #
Note
1 Introduction to Cognition, Communication, and Interaction
8/25-8/29 Reading for week 1: Levinson, "On the Human 'Interaction Engine'" (available via Course Documents on Blackboard)

Writing assignment: Due via Blackboard BEFORE class on Friday, 8/29 (see above). Up to 500 words, not for a grade but as a marker for future comparison: a presentation (think of it as a verbal sketch) either of yourself as a writer or of something you think can be accomplished in writing, even if you think you have not yet developed that ability.

Advising assignment: Heads up! Major advising assignment due at the end of next week.

Advising Assignment. Due immediately.
 Go to http://www.case.edu/convocation/ to register for University Convocation. Registration is free but required.

Advising Assignment. Thursday, 8/28, 4:30-6pm, Severance Hall.
Attend the University Convocation. See http://www.case.edu/convocation/.

(Note: there is nothing to submit through Blackboard for this assignment.
2 The Cultural Origins of Human Cognition 1: Biological and Cultural Inheritance Monday is Labor Day
9/1-9/5 Reading for week 2, to be completed by Wednesday: Clear and Simple, part 1. Begin reading Tomasello, The Cultural Origins of Human Cognition.

Writing assignment, due Friday: 250 words, not for a grade but as a beginning and for credit: Present in classic prose (in the sense described in Clear and Simple) some particular act illustrating the human ability to understand another human's behavior in terms of the intentions behind that behavior. The act you use as the basis for this presentation should be a real, specific one that was produced by a particular human being, not an imaginary one, but one that you can actually witness, and that you in fact have witnessed. Submit as a .doc or .docx file, through Blackboard, before class on Friday of Week 2. (If you have trouble uploading your file, try again using a different browser.)

Advising assignment: 3 parts, including a PDF to be submitted through Blackboard. Due BEFORE class on Friday, 9/5

First, browse the materials on the website for first-year students in the Office of Undergraduate Studies at http://www.case.edu/provost/ugstudies/entering1styear.htm. Especially download and study the First-Year Information Guide (FYI Guide). Make sure you are aware of the "Important Dates" on page 106 of the FYI Guide. As an experiment (only an experiment!), complete one of (1) the Arts & Sciences General Education Requirement Form (pages 37-38); (2) the Engineering Core Curriculum Form (pages 63-64); (3) the Nursing General Education Requirement Form (pages 79-80); or (4) the Weatherhead School General Education Requirement Form (pages 85-86). Make certain to include your name and email address on your completed experimental form and submit it through Blackboard.

(Technical note: these are pdf documents. Adobe Acrobat Professional 9.0 for reading and editing pdf forms is free to you at the Case Software Center. Using Adobe Acrobat, you can select the text of these forms and paste it into your word processor, complete the form, and submit it through Blackboard.)

Second: Before week 3 begins, read the webpage on "How To" Policies and Procedures, which covers items such as Drop/Add and Course Repetition.

Third: The Drop/Add Deadline is Friday, September 5: Please log on to the Student Information Service SIS and make sure that each class you are attending appears on your schedule. If you are enrolled in a class that has multiple sections (e.g. ENGR 131, ECON 102, PHYS 121) make sure that you are enrolled in the correct section. If any of you are waiting for permits to enroll in musical ensembles, please make sure that you complete your registration process by September 5. If you have been given an override into a closed class, make sure that you have in fact registered via SIS for that class. REMINDER: First year students can withdraw from a course up until the last day of classes - December 5.
3 The Cultural Origins of Human Cognition 2: Joint Attention and Language Acquisition
9/8-9/12 Reading for week 3, to be completed by Wednesday: (1) Clear and Simple, part 2; (2) chapters 3, 4, and 5 of Tomasello, Cultural Origins; (3) the assignment sheet for your final paper, available through Course Documents as "Final Paper"

Writing assignment, due Friday: 250 words: Present an example of a joint attentional scene, as described in Tomasello. Again, the situation you describe should be a genuine, specific scene that you have witnessed yourself. Be sure to describe the circumstances with precision--what is the setting? who are the participants? what are they attending to? what project(s) are they pursuing as they engage in this joint attending?--and explain what makes this situation an example of true joint attention.
4 The Cultural Origins of Human Cognition 3: Understanding and Sharing Intentions MONDAY: Fourth hour: Library session with Brian Gray (KSL room 215), immediately following class
WEDNESDAY: Lunchtime fourth hour: SAGES plenary. 12:30 -1:45 p.m., in Strosacker Auditorium
9/15-9/19 Reading for week 4: Tomasello et al, "Understanding and Sharing Intentions" (available via Blackboard), remainder of Cultural Origins.

Writing assignment, due Friday: 250 words in classic style on any recognition prompted by your reading of Cultural Origins. Be careful with this assignment: it is the first assignment you have had where we are not limiting the topic so as to help you stay closer to the basic scene of classic style. Before you begin to write, review the principles of classic style and repeat them to yourself. Inhabit the classic role, and work from it. As discussed, while one can improve something that is in classic style by revision, it is usually impossible to revise a piece of nonclassic writing into one that is.

Advising assignments, due Friday:
1. Attend both fourth hour events scheduled for this week (Monday's library session and Wednesday's lunchtime plenary).
2. Review the "Four Phase" Career Plan at http://studentaffairs.case.edu/careers/student/services/plan.html.
3. Create a resume and submit it via Blackboard.
5 Misrepresenting Other Minds
9/22-9/26 Reading for week 5: Three articles (available via Blackboard):
1. Baron-Cohen, Leslie, and Frith: "Does the autistic child have a 'theory of mind'?"
2. Lewis and Osbourne: "Three-year-olds' problems with false belief: conceptual deficit or linguistic artifact?" (Give special attention to the descriptions of previous, related experiments by other researchers)
3. Birch and Bloom: "Understanding Children's and Adults' Limitations in Mental State Reasoning"

Writing assignment: Instead of a writing assignment, come to class on Friday prepared to present, in classic style, the kind of topic you might like to pursue for your 1750 word paper for the class, as a 2 to 3 minute long oral presentation. You may refer to notes as you speak. Before you can begin to prepare your presentation, you must read over the final paper assignment (available under Course Documents) and do some exploratory research. Use CogNet and other library databases as resources.

Advising assignment: Refresh your understanding of Academic Standing Regulations.
6 Using Language 1: Language Use as a Joint Activity MONDAY: Fourth hour: Yohannes Haile-Selassie
9/29-10/3 Reading for week 6: Chapters 1, 2, and 3 of Clark, Using Language

Writing assignment: 250 words in classic style, prompted by something in your reading for this week.

Advising assignment: Become familiar with your Academic Requirements page as listed under your Student Information Service (SIS) account. This is an indispensable tool for you as you proceed through your undergraduate career. If you cannot access your Academic Requirements page, alert us immediately and we will provide a demonstration in class. Check your Academic Requirements page for accuracy for any AP or other credits. If you see a problem, please report it now.
7 Decision Making as a Joint Activity
10/6-10/10 Reading for week 7, available in Course Documents: (1) Axelrod, "The Evolution of Cooperation" (2) Gelman, "Methodology as Ideology"

Writing assignment: Once again, write 250 words in classic style, prompted by something in your reading for this week.

Advising Assignment, DUE WEDNESDAY, 10/8, before class: Study http://studentaffairs.case.edu/careers/student/advanced/. Walk bodily to the Career Center and learn how to establish a credentials file (but do not actually pay the fee to establish one).  Send notice by email to BOTH turner@case.edu and vera.tobin@case.edu that you have learned how to do it.
8 Using Language 2: Communicative Acts WEDNESDAY: Lunchtime fourth hour: SAGES plenary. 12:30 -1:45 p.m., in Strosacker Auditorium
10/13-10/17
 Reading for week 8: Chapters 4, 5, and 6 of Clark

Writing assignment: Practice sustaining the classic style over a longer stretch of prose. Write at least 500 words in classic style on something inspired by your reading in Using Language.

RESEARCH Assignment, due via email: Send an email to BOTH turner@case.edu and vera.tobin@case.edu by Friday night, containing 5 possible sources for investigating your potential major paper topic for the class. Cognet might provide these. Be specific. E.g., Don't list the MIT Encyclopedia of Cognitive Sciences, list a chapter or an article, and in particular a part of the chapte
9
Monday is Fall Break
10/20-10/24 Reading for week 9: No new reading for this week.

Writing assignment: 125 words in classic prose presenting the essence of your final paper, followed by a robust list of references. Format your references in APA style (the color codes in this online guide are, of course, there for your reference, not to be replicated in your own work).
10 Dialogic Meaning FRIDAY: Attend Choices Fair (required Fourth Hour activity)
10/27-10/31 Reading for week 10: Goffman, "Replies and Responses" (available via Course Documents), chapters 7 and 8 of Clark

Writing assignment: 250 words in classic style presenting something inspired by reading you have done for your final paper.
11 How Others See Us
11/3-11/7 Reading for week 11: Gilbert & Malone, "The Correspondence Bias" and Gilovich & Savitsky, "The Spotlight Effect and the Illusion of Transparency" (available via Course Documents)

Advising assignment: Due before class on Friday, Nov. 7. Purely as an experiment, pick a major and study its requirements by using the "What-If Report" function in SIS and on the departmental website for the major. Then prepare a schedule for yourself over 4 years, showing how you might fulfill your GER requirements (review your advising assignment for 5 September) and the requirements for your hypothetical major. Type up this imagined schedule in some reasonably readable way as a Word document and upload it as your submission for this assignment on Blackboard. The point is not at all to choose a major now or to set your schedule in sone, but to acquire a feel for what is involved in choosing some major so that you can think about the question more effectively as you go through your student career. If you have no clue which hypothetical major to pick, no problem, here's the solution: go to http://case.edu/artsci/cogs/major.html and http://case.edu/artsci/cogs/major_requirements.html and run that major as your experiment.

No writing assignment is due this week. Work on the projects for your First Seminar Writing Folder. Remember, the writing folder is to contain
  • one paper of 1750 words, and
  • a 2-page (500 word) presentation of your development as a writer during SAGES First Seminar. This presentation should focus on your understanding of writing as an intellectual activity, your ability to recognize and analyze style, and your ability to adopt a style. The presentation should provide an assessment of your strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities as a writer, and the threats to your development as a writer. This presentation may of course touch upon the history of your ability as a writer before First Seminar and your thoughts and plans for development following First Seminar.
12 Making Sense in a Shared Environment
11/10-11/14 Reading for week 12: Goodwin, "Professional Vision," and Hutchins, "Material Anchors for Conceptual Blends." (available via Course Documents)

Writing assignment: Continue working on your final project.
13 Understanding and Sharing Emotions
11/17-11/21 Reading for week 13: Iacoboni, Gallese
14 Student Presentations Friday is Thanksgiving Break
11/24-11/28
15 Student Presentations
12/1-12/5 Writing assignment: Your First Seminar writing folder is due BEFORE class on Friday, 12/5.