IPM 542
Cosmology and Western Civilization
INSTRUCTOR:
Lawrence L. Edwards, Ph. D, Jean L. Edwards, M.A.
REQUIRED TEXTS:
Swimme,
Brian, and Berry, Thomas. The Universe Story, Harper San
Francisco, 1994.
Swimme, Brian. The Universe is a Green Dragon, Bear & Co.,
1988.
Berry, Thomas. The Dream of the Earth, Sierra Books, 1988.
Berry, Thomas. The Great Work, Bell Tower, 1999.
Quinn, Daniel. Ishmael,
Bantam, 1995.
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This course will cover the history of the Universe from its initial
flaring forth almost fourteen billion years ago, through the
emergence and evolution of Earth life, and the evolution of human
self-reflective awareness. Implicit in this story is a vision of an
emerging era of Earth as sacred community. Central to this
exploration will be the consideration of an extended personal and
cultural identity, simultaneously part of and integral with the
whole Earth.
INSTRUCTIONAL TECHNIQUES:
Interactive lectures, small group work, personal journal reflections
on topics, student presentations, and other dialogical educational
practices will form the core instructional mode of
teaching-learning.
By the start of class, Monday, January 30, 2006, four of the five
assigned texts will be read. The fifth text, The Great Work,
will be read after the class meetings.
An
8-10 page (double spaced) paper is due on that Monday, January 30.
The paper is a reflection on the assigned texts.
The
class meetings will be from January 30 through February 3 from
A
final 8-10 page (double spaced) paper will be due by April 1st. This
paper will be an answer to the question, “How has Story affected my
life as an educator?”
STUDENT GOALS:
An
understanding of:
- The power of cultural stories;
- The elegance and intimacy of the evolutionary process;
- The fundamental and necessary integrity of the current functioning
of Earth.
- The importance for educators to present these processes to their
students.
STUDENT
OUTCOMES:
Upon completion of this course, the student will able to:
-
Appreciate the sacredness of the process that led to the present;
- More easily participate in the great turning of our culture from a
mechanistic to an ecological worldview.
- Collect and examine how cultural, social, and educational
paradigms influence one's personal relationships to Earth.
- Relate to Earth literacy as a teaching/learning process and
apply/integrate these concepts in their respective disciplines
- Create opportunities within their teaching environment to explore
an ecological worldview.
SCHEDULE
OF ACTIVITIES AND ASSIGNMENTS:
(see
Instructional Techniques above)
GRADING:
The
grading will be based on class participation during the days
together and on the two papers.
EXPECTATIONS:
Students will be present through the four immersion class
days. Students will participate in small group work within the
class and on planned field trips.
SUPPLEMENTAL READING LIST:
Swimme, Brian. The Hidden Heart of the Cosmos, Orbis, 1999.
Goodenough, Ursula. The Sacred Depths of Nature, Oxford University,
1998.
Richard
Dawkins. The Ancestor's Tale, Houghton, Mifflin Co., 2004.
Diamond, Jared, Collapse, Viking, 2005.
Diamond, Jared. Guns, Germs, and Steel, W W Norton & Co., 1997.
