Course Catalog

IAS112E - Foundations of Christian Thought (3 credits) 9694

COURSE DESCRIPTION
Foundations of Christian Thought is an introduction to the liberal arts and the integration of faith and learning. The approach of this course is to use the central theme of human nature to introduce the student to basic areas of understanding which under gird the intellectual growth process at Taylor. Topics include world views, ways of knowing, and ethics, with applications made to the modern world. A variety of liberal arts subjects are used in the course including science, social science, and literature.

LEARNING RESULTS
Students who pass IAS112E will be able to:
• demonstrate a knowledge of the Christian world view.
• demonstrate a knowledge of several non-Christian world views.
• describe the major ways of integrating faith and learning used by Christians.
• understand the issues surrounding the nature of human persons.
• understand the benefits of the liberal arts in the pursuit of knowledge.
• think critically about the major tension areas between Christian theism and competing world views.

REQUIRED TEXTS AND MATERIALS
• Mark Cosgrove, Foundations of Christian Thought: Faith, Learning, and the Christian Worldview
• C. S. Lewis, Out of the Silent Planet
• Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
• Albert Camus, The Stranger
• Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha
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Two DVDS are also required for this course. Contact the TUFW Online office to obtain these materials for a $15 fee including shipping and handling.

INTEGRATION OF FAITH AND LEARNING
The integration of faith and learning is readily apparent in this course as this is the very topic under review. This course helps students learn how to think Christianly, and how to integrate their faith into the thinking process.

LEARNING DOCUMENTATION
To determine if the course learning results have been attained, students document their learning by submitting the following items:

LESSON ASSIGNMENTS
There are nineteen lessons to be completed in this course. Some of the lessons utilize chapters in the Sire book. Others involve the reading of the four novels for the course. Some lessons use a taped lecture from Dr. Cosgrove. All the lessons have additional material in the syllabus notebook which should be read carefully. You are to read each lesson’s materials carefully and then do the assignments required for each lesson. Some assignments are to summarize the Sire chapters. Some are reading guide questions and thought questions to be answered for the novels. Some assignments are very short, two-page papers, that seek to get your ideas on the novels. Some assignments are very short, two-page papers that have you explore a newspaper or film for a certain topic. Some short assignments are to be posted on the message board. On this message board you will be able to read and respond to other students taking the course. This is a type of "electronic discussion." I expect the materials you mail in to be typed and double spaced. All of these lesson assignments are intended to help your reading and thinking and enjoyment of the materials, therefore, they are graded pass/fail. You must send them in to be graded, and I will grade them with 85% or better being pass. Any assignment deemed not passing will be returned to you to be redone. The purpose of grading pass/fail is to remove some of the stress of grades so that you might read and study for understanding and enjoyment and not just for a grade. Do not worry about failing these assignments unless you are simply not trying. For some of the questions to be answered on the readings I am not looking for right and wrong answers as much as I want you to express your opinions and ideas and not feel that your grade is at risk. In the world after college we read and study, not for grades, but for knowledge and enjoyment. That is called life-long learning and I wanted to help you develop some of that mentality now.

Major Assignments
One half of your course grade will come from three major project-paper assignments. The topic and requirements for each paper are given at the appropriate place within the lessons. The purpose of these graded assignments is to give you a practical application of some of the material you are reading and being tested on. For example, you will have to have to be reading and writing on the scientific advances made in genetic engineering and cloning.

This goes along with reading Brave New World, where these advances were foretold over sixty years ago. Another assignment involves watching a video of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. This assignment gives you a chance to see what you can learn from film and lets you see a character, Hamlet, who in many ways is the opposite type of person that you see in Camus’ major atheistic existentialist character, who is The Stranger. A third assignment will involve you in Christian apologetics, which is timely, because, as some people look away from science and toward spiritual things for their answers, we need to be able to defend the spiritual answers that we lay claim to.

Exams
There are four exams to be given in the course, one after each section of the course. The first exam, after section 1, is a sample exam (and therefore labeled "Test 0") and does not count toward your grade. The sample exam, which must be taken, and I will grade, will give you a chance to see what my exams are like. Three graded exams then follow the remaining sections of the course. These exams will combine objective (multiple choice) and subjective (short definition and short-answer essay) questions. Unlike the pass/fail assignments, which can be done with all of your materials in front of you, the exams, including the sample exam, must be taken without notes or any other materials. Please review the exam section of the student instructions. Each exam will require less than two hours to complete. You may send in as many lesson assignments at a time as you wish within any section. But you must complete all the section lesson assignments and the major assignment paper before taking the exam. In this way I can see if there are any deficiencies in your understanding of the material before you risk your grade on the exam. You must do the major assignment paper before beginning a new section.

Papers
A short paper follows the reading of each of the novels in the course, and for each of the major assignments. The exact assignment for each paper is given at the appropriate point in each section. In general, each paper is to be typed and double spaced. Each paper will be graded according to the following criteria:

Quality of writing.
This includes correct mechanics of writing as well as the clarity and interest-generating nature of the papers.....25%

Content.
This includes the ideas you have, how well you explain them, and how you make use of information, evidence, and rational argument.....50%

Accomplishment of assignment goals.
Some papers may be well written but fail to do what the assignment asks them to do.....25%

There are 19 lessons, 3 papers and 3 examinations for this course.

LEARNING EVALUATION
Evaluation is on a point system:
Learning Assignments 1-19 pass/fail (must be at least 85%)
Papers 1-3 combined 50 points
Exam 1-3 combined 50 points
Total Points 100

To summarize, your grade for the course depends upon you successfully completing the pass/fail assignments of each lesson, three major papers which are graded (0-100%) and three exams which are graded (0-100%). The three exams and three major papers are given equal weight in the final grade.

Pass/Fail assignments - must be completed at the 85% or better level, but do not count toward the grade.
Exam 1 . . . . . . . . . . . 1/6 of the grade
Exam 2 . . . . . . . . . . . 1/6 of the grade
Exam 3 . . . . . . . . . . . 1/6 of the grade
Major paper 1 . . . . . . 1/6 of the grade
Major paper 2 . . . . . . 1/6 of the grade
Major paper 3 . . . . . . 1/6 of the grade