Formal Course Description

Course Description

     The Arabic philosophical tradition played an important role in the formation of theological, philosophical and scientific thought in medieval Europe subsequent to the translations from Arabic into Latin in the 12th and 13th centuries. The influence of that Arabic classical rationalist tradition in works by al-Farabi, Avicenna, Averroes and the Liber de causis is evident in the thought of Thomas Aquinas, though the breadth and depth of that influence is often insufficiently noted and explained by scholars of Aquinas.

     This course will focus on the metaphysics, epistemology and psychology of Aquinas in the development of his philosophical conceptions of soul and intellect in the context of his use of sources in Aristotle and works by philosophers of the Arabic tradition, particularly Avicenna and Averroes. Readings will be selected from writings from each of the four major periods of his career starting with his first major work, the Commentary on the Sentences.

     The course is being planned to be taught at Marquette, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and the Universidad Panamericana as a hybrid course. That is, it will be taught using online tools and resources and also in the classroom with face-to-face meetings once per week. And it will be taught at Marquette, KU Leuven and the Universidad Panamericana simultaneously. On Thursdays students will meet online with video and audio for questions and discussion with Profs. Taylor, Robiglio and López-Farjeat and the student groups in Milwaukee, Leuven and Mexico City live.

We will make extensive use of the Marquette University D2L system which is similar to UP’s Moodle and KUL’s Toledo systems. All students will be enrolled in D2L and must use that system.

GENERAL REQUIREMENTS

(A)  Each week one video of ca. 60 min. or two video lectures of ca. 25-30 min. on the assigned material will be provided to students who are required to study these and the assigned readings. Students are also required to participate in on-line discussions on D2L.

Classes will meet “live” Thursdays at 9:30-10:30 Mexico City, Milwaukee / 16h30-17h30 Leuven, but students should arrive 15 min. beforehand for local pre-discussion briefing before the “live” video discussion and plan to stay for 15 min after the discussion for local post-discussion debriefing. Class attendance is required, not optional.

(B) Teamwork at classes MU: 4, 5, 6;  UP: 7, 8, 9; KUL: 11, 12, 14.

Students at each location will be gathered into one of three groups for collaborative teamwork involving (i) the guidance of on-line discussions of the assigned videos and readings Thursday afternoon until Monday at midnight, and (ii) posting on D2L a three-page single spaced summary of the key teachings discussed on the video and in the readings, plus at least three (3) questions from the online discussion. Regarding (ii) note this: this must be sent to Prof. Taylor (Richard.Taylor@Marquette.edu) and posted on D2L by noon Wednesday; also the group will make a summary presentation with questions in no more than 7 minutes at the next “live” Thursday class meeting. Take special note regarding Modeling: These procedures will be modeled by Prof. López-Farjeat and Prof. Robiglio in weeks (2) and (3) of the course. After that, student teams will begin these duties, starting with Marquette University, then Universidad Panamericana, and last Katholieke Universiteit Leuven.

     All texts are available in English translation with many available on the Web. Students are welcome to study the texts in Latin, Arabic, Spanish, French, Dutch, German, or any other language, but classroom discussions will all be in English. Each instructor will take responsibility for placing relevant texts on reserve for student use on their own campuses.

UP Course Requirements & Grading:

1. Class will meet Thursdays at 9:15 - 10:45 in CEPII Technology Room. Class attendance and participation in on-line and in class discussions are required, not optional. Attendance and quality of participation make up 25% of the course grade. Students will receive 11 grades on a scale of 1-10. (A=9-10; B=7-8; C=5-6, etc.). The lowest of the 11 grades will be dropped and the participation grade will be calculated on the basis of the remaining 10 grades. Improvement over time may be taken into account in the final determination of the Participation grade.

2. One student team assignment as indicated in section (B) under General Requirements of the syllabus will make up 25% of the course grade.

3. One professionally prepared course research paper of ca. 15-20 pp. (due 10 Dec. via email and D2L) makes up 50% of the course grade. The paper can be written in Spanish or English.

NOTE: Given the innovative character of this international course, Prof. Taylor will be available for up to four (4) hours per week for students in this course to communicate in person, on Google+ Hangouts, on Skype, or via email. For office hours, see the Detailed Syllabus page of this website.  Prof. López-Farjeat will be available to work with students in Mexico on Tuesdays 12:30-2:00 and Fridays 9:00-11:00.

BOOKS & TEXTS: St. Thomas Aquinas: Questions on the Soul, trans. Robb MUPress.

Others on reserve or available online for the most part.

COURSE LEARNING OBJECTIVES,  OUTCOMES AND ASSESSMENT

Course learning objectives and outcomes with assessment tools indicated:

By the end of the course,

1. The student will be able to expound the doctrine of soul and intellect and its key concepts and arguments in the thought of Aquinas and his chief sources. Assessment tools: student work in D2L on-line & classroom discussions; final course paper.

2. The student will be able to explain the theory of knowledge developed by Aquinas including the role of sense perception in the formation of concepts together with the relevant technical terminology. Assessment tools: student work in D2L on-line & classroom discussions; final course paper.

3. The student will be able to give an account of the development of the psychological, epistemological and metaphysical teachings of Aquinas in relation to his major sources in the Latin, Greek and Arabic traditions. Assessment tools: student work in D2L on-line & classroom discussions; final course paper.

4. The student will be able to explain the ontological constitution of the soul in Aquinas, including how the doctrine of essence-existence applies to the human soul and person. Assessment tools: student work in D2L on-line & classroom discussions; final course paper.

5. 5.The student will be able to demonstrate a basic familiarity with selected secondary literature on the thought of Aquinas in oral and written work. Assessment tools: student work in D2L on-line & classroom discussions; final course paper.
   

6. The student will develop his/her own critical interpretive account of an important doctrine of Aquinas demonstrating familiarity with bibliographical resources, the texts of Aquinas, his sources, and key secondary sources. Assessment tool: final course paper.