First-Year Writing Seminar (101-8-20)

Topic

The Wild Child: Are Humans Not Animals?

Instructors

Tessie Liu
467/491-3150
Harris Hall Room 327

Meeting Info

Shepard Hall B08/B09: Tues, Thurs 2:00PM - 3:20PM

Overview of class

The Wild Child: Are Humans Not Animals?

Through the autumn and winter of 1799 in central France, a naked boy was seen swimming and drinking in streams, climbing trees, digging for roots and bulbs, and running at great speed on all fours. He was captured in January 1800 by local farmers and brought to Paris. This "wild boy" from Aveyron became an overnight sensation, the object of curiosity and endless speculations about the relationship between instinct and intelligence and questions about the differences between humans and animals. A young doctor Jean-Marc- Gaspard Itard, who undertook the task of socializing and educating the wild child, carefully recorded the boy's progress. Itard's work ultimately lead to the transformation of the treatment of mental retardation and to a revolution in childhood education that is reflected in every preschool program in our time. This course introduces students to the philosophical and attitudinal changes regarding nature, childhood, and family life that enabled society to view the "wild boy" not as a freak or savage, but as a person inherently capable of civility, sensibility, and intelligence. The story of the "wild boy "teaches why it is important for humans to treat nature with respect and not fear. In order to protect the human rights of the boy, society must extend protection to the non-human beings among us. The course is designed for students interested in intellectual history, environmental history, psychology, and education.

Registration Requirements

Attendance at first class mandatory.

Learning Objectives

Develop close reading skills. Learn to read original documents, pamphlets, and philosophical texts contextually to understand their meaning in their own time. Learn how historians develop arguments about causation and influence focusing on change over time. Learn the intertwined roots of our contemporary academic disciplines: such as psychology, cognitive sciences, philosophy, anthropology, and zoology. Develop a variety of writing skills including historical descriptions, textual analysis of arguments, how to construct an argument driven essay that advocates for a controversial position. Understand the importance of revisions and writing drafts.

Evaluation Method

Short writing assignments leading to one essay of five to seven pages in length and one longer final essay (seven to ten pages in length), class presentations, class participation. Written work = 400 points total. Attendance and class participation = 100 points total.

Class Notes

History Major Concentration(s): European
History Minor Concentration(s): Europe

Class Attributes

WCAS Writing Seminar

Enrollment Requirements

Enrollment Requirements: Registration is restricted to History Majors and Minors only until the end of pre-registration, after which time enrollment will be open to everyone who has taken the prerequisites (if any) Weinberg First Year Seminars are only available to first-year students.
Add Consent: Department Consent Required