http://www.merlot.org:80/merlot/ A search of MERLOT materials Copyright 1997-2013 MERLOT. All rights reserved. Tue, 21 May 2013 20:55:52 PDT Tue, 21 May 2013 20:55:52 PDT http://www.merlot.org:80/merlot/images/merlot.gif http://www.merlot.org:80/merlot/ 44 34 http://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm?id=759104 An online course devoted to the study of Faust: concentrating on works by Christopher Marlowe, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Thomas Mann, Friedrich Murnau, Jan Svankmajer and Randy Newman, the course encompasses literature, film, music, visual arts and the history of ideas. http://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm?id=739705 Here is the open access website I created for my Hybrid WR095 course this term. This class emphasizes paragraph and basic essay construction for developmental writing students, so you will find course materials related both these topics, as well as informal writing activities (like blogs), handouts, presentations, course syllabus, and course schedules. Since this class only met once per week, I decided to experiment with a "flipped" classroom on certain weeks. That means that part of the homework for the week was actually to watch a screencast of the lecture, which includes video of the original presentation as well as audio narration. You'll see that the earlier screencasts had some technical difficulties (such as requiring many, short screencasts strung together to form a playlist, or challenges with buffering videos/editing etc.). As the term went on, I was able to address many of these earlier issues. Some of the materials I've posted here can be used as handouts/presentations to be read and viewed independently by students while some were designed for in-class work and require a little more explanation and instruction. No matter the format or context, however, I posted all the work of the course to this one website, which students found eay to navigate and useful. http://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm?id=736821 Advanced graphic design tools have become accessible to nearly everybody, as computerized pagination programs such as InDesign can offer the power of of the professional on any home computer. But easy access to software doesn't necessarily guarantee compelling designs. This class covers basic principles of graphic design for print. Included are readings, videos, illustrations, exercises, and self-guided tutorials for both InDesign and Photoshop. http://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm?id=736819 This class for beginning mass media photographers and photojournalists includes illustrated exercises, practical principles, videos, readings and portfolios. Also available is a nine-part self-guided Photoshop tutorial, and downloadable photos for practice. http://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm?id=736836 Everyone knows tea originally came from China. And that was literally millennia ago--Chinese tea cultivation goes back thousands of years. Tea drinking later reached Japan, and in the West from the 1600s on. But today the world's best black tea comes from India, specifically Darjeeling, at the foot of the Himalayas. This article tells you how the world's tea came to Darjeeling, how it's grown and processed, and what you need to know when buying quality Darjeeling tea. It includes a 21-image slide show. http://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm?id=736097 Adaptation of an audio book published by Hachette in 1983, les Accents des Français (nº ISBN 2.01.008021.1). http://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm?id=734951 This is a free course offered by the Saylor Foundation.'Comprehending the role that feminism has played in identifying, critiquing, and, at times, altering the distribution of political and economic power is integral to understanding democratic citizenship and government. In this course, we will examine the history of feminist thought, beginning in the late eighteenth century and continuing through the early twenty-first century. An overarching goal of this course is to encourage you to develop and shape your own concepts and ideas about feminist political thought as a potent and multifaceted global force. In working toward this goal, we begin the course by defining feminism and engaging with some of the cultural and political stereotypes of feminism and feminist thinking in contemporary politics and popular culture. Next, we explore the history of feminist thinking. We conclude by examining current topics in feminist politics.Throughout the course, we will examine and discuss questions important to feminist politics, such as citizenship, political participation, and political rights; work and family; reproductive rights and birth control; gender representation in the media; and finally, the role of gender in militarism and national security. In considering each topic, we will draw on historical analysis and seek to consider the variety of women’s experiences. Though this course will focus on feminism in the U.S., we will also attempt to incorporate international perspectives on women and feminism.Finally, it is important to note that our course materials are, by their very nature, political. They are not, however, political in a narrowly partisan sense. Feminist theory does presume that gender inequality is unjust. Nevertheless, you are free to challenge and disagree with this presumption, just as you are encouraged to critically evaluate all of the arguments advanced in materials presented in the course.' http://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm?id=734960 This is a free online course offered by the Saylor Foundation.'At various points in history, the Middle East has been at the center of world civilization. In the last century, however, the Middle East has been subjected to the conquest, colonization, and control of outside powers: the Ottoman Empire, the great European powers, and the United States. This dynamic has had profound implications for the political identity of both Middle Easterners and their conquerors. It has also meant that much of the recent political history of the Middle East has been a struggle for independence and state-building—a struggle that continues to this day with profound implications for the region and the world as a whole.This course has two primary purposes: (1) to build a critical understanding of the key issues and conflicts in the politics of the modern Middle East and (2) to apply the following concepts to these issues and conflicts: scholarly methodology, colonialism, independence and state-building, the political mobilization of new social classes, the spread of capitalist economic relations, Arab nationalism, relations between the Arab states, the Middle East as an arena of the Cold War, Islamic revivalism, globalization and economic restructuring, democratization, and the significance of non-state actors.These objectives will be pursued beginning with some framing readings and videos on recent developments in the Middle East and on the methods available to understand and analyze those developments. You will then inquire into the background of these recent developments through study of the political history of various regions of the Middle East and of foreign influence in those regions. Toward the end of the course, you will return to the most significant issues confronting the region today for a more sustained and, ideally, more critical engagement with them.' http://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm?id=733399 This is a free online course offered by the Saylor Foundation.'This course is a survey of philosophical issues surrounding the concepts and practices of modern science. The course covers the major areas of contemporary philosophy of science, including scientific reasoning, scientific progress, interpretations of scientific knowledge, and the social organization of scientific practice. Its aim is not only to familiarize you with philosophical issues about science but also to equip you to critically interpret popular reports about contemporary scientific research.Unit 1 introduces philosophy of science as a discipline distinct from psychology of science, history of science, and sociology of science. Unit 2 examines the nature and objectivity of observational evidence, and Unit 3 examines methods of reasoning relevant to induction, confirmation, and explanation. Unit 4 examines accounts of theory change and scientific progress, and Unit 5 addresses the interpretation of scientific knowledge. Finally, Unit 6 explores various topics concerning science in a social context.Throughout this course, you will become acquainted with the views of a number of influential philosophers of science, including David Hume, Pierre Duhem, Carl Hempel, Karl Popper, Thomas Kuhn, Imre Lakatos, Bas van Fraassen, Philip Kitcher, and Helen Longino. You will read some selections from scientific research too, by way of news articles and case studies, in order to connect philosophical views about science to actual scientific practice. You should approach the content of this course with an attitude that is neither hostile toward nor naïve about science, but is instead critically engaged in trying to understand science as a human activity.' http://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm?id=733401 This is a free online course offered by the Saylor Foundation.'Existentialism is a philosophical and literary movement that first was popularized in France soon after World War II by figures such as Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus. The roots of this movement can be traced back to the religious writings of Blaise Pascal in the seventeenth century and those of Søren Kierkegaard in the nineteenth century. The common thread that unites existentialists is a focus on existence, particularly the concrete existence of individual human beings. Unlike rationalist thinkers such as René Descartes and G.W. F. Hegel, existentialists reject the premise that human beings are primarily rational creatures who live in an ordered, well-designed universe. They also do not believe that the answers to life’s challenges can be solved through thoughtful consideration and reasoned deliberation. Instead, existentialists view human beings as creatures whose reason is subordinate to human passions and anxieties, and who exist in an irrational, absurd, and insignificant universe. In such a universe, existentialists argue, one struggles to become the best person one can be given one’s religious, historical, cultural, economic, and personal circumstances.Existentialists emphasize the human being’s place in a complex set of circumstances in order to highlight the uniqueness and individuality within each of us. They stress the role of the human body in all of our acts and decisions, arguing that the mind cannot exist without the body (in contrast to the majority of rationalists, who assert that the mind is separate from the body). In addition, existentialists consider whether absolute individual freedom is possible; and if so, what the consequences of such freedom might be for our sense of responsibility to ourselves, to others, and to God. They also consider the consequences of the existence or nonexistence of God, and what either possibility means for our sense of freedom and responsibility. More than anything, existentialists reflect on human beings’ anxiety over and dread of death, and consider the consequences to our individual lives of coming to terms with the inevitability of death.'