What's Happening at the Unit?
CORNING/ELMIRA UNIT
CHANGE IN PROCEDURE
We wanted to let you know about an upcoming change at the Corning Unit. For more than a year, Kathie, our unit secretary, has been emailing students a courtesy reminder for upcoming appointments with mentors. It has become increasingly apparent that students are becoming too dependent on that courtesy service as a primary way to remember their scheduled appointment, which, in turn, has become problematic. Many students are not taking responsibility for their own schedules and are assuming Kathie will email them the week before an appointment – so they don’t write it down, keep track of it, etc., handing off their responsibility. Therefore, beginning in August, Kathie will not be sending reminders out to students. We feel that college-level students are fully capable of coming to the unit for appointments as scheduled.
If you are not sure of your appointment day or time, feel free to call the office and we can help you. Let us know if you have any questions.
Fall Term 1: September 13, 2010 – December 23, 2010
If you are planning to enroll for the September term, please call the office and set up an appointment to see or talk to your primary mentor. Please don’t wait to talk to us! The registration system opens on June 1st. If you wait until the end of the summer, many online courses will be full. Our local faculty will also reach their loads. You may not be able to take the study that you planned.
Workshops Available
(Please contact the unit for schedule.)
(Please contact the unit for schedule.)
Grammar Brush Up: Commas got you down? Perplexed by semi-colons and when to use them? Come to this workshop for a brush up on grammar and punctuation that will help you improve all of your writing, both personal and academic.
College Computer Basics: Wondering how to attach files to an e-mail? Need to save a paper to a flash drive? Come to this workshop and learn the basics of Microsoft Word as well as how to save and send papers to various places and in proper formats. This workshop is limited to the number of available computers at the center.
Goal-setting and time management: Have you been running around all day and still have a million things to do? Strategies offered in this workshop will help you make the most of your valuable time. Join this workshop and learn methods for developing achievable goals and positively managing your time in college.
Online research: Did you know that much of your research can be completed at home? Join this hands-on workshop and learn how to effectively and efficiently do online research and navigate the college’s extensive online library including access to millions of full-text articles books and resources. We will also focus on how to determine the accuracy and validity of online sources.
Academic integrity: Are you confused about how to cite and how to avoid plagiarism in your papers? Attend this workshop and learn about academic integrity, avoiding plagiarism, and how to correctly document and integrate sources into your papers.
Writing a research paper: Does the idea of a research paper overwhelm you? Attend this workshop and discover the steps necessary for a successful college research paper. Participants will learn about developing a thesis statement, research methods/resources, organization of writing, documentation techniques, and revision methods.
GROUP STUDIES FOR THE SEPTEMBER TERM
Study Skills and Strategies for the Self-Directed Learner (Seana Logsdon)
Intro. and Adv.
Meets SUNY General Education requirement in Basic Communication (partially)
Students at Empire State College spend a considerable amount of time independently acquiring information and learning new skills. With each new study, a student may need to plan, implement, and demonstrate learning to successfully earn college credit. This process is often called "self-directed learning." This study is designed to explore, analyze, and apply skills and strategies needed to successfully complete self-directed learning experiences. The first half of the study will focus on self-reflection and behaviors typically associated with self-directed learners. The second half of the study will focus on communication and critical analysis strategies/skills necessary to learn from multiple forms of sources (print, visual, and electronic) and mentor meetings. The ultimate goal of this study is to assist students with a transition to a study environment at Empire State College in which they have the primary responsibility for their learning. This study is usually taken at the introductory level and is appropriate for any student entering the college. With advance permission from the mentor, this study may be offered at the advanced level. Additional readings and a research project will be added at the advanced level.
The majority of this study will be completed with an online course space. Two face-to-face meetings will be required. At the initial face-to-face meeting, an orientation to the online course space will be provided. Please note, this study group is limited to students at the Corning Unit.
World Religions, Gender and Society, (Mary Skinner)
4 credits advanced
Meets SUNY General Education requirement in Other World Civilizations
In this study we will examine beliefs and practices of four world religions: Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and African religions. We will focus especially on their impact on society and everyday life, past and present, as well as gender relations and sexuality.
Students will be asked to write a short paper (3-4 pages) for each of our meetings on some aspect of our discussion to share with the group and are encouraged to schedule individual appointments with the mentor as needed.
Tentative meetings (depending on the schedules of participants) will be:
Tues. 9/14 from 5-7 p.m. Tues. 10/12 from 5-7 p.m.
Tues. 11/16 from 5-7 p.m. Tues. 12/14 from 5-7 p.m.
Images of Women in Western Civilization, (Mary Skinner)
4 credits introductory or advanced
Meets SUNY General Education requirement in Western Civilization, Art or Humanities
Through the writings of women and writings about women as well as artistic creations of women and depictions of women in western art, this study will examine women’s lives in reality, literature and art from the twelfth to the twentieth centuries. We will consider women’s movements such as mysticism, courtly love, suffrage, work and feminism through the artistic creations and writings of those who participated in them. Students will develop a project or paper over the semester on a topic decided in consultation with the mentor. Students are encouraged to schedule some individual appointments with their mentor as they complete their project to be presented at the last meeting of the group.
This group study will meet four times as follows (if participants are available)
Thurs. 9/16 from 5-7 p.m. Thurs. 10/14 from 5-7 p.m.
Thurs. 11/18 from 5-7 p.m. Thurs. 12/16 from 5-7 p.m.
The American Presidency (Wayne Barr)
4 credits, advanced
Meets SUNY General Education requirement in U. S. History
In 1956 the presidential scholar Clinton Rossiter wrote of the presidency as being “a kind of magnificent lion, who can roam freely and do great deeds so long as he does not try to break loose from his broad reservation. . . . There is virtually no limit to what the president can do if he does it for democratic ends and through democratic means.” Twenty years later the inflated image of the presidency had shrunk in stature thanks to Nixon, Ford, and Carter. Reflecting the mood, as Ronald Reagan prepared to assume the presidency, an astute British observer of America’s political culture, Godfrey Hodgson, wrote: “Never has one office had so much power as the president of the United States possesses. Never has so powerful a leader been so impotent to do what he wants to do, what he is pledged to do, what he is expected to do, and what he knows he must do.” For the founding fathers who wrangled over the problem of an executive administrator(s) at their 1787 convention such statements would appear unsettling. Seeking accountability and transparency the Founders in drafting Article II hoped to keep executive power in check. Yet, by the Adams and Jefferson administrations usurping congressional power became precedent. No doubt, the Founders would ‘turn in their grave,’ if they had envisioned what Arthur Scheslinger coined in the 1970s as the ‘imperial presidency.” Other than the use and abuse of extra-constitutional authority in the making of treaties and war, the study will survey the concern of delegates to the 1787 Philadelphia Convention over the executive question. Along with a gaze at the major domestic and foreign policy events and actions confronted by each president, a glimpse into the character of those who presided in the White House will engage the study.
Religious History of America (Wayne Barr)
4 credits, introductory or advanced
Meets SUNY General Education requirement in U. S. History or Humanities
America’s rich religious history will be explored through the use of text and film. In narrative fashion the study will explore religious practices, spiritual seeking, and pluralism in the context of belief systems and faiths as well as personalities. From the settlement of Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay by Pilgrims and Puritans the study will proceed through the rise of dissension and the forming of varying faiths to the settlement of distinct religious bodies throughout the colonies. The First Awakening and Penn’s “Holy Experiment,” the marking of religion on the American Revolution and its resultant role in defining a fledging nation up to the Civil War, follows (with a special emphasis placed on upstate New York’s ‘Burnt-Over District’). After settling on an identity America’s religious history takes a divergent turn away from localism and experimentation to national socioeconomic and political challenges. Wealth or Social Gospels as justifications for wealth or the public’s wellbeing gave way to schisms, assimilation, and the “Monkey Trial.” The Cold War years divided religion once again along the lines of peace and war issues. As America’s democratic experiment sought greater inclusion, and new immigrants from the Far and Middle East flocked to this country, religious pluralism squared off with America’s civil religion over a presiding WASPish mentality. So, too, the Court found itself in the middle of controversies over First Amendment disputes. Together with defining events in the religious history of America, influential personalities will be investigated.
United States Foreign Policy Since 1945 (Wayne Barr)
4 credits, advanced
Meets SUNY General Education requirement in U. S. History
As a course dealing with various foreign policy events and doctrines composed by Truman through George W. Bush Jr., the study will explore the Cold War and post-Cold War years. Beginning with the question over using atomic warfare against the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the root of hostility towards the USSR will be explored. Truman’s reliance on Keenan’s Long Telegram to render a policy of communist containment, the conflict with North Korea, McCarthyism, the anticommunism movement, the House committee hearings to Eisenhower and Dulles’ “mutual assured destruction” will occupy an early investigation into the political and public anxiety and fear created by the thermonuclear arms race. Kennedy’s failed missions in Cuba along with Johnson’s escalation of war in Indochina, Nixon and Kissinger’s Paris peace talks and détente, Reagan’s branding of the USSR as the “evil empire” and Gorbachev’s glasnost and perestroika policies that led to USSR dissolution, ending the ideological war, will be considered. In a post-Cold War world where “cultural clash” replaces political ideology Bush’s Gulf War and his son’s “War on Terrorism” provide a different perspective. A narrative of the Cold War years, along with primary source material and scholarly commentary, will guide the study. The post-Cold War years will rely on a text describing the rise of terrorism.
The American Civil War (Wayne Barr)
4 credits, advanced
Meets SUNY General Education requirement in U. S. History
Through the use of documentaries and a text the study will focus on the events that preceded the South’s firing upon Fort Sumter in 1861. Beginning with the 1820 Missouri Compromise and the subsequent pieces of legislation dealing with slavery, an ever-expanding nation, and ways of moderating sectarian differences, the study will investigate the mood of antebellum America. How did the North and South differ in political, social, cultural, and economic attitude? What concessions were made? Who fomented the fight in action or word? Half of the study centers on the causes of the Civil War. The second half takes up major battles and seminal military figures in the warring between the North and South. Along with generals and famous battle sites like Shiloh and Gettysburg, the Davis and Lincoln presidencies, their failures and triumphs, will be examined.
Statistics (Ken Sullins)
3-4 credits, introductory Mentor Ken Sullins
Meets Mathematics general education requirement
This study is an introduction to basic probability, statistical uses, and methods used for analyzing data.
Spanish Language and Culture (Joyce Howland)
3-4 credits
Meets General Education requirement in Foreign Language
This study emphasizes the culture of Spanish speaking peoples and investigates the music, food and customs as well as the language. If you need to take this study for fewer than 4 credits, a study for 3 credits can be developed.
Introduction to Sign Language (Maggie Tobin)
3-4 credits
Meets SUNY general education requirement in Foreign Language
In this group, the student will gain an understanding of basic sign language skills and deaf culture. Topics covered will include the following: manual alphabet, sign space, basic greetings and phrases, as well as a variety of other vocabulary. The student will also study the history and culture of sign.