Final Exam and Grades

Thanks to everyone who has posted a final exam question. Thanks also for the encouragement on the unit list on the other blog. Blogger won't let me post a comment on your all's comments.

I've graded all the blogs and was able to put comments on some - so check yours for my comments and other peoples' comments but please don't take it badly if there aren't any - it was a lot of work just to read and attach numbers to so many peoples' essays.

Here is a list of the folks who will have the opportunity to take the final exam because I don't know how else to make sure people will know. If you're on the list its your responsibility to be in Rm 603 at 9am June 17th to take the exam. You will be able to depart as soon as you finish it.

Massiel
Justin
Beatrice
Michelle G
Kenny
Chelsea
Brandon
Keith
Stephanie
Katherine V
Nelson
Michelle K
Kyra
Patrycja
Bonnie
Taj

My advice in studying would be:
1. Read and memorize these q & a's.
2. Figure out 20 more likely questions (post them if you want to see them on the exam).
3. Read really good blogs from someone who took the same course you did - not just the final essay, but lots of their other essays from this semester (Feb - June).
4. Look back over your own notebook and someone elses.
5. Get a good sleep and bring fruit and nuts.

More Final Words

Thanks to everyone for a caring final day of the course.

I've posted the ideas from the "what else could we study using these techniques" part of today's class here.

Please continue to post semester exam questions and also please remember to update your blogs by Saturday AM.

Anyone organizing a late afternoon at Coney Island this summer? If so, let the rest of us know.

Final Chance Final Exam

A final semester exam will be offered for those people who failed to do enough of the assigned work to receive social studies credit this semester.  This is your last chance to demonstrate mastery of the core material.  

You are encouraged to submit multiple choice questions for possible inclusion in the exam.  If you write the question you'll be more likely to remember the answer.  Please consider the various units we've explored this semester and write questions that capture core concepts from those units.  Please post your questions as comments on this post.

For AWOL:

American Way of Birth

Welfare Systems - (Danish vs American, Health Care, Poverty, Class Inequality)

American Way of Food

Collapse

For LDH2BM:

Old Folks

Animal

Health - including mental and emotional health

Food 

Collapse

Sample questions:

Industrial food is food that;

a.  is very strong

b.  is processed by fossil-fuel using machinery

c.  contains poisonous extracts of wild plants

d.  does not require cooking.

What is the most likely cause for the original collapse on Easter Island?

a.  European imperialism

b.  Climate change

c.  Civil war

d.  Over-exploitation of renewable resources

Thanks and Final Extra Credit Opportunity

For an extra crucial point or two on your semester grade please post thoughtful and caring comments on 2+ other peoples' "Final Essay" blog posts. Your goal is not to argue with them - rather to appreciate particular insights or effective lines, to note patterns in their beliefs, to identify areas where they could usefully expand or extend or reconsider their ideas.

Then copy and paste the quotes onto your own essay by Friday 5:15pm.

Also - thanks for the work and insight you've brought to this semester. I feel we examined important topics with openness, understood some aspects of life deeply, and came together as a caring group of people. Some of you did more than others (and deserve special thanks but I don't really go for public elitism) and some of you did enough and some of you contributed by your occasional presence and interest. I believe this time was useful to you too (I've seen powerful intellectual and emotional development) and hope you will be able to continue to connect daily life to underlying patterns and deeper understandings that we've begun to explore in these courses. I know you could have just gone through the motions and I appreciate the fact that much of the time many of you didn't. Good luck and thanks again.

Final Essay

Please post a final essay for the course. This essay should be 700+ words and is due June 12th at 5pm. Due to the constraints of the school process and orders from Director Fanning this essay will not be accepted once the grading is over. And the grading begins June 12th at 5pm.

The topic for AWOL students is - "How I make sense of the American Way of Life". You should address some specific examples of US practices (government, capitalism, birth, health care, economic inequality, food, energy) and connect them to each other and to deeper underlying patterns.

Some starter suggestions and questions:
You should share your orientation towards the American Way of Life - do you resist it? Enjoy it? Enjoy and resist different aspects? What aspects of the mainstream American Way of Life account for its global dominance and dominance here in the U.S.? What aspects of the American Way of Life are particularly tragic or dumb? How did the essential aspects of the American Way of Life develop and where are we headed? Please include some quotes from your own or others' earlier work that expresses strongly what you believe or what you don't (any longer) believe.

The topic for LDH2BM students is - "What makes life meaningful?". If that is too hard, feel free to tweak that topic - perhaps to - "What makes my life feel meaningfuler?" You should connect to specific areas we've investigated - including dominant and marginal corporate messages, your own thoughts, the elderly, animals, physicality, health, food, and the fundamental energy basis of our society. Please include some quotes from your own or others' earlier work that expresses strongly what you believe or what you don't (any longer) believe. Feel free to include an explicit quote like, "This is the way I'm (mostly) thinking about this topic now - but my understanding is evolving!"

Some starter suggestions and questions:
You should share your own orientation to living a meaningful life. Contextualize your point of view in terms of the dominant perspective, other individuals' perspectives, and your own evolving understanding. Is meaning possible given death, infinity, and the Universe? What's your stance on happiness (the dominant easy answer for a meaningful life) - what is it, how important is it, what causes it? What about the other dominant answers - family, success, self-improvement? How about the "marginal" answers - authenticity, creativity, physicality, or deep understanding? What is the significance of the social - should we strive to be "above" our desire for acceptance and affirmation or should we accept our desire and channel it (how?)? What is the significance of our animality - of our physicality and desire for touch and sensation? Feel free to include a disclaimer like, "This is the way I'm (mostly) thinking about this topic now - but my understanding is evolving!"

Collapse Assignment 2 - Short and Smart

Please type up a short essay (3-5 paragraphs) on the topic of the possible collapse of our way of life. Use the Easter Island chapter, information from class (including film clips, other students' perspectives, and lecture), and your own online research.

Please be creative in the angle you bring to the essay. Don't feel that it needs to be definitive (its been a 4 day unit). You can ask questions - identify areas for further research - wonder out loud.

Some helpful websites (often with other helpful links):
Life After the Oil Crash
Peak Oil Primer
Community Solutions
Limits to Growth - Oil - This is annoying but a good mix of visual/text/audio
Online Video - From ABC Australia - mainstream (quote skeptics and oil company employees and high quality video) but also quotes peak experts
The Oil We Eat - A good essay (from 2004) on the links between fossil fuels and industrial food.

Several people (incl. Kyle and Ben) have remarked on the likelihood of increased geopolitical conflict in the age of peak oil. Here's a piece of recent news from Peru.

Collapse Assignment 1

Please write a response to the Easter Island chapter from Collapse.

In the response please include:
a. Your thoughts on the most interesting/important aspects of the Easter Island history
b. Your point of view of parallels and differences between Easter Island and our civilization
c. Other connections and significance of the chapter.