North Seattle Community College Winter 2005

Endings: Scientific and Religious Thinking About the Ultimate Fate of the Universe

A 10-Credit Coordinated Studies Program*

Course meeting time: MWF 10:00 AM-12:50 PM

Course meeting place: MW, IB 3460; F, AS 1521; occasionally, ED 1841A

Faculty: Tracy Furutani, Sciences, 528-4509, tfurutani@sccd.ctc.edu

Michael Kischner, English, 528-4540, mkischner@sccd.ctc.edu

Office hours: To be announced in class

Website: http://faculty.northseattle.edu/tfurutani

Required Texts:

· Paul Davies, The Last Three Minutes

· Tim Lehaye and Jerry B. Jenkins, Left Behind

· Peter Ward and Don Brownlee, The Life and Death of Planet Earth

· The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha, Third Edition/College

· Stephen Harris, Understanding the Bible, Sixth Edition

· Photocopied materials to be announced

Strongly recommended:

• E-mail account that you will check a couple times a week

• Web access to download assignments and handouts

Courses offered within the program and prerequisites:

In a coordinated studies program, everybody studies the same material and participates in the same activities. You should be registered for 10 credits chosen from the list below:

ENG 102 C1 English Composition** 5 cr.

ENG 110 C1 Ancient Literature 5 cr.

SCI 100 C1 Introduction to Science 5 cr.

*Students desiring an additional 3 credits within this program may sign up for SCI 119, Natural History of the Pacific Northwest.

**Requires completion of Eng. 101 in a previous quarter.

Course questions:

1. Which basic scientific principles are especially relevant to discussions of the ultimate fate of the universe?

2. How does modern science apply these principles to speculation about the possible of extinction of humans, the extinction of life on Earth and in the solar system, and the various theoretical fates of the universe?

3. What does modern scientific cosmology say about how the universe could end?

4. What does modern scientific geology and biology say about the extinction of species?

5. What are the basic features of apocalyptic thought and writing, and what is the connection between the apocalyptic and the eschatological?

6. What apocalyptic and eschatological themes are found in the literature of the ancient Israelites and early Christians – the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament?

7. What literary and historical factors might account for the presence of such themes in this literature?

8. What apocalyptic and eschatological themes are found in other ancient literature, particularly of the Near East?

9. What principal differences exist between the approaches of science and the approaches of religious literature to questions about the ultimate fate of the universe? In other words, how do science and religion differ as ways of knowing?

Course objectives:

To understand the idealized scientific method.
To understand basic ideas of modern science, such as the principles of thermodynamics, gravity and evolutionary theory.
To apply these ideas to particular natural phenomena.
To become knowledgeable about substantial portions of apocalyptic sections of the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament, and related writings.
To understand what it means to take a literary approach to ancient sacred literature.
To understand the historical and literary influences that help account for the nature of apocalyptic writing in the Bible and related writings.
To gain greater skill and confidence in writing as a tool of self-expression and academic inquiry.
To experience different kinds of learning, including collaborative learning in groups.

A special note on how the Bible will be dealt with in this class:

The Bible is many things to many people. One thing it is, is an anthology of writings from the Judeo-Christian tradition, composed over a period of a thousand years by many authors and editors. This is how we will look at it in this course. Our study will be guided by the same literary and historical questions we ask of other ancient books: Who wrote it? Who edited it? How did it come to include the writings it includes? What information do we have about the historical and cultural circumstances in which it was written? How can this information help us to understand why its authors wrote as they did and what they had in mind when they wrote? How does it compare to other literary and historical writing?

Many people, even people for whom the Bible also has personal meaning, find it quite possible to view it as literature and as divinely inspired at the same time. Some people have trouble with this, though. They have trouble dealing with the idea that everything in the Bible may not be literally true as we understand “true” when dealing with modern historical writing. Such people may be challenged by some of what is taught and read in this course. If you are one such person, please understand that no disrespect is intended toward your views. The approach to the Bible in this course is based largely on the work of distinguished Jewish and Christian scholars based in the major universities and religious seminaries in the world.

NSCC General Education Outcomes

North Seattle Community College has established a list of desired general education outcomes for students in its A.A. and A.A.S. degree programs. This coordinated studies program aims to help students make progress towards the following outcomes from the NSCC list:

· Recognize the value of intellectual inquiry, personal responsibility, and ethical behavior.

· Discover the interdisciplinary nature of knowledge.

· Discover, develop, and communicate one’s own creative and critical ideas in writing and respond in effective writing to the spoken, written, and visual ideas of others.

· Access, evaluate, and apply information from a variety of sources and a variety of contexts.

· Work and communicate effectively in groups.

· Identify and understand fundamental concepts of the physical and life sciences and the effects that the uses of these concepts and resulting technologies have on the individual, on society, and on the biosphere.

· Understand the nature of the individual and of the relationship between the self and the community.

Program Requirements and Grading System

Grading will be on a point system. Each seminar paper, lab, test, and essay will be worth a certain number of points. At the end of the quarter, totals will be computed in the following categories, each of which will be worth one-fifth of the total grade:

Class meetings and seminars — preparation and participation 180 points

Tests, 3 at 60 points each 180 points

Exercises (both science and writing), quite a few at 10 to 15 points each 180 points

Poster Project and Abstract 180 points

Essays, 3 at various points each 180 points

Total 900 points

After totals are computed in each category, they will be added into a grand total that will be mathematically translated into a decimal grade. You will receive one final grade for the program, and it will be assigned to all of the courses you have registered for.

Your grades will be available at all times at the WebCT site for the course. If you need instructions on how to use WebCT or else just want to get started on it, download these instructions.

Policy on make-ups: Missed class, seminar, or lab work (those parts of exercises specifically done in the lab classroom) cannot be made up. Missed tests or essay due dates may be made up only at the discretion of the instructors in the case of clear illness or emergency. Normally, this will be allowed only when instructors have been notified in advance. When something comes up, don’t stay away; get in touch!

Please let us know – in the first week, if possible -- if you have any special learning challenges such as dyslexia which might require extra time on tests or other accommodations. Since artificial fragrances can inhibit the learning of chemically sensitive persons, we ask that you refrain from wearing them in this class.

Poster project: You will create of poster, a visually-oriented presentation, on a particular topic relevant to the course content. You will work on it with a partner. We will have a handout on the exact nature of this project. Be sure to get our okay before proceeding, partly so that we both know you both are working on the project and partly so that we can increase or decrease the scope of your project. You will present the poster at the poster section, where you will also evaluate and ask questions of other students' posters.

In addition to the poster and prior to the poster session, you will turn in an abstract (a summary) of your poster; we will give you a handout on writing abstracts. You will turn in this abstract by e-mail.

Tests: The tests are fifty minutes long with both short answer and essay questions. They are based on the questions and problems found in the covered reading, as well as the exercises. These items represent individual learning, so no collaboration or joint use of materials during the test is allowed. Consider the test as a diagnostic tool; a good score means that you have kept up with the material.

Cheating: Don't. We will use the policy outlined in the Student Conduct section of the Student Handbook. Remember, a group project is the result of a roughly equal sharing of ideas from each member of the group. Collaboration is absolutely essential. Collaboration is also important during the labs. An individual test, however, is an evaluation of what each individual understands. Please do not collaborate on these endeavors. Plagiarism is a form of cheating, and will be treated as such; specifically, don’t plagiarize on the poster project or the essays.

Cell phones and pagers: These devices are disruptive in the classroom.

Turn it off during class or put it in silent mode. A second violation of this policy will result in dismissal.

Reading assignments and other due dates for the course:

“W & B” refers to Ward and Brownlee, The Life and Death of Planet Earth; “Davies” refers to Davies, The Last Three Minutes

“Bible” refers to The New Oxford Annotated Bible, Third Edition

“Harris” refers to Stephen Harris, Understanding the Bible, Sixth Edition

“Left Behind” refers to Tim Lehaye and Jerry Jenkins, Left Behind

Note: Reading assignments are due on the day for which they are listed.

This schedule is subject to change.

January 3

Introduction

Science assignment 1

Questions for Discussion on the science reading

Reading: W & B, Prologue, Ch. 1;

Davies, Preface, Ch. 2.;

Hesiod, from Works and Days (handout);

Harris, pp. 2-9

Science assignment 2

English assignment 1

Reading: In the Hebrew Bible, Daniel 1.1 to 6.28 plus (in the Apocrypha section, middle of our Bible) “The Prayer of Azariah,” “Susanna,” and “Bel and the Dragon”;

Harris, pp. 305-310, 320-323, 325-326

Poster project

Science assignment 2 ideal data set

Reading: Bible – Daniel 7.1 to end;

Harris, pp. 316-320, 323-325

Essay 1 assignment

Sample essay

Reading: W & B, Chapters 2 and 3

Science assignment 3

Questions for Discussion II on the science reading

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Essay 1 due

English assignment 2

How to use WebCT to check your grades

Reading: W & B, Chapters 4 and 5;

Bible - The Mosaic Covenant: Exodus 3.1 to 4.23; 9.1 to 10.2; 13.17 to 15.22; 19.1 to 20.26; 31.18 to 34.35

Science assignment 4

Questions for Discussion III on the science reading

English assignment 3

Reading: Bible – The Deuteronomistic Theory of History: Deuteronomy 4.1-40; 28.1 to 29.29; Joshua 5.13 to 7.26; 10.1-43; 23.1 to 24.31; Judges 2.1 to 5.31; 21.25 (last verse in the book);

Sample test 1

English assignment 4

Reading: Bible – The Deuteronomistic Theory of History: Deuteronomy 4.1-40; 28.1 to 29.29; Joshua 5.13 to 7.26; 10.1-43; 23.1 to 24.31; Judges 2.1 to 5.31; 21.25 (last verse in the book)

Test 1

Reading: W & B, Chapters 6 and 7

Reading: Israelite Kingship and the Davidic Covenant:

1 Samuel 7.2 to 9.2; 9.27 to 10.1, 15.1 to 16.13; 17.12 to 18.29; 24.1-7;

2 Samuel 1.1 to 2.4; 5.1-5; 7.1-29; 11.1 to 12.24;

1 Kings 1.32-37; 2.1-4; 2.46 to 3.3; 4.29 to 6.1; 11.1-12; 14.1-18

English assignment 5

Questions for Discussion IV

Feb. 1

Reading: Bible – The Decline of Israel, Rise of Prophecy:

1 Kings 16.29 to 17.7; 18.17 to 19.21; 21.1-29;

2 Kings 16.1-20;