100年第2學期-0154 東方及西方公共知識份子 課程資訊

評分方式

評分項目	配分比例	說明
Students will be expected to give short in-class presentations and write several short reports and two term papers. The first is 5-7 pages.	100	The second one will be 8-10 pages. These assignments will be given rather than a midterm and final examination in class.

教育目標

This course will examine what it means to aspire to be a writer and an intellectual in the 21st century. The conditions for becoming a voice that carries public authority today are much different than those which prevailed just a few decades ago. We live in the new digital age, and “writing” has take on a new meaning in our era, because people have shorter attention spans and do not “read” so much as “browse,” “scroll” and “click” on a computer screen. This is the reality of attempting to communicate in a new technological epoch. Moreover, the idea of a unified public no longer exists, but rather numerous fragmentary publics prevail today. This is a key distinction between out times and previous eras.

課程概述

This course will examine what it means to aspire to be a writer and an intellectual in the 21st century. The conditions for becoming a voice that carries public authority today are much different than those which prevailed just a few decades ago. We live in the new digital age, and “writing” has take on a new meaning in our era, because people have shorter attention spans and do not “read” so much as “browse,” “scroll” and “click” on a computer screen. This is the reality of attempting to communicate in a new technological epoch. Moreover, the idea of a unified public no longer exists, but rather numerous fragmentary publics prevail today. This is a key distinction between out times and previous eras. We will examine how such differences pose challenges for those who would pursue the life of the mind today, but we will also examine the intellectuals from the 19th and the 20th centuries who faced comparable challenges dealing with change and adaptation. Our goal will be to see how they met the challenges in their own times.

基本資料

選修課，學分數：0-3
上課時間：三/5,6,7[LAN005]
修課班級：外文系2,3,4
修課年級：年級以上
選課備註：網路選課

參考書目

I have written a number of books about contemporary intellectuals, from which we will read some essays and chapters. I want you to think about intellectuals who might serve you as models or examples of how to live and think and write and speak. I will give you many examples from my life, such as George Orwell. I want to share with you how I did it given the challenges that I myself faced. Students will be encouraged to embrace their own intellectual vocation and share their ideas and dreams in the class, which will partly function as a workshop for developing yourself as a writer and thinker.