L I B E R A L S T U D I E S 111 :

LOVE AND FRIENDSHIP

Syllabus, Fall 2022

Jean-Joseph Benjamin-Constant, Antigone au chevet de Polynice, 1868

Introductory Comments

LBST 111 is a team-taught course, in which students and instructors together study and discuss a
series of important works drawn from the Western and other traditions. Through exploring vital ideas
and issues that have engaged the hearts and minds of people across the centuries, the course
emphasizes a number of important university skills, including essay writing, research, and critical
thinking (the ability to reason effectively and recognize fallacious reasoning in oneself and others).
We will study materials from ancient times to our present time that explore the themes of
love and friendship. These two themes have been major concerns for much of Western literature,
philosophy, and art. The Western tradition has asked, among others, the following questions: What,
exactly, is the difference between love and friendship? What is the relationship between love and
friendship? Are both vital to a fully lived good human life? Is love integral to the pursuit of wisdom?
Are love and/or friendship part of a just political community? Does love unite us with the divine? Is
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love an exclusive force or an inclusive one? Is friendship a duty? How do shared understandings of
love and friendship shape our relationships with the world around us? Through our study of works
spanning over four thousand years, we will see that Western understandings of love and friendship
have undergone significant changes; exploring these shifts can help illuminate what is of value from
that tradition and to us today. We hope that you will come out of the course having thought deeply
about these ideas and the question of why they matter now.
The major learning forum in LBST 111 is the seminar, in which a small group of students (no
more than twenty) and one instructor discuss together a text or some element of writing or research
skills. Seminars emphasize the development of a conversation in which all participants have an equal
place. This seminar experience lies at the heart of the building of a learning community, in which
students learn as much from and with each other as they do from the instructors.
LBST 111 is equivalent in credit to two normal first-year courses (i.e., is worth six credits),
and together with LBST 112 satisfies the Degree English Requirement. If you enjoy LBST 111, we
recommend that you take LBST 112 (“Knowledge, Good, and Evil”) in Spring 2023.

Instructors

The instructors on the LBST 111 teaching team are as follows:

Name Office Local Section(s) Office Hours E-mail

Dr Kaia Scott B355/R334 TBA F22N02 M 11:30 - 12:30 kaia.scott@viu.ca

W 1:00 - 2:00
F 11:30 – 12:30

Dr Mark B355/R332 2173 F22N01 M 10:00 to 11:00 mark.blackell@viu.ca

Blackell F22N03 T 9:00-10, 12:00-1:00
W 10:00-11:00

These two instructors have equal responsibility for all aspects of the course. If you have a particular
concern, you should contact either of them (normally the leader of your seminar group).

Book List

Below is the list of readings for Liberal Studies 111. In order that we can focus on thematic and
formal links between them, our texts are not always in chronological order. (See the Schedule section
for order of study.)
The books should be available at the VIU Campus Store. Please be sure to buy the
editions specified below; seminar discussion is much easier when all participants are referring to the
same translations and page numbers.
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Anonymous. The Epic of Gilgamesh. Translated by Andrew George, Penguin Classics, 2020. ISBN:
9780140449198.
Dante Alighieri. Vita Nuova. Translated by Mark Musa, Oxford University Press, 2008. ISBN:
9780199540655.
Babington, Doug, et al. The Broadview Pocket Guide to Writing – Revised Fourth Canadian Edition.
Broadview Press, 2016. ISBN: 9781554813360.
Goethe, J. W. von. Faust: Part One. Edited and translated by David Luke, Oxford University Press,
2008. ISBN: 9780199536214.
Plato. Symposium. Translated by Alexander Nehamas and Paul Woodruff, Hackett Publishing
Company, 1989. ISBN: 978087220076.
Sophocles. Antigone. Translated by Paul Woodruff, Hackett Publishing Company, 2001. ISBN:
9780872205710.
Woolf, Virginia. To the Lighthouse. Penguin Classics, 2019. ISBN: 9780241371954.

LBST 111 Course-pack containing the following readings:

• Weil, Simone. “Reflections on the Right Use of School Studies with a View to the Love of
God”;
• Arendt, Hannah. “The Crisis in Education”;
• De Montaigne, Michel. “On Affectionate Relationships”;
• Kimmerer, Robin Wall. “Skywoman Falling” and “Learning the Grammar of Animacy”;
• King, Jr, Martin Luther. “On Being a Good Neighbor.”

In addition, there will be excerpts from Stendhal’s Love on VIU Learn; please print them out to read
and bring to the relevant seminar.

In dealing with a text, students are not required to read any introductory or supplementary material,
unless instructed to do so.

Please see next page for schedule of readings…

 Schedule
In a regular week of LBST 111, a student is expected to attend one lecture (usually 90 minutes long
and always on Wednesdays) and two 90-minute seminars (one on Mondays and one on Fridays).

SCHEDULE

MONDAY WEDNESDAY FRIDAY

1 5 September 7 September 9 September

Labour Day Introduction to the course Introduction to the seminar
University closed (Scott & Blackell)

2 12 September 14 September 16 September

The Epic of Gilgamesh, pp. The Epic of Gilgamesh The Epic of Gilgamesh, pp.
1-97, 192-196 (Blackell) 1-97, 192-196
Seminar note 1 due Reflection essay draft
assigned

3 19 September 21 September 23 September

Plato, Symposium Plato, Symposium Plato, Symposium
Seminar note 2 due (Blackell) Reflection essay draft due
Research essay prospectus
assigned

4 26 September 28 September 30 September

Babington et al., The Babington et al., The Truth & Reconciliation Day –
Broadview Pocket Guide to Broadview Pocket Guide to VIU Closed
Writing Writing (Scott)

Babington et al., Broadview Pocket Guide

Sections 5a, 5b, 5c, 5d, “Academic Writing: Essays and Arguments” (pp. 32-42), Sections
34, 35, 36, 36a “Research and Documentation” (pp. 166-188)

5 3 October 5 October 7 October

Dante, Vita Nuova Dante, Vita Nuova Dante, Vita Nuova
(Scott) Rewrite of reflection essay
due

6 10 October 12 October 14 October

Thanksgiving Day Midterm examination Library workshop
University closed

7 17 October 19 October 21 October

Seminar note 3 due Sophocles, Antigone Sophocles, Antigone
Sophocles, Antigone (Blackell)
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8 24 October 26 October 28 October

Goethe, Faust Goethe, Faust Goethe, Faust
Seminar note 4 due (Scott)

9 31 October 2 November 4 November

Stendhal, “On Love” Montaigne and Stendhal Montaigne, “On
(excerpts) and “The (Blackell) Affectionate Relationships”
Salzburg Bough” (on VIU
Learn)
Research essay prospectus
due

10 7 to 11 November | F A L L STUDY DAYS & REMEMBRANCE DAY

11 14 November 16 November 18 November

Woolf, To the Lighthouse Woolf, To the Lighthouse Woolf, To the Lighthouse
Seminar note 5 due (Scott)

12 21 November 23 November 25 November

Weil, “Reflections on the Weil, “Reflections” and Arendt, “The Crisis of
Right Use of School Arendt, “Crisis” Education”
Studies” (Blackell) Research essay rewrite
Research essay draft due assigned

13 28 November 30 November 2 December

King, Jr, “On Being a Good
Neighbor”
Seminar note 6 due
King, Jr, “On Being a Good
Neighbor” and Kimmerer,
“Skywoman Falling” and
“Learning the Grammar of
Animacy” (Scott)
Kimmerer, “Skywoman
Falling” and “Learning the
Grammar of Animacy”

14 5 December 7 December 9 December

Review for exam Attend Liberal Studies Study day
Art project due Conference/class art exhibit Research essay rewrite due
to view.

12-21 December | FINAL EXAMINATIONS

An examination will take place during the examination period. See “The Examination” below.
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Assignments and Grades

The assignments and their weights are as follows:

• Participation (including listening and reporting back) 20%

• Seminar notes 10%
• Reflection essay 15%
• Midterm examination 15%
• Research essay (including prospectus) 15%
• Art Project 10%
• Final examination 15%

Detailed instructions for assignments will be made available and discussed during seminars.
Policy on lateness and absence: Late work, which is handed in without legitimate reasons given,
will immediately lose 2% per day to a maximum of 14% off the received grade. Late work also may
not receive comments. Please note that unless ill or away for a legitimate reason, the seminar note,
which is meant as a form of preparation for the seminar, should be handed in before the first seminar
of the week. For an absence from class or a late penalty on an assignment to be considered for
excusal, you must email the instructor and cite an extenuating circumstance. Examples of such
circumstances include life crisis, illness, or death in the family. Please speak to your seminar leader
as far in advance as possible if you foresee any difficulties completing an assignment on time.

Participation in Seminars and Lectures

A significant percentage (20%) of the student’s final grade in LBST 111 comes from participation in
the Monday and Friday seminars, as well as attendance and active listening at Wednesday lectures.
Love and Friendship (LBST 111) is designed for face-to-face instruction in the physical
classroom, and many of you will be attending class in this way. However, there is also an option for
online learning. Like the face-to-face option, this online option is synchronous. Students who wish
to take this option would attend the same meetings at the same times as face-to-face students, but
they would access those meetings by videoconference. If you are interested in this option, please sign
up for the 8:30 seminar.
The most important components in the instructor’s assessment of each student’s performance
in the seminar are the following: attendance, preparation for the seminar (usually required reading
and seminar notes), and quality and quantity of the student’s participation in the seminar discussions
(factors which include the student’s contributions to creating and sustaining a worthwhile and well-
mannered seminar conversation for all participants). Note that mere frequency of contribution is not
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necessarily an all-important factor. Students are expected to listen well and to encourage each other
to contribute.
During lectures and seminars, you may use a laptop, tablet, or smartphone only for taking
notes; you must close all applications except for the word processor. The reason for this policy is that
we need to be fully present to each other for the sake of conversing and thinking about our readings;
and if you are checking your email or sending a text (for example), you are not present.
The seminar experience is central to what Liberal Studies 111 is trying to achieve, and we are
very concerned to see that all students contribute effectively, especially those who may still find
themselves somewhat reluctant to speak up in a group discussion. The principle is that we learn best
from engaged discussion of important ideas with one another. Still, some people are naturally shy:
any student who still finds this a problem after the first few weeks should discuss the matter
thoroughly with the seminar leader so that together they can work out some ways of resolving the
difficulties.
Part of your participation grade will come from listening and reporting back. Once during
the term, you will sign up to take listening notes during a Wednesday lecture or a Friday seminar.
You will then begin the following seminar with a brief (3-5 minute) summary to the group of the key
points that were made during the previous class. You will also bring a visual object (a photograph, a
website, an artwork, a short film clip, etc.) to share with the group that you think has a relevant link
to the themes you have just reported on and describe the connection that you see. In addition, we will
ask you to attend at the end-of-term Liberal Studies Student Conference as an audience member.
More details on this will be forthcoming later in the term.

Seminar Notes

You are asked to submit seminar notes on the assigned readings during most weeks in which
no other assignments are due. Seminar notes are due no later than 8:30 a.m. on the dates indicated on
the schedule. They must be prepared before, not during, seminar. Seminar notes, as well as essays
(see below), must be saved in electronic format and submitted through the drop-boxes in VIULearn;
your seminar leader may also require you to submit a paper copy. Each note will be marked out of 10
and comments will be given.
The purpose of these notes is to enhance your understanding of and depth of engagement
with the texts we study in the course, as well as to create a working document that you can refer to
throughout the term to keep track of your reflections on the different texts. Your collection of
seminar notes will comprise a resource that you can draw on throughout the term while developing
your longer pieces of writing, including your essays and examinations.
The topic of each note must be one detail of the text that is the focus of discussion for that
week. Although it must be written in complete sentences, the note is not an essay; it need not have a
thesis statement, conventionally designed paragraphs, and so on. But it must include a bibliography,
citing any source consulted. The task for these weekly assignments is very specific: (1) find what
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you feel is an intriguing, crucial, or puzzling detail in the text; (2) design a question about that
detail, and (3) explain how this question arises from your careful reading of the text. Once you have
chosen a significant detail in the text and crafted a question on this detail, you can start writing your
seminar note. Type the question at the top of the note; then explain and refer to the specific part of
the text from which the question is derived. You must have at least one short, quoted passage from the
readings that you refer to with page or line numbers and that is the basis for your question. In other words,
the question must come out of your reading of the text.
In writing your seminar notes, avoid the following: making a list of many features rather than
staying firmly focused on one, merely summarizing or describing the text, and thoughtlessly gushing over
or condemning the text. Finally, don’t stray from the text of the week; choose something from the text,
with a quotation, and ask a question on that subject that will open the text to our further understanding of
it in our seminar discussion. We want your question to be one that brings us into the text rather than one
that will encourage us to talk about something else entirely. Again, you should be making specific
reference to the text itself in your note.
The length of the note should be 250-300 words (about one to one-and-a-half pages typed in
12-point font). Please be sure to include your name, the date, and the course and section number,
and append a bibliography at the end of the assignment.

Essays

The essay topics assigned in LBST 111 will directly concern the texts we are discussing in seminar.
The short essays (the reflection essay and midterm) are not intended to be research papers but rather
your own well-argued responses to topics on the required reading. Normally, therefore, you will not
make any use of secondary source material. However, if the essay does rely on any secondary
sources, it must contain appropriate references and a full bibliography. Note that a bibliography alone
is not an adequate substitute for detailed references throughout the paper.
If the reflection and research essays are submitted on time, students will have the option of
rewriting the papers. The marks on the revised versions will be the marks for the assignments.
Students who submit these essays late will not be given the option of rewriting.

Research Paper

The major writing assignment in LBST 111 is the research paper. We will be distributing more
details about this task later, but for the time being, you should note the following points:
• The first component of the research paper is the prospectus. The prospectus will include a
thesis statement and an annotated bibliography.
• The research paper itself must be between 1,000 and 1,500 words long; it must have a clear
thesis and argument; and it must incorporate secondary material from three academic sources
(no fewer, no more).
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• The paper must follow the appropriate conventions for references and bibliography.
• Students who submit the first draft of the research paper on time will have the opportunity to
revise that first draft and submit a second draft. The mark for the assignment will be based on
that second draft.

Format for written assignments

All written assignments (the essays and seminar notes) must be prepared on a word processor
(handwritten essays are not acceptable) and must follow the instructions listed below:
The essay must be double spaced and typeset on standard 8.5 × 11-inch paper, with the right
justification removed. In the upper-left-hand corner of the first page should be the student’s name,
student number, the name of the seminar leader, the course number and section, and the date.
The pages must be numbered in the upper-right-hand corners with Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3,
and so on). Papers must be set in a 12-point font in a plain style (e.g., Times New Roman). Do not
write essays entirely in capital letters or italics or boldface. Each page must have a margin of one
inch on each side and at the top and bottom.
All references and citations must be made according to a standard citation format. Please
refer to the “Research and Documentation” (pp. 166-304) section of The Broadview Pocket Guide to
Writing for tips and guidelines on proper citation. At the end of the essay, a bibliography must be
included.
Students are expected to save and keep copies of everything they submit for marking. If the
copy of an assignment submitted to an instructor goes astray, the student is responsible for supplying
a second copy.

The Examination

The final exam schedule will be set by Records and Registration. From VIU’s General Regulations:
“Semester-end examination schedules noting dates, times and locations will be posted online one
month before commencement of exams. All exams must be written at the scheduled times…. No
travel plans should be made during the exam dates listed in the Program and Course
Calendar.”

A Note on Plagiarism and Academic Misconduct

The work a student submits for marking must be her or his own work. While students will be
strongly encouraged to work together, to review each other’s work, and to give each other assistance,
it is prohibited to copy or ghost-write another student’s work or borrow material from secondary
sources without acknowledgement (note that you must acknowledge sources, even if you paraphrase
the information into your own words). This point applies equally to essays and seminar notes. If you
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are at all unclear as to what constitutes plagiarism and other forms of serious academic misconduct,
please consult VIU’s Student Academic Code of Conduct and speak with your seminar leader.
The penalties for plagiarism, fabrication, and cheating are severe. Should an instructor
determine that such misconduct has occurred, it must be reported to the Dean. Consequences range
from a failing grade for the course to notes added to students’ permanent records and suspension
from the institution. See the above Code of Conduct for details on the procedures for dealing with
such misconduct.

Some General Matters

VIU’s Accessibility Services provides services to students with Learning Disabilities (LD),
psychiatric/mental health disabilities, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Autism
Spectrum Disorders (ASD), chronic medical conditions, and impairments in mobility, hearing, and
vision. If you have a disability requiring academic accommodations in this course but are not yet
registered with Accessibility Services, please contact them at AccessibilityServices@viu.ca or visit
them in B200 (2nd floor). If you are already registered with Accessibility Services, please provide a
copy of your accommodation letter to your seminar leader.
In addition to feedback from instructors, help with academic essay writing may be found at
the Writing Centre. The Writing Centre shares a booking system with International Academic
Support: vancouver.mywconline.com.
The Liberal Studies homepage contains information about the theory and practice of Liberal
Studies courses, as well as the Liberal Study Abroad programme. Take especial note of the Program
Info page.
The Liberal Studies Department offers courses in the first, second, third, and fourth years of
the BA program. In Building 355, where most Liberal Studies classes take place, there is a student
lounge for all students in Liberal Studies and Indigenous/Xwulmuxw Studies. You may use this
facility for private study or social groups. It is a good place to mingle with Liberal Studies students
and Indigenous/Xwulmuxw Studies students.
If you have a problem you want resolved, bring it to your seminar leader first. The Dean of
Social Sciences is Dr. Elizabeth Brimacombe.