AP Seminar

Course Goals

The aim of this course is to develop and encourage academic curiosity through argument and research. Throughout the process students will gain confidence by enhancing and refining their voices in the academic community and in society as a whole. This experience will provide the students with an environment where interested, curious, and diligent students will be able to thrive.

Student Evaluation and Grading

Due to the unique nature of the AP Seminar framework, reflection, participation, preparation, and completion of daily exercises/coursework are the fundamental contributors impacting grading. Although the grades earned should represent overall quality and effort for each assignment, they are in no way an indicator of scores given by the College Board. Self and peer evaluation will be utilized for reflection through the use of provided rubrics from the College Board.

Daily Activities and Participation - 30%

Reports and Presentations - 30%

Sample and Simulated EOY Exam Practice - 30%

Participation - 10%

Unit 1 - Argument, Debate, and Discourse - (3 Weeks)

Focus

This unit is designed to expose students to the academic nature of argument and encourage them to enter into the conversation of academic discourse. Students will develop logical lines of reasoning in support of arguments and fluently incorporate evidence in support of claims. Students will critique sample arguments, peer arguments, and personal arguments, assessing the overall argument, claims, and evidence

Resources

Cohen, Daniel H. “For Argument’s Sake.” TED. Feb 2013. Lecture.

Graff, Gerald, Birkenstein, Cathy. They Say, I Say:The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing. New York. WW Norton, 2010. Print.

Herrernan, Margaret. “Dare to Disagree.” TED. June 2012. Lecture.

Jay Z. “The War on Drugs is an Epic Fail.” Online Video Clip. New York Times. New York Times, 15 Sept 2016. Web. 16 Sept 2016.

Jefferson, Thomas. “The Declaration of Independence.” A World of Ideas. Jacobus, Lee A. Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2013. pp 259-268

Madison, James. “Federalist No. 51: On the Separation of Departments of Power.” A World of Ideas. Jacobus, Lee A. Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2013. pp 109-120

Monty Python. “Argument Clinic - Monty Python’s The Flying Circus.” Online Video Clip. Youtube. Youtube/Google, 14 Nov 2008. Web. 7 Sept 2016.

Thoreau, Henry David. “Civil Disobedience.” A World of Ideas. Jacobus, Lee A. Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2013. pp 301-326.

Unit 2 - Ownership, Property and Plagiarism - (4 Weeks)

Focus

This unit is designed to familiarize students with various perspectives surrounding ownership. The unit will provide a theoretical foundation on how ownership may be defined. The unit then feature recent ownership controversies, and students will use the knowledge from the previous unit to form arguments about the nature of ownership and help take a position on the the ownership controversies. The unit will culminate by connecting the ideas of ownership with plagiarism. [CR1]

Resources

Bova, Francesco, Yiwei Dou, and Ole-Kristian Hope. "Employee Ownership And Firm Disclosure." Contemporary Accounting Research 32.2 (2015): 639-673. Business Source Elite. Web. 20 Sept 2016.

Chappell, Bill. “‘Stairway to Heaven’ Plagiarism Suit Heads to Trial.” npr.org. 12 April 2016, NPR. http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/04/12/473949561/stairway-to- heaven-plagiarism-suit-against-led-zeppelin-is-cleared-for-jury-tria. Accessed 20 Sept 2016.

Coleman, John. “Take Ownership of Your Actions by Taking Responsibility.” Harvard Business Review. 20 August 2012, https://hbr.org/2012/08/take-ownership-of-your-actions. Accessed 20 Sept 2016.

Locke, John. "Second Treatise Of Government." Second Treatise of Government. 1. n.p.: Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, 2006. Literary Reference Center. Web. 20 Sept 2016.

Palmquist, Mike. The Bedford Researcher. Boston: Bedford/St Martin's, 2015. Print.

Tribune News Services. “Nazi-looted 'Adam' and 'Eve' Paintings to Stay in California.” Chicago Tribune. 22 August 2016. Web

Unit 3 - Gender and Culture - (6 Weeks)

Focus

This unit is designed to encourage team development, management, and reflection through the topic of Gender and Culture. Students will be presented with various texts, art, and media that discuss the topic through various lens, including: economic, sociological, and feminist. This unit will then create an opportunity for students to work collaboratively to develop an argument about the topic of Gender and Culture through various lens. [CR1]

Resources

“Artemisia Gentileschi - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." 2011. 1 Oct. 2016 <https:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artemisia_Gentileschi>

Blakley, Johanna. “Social Media and the End of Gender.” TED. December 2012.

Greer, Germaine. “Masculinity.” A World of Ideas. Jacobus, Lee A. Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2013. pp 725-738.

Katz, Jackson. “Violence Against Women- It’s a Man’s Issue.” TED. November 2012. Lecture.

Kimmel, Michael. “Why Gender Equality is Good for Everyone - Men Included.” TED May 2015. Lecture.

"Lewis Hine - Vancouver Art Gallery." 2006. 1 Oct. 2016 <http://projects.vanartgallery.bc.ca/ publications/75years/pdf/Hine_Lewis_74.pdf>

Sandberg, Sheryl. “Why We Have Too Few Women Leaders.” TED. December 2010. Lecture.

Wollstonecraft, Mary. “Of the Pernicious Effects Which Arise from the Unnatural Distinctions Established in Society.” A World of Ideas. Jacobus, Lee A. Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2013. pp 653-668.

Unit 4 - Wealth and Poverty - (4 Weeks)

This unit is designed to give students an opportunity to take create individual arguments based on themes presented in given texts, media, and art. The given resources offer multiple perspectives and lens about the topic, which will allow the students to consider different forms of information presented through research studies, art, philosophy, political, and contemporary articles. Students will then develop skills of peer review by assisting each other on evaluating overall arguments, the clarity, focus, and quality of the written arguments, and presentation skills. [CR1]

Resources

Carnegie, Andrew. “The Gospel of Wealth.” A World of Ideas. Jacobus, Lee A. Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2013. pp 481-498.

Finnoff, Kade. "Decomposing Inequality And Poverty In Post-War Rwanda: The Roles Of Gender, Education, Wealth And Location." Development Southern Africa 32.2 (2015): 209-228. Academic Search Premier. Web. 25 Sept. 2016.

Galbraith, John Kenneth. “The Position of Poverty.” A World of Ideas. Jacobus, Lee A. Bedford/ St. Martin’s, 2013. pp 499-512.

Marx, Carl. “The Communist Manifesto.” A World of Ideas. Jacobus, Lee A. Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2013. pp 453-480.

"Poverty and Wealth by William Powell Frith, RA - The Victorian Web." 2003. 25 Sept. 2016 <http://www.victorianweb.org/painting/frith/paintings/1.html>

Rosling, Hans. “New Insights on Poverty.” TED. March 2007. Lecture.

Smith, Adam. “Of the Natural Progress of Opulence.” A World of Ideas. Jacobus, Lee A. Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2013. pp 441-452.

"Sociological Images Update (July 2008) - The Society Pages." 2016. 25 Sept. 2016 <https:// thesocietypages.org/socimages/2008/08/page/7/>

Wilkinson, Richard. “How Economic Inequality Harms Societies.” TED. July 2011. Lecture.

Task #1- Team Project and Presentation - (6 Weeks…12/19 - 2/3)

According to the College Board, the Task 1 Team Project and Presentation is described as, “three to five students collaborate as a team to identify a problem or issue (e.g. local, national. global, academic/theoretical/philosophical). Each team develops a team research question and conducts preliminary research. They identify approaches, perspectives, or lenses and divide responsibilities among themselves for individual research that will address the team’s research question.” This task represents 20% of the final AP score.

Suggested Completion Date - February 28

Submission Deadline - April 30

Task #2 - Individual Research Report and Presentation - (6 Weeks…2/7 - 3/23)

According to the College Board, the Task 2 Individual Research-Based Essay and Presentation is described as, “The College Board’s AP Program will annually release cross-curricular stimulus material (texts) representing a range of perspectives focus on a single theme. Students will read and analyze the texts to identify thematic connections among them and possible areas for inquiry; compose a research question of their own; conduct research; analyze, evaluate, and select evidence to develop an argument, and present and defend their conclusions.” This task represents 35% of the final AP score.

Suggested Completion Date - April 15

Submission Deadline - April 30

EOY Exam - (5 Weeks…3/27 - 5/4)

According to the College Board, the End-of-Course Exam is described as, “the exam consists of four items (three short-answer and one essay question). The three short-answer questions asses analysis of an argument in a single source or document. The essay question assesses students’ skills in synthesizing and creating an evidence-based argument.” The final End-of-year-Exam represents 45% of the final AP score.

Test Date - May 2017