PHIL 361/599 Philosophy of Art and Beauty (3 units)

Spring 1998 - California State University, Long Beach


Lecture Notes: Week One

Introduction to the Course

[originally posted Monday, January 26, 1998]

Welcome to Philosophy of Art and Beauty (PHIL 361/599). Our first week of class is January 26-February 1. Here are the things you should accomplish this week:

(1) Please visit the class home page and familiarize yourself with the expectations for the course

http://www.csulb.edu/~jvancamp/361/

Read carefully the following sections:

"Requirements" (click on the "requirements" tab on the left directory): Course Objectives, Course Requirements and Grading, Course Syllabus: Reading Assignments; Discussion Requirements; Writing Assignments, Technical Requirements, Internet Competency Requirements.

"Discussion" (click on the "discussion" tab on the left directory): Course Requirements, Class Discussion Group, Class E-mail list

"Assignments" (click on the "assignments" tab on the left directory): Writing, Discussion, Reading

"Resources" (click on the "resources" tab): Take a look at the "on-line reading" list which we will be using this semester -- all of your reading assignments are listed there for the semester. Also take a look at the WWW Resources page. You will be using this later in the course as you complete assignments. I would suggest taking some time this week, before things get hectic, to spend some time "surfing" the resources there. (If you discover "broken" links, let me know.)

"Internet" ("Internet" tab): For CSULB students, this page lists information on campus labs, getting your CSULB account, and student training

"Help" ("Help" tab): for all students, I have links here to various on-line help pages. Take a look through these this week to see what's available. You might need to refer to them later if you have problems with various tasks.

QUESTIONS? If you have questions about any of the course materials or expectations for the semester, please post your question to our class discussion group. Others might have the same questions, and I can respond to you there. If you have individual questions, please feel free to send me a private e-mail message with your questions and I will respond by e-mail.

(2) Introduce yourself to the class on our class discussion group. Tell us

*your major and career aspirations

*your background and interest (if any) in the arts

*your background and interest (if any) in philosophy

*your background and interest (if any) in the Internet

I am sending a separate message to you this morning with information on how to log onto our class discussion group. For those of you already familiar with the CSULB Collabra system, here is the address for our class group:

news://collabra.csulb.edu/csulb.courses.jvancamp.phil361

[This link will not work until you have subscribed to the group.]

One of my priorities this week is to work out all the kinks in the access to the discussion group, as it plays an important role in our course. Please try to subscribe and log on in the next few days. If you run into problems, send me e-mail so we can get this worked out for you. We will start discussing the assigned readings on February 2 and you will need to participate in that.

You must, as a course requirement, check your e-mail and the class discussion group at least once each week. (Our weeks run from Monday-Sunday.) However, as our on-line communication (via e-mail and the discussion group) is such an important part of the course, I would urge you to plan to check several times a week, if not every day. It will be easier for you to keep up with the course if you don't let messages and discussion comments pile up too much.

This all-Internet course is a first-time experiment for our department. I have experimented extensively with use of the Internet in my courses over the past two years (as you will see on my faculty home page), but this course ratchets up considerably our use of the Internet. I hope you all have an adventurous spirit and will be patient as we try to work out any bugs in the course as we proceed. Your comments and suggestions are always welcome.


[message originally posted Monday, January 26, 1998]

CLASS DISCUSSION GROUP

Our class discussion group is located on the "collabra.csulb.edu" server. Collabra is the newsgroup/discussion group software included in the new Netscape Communicator 4.0 software. However, you can access the group using any existing newsreader software, including older versions of Netscape and other news reader programs.

IF YOU ARE USING WINDOWS/COMMUNICATOR 4.0:

The CSULB web site has step-by-step instructions for accessing a discussion group:

http://www.csulb.edu/~colled/collabra/collabra.html

When you get to Step 6: click open the CSULB folder then scroll down and find the folder "courses" and click that open

then scroll down and find the folder "jvancamp" and click that open You will see on the list that I have several groups. Subscribe to "phil361"

IF YOU ARE USING NETSCAPE 3.0:

The CSULB web site has instructions from a user of older Netscape programs:

http://www.csulb.edu/ACS/internet/newsgroups/newsgroupshelp.html#client

IF YOU ARE USING ANY OTHER NEWS READER:

Look at their help instructions for subscribing to a news host and then a particular group at that host.

The name of our host/server: collabra.csulb.edu

The name of our discussion group: csulb.courses.jvancamp.phil361

The news server address (NNTP): collabra.csulb.edu

If you are on a commercial Internet provider (AOL, etc.), and can't get this to work, look at their on-line help pages and/or call their 800-number and get help on setting up your news-reader software and subscribing to our group.

I have posted specific instructions on using AOL to acccess our group:

http://www.csulb.edu/~jvancamp/aol.html

PASSWORD ACCESS:

All discussion groups on collabra are password protected.

CSULB STUDENTS: All CSULB computer accounts are automatically "authenticated" for entry into all CSULB discussion groups. If you have not already done so, get your free CSULB computer account at the North Library computer labs. You can continue to access the Internet and our discussion group through your commercial Internet provider, but when it asks you for your account name/user ID and then your password, enter your CSULB account information.

NON-CSULB STUDENTS: We have made arrangements to "authenticate" Open University students so you can access our discussion group through your commercial Internet provider without a CSULB account. I am sending individual e-mail messages to these students with the details on how to set this up.

Let's spend the week of January 26-February 1 working out any problems you have with the discussion group. You should post your message introducing yourself and read the messages posted by other students.

If you're having problems:

(a) read the instructions carefully to make sure you are following every step,

(b) check for typos throughout,

(c) if you're in a CSULB lab, ask an attendant to help you (that's what they're paid to do),

(d) if you're on a commercial Internet provider, look at their on-line help section and/or call their 800-number

(e) send me an e-mail message to tell me how far you've gotten and where you're stuck -- I'll try to trouble-shoot with you.

NETIQUETTE: Please remember that this is a University course. Discussions can get very lively in a philosophy course, and that's fine. It's appropriate to attack arguments -- but it is NEVER appropriate to attack the persons making those arguments. Attacking the person is an "ad hominem" argument and that's just poor reasoning. No flaming. No obscenities. No personal attacks. The standards for mature, civilized discussion that apply in a regular classroom apply to our discussion group as well.

I read every comment, even if I don't respond to all of them personally. I will be checking e-mail and the discussion group a minimum of once a day, even if I'm out of town. Most of the time, I'll be checking several times a day, so you can count on a quick response to your questions.

I look forward to working with all of you. Let me know if you're encountering problems.


Continue to Lecture Notes for Week Two

Return to Lecture Notes: Table of Contents

Return to Class Home Page: PHIL 361/599 (Spring 1998)

Questions and comments are welcome: jvancamp@csulb.edu

This page maintained by Julie Van Camp

Copyright Julie C. Van Camp 1998

Last updated: February 8, 1998