Course Syllabus Course Number: UU 104 Course Name: The Living Universe Course Start Date: tbc Course End Date: tbc
[NOTE – this is not the final version of Duane Elgin’s course but serves purely as an example]
Whenever there is a question about what assignments are due, please remember this syllabus is considered the ruling document. Copyright ©2013 Ubiquity University. All rights reserved.
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Facilitator Information Dr. Duane Elgin has an M.BA. from the Wharton Business School, an M.A. in economic history from the University of Pennsylvania and an honorary Ph.D. for work in "ecological and spiritual transformation" from the California Institute of Integral Studies. Duane Elgin is an internationally recognized speaker, author, and social visionary. In 2006, Duane received the International Goi Peace Award in Japan in recognition of his contribution to a global “vision, consciousness, and lifestyle” that fosters a “more sustainable and spiritual culture.” His books include: The Living Universe: Where Are We? Who Are We? Where Are We Going? (2009); Promise Ahead: A Vision of Hope and Action for Humanity’s Future (2000), Voluntary Simplicity: Toward a Way of Life that is Outwardly Simple, Inwardly Rich (2010, 1993 and 1981), and Awakening Earth: Exploring the Evolution of Human Culture and Consciousness (1993). With Joseph Campbell and other scholars he co-authored the book Changing Images of Man (1982). In addition, Duane has contributed chapters to twenty-two books, and has published more than a hundred major articles and blogs. In the 1970s, worked as a senior staff member of a Presidential Commission on the American Future, looking ahead from 1970 to 2000. He then worked as a senior social scientist with the think-tank SRI International where he coauthored numerous studies of the long-range future. Over the past thirty years, Duane has co-founded three non-profit and trans-partisan organizations working for media accountability, citizen empowerment, and a ‘community voice’ movement that includes televised “Electronic Town Meetings” in major metropolitan areas. As a speaker, Duane has given more than 300 keynotes and workshops with audiences ranging from business executives and civic groups to churches and college students. For the past three years, Duane has been the executive director of a project that has brought together more than a dozen "Great Transition Stories" that offer new cultural narratives for our collective imagination and that can serve help guide us toward a sustainable and meaningful future. Duane was described in April 2009 by the Ecologist Magazine as one of the ten leading visionaries with "big ideas for a better world". His personal website is: www.DuaneElgin.com and his professional website is: www.GreatTransitionStories.org Contacting the faculty Faculty name: Duane Elgin Email address: delgin@ubiquityuniversity.org I will check and respond to the Discussion Forum and emails daily, between 0900 and 1700 Pacific Time. For emergencies, when you are not able to gain access to messages on the Online Learning System, please send a message to my course email address, as above. In the event a third party needs to contact me, please direct them to my contact information listed under "facilitator information." No third party should use your login credentials to gain access to the classroom.
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Course Description At Ubiquity, we choose to see everything in the world as an expression of life. We know that life works in certain ways, and that how we as humans create things and interact with the world around us can either work with or against life. This course takes you on a journey from the moment that life started right up to today. On the way, you encounter key events and discover core principles that underlie all life as we know it. This way of looking at the world will help you engage in the challenges you will face with lightness, creativity, and powerful alignment with the life process itself. Course Learning Outcomes By the end of the course students should be able to: 1. Provide a broad survey across both science and wisdom traditions and their respective views of the universe, bringing critical thinking into this exploration. 2. Express how the shift from a non-living to a living universe represents an integral aspect of the “Great Transition” underway in the world. 3. Describe new skill sets and capacities required for our changing world. 4. Explore a topic or theme of her or his choice with emphasis on the implications of a living or non-living view of the universe. 5. Identify and engage with key resources to deepen their own inquiry into a living universe.
Instructional Mode and Methods This course is a combination of three major learning approaches:
1) Online learning with a wide array of materials and activities each week, including interaction with peers (videos, essays, journaling, quizzes, etc.),
2) Collaborative learning where you develop skills ranging from creative cooperation to critical thinking and respectful listening.
3) Inward learning where you take the time to discover your true gifts and empower yourself to contribute to our time of unique transition. In addition, there will be guest lecturers speaking to key themes of the course.
The Online Learning aspect of this course has key components for you to work with:
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Video presentations by the key faculty. The average video is from 5 to 15 minutes long although in special instances, some may be longer.
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Quizzes: Each week will include one or more quizzes with multiple choice options. This allows the faculty to see how well students are relating to and understanding the material.
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Integration Tasks: These represent short tasks of 15 minutes or so to take in what has been presented. A question may be asked for journaling or for quiet reflection.
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Forum conversations are an important part of this course. Each week one or more questions will be presented for discussion, generally among the small cohort group to which you will be assigned.
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Action-Reflection Learning: This is an integral part of each week where you will be asked to undertake a small project or experiment in “appreciative social inquiry.” This might be a series of conversations about a key topic, or an unexpected act of generosity with consequences explored, or many more. Each person then reports back to their small group or cohort to discover together what has been learned.
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Journaling: Each person has a private journaling space that only they, and the faculty (the primary faculty and teaching assistant), have access to. This is important for the student’s self-reflection and regular journaling of even a sentence or two of reflection will contribute to the student’s grade. (When the course is complete, the private journal entries of all students will be erased to ensure privacy.)
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Creative Assignments: You will have three, major “creative assignments” to complete during the course of the semester. You may be asked, for example, to summarize your view of the universe based on what you have learned choosing from a range of media; from writing to video, poetry, music, or dance to express your sense of reality. You will be graded by a community of peers for your offering.
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Readings: Each week there will be some required readings and a number of optional readings. A student’s grade can be improved by doing optional readings in addition to those that are required.
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Extra Videos: In addition to the required videos for each week’s learning, there will be additional videos for students that want to expand their inquiry in a particular area.
Course Modules & Topics Module Week One: Introduction to Living in a Living Universe The Foundational nature of the “Living Universe” for the academic approach of Ubiquity University. Stepping Back and Exploring Different World Views. Integration Task: Quiz - Multiple Choice The Power and Importance of the Non-Living Perspective. What Difference Does Aliveness Make? A Graphic Exploration of Contrasting Perspectives. Integration task: Journaling for ten minutes or more about your personal world view and the life experience from which it emerges Self Development: Meditations that can support our awakening to a living universe. UU 104 The Living Universe Elgin 2013
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Module Week Two: Taking the Long View of the Universe Taking the Long View. Key definitions. Integration Task: Personal journaling on how this video surprised me or gave me a different perspective on the universe. Integration Task: Journal Question: Reflections on the “long view” of the universe. How has this changed your view of the universe? How has this surprised you? Forum Conversation Question: Action-Reflective Learning - Go ask a small sample of people about the evolution of the universe. No debate, only listening for learning and then report back to the cohort for collective learning. What is discovered in the sharing? Module Week Three: How Science Sees the Universe Part 1 Transition from the “long view” to the “now view”. What Kind of Universe Do We Live In? Integration Task: Journaling - How are you surprised? Are we are not the persons we thought ourselves to be? Nature and Humans Critical thinking and making conscious decisions Integration Task: Quiz - Multiple Choice: What Difference Does it Make? Which of these best summarize the view of scientific materialism and that life is an emergent property of the universe, not fundamental Forum Conversation Question: Have you ever thought of yourself as a giant in the overall size of the universe? How does this change your sense of yourself when you do? Self Development: Mindfulness Module Week Four: How Science Sees the Universe, Part II Does Science Point Toward Aliveness or Deadness? Key Attributes of the Universe. Integration Task: When and how have you had an experience of connection and communion with the universe? Summarize the New View of Science Integration Task: Short Essay Question - If the overwhelming majority of the universe is invisible, then how much of ourselves is invisible as well? How far does our aliveness reach? Forum Conversation Question: Critical thinking is vital. What is your current view? Self Development: “Looking Into Space” CREATIVE ASSIGNMENT I: Summarize your view of the universe based on what you have learned so far Module Week Five: How the World’s Wisdom Traditions View the Universe, Part I Bringing Appreciative Reflection to Our Inquiry. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Integration task: Journaling - Summarize the similar themes in the Western religious traditions. Hinduism and Buddhism. Integration task: Quiz - Multiple Choice: Wisdom traditions view the universe? Forum Conversation Question: What do wisdom traditions means when they speak about a “co-arising” universe, or a “regenerative universe,” Action-Reflection Learning: Contrast and compare responses from different traditions UU 104 The Living Universe Elgin 2013
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Self Development: In what ways does the spiritual or wisdom tradition -- with which you are most connected – affirm our participation in a living universe?
Module Week Six: How the World’s Wisdom Traditions View the Universe, Part II Taoist, Confucian, and Indigenous Views. Integration task: Journaling: Take 15 minutes to summarize the views of these Eastern and Indigenous wisdom traditions. Western philosophical views of the universe Bringing the World’s Wisdom Traditions Together Integration task: Journal - Do you have an intuitive feel for the foundations for the world’s wisdom traditions with regard to the nature of the universe? Forum Conversation Question: Do the world’s wisdom traditions share a similar view of the universe? Self Development: Beneath differences of language and culture, are we as human beings having a similar experience of reality that we recognize if given an opportunity to deeply communicate with one another? Module Week Seven: Integrating Insights From Science and Spirituality Integration of Science and Wisdom Many Universes and a Mother Universe. Integration task: Take a 15 minute break to reflect on the idea the universe welcomes our knowing of ourselves as empowered beings in a living universe. What is the Universe Doing? Integration Task: Quiz - Multiple Choice: Integrating Insights Forum Conversation Question: Do you think and feel we live in a living universe or a non-living universe? Self Development: “Imagine Building a Universe” CREATIVE ASSIGNMENT II: Summarize your view of the universe based on what you have learned from the combined insight of wisdom traditions. Module Week Eight: A New World Context and Story The Perfect Storm of a World in Great Transition Humanity’s Future: Evolutionary Crash or Bounce? Integration task: Journal - Reflect on your hopes and fears for the future and the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead in these transitional times. The Power of Perspective and Story to Guide our Future Integration Task: Ask a small but diverse community of people how they would describe the future in a few sentences. Forum Conversation Question: Where is the world going? Self Development: How do you experience the direction the world is heading?
Module Week Nine: Personal Implications for Living in a Living Universe, Part I Who Are We? Music and Light Who Are We? Love and Knowing UU 104 The Living Universe Elgin 2013
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Integration task: Which of these four qualities do you most connect with? Which the least? Recognizing Ourselves Before We Die Integration task: A Walk through Nature Forum Conversation Question: Have you ever felt a deep sense of peace, wonder, and communion with all of creation? Self Development: to recognize ourselves as this body of resonant-knowing. Module Week Ten: Personal Implications for Living in a Living Universe, Part II
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How to Think About New Skills for Living in a New World Local Skills for a New World Integration task: Global Skills for a New World Near Gifts and True Gifts Integration Task: Quiz - Multiple Choice: Personal Implications of a Living Universe Forum Conversation Question: Self Development: Modes of Engagement Module
Module Week Eleven: Social Implications of a Living Universe, Part I
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The Perfect Storm of a World in Great Transition Integration task: Co-Creating Our Story of Collective Awakening Integration Task: Quiz - Multiple Choice: Social Implications of a Living Universe? Forum Conversation Question: Self Development: Modes of Engagement Module
Module Week Twelve: Social Implications of a Living Universe, Part II
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Co-Creating Our Story of Collective Awakening Integration task: Take 15 minutes to reflect on the areas where reconciliation is vital in your own estimation. Co-Creating Our Story of Collective Awakening, continued Integration task: Short Essay Question - Consumerism vs simplicity Building Community and Lives of Sustainable Prosperity Forum Conversation Question: “How Can Simplicity Support Engaging Aliveness?” Self Development: In the spirit of generosity and service, what gifts can I give to the world in this time of great transition?
Module Week Thirteen: Perspective and Integration
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Looking Back and Integrating Our Learning
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Looking Ahead and Advancing Our Learning Integration task: Quiz: Multiple Choice - Overall perspective of course? Becoming Media Conscious Citizens Skills for Living in a Living Universe Integration task: Short Essay Question - What skills are you drawn to develop and for what reasons? Forum Conversation Question: Are We an Observing Species? Self Development: What Are Your Near Gifts and True Gifts?
CREATIVE ASSIGNMENT III: Summarize your changing views of the universe and yourself and how your relationship may have evolved. Module Week Fourteen: Bringing Closure and Moving On
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Looking into the Deep Future Coming Home to the Present Integration task: Short Essay Question - What Difference Does it Make? Bringing Embodied Leadership into Life Course Summation and Student Encouragement Integration task: Feel how it is to reflect back and encourage others Forum Conversation Question: “What did you do…” Self Development: Modes of Engagement Module
Module Week Fifteen: tbc
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Session 1 Session 2 Integration task: Session 3 Session 4 Integration task: Forum Conversation Question: Self Development: Modes of Engagement Module
General Course Materials Duane Elgin, The Living Universe: Where Are We? Who Are we? Where Are We Going?, San Francisco: BerrettKoehler, 2010. Peter Russell and Duane Elgin, Pete and Duane’s Window, http://www.peteandduane.com/ David Korten, The Great Turning: From Empire to Earth Community, San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler, 2007. UU 104 The Living Universe Elgin 2013
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Rupert Sheldrake, Science Set Free, New York: Random House, 2012.
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Assessment and Grading The final course grade will be calculated as follows: 1. Weekly online participation: There are a wide array of activities each week viewing videos, written essays, action-reflection learning, quizzes, Forum interactions with other students, etc. The Moodle course system automatically records the visits of students and the quizzes, journal entries, Forum interactions, etc. (This will count for 30% of your grade) 2. Journal entries for each week of at least one major paragraph that both summarize and reflect on the subject matter of the week. (This will count for 20% of your grade) 3. Three reflective essays during the course of the semester. These will be reviewed and graded by peers (and the process reviewed by the faculty members and TA’s). (This will count for 30% of your grade). 4. One report at the end of the course on how your Team Project experience relates to the content of the course. (20% of your grade) Student work will be evaluated for the following areas (note: Students pursuing an A grade should do more than the minimum requirements; that is, do additional reading and view extra films as recommended in the course Schedule). 1. Achieving the primary objectives of the course; 2. General knowledge of all required reading assignments and of all material presented by the instructor in lectures and from class discussions, films, and so on; 3. Clear, concise, reflective, critical thinking; and 4. Regular, active, and meaningful participation in class discussions of assigned readings in class and on the course website.
Grading Formula Points 95+ UU 104 The Living Universe Elgin 2013
Grade A
10
90-94
A-
87-89
B+
84-86
B
80-83
B-
77-79
C+
74-76
C
70-73
C-
67-69
D+
64-66
D
60-63
D-
<59
F
ASSIGNMENTS
Points
Individual (80%) Participation in regular activities
All Module Weeks
30 points
Creative Assignment #1
Module Week 4
10 points
Creative Assignment #2
Module Week 7
10 points
Creative Assignment #3
Module Week 13
10 points
All Module Weeks
20 points
Journal entry INDIVIDUAL TOTAL
80 Points
Project Team (20%) Project Report
Module Week 15
20 Points
PT TOTAL
20 Points
Total
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100
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