Syllabus
Intro. to the Old Testament
Spring 2004: St. Joseph's University
Alan Humm
e-mail:
Humm@ccat.sas.uPenn.Edu
Office: Belerman 204
Office Hours: 10:00-11:00 MWF, or by appointment
Required Textbooks:
Willis Barnstone, ed., The Other Bible
Don C. Benjamin, The Old Testament Story
http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~humm/Courses/HebBib
A modern translation of the Bible
Exams:
We will have a very short evaluation every other week. Those grades will
together represent 35% of your final grade. Normally this will only take
the first 20 min. of class and class will continue afterwards. The final
exam will also be 20% of your grade. Another 25% will come from numerous
daily reading checks. These will generally consist of one question drawn
from the assigned reading for the day. A final 20% will come from a
paper. This can either be a standard short research paper (10 pages) on
an approved topic, or it can be a critical preparation of one of an
ancient document such as one of the Dead Sea Scrolls documents (a sample
of this type of project is on the web page). Team work (up to 3) is
allowed on larger projects. I will also reward you for class
participation (but not detract for shyness). There will be a makeup
available for each of the biweekly quizzes, but you must have a valid
excuse to take it. I will allow you to retake one failed quiz by doing
the makeup -- but only if you took the main version -- you may not make
up a failed makeup. No makeups will be available for the reading checks,
but with a valid excuse I will not average in a 0 for that grade.
This class requires that you be computer literate. There will be
materials 'on line' that I want you to use, and I will be happy to spend
some time with you early in the semester learning to use them if needed.
You will each need an e-mail account, but it does not need to be a
school account.
Office Policy:
If you need to contact me other than during my office hours, please feel
free to call me at home (Do not call after 10:00 p.m.). I can also
arrange to be in my St. Joseph's office at a time convenient for both of
us -- do not hesitate to make an appointment with me if you feel that
you need to see me.
