HUM 230: The Humanities of Here

Online Synchronous, Summer 1-week seminar, May 8-13, 2023

Instructor: Professor Mary Wheeling
Office Location: Virtually, wheeling@gbc.edu
Office Hours: by appointment, Mon - Sat 3:00-4:00, zoom or email
Phone: 302-225-6361 (leave voice mail)
E-mail: wheeling@gbc.edu
Contact Hours: 42
Credits: 3

Textbooks:
Open access digital texts, videos, and recordings, supplied by instructor.

Course Description:
In this one-week seminar course, we’ll take a chronological look at the Humanities (the
creative expression of individual and community values) associated with people historically
located in the region in which Goldey-Beacom College is situated. Of course, Goldey-Beacom
is in the suburban area of a city now called “Wilmington,” in a state now called “Delaware,” but
our region wasn’t always called by these names, nor were its geopolitical boundaries always
as they are now. Too, Delaware-area culture has at times been indistinguishable from that of
its neighbors in the contemporary states of New Jersey, Maryland, Pennsylvania. For these
reasons, our topic of inquiry will be the history, arts, and culture associated with a more fluidly
determined geographic region, which we’ll simply call, Here.

Prerequisite:
ENG 175

Course Materials:
Open access digital texts, videos, and recordings, to be supplied by instructor and/or
discovered by the students.

Page 1
Learning Objectives/Goals:
Upon completion of this course, students will be able to . . .

1. Use close reading and critical analysis skills to engage (both directly and through
secondary sources) with our region’s material culture.

2. Demonstrate awareness of our region’s cultural diversity and changing cultural

landscape.

3. Articulate the relevance of expressive forms, traditions, belief systems, institutions,

and communication practices of some of our region’s cultural communities within
their social and historical contexts.

4. Demonstrate research skills of the humanities disciplines by using primary and

secondary sources, including archival and database sources as well as material
culture, photos, video, audio, etc.

5. Identify and demonstrate discipline-specific communication technologies, media, and

presentation strategies for public discussion of and dissemination of research and
writing.

Course Format:
HUM 230 will take place synchronously (live), 100% online, from 4:30-10:30pm Eastern Time,
from Monday, May 8, through Saturday, May 13, 2023. Saturday’s class will be devoted to
presenting and submitting the week’s coursework. Each class is divided into 3 90-minute
segments (A, B, and C) as described below:
LIVE NIGHTLY SCHEDULE:

Part A, LIVE Zoom (date/time specific link in Live Zoom Classroom): 4:30 – 6:00pm

Break: 6:00 – 6:45pm

Part B, LIVE Zoom (date/time specific link in Live Zoom Classroom): 6:45 – 8:15pm,
followed by individual questions, conferences, etc.
Part C: 8:30 – 10:30pm, students will complete coursework reading, viewing, writing,
etc., on their own or in their teams. Work may be due in the appropriate
Coursework upload portal by 10:30pm or earlier.

Class segments A & B will have their own Zoom links. These are found on our Live Zoom
Classroom page in Campus Web. Part C is not a live Zoom; you will be working on your own
or in your group and will still need continued access to Campus Web and the internet until
10:30pm at the latest.
Start time: Arrive in the Zoom waiting room by 4:25pm and hang out until you’re admitted.

Page 2
Attendance and participation is necessary for every part of every class. Log on with a charged-
up computer, functioning webcam and microphone, a way to work with digital documents, and
a way to take notes and write assignments. Also, don’t forget to bring your curiosity,
imagination, and great ideas.

Course Activities

Monday through Friday, students will engage with primary and secondary resources from and
about our region, keyed to particular themes, communities, or historical periods. Guided by
discussion questions, we’ll investigate—individually and in small groups—these resources in
the manner of a historian and cultural researcher to determine the relevance and impact of
institutional, aesthetic, and communication practices through history to the present day. By
mid-week, students will choose a Project Proposal topic (assignment explained below) and
will begin work on their Project Proposal.

Saturday, students will present their Project Proposals to a GBC audience that will include
GBC faculty, staff, and administrators. These proposals have a chance of being brought to life!

The Project Proposal:

During class Wednesday, students will finalize a topic and begin work on a Project
Proposal: a plan for a project designed to convey information to their college
community about the context and relevance of their chosen topic. This Project Proposal
(and as much of the project as is feasibly able to be finished, if the student wishes) will
be due and shared at the last class meeting (4:30-6:30pm, Saturday, May 13).

Some examples of such Project Proposals might be, but aren’t limited to:
• an educational interactive infographic to at a local/regional site;
• plan for a student trip to a locally significant site;
• an audio or video explanation/tour of a site or artifact;
• an interview of a family or community resource with particular local knowledge;
• an interactive map or other digital resource introducing GBC students to a local
culture topic from wherever they are;
• a creation, performance, or presentation inspired by regional culture;
• a temporary campus installation or infographic on a piece of GBC history;
• a plan for first-year students at GBC to access cultural features of our region; etc.

Avoid proposing a project that presents a video, slide-driven, or written history of Goldey-
Beacom College. Luckily for us, these resources already exist for us in various media!

These Project Proposals aren’t required to focus on GBC’s specific history, campus grounds,
traditional GBC activities, campus features, etc. Ideally, they would be to educate and engage
GBC community with surrounding, co-existing, or pre-existing history and culture, highlighting
the rich regional culture students may not otherwise know.

Page 3
Course Topics Covered:
The territory called Lenapahoking 9.00
• Indigenous cultures
• Contemporary regional Native culture

Colonial culture of the 17th – 18th centuries 9.00

• European, African, and Indigenous cultures

Delaware Humanities of 19th- and 20th-centuries: Major social, 9.00

political, and cultural touchstones. For example,
• The Underground Railroad
• Civil War to Civil Rights
• Immigrant cultures
• History of Goldey-Beacom College

Humanities of Here & Now 8.00

• Contemporary examples traced back to earlier points
• Being a Human Here: school, work, family, community and the arts

Communication and research strategies 7.00

• Primary and secondary resources
• Incorporating research and resources into communication
• Appropriate methods and media for public communication

Total Contact Hours 42.00

Course Policies
Attendance
Since this class is an entire semester smushed into one week, nightly attendance and active
participation is expected. So much to explore!

Late Assignments
Since this class is an entire semester smushed into one week, there’s no room for late
assignments. Each activity within one 6-hour class will build on the activity that came before it,
so students and student groups can’t move forward if the earlier activities are not complete.

Make-Up Tests
There are no tests.

Page 4
Course Requirements
There will be graded activities due every day, either presented/shared via Zoom or uploaded
through the Coursework portal.

Grading Policy
I follow GBC’s grading policy found in the academic catalog.

Getting Extra Help

Email me at wheeling@gbc.edu with questions, or ask during class.

Classroom Conduct
We are 100% online and synchronous this week. When everyone keeps their cameras on, we
form a stronger learning community. It’s okay to be casual on camera (sweats, etc.), but
please wear a shirt. Also, we’ll definitely want to meet each other’s pets this week. (Just to
clarify, pets don’t have to wear a shirt. Could be cute, though.)

Student Code of Conduct

Students are expected to be aware of and comply with the Student Code of Conduct and
Rules of Decorum found in the Student Handbook.

Academic Honor Code

Please familiarize yourself with the Academic Honor Code. All courses are governed by this
policy.

College Resources

Student Accommodations
The Advisors in the Advising Office serve as the first point of contact for students requesting
reasonable accommodations at GBC. For more information, please visit your Advisor whose
office is located on the first floor of the Fulmer Center, or consult the Academic Advising page
to find your advisor’s email and phone number. Or email advising@gbc.edu.

Hirons Library & Learning Center

Access library resources here: https://gbc.libguides.com/homepage.

Page 5
Mental Health and Wellness

Your mental health is critical to your well-being. To view the mental health resources available
at Goldey-Beacom College, click here: https://www.gbc.edu/student-life/mental-health-and-
wellness.html.
Goldey Beacom-College affords its students on-campus opportunities to engage in individual,
group, and drop-in counseling along with workshops and fireside chats on relevant mental
health and awareness topics. Please reach out to Megan Romano, Director of Counseling, at
blackwellm@gbc.edu for more information or to schedule an appointment!
Goldey-Beacom offers help in the form of the Health Advocate Student Assistance Program
(SAP), a confidential service that can help you manage a crisis or find the support you need to
deal with personal or psychological challenges. Keep the following services’ contact
information handy in the event that you or a peer is in need of assistance. Asking for help is a
smart, safe, and courageous thing to do.

Director of Counseling
Megan Romano, LPC, CAADC, NCC blackwellm@gbc.edu
103 Jackson Hall
Health Advocate Student Assistance Program (SAP)
Mental health support: 1-855-384-1800
Crisis Numbers:
Mobile Crisis Intervention Services, statewide: 1-800-652-2929
Crisis TEXT Line: Text DE to 741741
Crisis Line for LGBTQ Youth: 1-866-488-7386
National Suicide Prevention Hotline: 1-800-273-TALK (8255)
Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: 988
Domestic Violence Hotline (New Castle County, DE): 1-302-762-6110
Rape Crisis Line through ContactLifeline DE: 1-302-761-9100

This information, and more, is available on Campus Web in the Campus Life Section, at the
following link: Counseling Services.

Page 6