INI304S Syllabus
INI304S1 Critical Thinking and Enquiry in Written Communication 2008-09
Instructor: Roger Riendeau
Location: Innis College, Room 315
Phone: 416-978-7789
Email: roger.riendeau@utoronto.ca
Office Hours: Monday 4-6 pm
Class Schedule
| January 5 | Critical Thinking and Inquiry: How? Why? The JFK Assassination Controversy as a Case Study |
| January 12 | The Foundation of Reasonable Argument: A Critical Approach to the JFK Assassination Controversy |
| January 19 | The Structure and Dynamics of Argument: Deductive and Inductive Reasoning in the Warren Commission Report |
| January 26 | Distinguishing Fact from Opinion: Evaluating the Warren Commission's Single-Bullet Theory |
| February 2 | Eyewitness Testimony: Is Seeing and Hearing Really Believing in the JFK Assassination? |
| February 9 | Expert Authority: The Conflict of Medical Science in JFK Assassination Research? |
| February 23 | Expert Authority: Other Debatable Physical Evidence (Acoustic, Ballastic, and Crime Scene) in JFK Assassination Research |
| March 2 | Dealing with Alternative Views: The Question of Conspiracy in the JFK Assassination |
| March 9 | The Ambivalence of Circumstantial Evidence: The Clash of Conspiracy Theories in the JFK Assassination Debate |
| March 16 | Value Conflicts and Assumptions: Why Apparently Reasonable People Disagree about the JFK Assassination |
| March 23 | Logical Fallacies and Irrational Techniques of Persuasion: Abuses of Evidence in JFK Assassination Argumentation |
| March 30 | Relying on Government and Media Sources: The Credibility of Public Reporting on the JFK Assassination and the Conspiracy Question |
| April 6 | Term Test and Course Evaluation |
Assignment Schedule
|
Date |
Assignment | Value |
| February 9 | Critical Analysis (1,500 words) | 20% |
| April 6 | Research Essay (3,000 words) | 40% |
| April 6 | Term Test and Course Evaluation (3 hours) | 20% |
| Class Participation | 20% | |
| Final Grade | 100% |
Required Readings
Kurtz, Michael L. The JFK Assassination Debates: Lone Gunman versus Conspiracy. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2006. (Available in the University of Toronto Bookstore)
United States. The Warren Commission Report. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1964. Available online: http://www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wr/contents.htm or http://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report/index.html.
Suggested Readings
The essential reading material for this course is available on the INI304H and INI204Y pages of my website www.rogerriendeau.com. The Online Resources of INI304H includes the most informative and reasonable websites devoted to a study of various aspects of the JFK assassination. The Online Resources of INI204Y includes the websites of various Writing Centres or Labs, Writing programs and courses, Philosophy courses on critical thinking and logic, and books on Writing and Rhetoric. Exploration of the argument, critical thinking, and logic websites in particular will reveal a substantial volume of information of varying relevance to INI304H. I will give you direction on the navigation of these websites and the use of their resources throughout the year either during class or through the Discussion Forum on my website. Similarly books on Writing and Rhetoric are numerous and of varying quality. I have listed a few of my favourite texts below which you may wish to read but which I do not expect you to purchase. Indeed, excerpts from these texts may be available on my website under the link Assigned Readings in the website Forum.
Boyd, Robert. Critical Reasoning and Logic. 2003. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.
Browne, M. Neil and Stuart M. Keeley. 2004. Asking the Right Questions: A Guide to Critical Thinking. 7th edition. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.
Flage, Daniel. 2004. Art of Questioning: An Introduction to Critical Thinking. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall
Kennedy, Mary Lynch. 2001. Reading and Writing in the Academic Community. 2nd edition. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
Rottenberg, Annette T. 2003. Structure of Argument. 4th edition. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s.
----. 2003. Elements of Argument: A Text and Reader. 7th edition. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s.
Thiroux, Emily. 1999. The Critical Edge: Thinking and Writing in a Virtual Society. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.
Waller, Bruce N. Critical Thinking: Consider the Verdict. 5th edition. 2005. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.
Wood, Nancy V. 2004. Perspectives on Argument. 4th edition. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
Notes
This course is an exercise in disciplined and organized writing. Moreover, the instructor needs sufficient time to evaluate each assignment and to provide meaningful comments. Accordingly, unless documented justification is provided, each assignment must be submitted by the due date, or it will be subject to a penalty of one full grade for every three days of lateness.
Section B.1. of the University of Toronto’s Code of Academic Behaviour stipulates:
It shall be an offence for a student knowingly:
(d) to represent as one's own any idea or expression of an idea or work of another in any academic examination or term test or in connection with any other form of academic work, i.e. to commit plagiarism ...;
(e) to submit, without the knowledge and approval of the instructor to whom it is submitted, any academic work for which credit has previously been obtained or is being sought in another course or program of study in the University or elsewhere….
The common penalty for these kinds of academic offences (often determined by the Office of the Dean of Arts and Science) is a grade of zero (0) for the entire course and a notation of the violation on the student’s transcript.