Eva Rueschmann
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Completing a HACU Division I

A Division I in the Humanities, Arts and Cultural Studies is designed to introduce you to the fields, methodologies, central texts and ideas that shape the various disciplines in the school. Passing a Division I in four areas, including Humanities, Arts and Cultural Studies, either through coursework or a longer independent project will qualify you to move on to the Division II and your chosen concentration. While there are some rules and criteria for completing the Division I, this first stage in your Hampshire College studies also allows you to develop your creative and intellectual interests within the parameters of a course or clearly defined area of your choosing. This page includes the general guidelines set by the School of Humanities, Arts and Cultural Studies for passing a Division I Exam, and some additional pointers for those students who would like to complete an independent Division I project with me.

HACU DIVISION I: OFFICIAL GOALS AND POLICY

The Division I Exam in the School of Humanities, Arts and Cultural Studies is designed to enable an entering student:

  • To acquire skills in critical analysis, reading and writing;
  • To learn to speak comfortably and effectively in group settings;
  • To begin to develop historical and multiple cultural perspectives;
  • To begin self-initiated intellectual or artistic work;
  • To gain exposure to a range of styles, forms and types of texts (literary, philosophical, visual, musical, etc.);
  • To learn to express ideas in a range of modes and media;
  • To acquire analytic vocabularies in more than one of the disciplines encompassed by the school (e.g. literary criticism, cultural theory, musical discourse, film and media analysis).

HACU presents two different types of courses specifically designed to help satisfy these goals. Each semester, the school offers one or more team-taught, multidisciplinary courses (numbered 120-129). In these courses, the emphasis is not on the acquisition of production techniques, but on understanding how to think about questions and work with materials in the fields involved. The school also offers a number of first-year seminars (numbered 130-139). These courses enable you to pursue fundamental questions and problems in small-group settings that allow close contact with instructors.

You will choose one of the following TWO OPTIONS for completing a Division I in HACU:

Model #1: Two-Course Option: Successful completion of two 100-level courses (or, in some circumstances, one 100-level course and one 200-level course) in HACU. (You may not use two 200-level courses for this option!) In keeping with the multidisciplinary expectations of the HACU Division I, students are strongly encouraged to choose courses from different disciplines within the school (e.g. philosophy and video, literature and music, history and cultural studies, etc.) HACU's team-taught, multidisciplinary courses, when followed by another 100- or 200-level course, offer a good way to satisfy the mutlidisciplinary expectation and to complete a Division I in the school.

Model #2: Project Exam: If you opt for the project exam, your work will normally emerge out of coursework done in the school for a particular course and will involve substantial additional work. If you propose a Division I project independent of coursework done in the school, you must offer convincing evidence of your preparation to pursue and complete the project and must find a faculty member who agrees to direct it.

If you would like to complete a DIVISION I PROJECT with me,
here are a few things you need to know:

Most of my students who are interested in the project-based version of the HACU Div I complete a paper based on work begun in one of my 100-level courses, for example HACU 180 "Introduction to Cultural Studies" or HACU 197 "Cross-Cultural Readings of the Short Story." If you keep up with the work in the course throughout the semester, then by the end of the term you should have a good solid paper that demonstrates that you have fulfilled at least some of the criteria for passing a Division I exam as outlined above.

I will give you extensive editorial suggestions and proposals for expansion on the final paper you turn in for class or another essay/project that you choose to develop into a Division I project. That paper will serve as the first draft of a Division I paper that you will revise, expand and improve over the course of the following months.

Criteria for Evaluation:
Specifically I will help you develop and will ultimately evaluate the following:

  • your ability to conduct independent research and use the library and other resource material effectively;
  • your ability to place your own creative work (writing, videomaking etc.) in a larger critical and historical framework--if your Div I project includes a creative writing or production component;
  • your development of composition, writing and analytic skills (including compilation of critical bibliographies, proper citation and clear, persuasive prose style);
  • your ability to formulate a cogent, interesting thesis or argument or to pose a challenging analytic question or problem;
  • your competence in employing a particular critical or theoretical approach to analyze a text.

Length:
Generally I expect a 10-12 page essay for a term paper in my 100-level classes. The expanded and revised Division I paper should run around 15-25 pages. This is a general guideline and can be negotiated depending the nature and complexity of your project. However, as a rule, the Division I project should go substantially beyond your initial analysis or ideas and reflect your additional research and further thinking on your chosen topic.

Timeline:
You should plan to work on your revisions to the paper/project as consistently as possible after the end of the course and to regularly meet with me to go over drafts and discuss any problems as well as exciting discoveries. You should plan to have your project completed by April 1 (if you started course work in fall) or November 1 (if you began the project in a spring term course). After that date, it becomes difficult to devote the necessary energy and focus to the project: I will be busy with Division II and III exams and you will be preoccupied with finishing your final work for the semester. It is possible to carry over the project into a third term but I advise you strongly to finish the paper within two semesters and to set yourself specific deadlines. Setting up a working schedule and keeping up with revisions will ensure that you will indeed finish the project within the official time limits and that you will have a sense of accomplishment.

Committee:
Your Division I project committee consists of two members, myself the chair and a second faculty member or a student who has already passed his or her Division I in HACU and is qualified to evaluate your work. During the final meeting all three of us discuss the process and experience of completing the Division I work and evaluate the final version of your project.

Resources:
There are many other resources at your disposal to aid you in conceptualizing and completing the project:
- The Writing Program
- The Quantitative Resource Center

- Research Librarians at the Johnson Library
- The Advising Office
- S.T.A.R. (Student to Student Advising Center)
- Division II and III students who have already passed their Division I exams and can reassure you that the Division I process may be daunting at first but is absolutely manageable--and can even be fun!

 

Copyright © 2000, Eva Rueschmann, Hampshire College.
This page is maintained by Eva Rueschmann, erHA@hampshire.edu, 413-559-5429.