There's no reason we can't try to enjoy it. Try to bring some energy to class and to discussions. Feel free to bring coffee or some other drink to class, but please do not eat your lunch during class. Just because some of the authors we'll read have been dead for over two thousand years is no reason to be excessively somber when discussing them. And at some point during the term, we'll try to spend Columbia's money for a field trip with a tenuous relationship to the subject matter of the course.
Suggestions are welcome.
Use these as a study aid, but don't obsess over them or use them as a crutch. I also expect all assignments you hand me to represent your own work. I also expect you written assignments to be based on your reading of the assigned texts, not on your friends summaries of the assigned texts. Any acts of plagiarism such as this could result in your failing this course and could seriously threaten your standing at Columbia College. Meaning of the Holy Qur'an , trans.