SUMMER READING LIST
(keep a reading Journal)
1.
Browning -- Ordinary Men. Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final
Solution in Poland
Shocking
as it is, this book--a crucial source of original research used for
the bestseller Hitler's
Willing Executioners--gives
evidence to suggest the opposite conclusion: that the sad-sack
German draftees who perpetrated much of the Holocaust were not
expressing some uniquely Germanic evil, but that they were average
men comparable to the run of humanity, twisted by historical forces
into inhuman shapes. Browning, a thorough historian who lets no one
off the moral hook nor fails to weigh any contributing
factor--cowardice, ideological indoctrination, loyalty to the
battalion, and reluctance to force the others to bear more than
their share of what each viewed as an excruciating duty--interviewed
hundreds of the killers, who simply could not explain how they had
sunken into savagery under Hitler. A good book to read along with
Ron Rosenbaum's comparably excellent study Explaining
Hitler. --Tim
Appel
2. Steven
Pinker -- How the Mind Works
In
this extraordinary bestseller, Steven Pinker, one of the world's
leading cognitive scientists, does for the rest of the mind what he
did for language in his 1994 book, The
Language Instinct.
He explains what the mind is, how it evolved, and how it allows us
to see, think, feel, laugh, interact, enjoy the arts, and ponder the
mysteries of life. And he does it with the wit that prompted Mark
Ridley to write in the New
York Times Book Review,
"No other science writer makes me laugh so much. . . . [Pinker]
deserves the superlatives that are lavished on him." The
arguments in the book are as bold as its title. Pinker rehabilitates
some unfashionable ideas, such as that the mind is a computer and
that human nature was shaped by natural selection, and challenges
fashionable ones, such as that passionate emotions are irrational,
that parents socialize their children, and that nature is good and
modern society corrupting. Winner of the Los
Angeles Times Book Prize A New
York Times Notable
Book of the Year and Publishers
Weekly Best
Book of 1997 Featured in Time magazine,
the New
York Times Magazine, The
New Yorker, Nature,
Science, Lingua
Franca,
and Science
Times Front-page
reviews in the Washington
Post Book World,
the Boston
Globe Book Section,
and the San
Diego Union Book Review Illustrations
3.
Rosenblum -- See What I am
Saying, The Extraordinary Powers of the Five Senses (coming soon)
An in-depth look at the science
that explains the hidden powers of the five senses and how to
harness their potential. In this revealing romp
through the mysteries of human perception, University of
California psychologist and researcher Lawrence Rosenblum explores
the astonishing abilities of the five senses--skills of which most
of us are remarkably unaware. Drawing on groundbreaking insights
into the brain's plasticity and integrative powers, including
findings from his own research, Rosenblum examines how our brains
use the subtlest information to perceive the world. A blind
person, for example, can "see" through batlike
echolocation; a Master Sommelier can actually taste the grape
variety, region, and vintage of an obscure wine; and pheromones
can subliminally signal a lover's compatibility.
To illustrate these implicit
perceptual skills, Rosenblum takes us from the
"beep" baseball fields where blind players swing at
beeping balls, to a pitch-black restaurant where diners
experience taste without the aid of sight. We
accompany him on a visit to an Oscar-winning animator who
explains how the public's expertise in perceiving faces has
made his job so difficult; and a visit with a supermodel to
discuss why beautiful faces are irresistible.
New studies have shed light
on the surpising power and reach of our senses. It turns
out that our brains use entire forms of perceptual
information of which we are largely unaware. We can hear
things that don't make sounds, feel things without
touching them, see things with no form, and smell things
that have no discernable odor. Throughout the book,
Rosenblum not only illuminates the fascinating science
behind our hidden perceptual powers, but demonstrates how
increased awareness of these abilities can actually lead
us to enhance how we use them.
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READING ASSIGNMENTS:
WHAT
IS A READING JOURNAL (click here)
DUE - August 31:
For each of the works read, write a two-page summary (handwritten in
your own words) in a reading journal . It needs to be evident that you read and understood
the work. Any plagiarism will result in a failing grade. Pace
yourself!
DUE at later dates:
In addition to the summary do the following assignments as
listed for each individual work. This may be typed.
1. Browning: (due August 22)*
- Be ready to discuss Browning's book along with the Stanford
Experiment. Our goal is to understand HOW and WHY things happened
the way they did during the Holocaust. We already know WHAT
happened. Take notes as you read the book.
2. Pinker: (due Sept. 19)*
- Make sure you understand the basics of his work. Be able to
discuss each chapter in class and with the Italians. This is one of
the books for your major focus the project: Cognitive learning.
3. Rosenblum: (due Sept. 19)*
- Take notes chapter by chapter and summarize the main points.
These notes will help in the discussion and further lectures and
projects about cognitive learning.
* points will be deducted for late work |