College of Liberal Arts

De La Salle University

Course Code: GREATWK Prerequisite: None

Course Title: Great Works Prerequisite to: None
Course Type: General Education
Academic Year: 2016-2017
Term: Second
Schedule: TH/ 14:30-16:00

COURSE DESCRIPTION
The course is designed to center on a theme that is the basis for the choice of three great
works representing various cultures/disciplines that have exerted influence on the way
human beings think about themselves in relation to the world. A team of three faculty
members will serve as facilitator-teachers for their respective great work. The three
sections will rotate every four weeks in the classrooms of the facilitator-teachers. Each
teacher will facilitate the reading and discussion of a particular great work. Towards the end
of the term, the teachers will meet as a team with all the students of the three classes in
sessions that will integrate the discussions of the three Great Works into thematic
knowledge. The course offers the students the opportunity to participate in multidisciplinary
discourses that present various ways of understanding and framing the human condition and
social realities.

SPECIFIC THEME
Colonialism and colonial legacies

DESCRIPTION OF THE THEME

A survey and critical reading of selected works of Filomeno V. Aguilar, Jr., Joseph Conrad, and
F. Sionil Jose, focusing on the colonial experience and its consequences.

LEARNING OUTCOMES
On completion of the module, the students are expected to be able to do the following:

DLSU-CLA Expected Lasallian LEARNING OUTCOMES

Graduate Attributes
Critical and creative knowledge Appreciate the works of Filomeno Aguilar, Jr.,
producer Joseph Conrad, and F. Sionil Jose in the context
of how they have provided important
perspectives on the colonial experience and its
consequences.
Competent professional Gain a deeper understanding of issues and
concerns pertaining to the colonial experience
and its consequences.
Socially responsive and collaborative Develop self-assurance and initiative, formed
citizen in the process of engaging in collaborative
inquiry, self-assessment, and reflection, and
through immersion in the Lasallian tradition.
Diversity-sensitive communicator Articulate their reactions to the perspectives
that the three great works provide on the
colonial experience and its consequences.

Morally principled and faith-inspired
leader
FINAL COURSE OUTPUT
As evidence of attaining the above Learning Outcomes, the students are required to submit
the following at the end of the module:
LEARNING OUTCOME
Appreciate the works of
Filomeno Aguilar, Jr., Joseph
Conrad, and F. Sionil Jose in the
context of how they have
provided important
perspectives on the colonial
experience and its
consequences.
Gain a deeper understanding of
issues and concerns pertaining
to the colonial experience and
its consequences.
Develop self-assurance and
initiative, formed in the process
of engaging in collaborative
inquiry, self-assessment, and
reflection, and through
immersion in the Lasallian
tradition.
Articulate their reactions to the
perspectives that the three
great works provide on the
colonial experience and its
consequences.
Develop moral and spiritual
reflection and evaluation in
relation to self and society.
RUBRIC FOR ASSESMENT OF THE FINAL COURSE OUTPUT
Rating Superior
GREATWK | Colonialism: Borges, Forster, Rizal | Page 2 of 5
Develop moral and spiritual reflection and
evaluation in relation to self and society.
FINAL COURSE OUTPUT DUE DATE
Group art project, with oral presentation, As indicated
on the theme "The Colonial Experience and in the
Its Consequences," synthesizing ideas and learning plan
insights gained from critical examination of below
the primary texts.
The groups will display their art projects at
the closing plenary. The three instructors
will listen to each group's oral
presentation, asking questions as needed.
Based on the group's art project, oral
presentation, and responses to questions,
the instructors will each rate the final
output according to the DLSU grading
system. The average of the three grades
will be the group's grade for the final
output.
Specific guidelines:
1. The project must be a 2-dimensional or
3-dimensional creative work that responds
to this question: How do Filomeno Aguilar,
Jr., Joseph Conrad, and F. Sionil Jose
interpret the colonial experience and its
consequences in their respective works?
You should arrive at a synthesis of the
perspectives of these three thinkers and
conceptualize a project that expresses this
synthesis.
2. Although the group is required to give
an oral presentation on their project, the
project itself should express clearly the
ideas/insights of the group even without
need of further explanation.
3. For practical reasons, the project should
be "portable," approximately 2 ft. x 2 ft. (if
2-dimensional) or 1 ft. x 1 ft. x 1 ft. (if 3-
dimensional).
4. The level of difficulty of a project must
be commensurate with the size of the
group that works on it. ("Work" means
direct participation in all stages of creation,
from brainstorming to execution.)
Projects must be on display at the
appointed time and venue on the due date.
Average to Passing to Failed to
 GREATWK | Colonialism: Borges, Forster, Rizal | Page 3 of 5

Grade 3.5 - 4.0 Above Average Average Barely Passing

Equivalents
2.5 - 3.0 1.5 - 2.0 0.0 - 1.0
Description Output shows Output shows a Output shows Output shows
of output clear evidence of good level of acceptable level little or no effort
higher-order effort, with of preparation and poor
thinking skills sufficient degree but is still quite preparation;
(analyzing, of difficulty and typical or group
evaluating, sophistication in superficial. Work apparently
creating). Work content and generally clueless about
shows execution. exhibits lower- purpose and
internalized order thinking nature of
understanding of skills assigned work.
concepts and (remembering,
methods learned understanding,
throughout the applying).
course.

OTHER REQUIREMENTS AND ASSESSMENTS

Aside from the final output, the students will be assessed at other times during the term
through the instructors' specific requirements for their respective modules. These
requirements and assessment instruments may include any or all of the following:
attendance, quizzes / examinations, recitation, reports, worksheets, critical papers, creative
work, performance.

GRADING SYSTEM
For each module, the students will be graded according to the module requirements and
their respective weights as specified by the module instructor. The final grade for the course
will be computed based on the following:
Grade earned in the first module 25%
Grade earned in the second module 25%
Grade earned in the third module 25%
Grade earned for final output 25%

LEARNING PLAN
The students will read/view the assigned texts and participate in the various activities
specified in the syllabi prepared by the instructors for their respective modules. The students
will attend classes in the room assigned to each module instructor as indicated in the
following timetable.

Date Activity
De Chavez Malbarosa Policarpio
(Joseph Conrad, (Filomeno Aguilar, Jr., (F.Sionil Jose, The
Heart of Darkness) Clash of Spirits) Pretenders)
A 1708 M305 M313
January 5 OPENING PLENARY
January 10 L87 C35 C33
January 12
January 17
January 19
January 24
January 26
January 31
February 2
February 7 C35 C33 L87
 GREATWK | Colonialism: Borges, Forster, Rizal | Page 4 of 5

February 9
February 14
February 16
February 23
February 28
March 2
March 7
March 9 C33 L87 C35
March 14
March 16
March 21
March 23
March 28
March 30
April 4

April 11 & CLOSING PLENARY SUBMISSION/PRESENTATION OF FINAL COURSE OUTPUT

13

SELECTED GREAT WORKS

Filomeno V. Aguilar, Jr., A Clash of Spirits: The History of Power and Sugar Planter
Hegemony on a Visayan Island. Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press,
1998.
Aguilar's A Clash of Spirits looks at colonialism through the lens of culture. Through its
narrative that gives a critical account of the history of sugar haciendas in Negros and the
ascendance of Chinese mestizo entrepreneurs as sugar planters, the opus shows how the
friction and fusion of meanings that characterized Spanish and American colonialism
structured social relations. The centrality of meanings, symbols, myths, language, practices
or the notion that societies have their own cosmology or "spirituality" depicts the colonial
experience and power struggle in a colonial society as a "clash of spirits." The resulting
political, economic, and social institutions are outcomes of this clash of spirits. Colonial
legacies are cultural legacies.

Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness.

F. Sionil Jose, The Pretenders

The Pretenders is a novel about the dilemma of the relationship between the landlord-and-
servant in the 1950s, years after the World War II. The struggle from the past creeped into
the culture and mindset of people while transitioning to the industrial world of Manila. The
protagonist is Antonio Tony Samson, a former resident from Rosales, Pangasinan, who
gained a doctorate degree in Harvard University in the US. The novel evolved around his life
by the time he goes back to Manila as he intends to build a new life full of hope and
revolution in his heart. Tony plays the conundrum between the perfectly good life images
and the freedom from the self. Tonys intertwining hopes and reminisces from the past
steered him in his journey in the story.

SECONDARY SOURCES

Filomeno V. Aguilar, Jr.

Sakada, a movie directed by Behn Cervantes. Latest brief commentary about the film and
its director can be found in http://pinoyweekly.org/new/2013/08/featured-political-
film-behn-cervantes-sakada/. An interview with Cervantes in 2007
(http://kapirasongkritika.wordpress.com/2007/10/03/panayam-sa-sarili-hinggil-
sa-sakada-ni-behn-cervantes/) conveys the directors critical view of the film, its
context and relevance.
 GREATWK | Colonialism: Borges, Forster, Rizal | Page 5 of 5

CLASS POLICIES
The individual instructors will inform the students of their class policies on day 1 of each
module.

INSTRUCTORS/CONSULTATION HOURS
MON TUE WED THU FRI
Jeremy C. De Chavez
Department of Literature
16:30-
16:30-19:30
Jos Ma. Arcadio C. 19:30
(with prior
Malbarosa (with prior
appointmen
Philosophy Department appointme
t)
nt)
Monica Renee G.
Policarpio
Psychology Department

Noted: Approved:

Dr. Jeane C. Peracullo Dr. Julio C. Teehankee

Chair, Philosophy Department Dean, College of Liberal Art
College of Liberal Arts