Syllabus

In this course students will learn how to safely ride a motorcycle, and, if successful, will be licensed to ride motorcycles. Students will study the meaning of freedom in the context of the motorcycle culture, understand the nexus between motorcycling and narratives about culture, politics and society, and learn about writing travelogues.

• Readings
1. Chapters from She's a bad motorcycle, edited by Geno Zanetti.
2. The Perfect Vehicle: What is it about Motorcycles?, by Melissa Holbrook Pierson.
3. Jupiter's Travels, by Ted Simon.
4. The Rugged Road, by Theresa Wallach.
5. Motorcycle Diaries, by Ernesto ``Che'' Guevara.
6. Breaking the Limit: One Woman's Motorcycle Journey Through North America, by Karen Larsen.
Note: You are not required to buy any of the above. In some cases, I will give you copies of the pages that I would like you to read. All of the above are on reserve in the library for this course.
• Movies
1. Long Way Round.
2. Long Way Down.
3. Motorcycle Diaries.
4. Hell's Angels on Wheels.
5. Easy Rider
6. Driven to Ride
7. Why we Ride
Prerequisites

None.

Intended Learning Outcomes

At the end of this course successful students will be able to:

1. to learn about the meaning of freedom in the context of the motorcycle culture,
2. to learn about individual endurance,
3. to understand the nexus between motorcycling and narratives about culture,
4. to learn how to safely ride a motorcycle, and
5. to learn about writing travelogues.
Class Attendance

The Basic Rider Course (BRC) is a part of this INQ class. \emph{Attendance for the entire duration of each of the three sessions of the rider course is required for passing this INQ class.}

Regular attendance in class is a requirement. A student who is more than 10 minutes late to a class (morning or afternoon) will be counted absent. An absence will be considered excused if the student sends the insturctor email, explaining the reason for the absence, by 9am on the day that the student cannot be present for a class session. Absence from any of the BRC sessions will result in a grade of F for this INQ class. One unexcused absence (except for the BRC sessions) will be allowed; each unexcused absence beyond this will cause the student's final grade to drop by one click, e.g., from B to B-. Regardless of attendance, students are responsible for all material covered or assigned in class.

Mechanics

Generally, the course will meet in the classroom (Trexler 374) from 10am until noon, and from 1pm until 3:30pm every day. On Tuesday and Wednesday (May 12 and 13) of the first week, we will meet on the parking lot (course range) of Virginia Western Community College for the on-motorcycle part of the BRC. There will be regular quizzes, writing assignments and a final project during the course.

Below is the tentative schedule. The indicated reading is to be completed by the date shown. There will be a quiz on that reading on that day at the beginning of class in the morning session.

Unless noted otherwise, the writing assignments are due by the beginning of class in the morning session on the day the writing assignment is included in the schedule.

In the schedule below, titles in italics and underlined are movies that we will watch in class, titles in italics are readings that I will give you, and titles in italics and bold-faced are books that are on reserve in the library.

Tentative Schedule

Date	Morning	Afternoon	Reading
Monday, May 11	BRC (classroom)	BRC (classroom)
Tuesday, May 12	BRC (range) (8:00am)	BRC (range)
Wednesday, May 13	BRC (range) (8:00am)	BRC (range)
Thursday, May 14	RoadRUNNER workshop	RoadRUNNER workshop	Writing: (W1) Reflection paper on the BRC.
Friday, May 15	RoadRUNNER workshop	RoadRUNNER workshop	Writing: (W2) Assignment from the workshop (due by 5pm).
Monday, May 18	Why we ride Driven to ride	Discussion of the movies and the readings.	Reading:The Perfect Vehicle, Jupiter's Travels Writing: (W3) Reflection paper on the workshop.
Tuesday, May 19	Dealership Visit	The Rugged Road, Long Way Down	Reading:One man caravan, Great Escape
Wednesday, May 20	Dealership Visit	Long Way Down
Thursday, May 21	Motorcycle Diaries	Long Way Down	Reading:The Rugged Road
Friday, May 22	Guest lecture	Long Way Around	Reading:Jupiter's Travels (South America) Writing: Revised papers: (W1) BRC reflection, (W2) Travel plan, and (W3) Workshop reflection due by 5pm
Tuesday, May 26	Easy Rider	Long Way Around	Reading:Breaking the Limit, The Perfect Vehicle Writing: (W4) Writing Assignment
Wednesday, May 27	Hell's Angels on Wheels	Work on Final Project	Reading:The Hell's Angels, Storm
Thursday, May 28	Long Way Around	Work on Final Project
Friday, May 29	Project Presentations	Project Presentations	Writing:Project Paper, Final Reflection Paper

Writing Assignments

Note: The final project paper and the final reflection paper must be submitted as PDF documents to the instructor by email.
1. W1: Reflection paper on the BRC First, describe your experience objectively (what, where, who, when). Next, examine connections between what you experienced in the rider course and the general concepts of safety while operating a vehicle on the road. Choose a couple of examples to illustrate how taking this rider course enhanced, reinforced, or contradicted these concepts. Finally, articulate how taking the rider course affected your notions of riding motorcycles, and motorcycles in general.

 

2. W2: Assignment from the workshop

 

3. W3: Reflection paper on the workshop First, describe your experience objectively (what, where, who, when). Next, examine connections between what you experienced in the workshop and the general concepts of writing travelogues. Choose a couple of examples to illustrate how the workshop enhanced, reinforced, or contradicted these concepts. Finally, articulate how the workshop affected your appreciation for, and skills in, writing travelogues, particularly travel on a motorcycle.

 

4. W4: Choosing a motorcycle Write a letter to a friend letting him know of your new motorcycle purchase. Explain how you plan to use your motorcycle, how you went about choosing a motorcycle, and what you have done to prepare yourself to be a safe motorcyclist. Include in your explanation of choice of motorcycle a comparison of at least three motorcycles you considered and their pros and cons.

 

5. Final Project Paper Each group of 4 students will work on one of these three topics. The topic will be assigned to each group at random.
   1. Compare the travels of Wallach and Blenkiron from London to Cape Town to those of McGregor and Boorman esentially along the same route. In particular, compare the motorcycles used, the support structure available, the actual routes, the socio/economic differences, and the cultural and political experiences.
   2. Examine the sub-culture of the Hell's Angels and motorcycle gangs in general. In parituclar, address how the personalities involved differ from other street riders, their socio/economic differences, and the effect they have on the perceptions of motorcycles and motorcyclists as held by the general public.
   3. Explore the world of women motorcyclists. Find out about the various support structures available to women motorcyclists, and about the obstacles they face in embarking on such adventures. Using narratives of motorcycle rides by women, comment on how they overcame these obstacles, and on the perceptions of motorcycles and women motorcyclists as held by the general public.

 

6. Final Reflection Paper First, describe your experience in this INQ course objectively (what, where, who, when). Next, examine connections between what you experienced in the INQ course and the general concepts of safety while operating a vehicle on the road, the concept of "freedom" on a motorcycle, the attraction of travel by road, particularly on a motorcycle, and writing travelogues. Choose a couple of examples to illustrate how the course enhanced, reinforced, or contradicted these concepts. Finally, articulate how the course affected your notions of motorcycles and travel.
Grading

The final grade will be computed based on the grades in the quizzes, the writing assignments, the final project (paper and presentation) and the final reflection paper according to the following weights.

Component	Weight
Quizzes	20%
Writing Assignments	40%
Project	30%
Final Reflection Paper	10%

The final course grade will be calculated as follows:

< 60	60-62	63-65	66-69	70-72	73-75	76-79	80-82	83-85	86-89	90-92	> 92
F	D-	D	D+	C-	C	C+	B-	B	B+	A-	A

Class Attendance and Policies

Regular attendance in class and the lab sessions is highly recommended. Regardless of attendance, students are responsible for all material covered or assigned in class.

Cell phones should be kept in your backpacks or pockets (essentially, out of sight), and turned to the silent mode throughout the duration of the class and lab periods. Please do not remove your cell phones until you are outside the classroom/lab. Similarly, during office consultations or consultations in the lab (even when it is not during regular class or lab time), your cell phones should be out of sight and in the silent mode.

If you use an electronic device such as a tablet or a laptop for note-taking or to read the textbook, the content that is open on the screen should be strictly restricted to documents and pages of relevance to the class. For example, you should not have any social media websites open in your browser window, even if it is in a tab that is not currently in focus.

Academic Integrity

Students are expected to adhere to the Academic Integrity policies of Roanoke College. All work submitted for a grade is to be strictly the work of the student unless otherwise specified by the instructor. The policies as outlined in the Academic Integrity handbook will be enforced in the course.