My Syllabus Proofread and Approved

Today my syllabus was proofread and approved. It consists, basically, of two parts: the syllabus itself and the detailed schedule of activities.

I am publishing the final version of the syllabus. The schedule of activities will be published when the class starts.

I must confess I was very pleased with the response of my supervisor Professor Grünzweig. (He is a role model for me in this Department, you know. Sh-sh-shh :)

TU Dortmund University
American Studies
Summer Semester 2009
Presidential Elections and American Culture:
News Media, New Media and American Politics (2 PS)
_______________________________________________________________
Time: Tuesdays, 8.30 am - 10 am
Classroom: 0.406
Instructor: Svetlana Makeyeva, M.A.
e-mail: sveta_makeyeva@yahoo.com
Office hours: Mondays, 8.30 to 11.30 and by appointment
Office location: American Studies Department, 0.405
__________________________________________________________________

Course Description and Goals:

This course takes a cultural studies approach to American political and media issues. The purpose of the course is to introduce and discuss texts which appealed to a larger body of the American news consumers during the presidential race of 2008. The complexity and dynamics of American society will be explored in some of the most outstanding and appealing speeches by Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, John McCain, and Sarah Palin as well as in a number of articles written by popular partisan journalists and independent political observers who used "traditional" and relatively "new" media technologies to cover the presidential campaign. The course reader will be available at the beginning of the semester; however, most of the primary and secondary sources will be available online and free of charge. Students will use digital media throughout the course, also providing them with practical experience in these media. Each class member is responsible for formally and informally contributing to the discussion of readings, activities and assignments.

By the end of the course student will be expected to examine the impact of new media technologies on American (political) news media, and view these media as expressions of American culture.
This includes an understanding of the nature of new media and especially the ability to
- understand the differences between "new" and "old" media as shown in the American political discussions of the past past year;
- understand the basic concepts of the evolution of new media technologies and to differentiate between different forms of new media;
- understand the "new media" vocabulary and use the terminology freely in writing and verbal communication;
- be able to express her/his opinions on the role of the new media in American political culture in her/his blog updated on a weekly basis.


Student Responsibilities

- Remember our mantra: "Please, be polite." We want a productive working atmosphere inside and outside of class. Try to do your best to criticize constructively and learn to take constructive criticism as an encouragement to improve your own work. Check out recent studies about the benefits of cooperative learning in class (go to http://www.co-operation.org/pages/cl.html);
- Don’t skip classes. You are allowed to miss two classes but must give adequate reasons (preferably, in person or via e-mail in advance);
- Be prepared for each class;
- Have reading and assignments done on time;
- Participate in group discussion inside and outside of class;
- Ask questions if something is not clear. Consult the internet, other networks and printed sources for answers, and be ready to share them in class!
- Preferably, check my wikipage regularly
(go to http://www.iaawiki.tu-dortmund.de/index.php?title=Svetlana_Makeyeva#Course);
- Try to have some fun with your blog;
- In general, try to avoid surface approaches to learning. Challenge yourself so that your skills are greater at the end of the class than in the beginning Good luck!

Please attend the classes, don’t be late and constantly consult the syllabus.


Access to the reading assignments

Required readings include book chapters and articles from printed and non-printed sources. These include scholarly journals, magazines, popular publications, on-line newspapers and blog entries. Assigned readings may be found in the reader and/or on-line. Consult with the course schedule which contains the reading and writing assignments for each class.


Course Structure and Teaching Strategies

In addition to class discussions, this course will include demonstrations of blogs created by students, student presentations, guest lectures, etc. There will be reading and writing assignments. In addition to its seminar quality, this class also functions like a workshop where you engage in practical work. Students will have the chance to explore topics of interest in their projects and writings, and share their findings in class. Class discussions are a key element of the course and students are encouraged to ask questions, offer their own observations, and share their experiences. We will ‘break ice’, participate in ‘fishbowls’ and other interactive tasks. Our communication outside of the class will be via e-mail and the blog designed for the class.

Please see me in my office hours if you would like to talk to me in person. Make sure to make compliments to my old coffee machine. Thanks!


Laptops, Cellphones and Drinks

As this is a class dealing with news media, politics and new media, LAPTOP USAGE IN LAN IS PERMITTED. Students with personal laptops are encouraged to bring them in class to take notes and demonstrate blogs to the team-members. NOTICE: surfing the internet, emailing, instant messaging---all in all, the irrelevant activities of whatever kind---are NOT permitted!

TURN OFF YOUR CELL PHONE(S) and other gadgets which might distract you and the class.

I do not mind if you bring your morning coffee or other drinks to class.

GRADING POLICY

Your grade will be awarded based on the total number of points. Make sure you clearly understand how the points will make up your desired grade:

Class Participation and In-class Tasks 20 points
Blog Development Project 40 points
Presentation 20 points
Final Small Quiz 20 points
TOTAL:100 points


PLAGIARISM

Main Entry: pla·gia·rize
Pronunciation: \ˈplā-jə-ˌrīz also -jē-ə-\
Function: verb
Inflected Form(s): pla·gia·rized; pla·gia·riz·ing
Etymology: plagiary
Date: 1716
transitive verb : to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one's own : use (another's production) without crediting the source intransitive verb : to commit literary theft : present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing source
— pla·gia·riz·er noun

MLA Style
"plagiarize." Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. 2009.
Merriam-Webster Online. 13 February 2009

Or consult the TU DO website.

Instances of plagiarizing will not be tolerated and will result in a dismissal from the course. Whether you are a scholar or a blogger – try to sustain a reputation of a credible voice. Always give proper credit to information generators whose ideas you decided to use.


What Is a Moment of Zen?

The idea of “moment of Zen” came from “The Daily Show with John Steward” available at the Comedy Central (go to www.thedailyshow.com). Yet the concept of it was almost completely transformed.

NOTE: This is an in-class task which is to be completed in class only.

In the end of each class students will be asked to write down ideas related to the class reading material and discussion on a sheet of paper. These should be in a form of a research question or hypothesis. The students’ “moments of Zen” will be collected and attached to the poster available to students taking this class. The ideas should be signed so that the author is easily identified. The most active Zen-generators will receive 10 extra points which upgrade her/his final grade for the course. This exercise encourages you to be attentive to the class material, sensitive to what the audience might be most interested in and creative. This is also a great opportunity to practice your critical skills.

WELCOME TO CLASS AND GOOD LUCK!

Wonder Technologies and Consumerism

Two days ago I joined a focus group made up of three German males. We were expected by our friend Katrin in one of the offices of the Outstanding Solutions (Dortmund). The room we entered had no windows and there was something like a stage where all the "miracles" were to entertain us.

Then a hollographic version of a sexy female singer entered the stage. She looked very realistic. And she was singing for us. The vid was repeated at our request.

Then we watched splendid advertisements. It was all cool, but I felt dumb. I tell you, I could not concentrate while watching these advertisements. They were so flashy and juicy... Pleasure for eyes and ears... All I could think of was: wow, the porn industry will REALLY benefit from these technologies once they become more available to public. The same happened to the newspapers, TV and the Internet...

I left the room with a bitter feeling, though. In some years I will be bombarded by 3-D versions of perfect synthesized sellers in the street. I can already imagine hypnotized kids watching stupid kitchy noisy adds and thinking it's so cool. And wanting more burgers and coke. And those realistic boobs...

P.S. Once again, Katrin, thank you for invitation to take part in the focus group. You made my day! I am looking forward to the updates and your report!

What's Your Progess?

Recently, one of my friends inquired about my progress. Well, I am working. But I shifted my attention to polishing my syllabus. I know it should not be perfect. It's an outline of the course, and, most importantly (?), the explanation of the grading policy. I fly to Spain this week, and I want to manage this Gestalt at last. :) I will definately publish my syllabus here. I see no problem with that.

Indeed, I perceive a syllabus as a contract between an instructor and a student. Hmm, I am becoming too scrupulous with paper stuff. Warum? Probably, the answer is: three years in DEUTSCHLAND! :)

Are You Ok Enough To CouchSurf?

I have heard some negative opinions about couchsurfing... I don't care! Today my colleague Nadya and I have sent out letters to Davis Goodman and Ricardo Morel, the persons we found in the CouchSurfing database who were so nice to reply.

Nadya, meine Kollegin teaching linguistics at the same Department, joined the CouchSurfing network this month. I am thinking of joining in as well. But I decided to make some investigation first.

The most obvious thing to do is to visit the official website and read the info section. Well, this is what I usually do if I am interested in some website or person: how does organization position itself? or how does s/he want to appear? I was pleased by how the mission of CouchSurfing was formulated:

CouchSurfing seeks to internationally network people and places, create educational exchanges, raise collective consciousness, spread tolerance and facilitate cultural understanding.

As a community we strive to do our individual and collective parts to make the world a better place, and we believe that the surfing of couches is a means to accomplish this goal.

CouchSurfing is not about the furniture, not just about finding free accommodations around the world; it's about making connections worldwide. We make the world a better place by opening our homes, our hearts, and our lives. We open our minds and welcome the knowledge that cultural exchange makes available. We create deep and meaningful connections that cross oceans, continents and cultures. CouchSurfing wants to change not only the way we travel, but how we relate to the world!

"CouchSurfing is not about the furniture, not just about finding free accommodations around the world; it's about making connections worldwide." This is a perl I put in my pocket. I am into studying digital networks and how they transform our culture. CouchSurfing, of course, is a social network that would not have been possible without the internet. Again, this is a vivid example of how the internet can connect people. Unlike plain chatrooms, forums, skype, etc---CouchSurfing serves as an interesting example of how the members of this network want to keep it as real as possible. I mean, the CouchSurfers have their own profiles where they publish a bio blurb or, more likely, a narrative of who they think they are. And you decide whether this is the trustworthy person.

This is supposed to be a trust network making the world better. Beneficial altruism which is meant to be something completely different from sacrifice. Would you agree? I wish I had a chance to interview some CouchSurfers. Well, I have found a blog "Passport Diary" where Ryan published an account of Lindsay Pratt's experiences. I really encourage to read the complete version of this blog post if you are interested in the topic. Here is a chunk of text I want to share:

‘How safe is CouchSurfing?’ I hear people ask. There is of course a risk involved, but that risk will be reflected whenever you travel. Precautions can easily be made and this is done via testimonials, friend link-strength indicators, vouching and the verification system. You see, not just anyone is a vouched member. Members can only be vouched for by an already CouchSurfing-vouched member. It’s an entire circle of trust, with the setup being very similar to eBay.

If you plan couchsurfing (one more noun for webster dictionary:)---check out the Safety tips. For the internet surfer who nicknamed himself/herself as Realist---that's not enough. He contributed to the thread of comments to Ryan's post:

Sounds like a great way to get your stuff stolen. I wonder how many people have lost stuff through these arrangements. I could never trust some random with the keys to my place, even if they have spent a little time getting “vouched for”… sooner or later, I’d wake up and things would be gone.

None denies CouchSurfing can be risky. No risk-no champaign. I was very-very sceptical about CouchSurfing in the beginning... Ideally, if the individuals stick to Couch Surfing ethics and the CouchSurfing hosts stick to their code of conduct ---it's the best way for travelin and enjoying the intercultural communication which I lacked in Paris, for example. My Georgian colleague and I did not know French. We wish we could speak it. Yet it's a pity we were ignored by a couple of persons who did not want to help us when we were addressing them in English. I realized there was something really wrong about it all. I was missing what I like the most---the subcultural experiences versus the fatty creams of polished glamorous culture.

Both couch hosts we have contacted so far---are very interesting people. Most importantly, they seem not to be glamorous and arrogant.

Briefly about the folks. Ricardo Morel's interests are: traveling, backpacking, sociology, social anthropology, social development, geopolitics, rhum (ron), pisco, regional/traditional cuisine, hot spicy food, cooking & eating, football... Most importantly, I like his music bands list: Pink Floyd, The Doors, Steel Pulse, Ruben Blades, Grupo Niche, Joaquin Sabina, Caetano Veloso. He mentions Pulp Fiction.

But Davis Goodman caught my attention by that:

Uhh...studying all the time. Im a pseudo hippy, meaning i believe in the cause, but I like to be clean, (relatively), not mooch off of people, not scare people away, and accept those things in life that we must do.

Awesome profile! ;DDD

Maybe, it's a stereotype, but those folks cannot but be interesting to have a nice conversation with. Okay, but will they trust Nadya and I, two complete strangers?

We really hope this first couchsurfing experience turns out great. :)

I Hear You (NOT)

I am a proud Questia subscriber since 2006. If you are looking for a good on-line (American) library consider "10 Cool Things About Questia."

On February 15, I have received another newsletter. I find Questia's newsletters extremely interesting. This time I enjoyed the compilation of readings on listening skills. I found Ralph G. Nichols article very useful.

The ten bad listening habits identified by Ralph G. Nichols in a 1960 edition of The Supervisor's Notebook and posted online by Dartmouth College's Academic Skills Center make much sense. Did you ever catch yourself at these? The speaker has not finished, yet you are already:

1. Calling the Subject Dull
2. Criticizing the Speaker
3. Getting Overstimulated
4. Listening Only For Facts
5. Trying To Outline Everything
6. Faking Attention
7. Tolerating Distraction
8. Choosing Only What's Easy
9. Letting Emotion-Laden Words Get In The Way
10. Wasting the Differential Between Speech and Thought Speed

The article is called "What can be done about listening?"; so, Professor Nichols not only describes the problems, but provides suggestions. I cannot but insert the chunk related to the problem 10:

Americans speak at an average rate of 125 words per minute in ordinary conversation. A speaker before an audience slows down to about 100 words per minute. How fast do listeners listen? Or, to put the question in a better form, how many words a minute do people normally think as they listen? If all their thoughts were measurable in words per minute, the answer would seem to be that an audience of any size will average 400 to 500 words per minute as they listen.
Here is a problem. The differential between the speaker at 100 words per minute and the easy thought speed of the listener at 400 or 500 words per minute is a snare and a pitfall. It lures the listener into a false sense of security and breeds mental tangents.
However, with training in listening, the difference between thought speed and speech speed can be made a source of tremendous power. Listeners can hear everything the speaker says and not what s/he omits saying; they can listen between the lines and do some evaluating as the speech progresses. To do this, to exploit this power, good listeners must automatically practice three skills in concentration:

Anticipating the next point. Good listeners try to anticipate the points a speaker will make in developing a subject. If they guess right, the speaker's words reinforce their guesses. If they guess wrong, they'll have to do some thinking to discover why they and the speaker failed to agree. In either case, their chances of understanding and remembering what was said is nearly double what it would have been if they had simply listened passively.

Identifying supporting material. Good listeners try to identify a speaker's supporting material. After all, a person can't go on making points without giving listeners some of the evidence on which the conclusions are based, and the bricks and mortar that have been used to build up the argument should be examined for soundness.

Recapitulating. With the tremendous thought speed that everyone has, it is easy to summarize in about five seconds the highlights covered by a speaker in about five minutes. When the speaker stops to take a swallow of water or walks over to the blackboard to write something or even takes a deep breath, the experienced listener makes a mental summary. Half a dozen summaries of the highlights of a fifty-minute talk will easily double the understanding and retention important points in a talk.

Now, to cheer you up, let me share my observations: even if you ventilate the room, provide coffee, make a kitchy Power Point presentation which will usually enable you to present a half of the results of your research --- there will be yawning people in the audience, anyways! The question is: HOW MANY? :) So, don't bother too much about being "boring" --- just deliver the message faithfully, and enhance your own listening skills.

According to another article on common problems related to active and passive listening published in the Public Magazine, one should set a "listening goal" by answering the question: why are you listening? Besides the answer "I have to" the source suggests the following constructive answers:

1. Enjoyment.
2. Understanding.
3. Decision making.
4. Conflict resolution.
5. Problem solving.
6. Information gathering.

I absolutely agree with that the U.S. educational system largely rewards the students' abilities to talk. Yet not at an expense of making a point, right? :)

As one wise Chinese proverb suggests: listening is essential to all true conversation. Unfortunately, I doubt that academia provides space for "true" conversations among students and professors/teachers/instructors in class. Very often---we simply have no time to listen to each other. Blogging about our research topics and reading each others blogs could be one of the most fascinating ways to "hear" each other.

“Education makes machines which act like people and produces people who act like machines.” (Thanks, JAN HEUFER, for the German-English translation!:)
I do agree with Erich Fromm. At once, I recollect those teachers and professors I was unlucky to run across. Remember those monsters which were masterfully portrayed in the Pink Floyd's video "The Wall"?

We don't need no education
We don't need no thought control
No dark sarcasm in the classroom
Teachers leave them kids alone
Hey! Teacher! Leave us kids alone!
All in all it's just another brick in the wall.
All in all you're just another brick in the wall.

In a brilliant Russian novel "Fathers and Sons," Ivan Turgenev introduced a marvellous character Yevgeny Bazarov, obviously, representing the nihilitic opposition of the 30s-40s. Bazarov said that first of all we need to clear the place to build anew. I would say it is too 'physical.'

If you want to know --- I can hardly imagine myself burning down the school or university. Yet some education systems provide a plenty of space for abuse - physical and emotional. ("I don't care about the fact you are left-handed --- learn to write with the right hand!") We don't need such education. Teaching is the most irresponsible way for boosting one's self esteem with the help of some mean methods. Have you met such 'practitioners'? :(

While compiling syllabus for my studs --- I just cannot get rid of these thoughts. Indeed, by teaching I will put to test my own personality. I expect something spiritual about the future experience.

I BLOG - I EXIST

I am eager to share what I found today. I started my working day in the office with a cup of coffee... with Michael Chorost. He is the person of my Monday today.

I ran across the website of Professor Chorost by pure accident. As some of you might know, I am compiling the syllabus for my class "Presidential Elections and American Culture: News Media, New Media and American Politics," which I start teaching this April. So, I am in constant search of the talanted people out there who have experience in teaching the new media courses. Professor Chorost sounds to be an impressive Professor and Personality. You should check out his website.

Quoted from Chorost's Webpage:

Dr. Michael Chorost (pronounced “kor-ist”) was born with a severe hearing loss due to an epidemic of rubella. He didn’t learn to talk until he got hearing aids at age 3½. Those enabled him to grow up speaking English more or less normally, and he got a B.A. in English from Brown and a Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin.

In 1999 he moved from Austin to San Francisco for a dot-com job, and then moved to another job at SRI International in Menlo Park, California. On July 7, 2001, he lost the remaining hearing in his one usable ear and got a cochlear implant shortly afterward. This experience was chronicled in his book, Rebuilt: How Becoming Part Computer Made Me More Human (Houghton Mifflin, 2005).

In July 2008, he contracted with The Free Press (Simon & Schuster) to write his second book, “World Wide Mind: The Coming Integration of Humans and Machines.”

For the 2008-2009 school year, he is a visiting professor at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C.

He has a cat named Elvis. His website is http://www.michaelchorost.com.

First of all, Professor Chorost has a sleek cat. I saw the pictures. And I am deeply inclined to think that men who take good care of their cats --- must be good personalities. Beware of the people who say they hate cats! It's equal to saying: I hate women!

Secondly, Professor Chorost has an impressive bio! His story is inspiring. In his bioblurb (I suppose) he wrote:

"Michael Chorost became a cyborg on October 1, 2001, the day his new ear was booted up. Born hard of hearing in 1964, he went completely deaf in his thirties. Rather than live in silence, he chose to have a computer surgically embedded in his skull to artificially restore his hearing.

This is the story of Chorost’s journey – from deafness to hearing, from human to cyborg –and how it transformed him. The melding of silicon and flesh has long been the stuff of science fiction. But as Chorost reveals in this witty, poignant, and illuminating memoir, fantasy is now giving way to reality.

Chorost found his new body mystifyingly mechanical: Kitchen magnets stuck to his head. He could plug himself directly into a CD player. His hearing was routinely upgraded with new software.

All of which forced him to confront complex questions about humans in the machine age: When the senses become programmable, can we trust what they tell us about the world? Will cochlear implants destroy the signing deaf community? And above all, are cyborgs still human?"

I never read the book, but one can downloaded the .pdf version of the first chapter from his website. The chapter starts with the emotional turmoil: both hearing aids fail on Chorost at once, and the drama of a small human being unfolds --- he loses hearing, and the world drastically changes. He becomes a cyborg.

Sounds like a novel. It's not.

A fascinating story to start another Monday in February 2009.