Saturday, August 20, 2011

"40 Posts"

Discussion Blog
(200 points)

Beginning in the second week of the semester, you will be asked to compose
2-3 posts on our class blog by Monday of each week, for a total of 40 posts over the semester. The purpose of the blog is two-fold: (1) to give you a space for thinking through and working out difficult concepts, and for responding to one another’s thinking; and (2) to provide a space for us to extend discussions beyond the classroom. At the end of the term, your "40 Posts" will help to shape the intellectual roadmap of the course.

These posts may be some of the most concentrated and challenging writing you do in this class, and they should be smartly and thoughtfully composed; I will evaluate them each week. You might exchange informed opinions about the assigned readings, you might ask and answer questions or expand on issues we didn't cover in class, you might make applications of our texts to other texts you read or encounter, or you might do other things. For example, Do you have a different understanding of the text or its critical context that you didn't get a chance to articulate in class? What did reading the text contribute to your understanding of the topic of the course? How does this text relate to other readings in the course (from the week or the month prior)? I am less interested in having you "camp" around certain issues or texts (i.e., "Does anyone really understand this stuff?" "I agree -- I sure don't understand it!") than I am in having you work it out and work it through.

The most important thing to do in these posts is to draw salient connections – help us to understand how the questions raised by one critical problem are in conversation with other questions or problems, and help us to understand how one theorist helps you understand another theorist’s ideas, or extends or complicates them. Be creative in your contributions to the blog, but please remember that this is a public space. In one sense, blogging is like diplomacy: flaming, aggression, inside jokes, or other exclusionary tactics will shut down conversation and undermine your ability to theorize. That said, here are a few basic guidelines for our exchanges:

  • Postings are due each Monday by 10:00 a.m. if you wish to receive credit for the posts that week. (Note: The first 2 posts are not due until Tuesday, 9/6 at 10:00 a.m.)
  • Postings can and should include comments to your classmates' posts, so long as those comments are as extensive, thorough, and insightful as your own postings. (So, 2 postings + 1 comment can fulfill your 3 weekly posts.) I highly encourage you to converse with each other's posts. Highly encourage it.
  • Preferably, your postings would not exceed 500 words; however, at times you may need to exceed this in order to fully articulate a critical problem.
  • Title your posts to give your readers context for what they are reading. Titles should reflect what you have thought or are trying to argue, rather than merely restate the name of the reading you are responding to.
  • Postings should be somewhat polished; remember that you are writing for a public audience. Paragraphing, spelling, and accuracy all matter in this context.
  • Preferably, you would "post ahead" in anticipation of the week's readings; however, at times it will make more sense to post on the readings we already discussed. Both are fair game.
  • Remember that academic integrity applies to the postings on this site, too. Please refer clearly to the text you are discussing, be accurate with names and titles, and include page numbers where relevant. If you refer to someone else's (published) reading of a text, mention this outside source.

Have fun with this! I may participate from time to time.

-Prof. Graban


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