I appear as one,
although I'm two.
And as I reach
before and back
I find you,
where:
Already Four?
(As if so early simple.)
So lie with me
This bed of life,
and nestle my neck's nap
'til we must part,
alone,
as two or one.
You appear as one,
but I see two.
And three and four
as we go forth
to a horizon bright
that on we smiled.
"Please me dance."
"I ne'er learned how."
But tripped about
so sweet and tears.
My life and love
kept me still
and moving too.
A music heard
but ne'er before,
had we but danced.
Come with me.
The music calls.
I'll the one.
You the two.
We the three.
Us the four.
In life's ways--
Sow's the promise.
My partner gone . . .
Are you there?
I sing as one.
I sing as two.
And hope to meet,
where.
To nestle 'gain
as spoons would do
in the bed of bliss
to unknown reach.
Upsides us
If I were one
and you were two
and we the three
and the four.
Just for now!
If not four more.
1992
July 31, 2007
July 30, 2007
Logical conclusion
"You don't understand.
"You were not there."
So?
"You can't know."
You've made your point.
So why are you telling me?
(why are you distancing me?
why are you asking me
to listen to all these things
I will not and cannot?)
(I need to say them for myself,
to pinch myself alive)
"You just happened to be here."
(your mistake was listening)
What is it about what you experience
that I can understand?
(or is it all about untouched lives
wandering about muttering,
and grumbling?)
"You can't . . . (understand this,
you don't understand that)"
(let's agree on this,)
I give up (being here, I'm gone).
November 2005
"You were not there."
So?
"You can't know."
You've made your point.
So why are you telling me?
(why are you distancing me?
why are you asking me
to listen to all these things
I will not and cannot?)
(I need to say them for myself,
to pinch myself alive)
"You just happened to be here."
(your mistake was listening)
What is it about what you experience
that I can understand?
(or is it all about untouched lives
wandering about muttering,
and grumbling?)
"You can't . . . (understand this,
you don't understand that)"
(let's agree on this,)
I give up (being here, I'm gone).
November 2005
Fear and loathing in Liberec
[This transcript and its audio (podcast) version were never made available to my students of teaching. I still have an uneasy feeling about the level of the language this piece was written in and how direct it is in some places. I also have misgivings about revealing my own inadequacies in coming to terms as a stranger in a foreign land.]
There are very specific limits to my fear and loathing, and I am sure introducing these terms to the intended audience would have caused conclusions not bound by exactly what is said. My fear and loathing are more rhetorical devices to highlight and critique a system than actual personal feelings. This nuance would have been lost to most, and perhaps still will be.
All this aside, the commentary on one of the purposes of education may be of some value. And the exercise to script an instructional podcast in limited space was useful to me in the early days when I was experimenting with alternatives in content delivery. The rhetorical question at the end should be the subject of another piece. Perhaps this was a necessary exercise to get to that.]
This is a download for one of my courses. I am Kevin Mactavish, and I am a student of teaching at the Technical University of Liberec in the Czech Republic. My remarks here are to help students succeed in their studies in English.
The title of this presentation is "Fear and loathing in Liberec".
The title of this rant is "Fear and loathing in Liberec". I fear for most of the students I have had. They will never get it. That is, they will never understand, one sense of "get it". And they will never understand even half of what their education has to offer. They will not capture, that is get a hold of it. They will miss it. They will miss out. They, or perhaps you, in some sense, will be illiterate.
Some days I loathe teaching. In fact, most days I just plain hate it, but loathe is a better word. Why I loathe teaching can be a subject for when we have more time. But to answer this question quickly here, let's just say teaching doesn't work in this environment. Learning works. But teaching doesn't.
But I will start with fear. As I test and examine students--I am not sure there is a difference, but it is clear that the university is an exam factory. . . . My experience shows two things stand out when I ask questions, questions not about language or grammar, but questions about a subject.
1. Students may know a few facts, like dots on some piece of paper.
2. They cannot relate the facts, and often the courses they are taking, to anything within or outside the subject. They can't connect the dots showing relations and the picture the connected dots may reveal.
In short, students have little knowledge and almost no skills with which to understand the little they have. Not a very complimentary observation, I admit. But now, just think about the prospect of teaching under these conditions! Does teaching students who even after courses and courses perform to the level of the least common denominator invite you to start the day? to go into the teaching profession?
What the careful and thorough teacher must do in a situation like this is dot all the i's and cross all the t's, although I know and it is ironic, and perhaps symbolic, that in Czech handwriting, t's are not crossed.
If the teacher has to teach everything in order to get higher levels of performance, that job is thankless, overwhelming, and not doable. And if higher levels of performance is defined from the start as more facts to recall, teaching becomes telling, sometimes explaining. In other words, teaching is just talking. This is not a very interesting or expansive role for a teacher. In fact, if you think about it, it is quite dull. A more familiar expression for the Czech English speaker might be boring. Who wants to bore students with presenting and reviewing and testing facts? Would you?
I fear this role you have for me here, and often I loathe it. But what's the problem? Why do we teachers and students find ourselves in this situation? in this environment? Are students not able? Are they, in their word, stupid? This is a taboo term in my courses. It is not a term I would use, but I use it here because it communicates. I would offer better wording with a more accurate description for this question. Are students less or not capable of better performance? Don't believe you aren't. You are not stupid. You are quite able.
Well, the next question then is, what is it in your environment and history that somehow prevents or doesn't encourage a deeper knowledge of details and better critical thinking? Why is it that you have isolated dots on the paper and no sense of how to connect them to reveal the larger parts and wholes, the beautiful landscapes or portraits hidden from your view?
I suspect it's either culture or schooling--some would say that these are the same, that teachers and schools are culture carriers and that students become part of the culture through schooling. Culture or schooling has not shown you that there are possible numbering schemes for the dots. And numbering suggests something else. The more dots you have, like pixels on a computer screen, the easier it is to make out the picture. And if the dots are ordered well enough in some way, the easier it is to know what the image you see communicates, or means.
These are the objects in education: to see and to understand. You want to see the complete if complex picture and try to understand what it means. Perhaps the fault, if I can use that word, lies with what you have experienced, your history. I believe the system has failed you somehow. And now you are at my doorstep thinking I am unrealistic or crazy for wanting more for you.
Do not assume immediately that what I am saying is totally culturally bound and narrow. If I say in-depth knowledge and the ability to use and expand it are the right goals for teaching and learning but you think your goals are better, whatever they are, I would have you look outside the classroom door and see if the everyday world rewards--that is pays for--people who do less than what I suggest.
Now, after having talked about all of this, I still fear for you and your future based on my experience, or history, in Czech universities. And I sometimes loathe teaching. In this environment I still resist telling you facts and giving simple explanations for words you can look up yourself. You can have a book or a podcast do that job for you. There are dictionaries for people who want to use the language for more than ordering a Coke on some Spanish beach. For this, you don't need a teacher who is interested in helping you put together the puzzle and talk in English about what the puzzle means in your and our lives.
So I leave you with this. Teachers love to stump, that is puzzle, students. The title of these remarks is an allusion to a book in English by a famous, or infamous, author who took his life not too long ago. He lived in a famous American ski town and wrote about, among other things, Las Vegas. Who was this author and what is the allusion? And for the better students, why this title for these remarks?
You can play this download again or read the transcript, or both. Should be a good English lesson for you, if not something to begin to think about: Do few facts and an inability to put together analyses and conclusions about a subject summarize you and your goals for your time spent in school?
Approx 1100 words
June 21, 2006
There are very specific limits to my fear and loathing, and I am sure introducing these terms to the intended audience would have caused conclusions not bound by exactly what is said. My fear and loathing are more rhetorical devices to highlight and critique a system than actual personal feelings. This nuance would have been lost to most, and perhaps still will be.
All this aside, the commentary on one of the purposes of education may be of some value. And the exercise to script an instructional podcast in limited space was useful to me in the early days when I was experimenting with alternatives in content delivery. The rhetorical question at the end should be the subject of another piece. Perhaps this was a necessary exercise to get to that.]
This is a download for one of my courses. I am Kevin Mactavish, and I am a student of teaching at the Technical University of Liberec in the Czech Republic. My remarks here are to help students succeed in their studies in English.
The title of this presentation is "Fear and loathing in Liberec".
The title of this rant is "Fear and loathing in Liberec". I fear for most of the students I have had. They will never get it. That is, they will never understand, one sense of "get it". And they will never understand even half of what their education has to offer. They will not capture, that is get a hold of it. They will miss it. They will miss out. They, or perhaps you, in some sense, will be illiterate.
Some days I loathe teaching. In fact, most days I just plain hate it, but loathe is a better word. Why I loathe teaching can be a subject for when we have more time. But to answer this question quickly here, let's just say teaching doesn't work in this environment. Learning works. But teaching doesn't.
But I will start with fear. As I test and examine students--I am not sure there is a difference, but it is clear that the university is an exam factory. . . . My experience shows two things stand out when I ask questions, questions not about language or grammar, but questions about a subject.
1. Students may know a few facts, like dots on some piece of paper.
2. They cannot relate the facts, and often the courses they are taking, to anything within or outside the subject. They can't connect the dots showing relations and the picture the connected dots may reveal.
In short, students have little knowledge and almost no skills with which to understand the little they have. Not a very complimentary observation, I admit. But now, just think about the prospect of teaching under these conditions! Does teaching students who even after courses and courses perform to the level of the least common denominator invite you to start the day? to go into the teaching profession?
What the careful and thorough teacher must do in a situation like this is dot all the i's and cross all the t's, although I know and it is ironic, and perhaps symbolic, that in Czech handwriting, t's are not crossed.
If the teacher has to teach everything in order to get higher levels of performance, that job is thankless, overwhelming, and not doable. And if higher levels of performance is defined from the start as more facts to recall, teaching becomes telling, sometimes explaining. In other words, teaching is just talking. This is not a very interesting or expansive role for a teacher. In fact, if you think about it, it is quite dull. A more familiar expression for the Czech English speaker might be boring. Who wants to bore students with presenting and reviewing and testing facts? Would you?
I fear this role you have for me here, and often I loathe it. But what's the problem? Why do we teachers and students find ourselves in this situation? in this environment? Are students not able? Are they, in their word, stupid? This is a taboo term in my courses. It is not a term I would use, but I use it here because it communicates. I would offer better wording with a more accurate description for this question. Are students less or not capable of better performance? Don't believe you aren't. You are not stupid. You are quite able.
Well, the next question then is, what is it in your environment and history that somehow prevents or doesn't encourage a deeper knowledge of details and better critical thinking? Why is it that you have isolated dots on the paper and no sense of how to connect them to reveal the larger parts and wholes, the beautiful landscapes or portraits hidden from your view?
I suspect it's either culture or schooling--some would say that these are the same, that teachers and schools are culture carriers and that students become part of the culture through schooling. Culture or schooling has not shown you that there are possible numbering schemes for the dots. And numbering suggests something else. The more dots you have, like pixels on a computer screen, the easier it is to make out the picture. And if the dots are ordered well enough in some way, the easier it is to know what the image you see communicates, or means.
These are the objects in education: to see and to understand. You want to see the complete if complex picture and try to understand what it means. Perhaps the fault, if I can use that word, lies with what you have experienced, your history. I believe the system has failed you somehow. And now you are at my doorstep thinking I am unrealistic or crazy for wanting more for you.
Do not assume immediately that what I am saying is totally culturally bound and narrow. If I say in-depth knowledge and the ability to use and expand it are the right goals for teaching and learning but you think your goals are better, whatever they are, I would have you look outside the classroom door and see if the everyday world rewards--that is pays for--people who do less than what I suggest.
Now, after having talked about all of this, I still fear for you and your future based on my experience, or history, in Czech universities. And I sometimes loathe teaching. In this environment I still resist telling you facts and giving simple explanations for words you can look up yourself. You can have a book or a podcast do that job for you. There are dictionaries for people who want to use the language for more than ordering a Coke on some Spanish beach. For this, you don't need a teacher who is interested in helping you put together the puzzle and talk in English about what the puzzle means in your and our lives.
So I leave you with this. Teachers love to stump, that is puzzle, students. The title of these remarks is an allusion to a book in English by a famous, or infamous, author who took his life not too long ago. He lived in a famous American ski town and wrote about, among other things, Las Vegas. Who was this author and what is the allusion? And for the better students, why this title for these remarks?
You can play this download again or read the transcript, or both. Should be a good English lesson for you, if not something to begin to think about: Do few facts and an inability to put together analyses and conclusions about a subject summarize you and your goals for your time spent in school?
Approx 1100 words
June 21, 2006
July 8, 2007
untitled
A poem a day
keeps Alzheimer's away.
But if it does not,
will my brain still rot
from some other diversion
promising less re-vision?
keeps Alzheimer's away.
But if it does not,
will my brain still rot
from some other diversion
promising less re-vision?
July 7, 2007
Orienting generalizations
Orienting generalizations can help us remember how we are the same and how we are different across cultures. They can also guide us in making statements about what we know and what we don't about the other. Here are four.
1. We seek truth, beauty, and goodness--what can be observed or demonstrated as true (science), what attracts me and I find pleasing (art), and what we together feel or value (culture).
2. We can start from what we think culture is. "Everything characteristic of or produced by a group of people" is one definition.
What I find characteristic may be the same or different from my own culture. Intercultural understanding starts at home.
3. We need all knowledge perspectives--singular, plural, inside, outside, the I , the We, the It, and the Its (things plural)--to understand culture.
No one (perspective) has all the answers.
4. The knowledge we claim to have about a culture is determined by following a method for a given perspective, looking at the results the method produces, and confirming if others agree.
It is beer experts who best can tell us which beer is the best . . . after, of course, extensive tasting, I mean testing.
Final example. Eat what an American says is a "good hamburger." Then ask: Do I like it? This is the personal test. Do people who know hamburgers like it? The We test. Is it made of the right ingredients? The It test--for a true hamburger. Does it serve the nutritional or economic or other needs of the people who eat them? The Its test.
Knowledge claim. Different and not always compatible answers to the questions are the rule. You might not like the good hamburger, but it might serve key interests (e.g., economic, social) of the culture or country.
A course not taught
Since the early days of Cultural Studies courses, a number of approaches developed which have proved useful and popular. Cultural Studies as area studies focuses on knowledge about peoples and places, and courses along this line often have the character of geography or social studies. Cultural studies as history and literature tend to appear in departments of languages and literature, or perhaps the visual and dramatic arts. Those cultural studies benefiting from the human sciences, including social theory and political science, focus on themes such as race, gender, government, and power. An integral studies approach might look at a society and its worldviews in terms of its evolution along developmental continua.
Regardless of which of the above approaches and their respective methods for inquiry and knowledge building, if Cultural Studies is at least about gaining greater understanding of the other, and thereby ourselves, then the academic discipline is as important today as ever; and this overarching concern--understanding--can anchor any one or a combination of emphases.
This means that to understand others through different disciplines or themes requires the perspectives and methods appropriate to those along with whatever specific content is chosen in the name of culture or Culture. That is, some disciplinary or interdisciplinary ways of understanding must exist or be taught along side of who these people are, where they live, and why it is important to know something about them. Students need knowledge and sound methodology in order to slice through the thickets of culture.
This two-tiered approach is sometimes daunting if the discourse is in a second language, since primary sources and public discourse are always in a people's own language. Admittedly, much today is available in English, plus one can often access facts and information about another culture or people in one's own language. But although facts and information are important, alone they are not enough. Factual information always begs the question of so what. Some scaffolding for knowledge and understanding needs to be built to hold raw data. And these scaffolds are more and more available in one's native language through different departments in institutions of higher learning, the library and bookstores, and the Internet.
Gaining greater understanding of the other, and thereby ourselves, is what we can agree on as the why for Cultural Studies, but to what end? The application of understanding is communication, or more accurately it is interaction involving what we know and the successful transmission-reception of same. The foundation for this is literacy, cultural literacy.
Literacy as not just the structure of the language and its vocabulary, but also broad and shared knowledge. When it comes to understanding the other, we need to know a lot of what they know. Shared contexts inform our words and deeds. Cultural literacy then is the names, phrases, events, artifacts, and other items that are familiar to the natives allowing them to communicate, work, and live together. What constitutes this body of knowledge? and if it can be listed and defined, will it help the outsider discover the other? Yes. This is the contention here.
Cultural studies is then information about people and peoples and their places. It is about history, arts, artifacts, and the values and themes they are concerned about. Cultural studies is also about their place in the world developmentally and relationally. Not finally, Cultural Studies is about the unique ways people and a people communicate among themselves and with others in their language.
How does one learn this stuff of the essence of what it is to be of and from one nation or group other than one's own? Admittedly, no one class or course or field of study will provide the whole picture. But the study of ourselves and others can take a middle yet practical road, and one specific to future teachers of English.
Briefly.
Regardless of which of the above approaches and their respective methods for inquiry and knowledge building, if Cultural Studies is at least about gaining greater understanding of the other, and thereby ourselves, then the academic discipline is as important today as ever; and this overarching concern--understanding--can anchor any one or a combination of emphases.
This means that to understand others through different disciplines or themes requires the perspectives and methods appropriate to those along with whatever specific content is chosen in the name of culture or Culture. That is, some disciplinary or interdisciplinary ways of understanding must exist or be taught along side of who these people are, where they live, and why it is important to know something about them. Students need knowledge and sound methodology in order to slice through the thickets of culture.
This two-tiered approach is sometimes daunting if the discourse is in a second language, since primary sources and public discourse are always in a people's own language. Admittedly, much today is available in English, plus one can often access facts and information about another culture or people in one's own language. But although facts and information are important, alone they are not enough. Factual information always begs the question of so what. Some scaffolding for knowledge and understanding needs to be built to hold raw data. And these scaffolds are more and more available in one's native language through different departments in institutions of higher learning, the library and bookstores, and the Internet.
Gaining greater understanding of the other, and thereby ourselves, is what we can agree on as the why for Cultural Studies, but to what end? The application of understanding is communication, or more accurately it is interaction involving what we know and the successful transmission-reception of same. The foundation for this is literacy, cultural literacy.
Literacy as not just the structure of the language and its vocabulary, but also broad and shared knowledge. When it comes to understanding the other, we need to know a lot of what they know. Shared contexts inform our words and deeds. Cultural literacy then is the names, phrases, events, artifacts, and other items that are familiar to the natives allowing them to communicate, work, and live together. What constitutes this body of knowledge? and if it can be listed and defined, will it help the outsider discover the other? Yes. This is the contention here.
Cultural studies is then information about people and peoples and their places. It is about history, arts, artifacts, and the values and themes they are concerned about. Cultural studies is also about their place in the world developmentally and relationally. Not finally, Cultural Studies is about the unique ways people and a people communicate among themselves and with others in their language.
How does one learn this stuff of the essence of what it is to be of and from one nation or group other than one's own? Admittedly, no one class or course or field of study will provide the whole picture. But the study of ourselves and others can take a middle yet practical road, and one specific to future teachers of English.
Briefly.
- In order to have basic and shared knowledge of a people or country, one must know what they know (cultural literacy).
- In order to understand their current place and development, one must know their past (geography and history).
- In order to access the native culture in its own words, one must hear or read its memorable words and know which it considers representative and important (literature and writing).
- In order to assess what the other values, one must examine what they say about what they do, or what their artifacts are (cultural insights).
- And in order to acquire an attitude of constant consciousness about language to be learned or taught, one must experience as much of the target/native language as possible (language studies).
July 5, 2007
Some such art
The music of the words
and the gaze into worlds
have brought me to this:
Let what is be what I see.
Have what should be what we do.
And the marriage of these, splendor.
Isn't poetry, or some such art,
the way we would of it--
it concrete,
and not more,
and no less,
perfect in perfection,
to enjoy and inspire?
Tis so. Tis so.
and the gaze into worlds
have brought me to this:
Let what is be what I see.
Have what should be what we do.
And the marriage of these, splendor.
Isn't poetry, or some such art,
the way we would of it--
it concrete,
and not more,
and no less,
perfect in perfection,
to enjoy and inspire?
Tis so. Tis so.
July 3, 2007
I am your teacher.
The best learning is designing and enacting experiences which will consume and exhume us. The best of these is like a great feast. You can't get enough of all the good things to devour. The best of these experiences also brings new life and vigor to dormant or deadened parts of ourselves. We sometines need to awaken suddenly and force march to places we've never been before with the urgency that we know we are late but we hope to get there as soon as possible.
The problem with school and education is we think teachers should do this great and dirty work for us. But I don't do great and dirty work like that. That is for the teacher within you. I am just here to invite you to the feast and whisper from time to time, "Wake up."
The problem with school and education is we think teachers should do this great and dirty work for us. But I don't do great and dirty work like that. That is for the teacher within you. I am just here to invite you to the feast and whisper from time to time, "Wake up."
AS syllabus
KAJ-->FP TU v Liberci, 3. ročník, ZS 2006/2007 (studijní obor anglický jazyk) AMERICKÉ STUDIE 1(1+1 z) (2 kredity) – sylabus
Instructor: Kevin Mactavish, Ph.D., Building S, Room 606, Ex. 4267
Aims: Cultural literacy is the basic knowledge and awarenesses that we need to understand those from a different country or culture. This course aims to increase all of these--knowledge, awareness, understanding--of the United States of America and its people, from its beginnings to 1900.
The focus of this course is an introduction to the field of American Studies, and specifically to America's past, wherein present day phenomena, including aspects of American English and culture, have their roots.
This is a blended learning course, part online and part with the teacher in person. It is also a course that endorses common learning outcomes for all students and unique learning outcomes for each.
Schedule: (tentative)
1. (Even Calendar Week) Lecture: "Administrivia" and Introduction (in class) and Pre-test (online)
Seminar A: How do you know what you know?
2. (Odd Calendar Week) Seminar B and C: How do you know what you know?
3. Lecture: What is American Studies? and Penetrating Culture (both online)
Seminar A: Penetrating Culture, Washington Crossing the Delaware
4. Seminar B and C: Penetrating Culture, Washington Crossing the Delaware
5. Lecture: Getting Started with American Studies (online)
Seminar A: Literature Topic (TBA)
6. Seminar B and C: Literature Topic (TBA)
7. Lecture: An American Fairy Tale (evening film and discussion) and Mid-term test (online)
Seminar A: Student Presentations
8. Seminar B and C: Student Presentations, facilitated by student(s)
9. Lecture: Reading, Founding Documents (online)
Seminar A: Student Presentations, facilitated by student(s)
10. Seminar B and C: Student Presentations, facilitated by student(s)
11. Lecture: History and Literature (online practice test)
Seminar A: Student Presentations
12. Seminar B and C: Student Presentations
Christmas
13. (Odd Week) Seminar B and C: First sitting, end-of-term test OR Review and Conclusion
14. (Even Week) Seminar A: Second sitting, end-of-term test OR Review and Conclusion
Assessment: This course follows the departmental policy of continuous assessment. Students should continuously show that they are making progress. An end-of-term written test may be given. Students passing any tests and completing all other work including readings will get credit.
Readings and Resources: These provide the core readings and resources for the course.
Available from Knihovna Technické univerzity v Liberci
(Citations per OPAC)
Author: High, Peter B.
Title: Outline of American literature
Edition: 1st ed.
Publisher/year: London : Longman, 1986
Physical descr. : 256 s. : il.
Signatures: A 35843
Author: O'Callaghan, Bryn
Title: <>illustrated history of the USA
Edition: 1st ed.
Publisher/year: Harlow : Longman, 1990
Physical descr. : 144 s. : il.
Signatures: A 54570
The course Web site also has links to required primary and secondary source materials. See http://wbl-en.com/sl.
Recommended readings and additional information are below.
Date: September 15, 2006
---
Participation: Participating in class, or in tutorial or other sessions, and online from start to finish will show that a student is making progress.
Participation is defined as contributing to one's own learning and that of others. Assignments must be turned in on time and be the student's own work.
Copying from someone else without mentioning it and without including a citation will show you are not participating. Not participating in this way results in no credit for the term or course.
Readings and Resources: These provide the core readings and resources for the course.
Available from Knihovna Technické univerzity v Liberci
(Citations per OPAC)
Required:
Author: High, Peter B.
Title: Outline of American literature
Edition: 1st ed.
Publisher/year: London : Longman, 1986
Physical descr. : 256 s. : il.
Signatures: A 35843
Author: O'Callaghan, Bryn
Title: <>illustrated history of the USA
Edition: 1st ed.
Publisher/year: Harlow : Longman, 1990
Physical descr. : 144 s. : il.
Signatures: A 54570
The course Web site also has links to required primary and secondary source materials.
Recommended:
Author: Inge, M. Thomas
Title: A nineteenth-century American reader
Publisher/year: Washington : United States Information Agency, 1991
Physical descr. : xx, 584 s. : il.
Signatures: A 37949
[selections only]
Title: An Outline of American History
Edition: 1. vyd.
Publisher/year: Washington : United States Information Agency, 1994
Physical descr. : 407 s.
Signatures: A 38387
Author: Birdsall, [written by Stephen S.
Florin], John
Title: Outline of American geography : regional landscapes of the United States
Edition: 1st ed.
Publisher/year: [Washington : United States information agency], 1992
Physical descr. : 197 s. : il.
Signatures: A 47808
Clack, George (ed.). Outline of U.S. History. Washington, D.C.: Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. 2005.
Available from the Instructor (for a 200 CZK deposit)
Author: Inge, M. Thomas
Title: A nineteenth-century American reader
Publisher/year: Washington : United States Information Agency, 1991
Physical descr. : xx, 584 s. : il.
Signatures: A 37949
[Available from the Instructor (200 CZK deposit).]
and
Lemay, J.A. Leo (ed.), An Early American Reader. Washington, D.C.: United States Information Agency. 1991.
[Available from the Instructor (200 CZK deposit).]
Commitment:
In-class and online (required) = 21 hours (estimate)
Out-of-class (study time plus online resources) = 31 hours (estimate)
Total = 52 hours
Topics/Key Questions:
What is this discipline called American Studies?
What information is essential for cultural literacy?
How can we understand America and Americans?
What are some specific insights into America's past?
Objectives: As a result of this course, students should be able to:
* describe American Studies as an academic discipline;
* write general outlines for the history and literature of the US to 1900, and give details for at least two or three topics in each of these outlines;
* list ten major American authors to 1900 and the title and character of one or two of their writings; or alternatively,
* read and report on a list of required readings;
* describe the requirements for valid and useful descriptions of a people; and
* demonstrate an understanding of American culture by giving a rich interpretation of a cultural artifact prior to 1900.
Grading Scheme: (most common)
1 = 9, 10 points (for best work)
2 = 7, 8 (for above average work)
3 = 5, 6 (for average work)
Failing = 1, 2, 3, 4 points (for something)
0 = 0 (for no work)
This course also tries to assess whether or not students show separate and connected ways of knowing. How facts relate to one another is important.
Prerequisites: Upper intermediate level English proficiency; Introduction to Cultural Studies or a related course.
Instructor: Kevin Mactavish, Ph.D., Building S, Room 606, Ex. 4267
Aims: Cultural literacy is the basic knowledge and awarenesses that we need to understand those from a different country or culture. This course aims to increase all of these--knowledge, awareness, understanding--of the United States of America and its people, from its beginnings to 1900.
The focus of this course is an introduction to the field of American Studies, and specifically to America's past, wherein present day phenomena, including aspects of American English and culture, have their roots.
This is a blended learning course, part online and part with the teacher in person. It is also a course that endorses common learning outcomes for all students and unique learning outcomes for each.
Schedule: (tentative)
1. (Even Calendar Week) Lecture: "Administrivia" and Introduction (in class) and Pre-test (online)
Seminar A: How do you know what you know?
2. (Odd Calendar Week) Seminar B and C: How do you know what you know?
3. Lecture: What is American Studies? and Penetrating Culture (both online)
Seminar A: Penetrating Culture, Washington Crossing the Delaware
4. Seminar B and C: Penetrating Culture, Washington Crossing the Delaware
5. Lecture: Getting Started with American Studies (online)
Seminar A: Literature Topic (TBA)
6. Seminar B and C: Literature Topic (TBA)
7. Lecture: An American Fairy Tale (evening film and discussion) and Mid-term test (online)
Seminar A: Student Presentations
8. Seminar B and C: Student Presentations, facilitated by student(s)
9. Lecture: Reading, Founding Documents (online)
Seminar A: Student Presentations, facilitated by student(s)
10. Seminar B and C: Student Presentations, facilitated by student(s)
11. Lecture: History and Literature (online practice test)
Seminar A: Student Presentations
12. Seminar B and C: Student Presentations
Christmas
13. (Odd Week) Seminar B and C: First sitting, end-of-term test OR Review and Conclusion
14. (Even Week) Seminar A: Second sitting, end-of-term test OR Review and Conclusion
Assessment: This course follows the departmental policy of continuous assessment. Students should continuously show that they are making progress. An end-of-term written test may be given. Students passing any tests and completing all other work including readings will get credit.
Readings and Resources: These provide the core readings and resources for the course.
Available from Knihovna Technické univerzity v Liberci
(Citations per OPAC)
Author: High, Peter B.
Title: Outline of American literature
Edition: 1st ed.
Publisher/year: London : Longman, 1986
Physical descr. : 256 s. : il.
Signatures: A 35843
Author: O'Callaghan, Bryn
Title: <
Edition: 1st ed.
Publisher/year: Harlow : Longman, 1990
Physical descr. : 144 s. : il.
Signatures: A 54570
The course Web site also has links to required primary and secondary source materials. See http://wbl-en.com/sl.
Recommended readings and additional information are below.
Date: September 15, 2006
---
Participation: Participating in class, or in tutorial or other sessions, and online from start to finish will show that a student is making progress.
Participation is defined as contributing to one's own learning and that of others. Assignments must be turned in on time and be the student's own work.
Copying from someone else without mentioning it and without including a citation will show you are not participating. Not participating in this way results in no credit for the term or course.
Readings and Resources: These provide the core readings and resources for the course.
Available from Knihovna Technické univerzity v Liberci
(Citations per OPAC)
Required:
Author: High, Peter B.
Title: Outline of American literature
Edition: 1st ed.
Publisher/year: London : Longman, 1986
Physical descr. : 256 s. : il.
Signatures: A 35843
Author: O'Callaghan, Bryn
Title: <
Edition: 1st ed.
Publisher/year: Harlow : Longman, 1990
Physical descr. : 144 s. : il.
Signatures: A 54570
The course Web site also has links to required primary and secondary source materials.
Recommended:
Author: Inge, M. Thomas
Title: A nineteenth-century American reader
Publisher/year: Washington : United States Information Agency, 1991
Physical descr. : xx, 584 s. : il.
Signatures: A 37949
[selections only]
Title: An Outline of American History
Edition: 1. vyd.
Publisher/year: Washington : United States Information Agency, 1994
Physical descr. : 407 s.
Signatures: A 38387
Author: Birdsall, [written by Stephen S.
Florin], John
Title: Outline of American geography : regional landscapes of the United States
Edition: 1st ed.
Publisher/year: [Washington : United States information agency], 1992
Physical descr. : 197 s. : il.
Signatures: A 47808
Clack, George (ed.). Outline of U.S. History. Washington, D.C.: Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. 2005.
Available from the Instructor (for a 200 CZK deposit)
Author: Inge, M. Thomas
Title: A nineteenth-century American reader
Publisher/year: Washington : United States Information Agency, 1991
Physical descr. : xx, 584 s. : il.
Signatures: A 37949
[Available from the Instructor (200 CZK deposit).]
and
Lemay, J.A. Leo (ed.), An Early American Reader. Washington, D.C.: United States Information Agency. 1991.
[Available from the Instructor (200 CZK deposit).]
Commitment:
In-class and online (required) = 21 hours (estimate)
Out-of-class (study time plus online resources) = 31 hours (estimate)
Total = 52 hours
Topics/Key Questions:
What is this discipline called American Studies?
What information is essential for cultural literacy?
How can we understand America and Americans?
What are some specific insights into America's past?
Objectives: As a result of this course, students should be able to:
* describe American Studies as an academic discipline;
* write general outlines for the history and literature of the US to 1900, and give details for at least two or three topics in each of these outlines;
* list ten major American authors to 1900 and the title and character of one or two of their writings; or alternatively,
* read and report on a list of required readings;
* describe the requirements for valid and useful descriptions of a people; and
* demonstrate an understanding of American culture by giving a rich interpretation of a cultural artifact prior to 1900.
Grading Scheme: (most common)
1 = 9, 10 points (for best work)
2 = 7, 8 (for above average work)
3 = 5, 6 (for average work)
Failing = 1, 2, 3, 4 points (for something)
0 = 0 (for no work)
This course also tries to assess whether or not students show separate and connected ways of knowing. How facts relate to one another is important.
Prerequisites: Upper intermediate level English proficiency; Introduction to Cultural Studies or a related course.
Cultural studies
[I taught a Cultural Studies course at the Technical University of Liberec during the Winter Term of 2006-07 called "Life and Institutions of English-speaking Countries." Here are some highlights. I place these here to remind myself of how difficult inter-cultural relations are to manifest. And manifesting probably doesn't come from cognitive and rational stuff--such as this.]
COURSE CONTENT RESOURCE 1
Orienting generalizations can help us remember how we are the same and how we are different across cultures. They can also guide us in making statements about what we know and what we don't about the other.
1. We seek truth, beauty, and goodness--what can be observed or demonstrated as true (science), what attracts me and I find pleasing (art), and what we together feel or value (culture).
2. We can start from what we think culture is. "Everything characteristic of or produced by a group of people" is one definition.
What I find characteristic may be the same or different from my own culture. Intercultural understanding starts at home.
3. We need all knowledge perspectives--single, plural, inside, outside, the I , the We, the It, and the Its (things plural)--to understand culture.
No one (perspective) has all the answers.
4. The knowledge we claim to have about a culture is determined by following a method for a given perspective, looking at the results the method produces, and confirming if others agree.
It is beer experts who best can tell us which beer is the best . . . after, of course, extensive tasting, I mean testing.
Final example. Eat what an American says is a "good hamburger." Then ask: Do I like it? This is the personal test. Do people who know hamburgers like it? The We test. Is it made of the right ingredients? The It test--for a true hamburger. Does it serve the nutritional or economic or other needs of the people who eat them? The Its test.
Knowledge claim. Different and not always compatible answers to the questions are the rule. You might not like the good hamburger, but it might serve key interests (e.g., economic, social) of the culture or country.
---
COURSE CONTENT RESOURCE 2
Questions, questions, questions
In addition to questions you have of your study or topic, there are always more. Here are some possibilities categorized according to perspective.
Formalist (structural)
How do various elements of the object of study reinforce meanings?
How are the elements related to the whole? What is the major organizing principle?
What issues does the subject raise? How does the structure resolve these issues?
Biographical
Are there facts about people's lives relevant to your understanding of the object of study?
Are people and events seen as bound to their lives and experiences? Are these factual?
How are people's lives reflected in the object of study?
Psychological
How does the object of study reflect personal psychology(ies)?
What do people's emotions and behavior show about their psychological states?
Are psychological matters such as repression, dreams, and desire shown consciously or unconsciously?
Historical
How does the object of study reflect its period?
What influences helped to shape the form and content of the object of study?
How important is the historical context to understanding?
Marxist
How are class differences presented in the object of study?
Are people aware of the economic and social forces that affect them?
What ideological values are explicit or implicit? Does these challenge or affirm the social order?
Feminist (gender)
Is the form or content of the object of study influenced by gender? your gender?
What are the relationships between men and women? Are these relationships sources of conflict?
Does the object of study challenge or affirm traditional ideas about women? and men?
Mythological
How does the object of study resemble other stories, settings, symbols, etc.?
Are archetypes present, such as quests, initiations, scapegoats, withdrawals and returns?
Do people undergo transformations, such as from innocence to experience?
Reader-Response
How do your own experiences and expectations affect your understanding?
What is object of study's original or intended audience or participant?
To what extent are you similar to or different from that audience or participant?
Deconstruction
How are contradictory and opposing meanings expressed in the object of study?
How does meaning break down in the language of the object of study?
Would you say that definitive meanings are impossible to determine?
How are implicit ideological values revealed in the object of study?
---
GUIDE TO COMPLETING THE SEMESTER ASSIGNMENT
Ways of approaching your project, or study.
One has to understand what one is looking at before making evaluative statements, or statements of agreement or disagreement. Makes sense, no?
Two requirements for being able to understand an authentic cultural (or literary, historic, etc.) phenomenon are to
1. Hold it at arm's length (impersonally look at it), and
2. Try to see it from one or more points of view.
One or more people can do this together. A common description for this interpretive activity is academic discourse.
Academic discourse is grounded in dialectics (logic and reasoning), and questioning. Ask as many questions as you can about your object of study before and as the discourse proceeds, and you are well on your way to grasping what it is, what it means, what its context is.
As a proof of competence in understanding, you make observations and statements and insights, and you do this in different ways--online and in the classroom.
By writing it all out, others can look at what you say, discuss that, and come to an understanding. The My Study space is reserved for this particular way of learning that connects you and your work with others and theirs.
To say you understand is to make a knowledge claim. How are these made?
* Follow a method (particular to your point of view).
* Look at the results (do the data show something).
* Ask if experts agree (cite references).
We have highlighted some points of view or perspectives thus far that we can use. Although it was rightly pointed out that perhaps your education does not equip you to use any of these as perhaps an expert would, there is enough awareness and knowledge to make use of selected ones to make tentative understanding/knowledge claims.
---
CLASSROOM HANDOUT
KEY QUESTION: What in your view should be the main aims of a ‘cultural syllabus’ in EFL/ESL programs and how might these be best achieved?
OUR COURSE DESCRIPTION: The aim of the course is to deal with a variety of topics concerning English-speaking countries and to revise and extend essential background information in history, literature, social and cultural life, and basic institutions. The actual program will be adjusted to individual student needs and interests.
SUB QUESTIONS
1. Why study culture at all?
2. What are some of the problems in deciding on a cultural syllabus?
3. Should the syllabus include Places?
4. Should the syllabus include History?
5. Should the syllabus include Institutions?
6. Should the syllabus include Art, Music and Literature?
7. Should the syllabus include Artifacts and Popular Culture?
8. Should the syllabus build from The Students’ Situation?
9. Other?
SOME ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS:
+ knowledge about the target culture
+ awareness of its characteristics and differences between the target culture and the learner’s own country
+ a research-minded outlook
+ an emphasis on understanding socio-cultural implications of language and language use
+ affective goals--interest, intellectual curiosity, and empathy
‘Why should students learn about this?’ needs to be asked about each suggested component of the syllabus.
‘A language is part of a culture and culture is part of language; the two are intricately interwoven so that one cannot separate the two without losing the significance of either language or culture’. But how do you strip away the surplus culture and find those aspects which have a direct and obvious link to language?
CONCLUSION: Do we have a new course description? what should the syllabus contain? would you suggest a new title for the course?
---
END-OF-TERM ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS AND KEY
RECALL what you wrote on the assessment, and then look below to see suggested and correct answers. Some answers are and have been on the Web site, so you may have to look at the links again to refresh your memory.
IF you wish to go over your assessment in person, please come by the office. Discussion can clarify or enrich your feedback beyond what can be done here.
1. Give three reasons for studying Native Alaskans in a course on English-speaking peoples?
Three possible reasons include the fact that these Alaskans influence the English of Alaska and elsewhere (e.g., Inuit words such as mukluk); knowing another culture through English helps us understand that plus our own; specialist words, such as medical or sociological terms, can be learned.
2. We have highlighted some points of view or perspectives to study English-speaking peoples. Although your education may not equip you to use these as an expert, we can ask different kinds of questions. Match the questions with the study approach.
[course Web site has more info]
3. Orienting generalizations can help us remember how we are the same and how we are different across cultures. They can also guide us in making statements about what we know and what we don't about the other. What would be a good orienting generalization for a course where students from the Czech Republic study the "Life and Institutions of English-speaking Countries"?
[course Web site has more info]
4. Comparison is one way to study a foreign country or culture. What is an example of things to compare?
You need to pick something from one culture (your own, or one you know perfectly) and one from the target culture. For example, murder and violent crime rates--in both cultures. Only by comparison do we get an insight into a phenomenon. "Without a no there is no yes."
5. "It is beer experts who best can tell us which beer is the best." How is this statement a guide in understanding a different culture?
This is the third of the three principles for how you know what you know. Thus, it is people who study countries and cultures that can confirm or deny our tentative conclusions.
[course Web site has more info]
6. Before you make evaluative statements, or statements of agreement or disagreement about a people or what they do, what must happen for you and how can it happen?
You need to understand at beyond a surface level. One way is to use informants. (See the culture penetration model.) Another is to use a method, like feminism to study phenomena.
[course Web site has more info]
7. Two requirements for studying an authentic cultural phenomenon are to, 1) hold it at arm's length, and 2) try to see it from one or more points of view. We call this attitude and activity what? Describe briefly the nature of the text produced by following these principles.
Academic discourse.
The text is in the third person following the listed principles. The text does not typically indicate opinions, agreement, or whether or not the author likes something. It is more descriptive and analytical, not personal.
[course Web site has more info]
8. "Follow a method. Look at the results. Ask if experts agree." These steps describe what?
Making a knowledge claim, or how do you know what you know.
9. "Culture is the knowledge people use to generate and interpret social behavior." From your general knowledge, the study you did, or one you read for the course, give an example of cultural knowledge and the corresponding social behavior.
Example.
freedom of religion in America = many different Christian religions there (Baptists, Methodists, Catholics, etc.)
10. Sylvie Vichnarová interviewed three people who had experienced English-speaking cultures. And there was a model given in class and on the Web site for penetrating a culture. Comment on Sylvie's study in terms of this model. Then say what we can conclude from her study, but not using the model.
The first question is difficult. And a number of answers are possible. One possible answer is that the problem appears to be in the depth of insights given by the visitors to the other countries. They seem to have been tourists without getting at deeper reasons why people do what they do. Although the questions to each respondent were the same, what each looked at or commented on was different.
What we can conclude from the study also provides a number of possibilities. The safest one is that the methodology used was carefully structured. Its results are three individual bytes of qualitative data which may or may not be valid if more respondents were to be asked. No safe generalization can be made across the respondents without rigorous analysis.
The study provides a rich text and rich texts for further study.
11. Here are some lyrics from a song.
I got a girl, she's long and tall,
sleeps in the kitchen with her feet in the hall.
Hot tamales and they're red hot, yes she got 'em for sale.
Yes she got 'em for sale. Hot tamales and they're red hot, yes she got 'em for sale.
She got two for a nickel, four for a dime,
Would sell you more, but they ain't none of mine.
According to Šimon Oldrich's study, what would make this song fit into the category of blues music?
It is both happy and possibly sad--because the speaker has none. Sadness or a kind of depression is the blues; but happiness is also possible in this music genre.
12. What can a pop culture topic like MTV and its influence teach us about the English language?
The show, often mostly in English around the world, spreads the language, perhaps especially to a certain segment of the population. And because the show is pop and oriented to music and lifestyles, English is the key or ticket to understanding and appreciation. English is easily learned if delivered via this medium.
COURSE CONTENT RESOURCE 1
Orienting generalizations can help us remember how we are the same and how we are different across cultures. They can also guide us in making statements about what we know and what we don't about the other.
1. We seek truth, beauty, and goodness--what can be observed or demonstrated as true (science), what attracts me and I find pleasing (art), and what we together feel or value (culture).
2. We can start from what we think culture is. "Everything characteristic of or produced by a group of people" is one definition.
What I find characteristic may be the same or different from my own culture. Intercultural understanding starts at home.
3. We need all knowledge perspectives--single, plural, inside, outside, the I , the We, the It, and the Its (things plural)--to understand culture.
No one (perspective) has all the answers.
4. The knowledge we claim to have about a culture is determined by following a method for a given perspective, looking at the results the method produces, and confirming if others agree.
It is beer experts who best can tell us which beer is the best . . . after, of course, extensive tasting, I mean testing.
Final example. Eat what an American says is a "good hamburger." Then ask: Do I like it? This is the personal test. Do people who know hamburgers like it? The We test. Is it made of the right ingredients? The It test--for a true hamburger. Does it serve the nutritional or economic or other needs of the people who eat them? The Its test.
Knowledge claim. Different and not always compatible answers to the questions are the rule. You might not like the good hamburger, but it might serve key interests (e.g., economic, social) of the culture or country.
---
COURSE CONTENT RESOURCE 2
Questions, questions, questions
In addition to questions you have of your study or topic, there are always more. Here are some possibilities categorized according to perspective.
Formalist (structural)
How do various elements of the object of study reinforce meanings?
How are the elements related to the whole? What is the major organizing principle?
What issues does the subject raise? How does the structure resolve these issues?
Biographical
Are there facts about people's lives relevant to your understanding of the object of study?
Are people and events seen as bound to their lives and experiences? Are these factual?
How are people's lives reflected in the object of study?
Psychological
How does the object of study reflect personal psychology(ies)?
What do people's emotions and behavior show about their psychological states?
Are psychological matters such as repression, dreams, and desire shown consciously or unconsciously?
Historical
How does the object of study reflect its period?
What influences helped to shape the form and content of the object of study?
How important is the historical context to understanding?
Marxist
How are class differences presented in the object of study?
Are people aware of the economic and social forces that affect them?
What ideological values are explicit or implicit? Does these challenge or affirm the social order?
Feminist (gender)
Is the form or content of the object of study influenced by gender? your gender?
What are the relationships between men and women? Are these relationships sources of conflict?
Does the object of study challenge or affirm traditional ideas about women? and men?
Mythological
How does the object of study resemble other stories, settings, symbols, etc.?
Are archetypes present, such as quests, initiations, scapegoats, withdrawals and returns?
Do people undergo transformations, such as from innocence to experience?
Reader-Response
How do your own experiences and expectations affect your understanding?
What is object of study's original or intended audience or participant?
To what extent are you similar to or different from that audience or participant?
Deconstruction
How are contradictory and opposing meanings expressed in the object of study?
How does meaning break down in the language of the object of study?
Would you say that definitive meanings are impossible to determine?
How are implicit ideological values revealed in the object of study?
---
GUIDE TO COMPLETING THE SEMESTER ASSIGNMENT
Ways of approaching your project, or study.
One has to understand what one is looking at before making evaluative statements, or statements of agreement or disagreement. Makes sense, no?
Two requirements for being able to understand an authentic cultural (or literary, historic, etc.) phenomenon are to
1. Hold it at arm's length (impersonally look at it), and
2. Try to see it from one or more points of view.
One or more people can do this together. A common description for this interpretive activity is academic discourse.
Academic discourse is grounded in dialectics (logic and reasoning), and questioning. Ask as many questions as you can about your object of study before and as the discourse proceeds, and you are well on your way to grasping what it is, what it means, what its context is.
As a proof of competence in understanding, you make observations and statements and insights, and you do this in different ways--online and in the classroom.
By writing it all out, others can look at what you say, discuss that, and come to an understanding. The My Study space is reserved for this particular way of learning that connects you and your work with others and theirs.
To say you understand is to make a knowledge claim. How are these made?
* Follow a method (particular to your point of view).
* Look at the results (do the data show something).
* Ask if experts agree (cite references).
We have highlighted some points of view or perspectives thus far that we can use. Although it was rightly pointed out that perhaps your education does not equip you to use any of these as perhaps an expert would, there is enough awareness and knowledge to make use of selected ones to make tentative understanding/knowledge claims.
---
CLASSROOM HANDOUT
KEY QUESTION: What in your view should be the main aims of a ‘cultural syllabus’ in EFL/ESL programs and how might these be best achieved?
OUR COURSE DESCRIPTION: The aim of the course is to deal with a variety of topics concerning English-speaking countries and to revise and extend essential background information in history, literature, social and cultural life, and basic institutions. The actual program will be adjusted to individual student needs and interests.
SUB QUESTIONS
1. Why study culture at all?
2. What are some of the problems in deciding on a cultural syllabus?
3. Should the syllabus include Places?
4. Should the syllabus include History?
5. Should the syllabus include Institutions?
6. Should the syllabus include Art, Music and Literature?
7. Should the syllabus include Artifacts and Popular Culture?
8. Should the syllabus build from The Students’ Situation?
9. Other?
SOME ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS:
+ knowledge about the target culture
+ awareness of its characteristics and differences between the target culture and the learner’s own country
+ a research-minded outlook
+ an emphasis on understanding socio-cultural implications of language and language use
+ affective goals--interest, intellectual curiosity, and empathy
‘Why should students learn about this?’ needs to be asked about each suggested component of the syllabus.
‘A language is part of a culture and culture is part of language; the two are intricately interwoven so that one cannot separate the two without losing the significance of either language or culture’. But how do you strip away the surplus culture and find those aspects which have a direct and obvious link to language?
CONCLUSION: Do we have a new course description? what should the syllabus contain? would you suggest a new title for the course?
---
END-OF-TERM ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS AND KEY
RECALL what you wrote on the assessment, and then look below to see suggested and correct answers. Some answers are and have been on the Web site, so you may have to look at the links again to refresh your memory.
IF you wish to go over your assessment in person, please come by the office. Discussion can clarify or enrich your feedback beyond what can be done here.
1. Give three reasons for studying Native Alaskans in a course on English-speaking peoples?
Three possible reasons include the fact that these Alaskans influence the English of Alaska and elsewhere (e.g., Inuit words such as mukluk); knowing another culture through English helps us understand that plus our own; specialist words, such as medical or sociological terms, can be learned.
2. We have highlighted some points of view or perspectives to study English-speaking peoples. Although your education may not equip you to use these as an expert, we can ask different kinds of questions. Match the questions with the study approach.
[course Web site has more info]
3. Orienting generalizations can help us remember how we are the same and how we are different across cultures. They can also guide us in making statements about what we know and what we don't about the other. What would be a good orienting generalization for a course where students from the Czech Republic study the "Life and Institutions of English-speaking Countries"?
[course Web site has more info]
4. Comparison is one way to study a foreign country or culture. What is an example of things to compare?
You need to pick something from one culture (your own, or one you know perfectly) and one from the target culture. For example, murder and violent crime rates--in both cultures. Only by comparison do we get an insight into a phenomenon. "Without a no there is no yes."
5. "It is beer experts who best can tell us which beer is the best." How is this statement a guide in understanding a different culture?
This is the third of the three principles for how you know what you know. Thus, it is people who study countries and cultures that can confirm or deny our tentative conclusions.
[course Web site has more info]
6. Before you make evaluative statements, or statements of agreement or disagreement about a people or what they do, what must happen for you and how can it happen?
You need to understand at beyond a surface level. One way is to use informants. (See the culture penetration model.) Another is to use a method, like feminism to study phenomena.
[course Web site has more info]
7. Two requirements for studying an authentic cultural phenomenon are to, 1) hold it at arm's length, and 2) try to see it from one or more points of view. We call this attitude and activity what? Describe briefly the nature of the text produced by following these principles.
Academic discourse.
The text is in the third person following the listed principles. The text does not typically indicate opinions, agreement, or whether or not the author likes something. It is more descriptive and analytical, not personal.
[course Web site has more info]
8. "Follow a method. Look at the results. Ask if experts agree." These steps describe what?
Making a knowledge claim, or how do you know what you know.
9. "Culture is the knowledge people use to generate and interpret social behavior." From your general knowledge, the study you did, or one you read for the course, give an example of cultural knowledge and the corresponding social behavior.
Example.
freedom of religion in America = many different Christian religions there (Baptists, Methodists, Catholics, etc.)
10. Sylvie Vichnarová interviewed three people who had experienced English-speaking cultures. And there was a model given in class and on the Web site for penetrating a culture. Comment on Sylvie's study in terms of this model. Then say what we can conclude from her study, but not using the model.
The first question is difficult. And a number of answers are possible. One possible answer is that the problem appears to be in the depth of insights given by the visitors to the other countries. They seem to have been tourists without getting at deeper reasons why people do what they do. Although the questions to each respondent were the same, what each looked at or commented on was different.
What we can conclude from the study also provides a number of possibilities. The safest one is that the methodology used was carefully structured. Its results are three individual bytes of qualitative data which may or may not be valid if more respondents were to be asked. No safe generalization can be made across the respondents without rigorous analysis.
The study provides a rich text and rich texts for further study.
11. Here are some lyrics from a song.
I got a girl, she's long and tall,
sleeps in the kitchen with her feet in the hall.
Hot tamales and they're red hot, yes she got 'em for sale.
Yes she got 'em for sale. Hot tamales and they're red hot, yes she got 'em for sale.
She got two for a nickel, four for a dime,
Would sell you more, but they ain't none of mine.
According to Šimon Oldrich's study, what would make this song fit into the category of blues music?
It is both happy and possibly sad--because the speaker has none. Sadness or a kind of depression is the blues; but happiness is also possible in this music genre.
12. What can a pop culture topic like MTV and its influence teach us about the English language?
The show, often mostly in English around the world, spreads the language, perhaps especially to a certain segment of the population. And because the show is pop and oriented to music and lifestyles, English is the key or ticket to understanding and appreciation. English is easily learned if delivered via this medium.
Speakers bureau
Web Support for the Speakers Bureau
DRAFT: September 5, 2001
DRAFT: September 5, 2001
The basic structure for the Speakers Bureau is up on the Web for review. However, it is not "apparently" accessible to the public. That linking and needed promotion will wait for any necessary approvals.
The intranet piece of the Bureau has faculty members self-registering, giving details about themselves and the topic(s) they wish to offer. Registration populates a members database and sends e-mail messages to the coordinator for the Bureau and the database administrator. The e-mail messages alert these people--perhaps one and the same person--of some activity. Database monitoring ensures that the public user on the Internet will read properly formatted entries.
The public user accesses the Speakers Bureau on the college Web site. From this location, s/he can evaluate a speaker's performance. Evaluate may be a strong word. Give feedback? The details of the form need to be worked out, but once submitted, the results are monitored by the coordinator and a copy sent to the speaker. The public user can also view the Bureau's speakers and what they are offer from this start page. From the results page, the user can request that speaker.
If the user makes a request, it goes via e-mail to the speaker, who is then to follow up as necessary. E-mail messages also go to the coordinator and database administrator, who monitor that the technology is working and what levels of activity the Bureau experiences via the Web. Requests are also dropped into a requests database which can be copied whenever anyone--the committee?--wishes to see a summary of requests and perform any analyses.
Transactions
Background*
Online voting as a process is much like that in so-called real life. One registers to vote. To do so, s/he proves his or her identity and eligibility to vote. Then when an election comes, s/he gets a ballot after s/he has shown proof of identity and appears on the list of eligible voters. The voter then votes using an authorized ballot and submits it to be counted.
In computerese this is registering to access a Web page form, getting an e-mail confirmation of registration with the address of the protected page, logging in by providing a user name and password to access it, accessing it, filling in the form, and submitting it.
Someone with access to the ballots (in a physical locked box or on a Web server) gathers the data, summarizes them, reports them, etc., including seeing that no unauthorized input is included. Or, this person gives the raw data to others to do with what is appropriate for indubitable results.
Admittedly, there is a difference between the online solution built for the Faculty Senate's study and that in real life in that a user name is associated with a ballot. In turn, that user name is associated with a person's e-mail address. If the e-mail address is "one eligible to vote," then the user name is accepted in its place as eligible. And if one wanted to see who voted which way or that, or wanted to rig the results somehow, that is possible, as it is using other voting procedures and media (e.g., paper ballots).
Who sees the file or files where user names are associated with e-mail addresses? The person with the permission to read that file on the Web server. This can be someone in Computing Services, or the election administrator, or the committee in charge of the election. Set it up one way or another and that will be who can read the different files.
The server makes three files in online voting:
1. A registrations file holding e-mail address, chosen or given user name, password, and date;
2. A user names file with encrypted passwords; and
3. A results file holding IP address, date, time, vote(s), and user name.
Whoever is authorized to examine these files for illegitimate votes (whether by ineligible voters or multiple voting) looks first at the registrations file to see if the e-mail addresses represent eligible voters. Next, s/he, or another person looks at the user names file to determine if only eligible user names have logged in to vote. Finally, the authorized person or election oversight body examines the results file to see that there is only one eligible user name per vote.
Those in charge of an election can set different levels of information access. In other words, the person charged with examining the registrations file only sees that and reports irregularities. The person or person charged with examining the user names file sees only that and reports these are the users (fictitious names, really) who logged in to vote. And the person or persons charged with examining the results file uses the irregularities reported above to weed out ineligible voters and deletes multiple votes by the same user name.
Checks and balances? You build them around what the technologies are capable of and provide you.
In lieu of a better mousetrap, this is the solution that has been built. Rapidly developing Web world tools and greater resources devoted to a more satisfactory solution bode well for WNCC's participation on the frontier of electronic democracy. For now, this is something to use, or not.
Secured Transactions, Medium-Tech Solution
A medium- to low-tech solution has been prepared to serve both online voting and logging evaluations. It is the result of developing a "voting/evaluation protocol" and then employing various Web technologies to actualize it. This is the protocol.
1. An administrator (in consultation with Web Support and a teacher or group interested in asking for a vote/poll) creates a transaction form;
2. The administrator announces the participation window and transaction procedures;
3. The administrator lists or receives a list of eligible users;
4. The user registers with his or her e-mail user name and any password;
5. The system (computing resource) distributes registration confirmation and the address (URL) of the transaction;
6. The user enters his or her e-mail user name and password;
7. The user accesses the transaction page, enters data, and submits them;
8. The system deters the user's return to the transaction page;
9. The administrator checks for duplicate transactions;
10. The administrator checks for unregistered users; and
11. The administrator collects and posts results.
Online voting as a process is much like that in so-called real life. One registers to vote. To do so, s/he proves his or her identity and eligibility to vote. Then when an election comes, s/he gets a ballot after s/he has shown proof of identity and appears on the list of eligible voters. The voter then votes using an authorized ballot and submits it to be counted.
In computerese this is registering to access a Web page form, getting an e-mail confirmation of registration with the address of the protected page, logging in by providing a user name and password to access it, accessing it, filling in the form, and submitting it.
Someone with access to the ballots (in a physical locked box or on a Web server) gathers the data, summarizes them, reports them, etc., including seeing that no unauthorized input is included. Or, this person gives the raw data to others to do with what is appropriate for indubitable results.
Admittedly, there is a difference between the online solution built for the Faculty Senate's study and that in real life in that a user name is associated with a ballot. In turn, that user name is associated with a person's e-mail address. If the e-mail address is "one eligible to vote," then the user name is accepted in its place as eligible. And if one wanted to see who voted which way or that, or wanted to rig the results somehow, that is possible, as it is using other voting procedures and media (e.g., paper ballots).
Who sees the file or files where user names are associated with e-mail addresses? The person with the permission to read that file on the Web server. This can be someone in Computing Services, or the election administrator, or the committee in charge of the election. Set it up one way or another and that will be who can read the different files.
The server makes three files in online voting:
1. A registrations file holding e-mail address, chosen or given user name, password, and date;
2. A user names file with encrypted passwords; and
3. A results file holding IP address, date, time, vote(s), and user name.
Whoever is authorized to examine these files for illegitimate votes (whether by ineligible voters or multiple voting) looks first at the registrations file to see if the e-mail addresses represent eligible voters. Next, s/he, or another person looks at the user names file to determine if only eligible user names have logged in to vote. Finally, the authorized person or election oversight body examines the results file to see that there is only one eligible user name per vote.
Those in charge of an election can set different levels of information access. In other words, the person charged with examining the registrations file only sees that and reports irregularities. The person or person charged with examining the user names file sees only that and reports these are the users (fictitious names, really) who logged in to vote. And the person or persons charged with examining the results file uses the irregularities reported above to weed out ineligible voters and deletes multiple votes by the same user name.
Checks and balances? You build them around what the technologies are capable of and provide you.
In lieu of a better mousetrap, this is the solution that has been built. Rapidly developing Web world tools and greater resources devoted to a more satisfactory solution bode well for WNCC's participation on the frontier of electronic democracy. For now, this is something to use, or not.
Secured Transactions, Medium-Tech Solution
A medium- to low-tech solution has been prepared to serve both online voting and logging evaluations. It is the result of developing a "voting/evaluation protocol" and then employing various Web technologies to actualize it. This is the protocol.
1. An administrator (in consultation with Web Support and a teacher or group interested in asking for a vote/poll) creates a transaction form;
2. The administrator announces the participation window and transaction procedures;
3. The administrator lists or receives a list of eligible users;
4. The user registers with his or her e-mail user name and any password;
5. The system (computing resource) distributes registration confirmation and the address (URL) of the transaction;
6. The user enters his or her e-mail user name and password;
7. The user accesses the transaction page, enters data, and submits them;
8. The system deters the user's return to the transaction page;
9. The administrator checks for duplicate transactions;
10. The administrator checks for unregistered users; and
11. The administrator collects and posts results.
See also the documentation and demonstration pages at:
http://www.wncc.nevada.edu/intranet/webdevelop
_____
* Prepared for discussion and consideration by the faculty of WNCC, about 2001 (e.g., for online voting, teacher/course evaluations).
W-PPS
W-PPS: Web-Based Program Planning and SchedulingPart I, Database Considerations
6/15/01
Background.
If a WNCC student wants ready access to current information about programs/degrees, courses, the master schedule, class schedules, open sections, instructors, and online course materials, this information is already available via several media, or we have the infrastructure to provide it. Centralizing this information such that via the Web the student can interactively "jump to" what s/he most needs and desires is a trend among Nevada's higher education Web sites and has been an informal goal for WNCC for about a year. Helping students plan a course of studies easily and determine the upcoming term's schedule for which to register are interests shared among many academic, administrative, and support services in the college.
For lack of a better name and to easily refer to this improvement in services for students, W-PPS has been initiated--Web-based Program Planning and Scheduling. This document addresses the first steps in bringing W-PPS live, the matter of a database, or the integration of databases and their tables.
Other Institutions.
Other Nevada institutions have the same goal and are working on related tasks, and they have realized them to one degree or another. Here is a brief summary of their states-of-the-art.
TMCC. TMCC has perhaps the closest approximation to what some at WNCC have been considering. At http://www.tmcc.edu/admissions/catalog/ the following appears.
Go To: Student Information, Program Worksheets, Course Descriptions, Appendices, Campus Maps, Faculty/Staff
Other Links: Admissions and Records, Financial Aid, Class Schedules
From the Go To links, the student can get general information, student services, Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) files of each degree and certificate program, an alpha listing of courses, and appendices, which are policies, procedures, requirements. Faculty/Staff is a directory look-up.
Other Links takes you to class schedules, and from there you can get further details of the schedule for a given class.
Courses are read from a database (db) as is the schedule. You cannot go from schedule directly to the course description or instructor. However, this is a very good and user-friendly scheme for degrees/programs, courses, and schedule--plus easy access to instructor information.
CCSN. The schedule has a search feature. There is also a seat availablity feature in registration.
GBCC. The catalog is provided as PDF and .zip files.
UNR and UNLV. Extensive use of PDF. The schedule is on paper and in PDF, and these are deemed official.
Where we are.
WNCC combines PDF and "bulk" schedule information. The college also offers instructor look-up and links to their home pages. However, these are not fine-grained for the most part and not integrated. WNCC can evolve toward a better model, building upon the design and approaches represented above, what the college already has, and some basic questions that an integrated information access feature could address.
Registrant's Questions.
It is assumed a student is typically interested in one or more of the following.
1. What program/degree do I wish to pursue?
2. What is this course/class about?
3. Is it offered this term and where/how?
4. What section can I sign up for?
5. Is the section I want open?
6. Who is teaching the class?
7. Who is this instructor?
8. Does s/he have class materials online?
And not out of the realm of consideration,
9. What have former students of this course and
instructor said about their experiences?
10. Does the bookstore have the required texts?
Although all of these interests may not be of concern to a given student, nor in this order, an interactive body of information could help in the planning and decision-making processes involved in pursuing training and education at WNCC.
Challenge.
Putting together the Web features and tools needed to accomplish information access of this magnitude will take the talents and cooperation of a number of people, and the task will have to be achieved in increments given its breadth and complexity. However, the building blocks are almost ready at hand. Here are the beginning pieces followed by how, if necessary, they can be specifically converted into usable form.
* Programs_Degrees (requirements, descriptions, etc.)
* Courses (prefixes, credits, etc.)
* Master_Schedule (when, where offered)
* Schedule (when, where offered this term)
* Open_Sections (space available)
* Instructors (name, url, e-mail, etc.)
Programs_Degree--from .html versions of brochures/catalog.
1. Highlight the .htm file in a browser.
2. Paste the copy into a text editor.
3. Create a new Access db.
4. Copy and paste blocks of text into the db.
5. Create reports for printing or export in .csv for MySql and the Web.
This appears to be the easiest way to create this table of the db the first time. Once created, the it can be maintained.
Courses--from the PDF version of the Catalog.
1. Highlight one page of the catalog-courses section. Copy it.
2. Paste into a text editor.
3. Remove all carriage returns. Also remove any text that is not a course record like a new section heading (i.e., import only by using the same class prefixes).
4. Search for all instances of • (e.g., from the 1999-2000 catalog) and replace with carriage returns. This separates the records.
5. Save the file.
6. Open Access and get external data, the above-saved file using the defaults that Access recommends.
Once the file is imported into a table print reports if desired and export in delimited text only file (.csv) for Web-accessible db.
Master_Schedule [insert content here]
Schedule--from SIS [correct?]
1. Open .exl or other compatible db import file.
2. Import into an Access db.
3. Export as .csv for MySql and the Web.
This appears to be the easiest way to build the schedule table each time it is good enough to publish in print and periodically during the period when classes are cancelled/added during registrations.
Open_Sections [insert content here]
Instructors.
The online directory look-up can include the instructor's home page with links to classes and materials. Instructors are also listed by courses taught in the schedule.
W-PPS.
The technologies that integrate and make this information easily accessible via the Internet might be called a Web-based Program Planning and Scheduling tool (W-PPS). To get a working version of W-PPS up and running without exhaustive and time-consuming conversion work the following interactive features and interfaces are proposed.
Interactive Features.
1. Search/look-up feature from every page opening in the same window for:
* Programs_Degrees, driven by PDF files/db
* Courses, driven by db
* Master_Schedule, driven by db/PDF
* Schedule, driven by db
* Open_Sections, driven by db
* Instructors, driven by db
Each of these may have additional fields to choose from. For example, if looking into the schedule, the student may want to look up by instructor, or call number, etc.
2. Direct link to registration opening in a new window.
3. Direct links to faculty pages and the Virtual College.
The interfaces for W-PPS would consist of standard header and footer for the main level pages. The body or center of the Web page would have the interactive features and search results particular to the "where" the user is at any given point. Successive windows would open with each new penetration into the depths of information. This way the user can go back to the registration or other windows and compare or supply information as needed.
DB Considerations.
The depths of information are represented by the tables in the database(s). At this writing, these tables would look something like the following, with the key (unique data for one field ) of Class_Title, the field common across most tables and PDF files. If you know the course/class title you should be able to get most other information needed. (If you want to take a course and see how it fits into a course of studies, this is not possible given this design and planned state-of-the-art for W-PPS.)
* Programs_Degrees: [PDF/new db]
Type
Description
Requirements (core, emphasis, etc.)
Recommended
Notes
Sequence (by semester)
* Courses: [new db]
Subject_Area
Class_Title
Class_Prefix
Credits
Prerequisite
Description
Type (transfer, degree, etc.)
* Master_Schedule: [as exists or]
Class_Title
Term
Year
Class_Prefix
Campus
* Schedule: [as exists; field names to be confirmed]
Subject_Area
Class_Prefix
Call_Number
Class_Title
Prerequisite
Credits
Notes
Cost
Location
Day
Time
Date
Spaces
Instructor
* Open_Sections: [insert content here]
* Instructors: [as exists with field names]
Last_Name
First_Name
Title
Department
Campus
Building
Phone
Fax
URL
Next Steps.
Given concurrence on the above and having worked through the db considerations and set the tables up in Access and on the Web server, the next step is to provide the Web interface and programming necessary to get information out. That is, it should be possible to call information from the db and have the server and Web programming generate pages on the fly for users. The next part to W-PPS will address this part--challenge--of the W-PPS project.
Web-supported learning?
Proposed Scheme for Web-supported Learning*
1. Teachers and others set up and maintain content area sites based on Web site formatting standards, stylesheet, or templates. The content area sites are a part of CMC's intellectual property.
2. Content area sites have generic user accounts with a current faculty/staff person as lead.
3. A faculty/staff person can have a homepage linked from a content area site, for example for a CV or resume. (CMC needs to decide if faculty/staff member homepages are a part of the main site or not!)
3. Lead persons work with webmaster to set up/use Internet features (e.g., mysql).
_____
* Prepared for short presentation/persuasion for CMC Graduate School of Business, Celakovice, Czech Republic, 2003.
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