This is the page for:
(Course-related content will appear here in reverse chronological order: the newest things at the top of the page, and older posts toward the bottom.)
Two Pages
This is a clarification for students in two of my classes: Business Across Cultures, and Understanding English and American Popular Cultures.
I have mentioned, or will mention, how we will conduct discussions in class. My explanation confused at least one student, who emailed me, so here goes:
When we are going to have a class discussion, I will usually ask you to write a “Preparation Paper”. There may be several things I ask you to think about: for example, a company, a group of people affected by that company, and an article discussing both. (Or, for example, two films and an essay discussing one of those films.) You can list off information you found in your own research, note questions you have about the assigned reading or viewing, and list questions you would like to ask the class or panel discussion participants.
You are expected to write the Preparation Paper and bring it to class for the discussion, but not to hand it in. Rather, you will keep it, and when you go home, you will write your “Response Paper” which will sum up your thoughts on the discussion, highlight what you agree and disagree with, note a few questions which you think were raised by what was said, and so on.
Then, you will staple the Preparation Paper and the Response Paper together, and hand them in. Note: they MUST be stapled. (I will throw away any Preparation or Response Paper that is not accompanied by its opposite, and if they are not stapled, I will throw them away even if I receive both. Folding corners is not an acceptable substitute to staples.) The completed Preparation/Response Paper is due the next class after a discussion.
I hope that makes everything clear for you. If not, let me know!
CLASSROOM CHANGE!
Our classroom has been changed, which will (I hope!) allow us to access the Internet during class!
The new classroom is room 342 of the International Hub. We will begin meeting there from our next class, on Tuesday morning. See you there!
Homework for Week 1
Folks: here’s a list of the homework for Week 1 (ie. due Tuesday of Week 2):
- Pick up a copy of a mass-market English-language magazine. As I said, I don’t care whether you choose something simpler and more basic (and learn about structure and attention-grabbing) or choose something more intellectual (and learn more about complex, sophisticated writing). Remember, I asked you NOT to choose Time magazine for this purchase. I also recommend not choosing People magazine. Here are some magazine titles that come to my mind:
- “Simpler” Magazines:
- Cosmopolitan, Vogue
- Maxim, Men’s Health
- More Challenging Magazines:
- The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly
- The Economist, Newsweek
- Specialized Magazines:
- Guns and Ammo, Snowboarder Magazine
- “Simpler” Magazines:
- Read through the copy of the CUF magazine that you received in class today. Think about the range of styles and topics in the magazine. This is in the rough ballpark of what we’re looking for in your articles in our class, as well as the magazine in which your own work might get published, so reading the magazine is a great idea!
- Write a list of 5-6 topics which you think would make interesting reading for your fellow CUK students. The topics don’t all need to be serious, but they shouldn’t all be light or “puff piece” topics, either. We also need “think pieces,” like the articles on suicide and city redevelopment in Seoul which are featured in the current issue. As well, we could use a few interesting interviews, so one of your topics could be a suggested personality on campus who’d be interesting to interview for the CUF. Submit your typed list of possible topics to me in class on Tuesday next week.
- Work with your assigned partner or group to fill out the Student Information Sheet you got in class. (Or see below to download another copy.) You will interview your partner, and fill out his or her information; likewise, your partner will interview you and fill out your information. After the interview, rank how interesting the interview was, by rating it from 1 (really not interesting) to 5 (very, very interesting). Attach your photos and submit the Student Information Sheets next class (ie. on Tuesday).
That’s it! See you next week!
Student Information Sheet
Here’s a copy of the Student Information Sheet, in case you need a copy:
Welcome to Understanding English and American Pop Cultures, Spring 2010!
Welcome! I’m looking forward to this class. Please be sure to download a copy of the syllabus. Remember, the weekly plan is tentative — I may change it somewhat — but it gives you a rough idea of what we’ll be looking at.
The homework I assigned for next time is to bring a passport-sized photo of yourself in which you are (a) alone and (b) recognizable. We’ll use it to fill out an information sheet, so please also bring some glue with you to Thursday’s class.
As for next week’s homework, I asked you to do one of two things:
- IF you HAVE NOT seen the film King Kong, please watch it and think about what we discussed. I am not referring to the recent (2005) Peter Jackson remake, but the original 1933 production. You can find the video online for free in several places, like here, but if you want to watch it with subtitles, you may have to pick up a copy of the DVD. Most good DVD shops can sell you a copy for not much money.
- IF you HAVE seen King Kong and are familiar with it, then please watch the original Japanese film Gojira (in English, Godzilla) from 1954, and think about the “close reading” I offered you regarding King Kong. If you carefully try to read the metaphors in Godzilla, what do you see?
See you soon!
Welcome: Journalistic Writing, Spring 2010
Welcome to Journalistic Writing, Spring 2010 Semester. Here’s the syllabus for our course, of course subject to revision or change at some point. I will let you know if anything major changes!
Here is the Revised Syllabus (PDF) with the new assessment system included:
Your homework for next class is to bring a photograph of yourself, of roughly passport-photo size, in which you are (a) alone and (b) recognizable.
See you in class!
Welcome to Business Across Cultures, and Week 1 Homework
Welcome to the Business Across Cultures course for Spring 2010. This semester’s course may be a little bit different from how the course was taught in the past. See the syllabus (in PDF format) by clicking this link.
Here’s a slight revision of the syllabus, with minor changes made to the evaluation system. I decided to be nice and let you have a Major and a Minor essay, meaning the one you do better on will be worth more of your grade, and the one you do worse on will be worth less of your grade:
For next week’s class, the assigned homework is to bring yourself up to speed on the conflict between Posco and the native people in the Indian state of Orissa. A starting point for your investigation is writer Vandana Singh’s recent post about the conflict, comparing it to the James Cameron film Avatar. (But make sure you move on from there, to read more articles and reports on both sides of this conflict.)
We will discuss parallels, differences, and the comparison in general, as well as the ethics and business concerns of the situation, and its coverage (or lack thereof) in the Korean media. If you have not yet seen Avatar, please do make sure you have seen it before our class next Tuesday morning (March 9th) in order to be able to participate in the discussion.
Remember, as I mentioned in class on Thursday, in response to a very good question: you are expected to write up your thoughts before and after the discussion — two separate sheets which you will staple together when handing them in each week on Thursday. For now, that means writing up your thoughts on business in Avatar, on your thoughts about the situation involving Posco in Orissa, and on Vandana Singh’s comparison of the two situations. You’ll write up a reaction afterward.
Also remember that you are expected to hand in your Student Information Sheet on Tuesday. You will have filled it out with your chosen partner and attached your photo by then.
Finally, I asked you and your partner to brainstorm a list five positive and five negative effects of business on your personal life. I’ll also be making a list, and part of our discussion will be comparing notes on these lists of ours. In any case, you are expected to hand in a typed copy of your list at the beginning of class on Tuesday, so make sure you have two copies: one for me, and one each for you and your partner, which you can use during your discussion.
See you next week!
Welcome to Creative Writing
Welcome to the new Creative Writing course for the Spring 2010 semester.
There is a syllabus for the course available here (PDF). Here is the Revised Syllabus (PDF) with the new assessment system included:
The week-too-week course plan is subject to revision, but in general principles it will remain as it is.
I assigned some homework for our next class, as follows:
- Think about what you want to write — what form you’re currently interested in exploring, whether poetry or fiction or creative nonfiction.
- Think about what you want to write about — as in, what sort of a story or character or emotion or whatever that you think you’d like to explore. Political or social issues, too, fit into this question.
- Be ready to talk next time about one writer that has “spoken” to you in his or her written work, and why you think this was the case. (Remember my various examples and their explanations?)
- Write a short piece of creative writing (ie. one page, single-spaced) of any style you like, dealing with any subject you like. This is for me to get a sense of what level you’re at, and to track your progress.
- Since you should know something about me as a writer, since I’m teaching you this course, please check out my latest story at Clarkesworld.com.I’ll be asking you for your feedback on the story in class next week. (It’s only fair, since I’ll be critiquing your work all semester too!)
I also mentioned to students a subpage on this website, dealing with formatting of written work. That page can be viewed here. It’s a good idea to check it out and familiarize yourself with my formatting guidelines.
I look forward to spending the semester with you studying Creative Writing!