Syllabus

Learning Goals/Outcomes

Students will: 

  • learn the methods and conventions of critical reading and writing. Such conventions may include conference presentations, short review essays, extended academic papers, and digital projects. 
  • become familiar with the expectations for MALS theses and capstones. 
  • develop comfort with the language of academic disciplines, as well as an appreciation for the stakes, the significance, and the politics of interdisciplinary thinking. 
  • advance their research capacities through interdisciplinary practice.
  • identify the ways in which the history of the book and printing influences contemporary reading and publication cultures
  • distinguish between multiple forms of textual production, identifying a variety of approaches to reading and composition suited for a text’s conditions. 
  • enumerate the challenges and needs for describing, representing, organizing, and preserving texts. 

Course Materials

Required Texts:

Zoom Meeting: Beginning 3/24/2020, Graduate Center courses moved to a distant-learning model. We will be using Zoom to meet virtually each week. The link to class will be distributed using the Commons Forum each Tuesday. 

Website: Blog posts, the weekly schedule, assignment descriptions, and additional resources will be posted to the website. Please check regularly to make sure that you are aware of all the content that you have access to. Students will post regular blog posts to this public-facing space:  https://textsincontext.commons.gc.cuny.edu/.

CUNY Academic Commons Group: Check to make sure that your settings are set up so that you receive all posts to the group forum as email. The group is where all announcements, class conversation, and readings will be found in the Files section: http://cuny.is/group-texts-contexts-a-seminar-in-interdisciplinary-studies. 

Assignments & Assessment

Note: Assignments will not be accepted late unless an arrangement has been made prior to the date the assignment is due. 

Blog Posts & Reflections: 15%

Almost weekly, you will be asked to do short writing assignments that are 300-500 words long. These will be posted to our public-facing class blog. Students must submit their weekly writing assignments before the start of class. Class periods will begin with students reviewing one another’s reflections as a way of beginning discussion. Blog posts should be posted even if you are absent from class. 

Participation & Classwork: 20%

Regular attendance, generative contributions to conversation, familiarity with weekly readings, and ability to listen and respond to classmates is a vital part of the course. Each week, students will be responsible for the equivalent of 100-150 pages of reading. As an interdisciplinary seminar, each student will bring to the course varying skills, experiences, and types of expertise. Effective contributions to class demonstrate the ability to listen, to respond, and to reconsider one’s own perspective in light of the experiences and contributions of others. We will have regular visitors to class and are currently scheduled for two off-site visits. Generative and productive participation includes arriving on time, prepared, and fully present. Please silence cell phones and refrain from checking email, wandering away, or demonstrating a lack of respect for classmates or visitors.

In our remote format, participation and classwork will include your participation in the zine project, the text as data online activity, and peer-to-peer editing. 

Digital Scholarly Edition / Archive / Project Review: 5%

Students will complete one review of a digital edition, archive, or project assigned the week previous. This review assignment will be posted to the class blog. It should take into consideration the criteria for evaluation that we have considered through secondary readings throughout the semester leading up to the assignment. Reviews should demonstrate a clear understanding of the audience it intends to reach, the audience and purpose of the edition / project in question, and consider the context in which it was published. 

Final Assignment: 

Abstract, Annotated Bibliography, & Outline Draft: 25%

During the semester, there will be opportunities to begin working on your final paper / project by drafting a short abstract / proposal, assembling sources, and planning your composition. These documents should be submitted as a .doc or .docx file via email prior to the beginning of class. 

Final Paper / Project: (4,000 words | 16 pages, double-spaced) 35%
[NOTE: other formats will be accepted if desired. Please state what form you propose clearly in your abstract.]  The final paper is a culmination of the semester’s work. It should demonstrate your facility with both the content of the course, as well as your ability to participate in academic discourse according to its conventions. Students will be able to select whether they will use MLA or Chicago Manual Style. Papers should include clear evidence of individual research, integration and evaluation of sources, the author’s unique perspective on the topic, and a contextualization of the topic within an interdisciplinary set of fields. Students should produce multiple drafts of their work, demonstrating revision and refinement of thought and form. The writing should be clear, organized, and supported by a range of primary, secondary, and multimedia sources. More information about the final assignment will come in February. 

Communication

  • Immediately following the first class, the website will become the authoritative site for assignments, schedule, updates to the syllabus, resources, and more. Please be sure to check the website regularly for changes. 
  • Our class Commons group will be the primary vehicle for the distribution of information, updates, announcements, and class-wide conversation. Please make sure that your options for the group are set to receive individual emails for each post to the group forums. Students are encouraged to share information, converse, ask questions that are on topic and of direct relevance to the course via the group forum. Conversation online should reflect the same values we expect to see from one another in face to face conversation. 
  • Files will be shared through the forum and also in the Files section of the Commons group. 
  • To contact the instructor directly, please use email. Twitter and other social media methods may be tempting, but they will not receive a response for class purposes. 
  • Email will be replied to within 24-48 hours. If you have not received a response to your email after 48 hours, please follow up.
  • If you anticipate missing a class for any reason, please send an email in advance to let me know. Open lines of communication in advance of problems is always preferable to finding out after the fact.
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