If you have any comments or questions in respect to ANY aspect of the syllabus or blog, then please post the question/comment here. No question is too simple or basic... those are the best questions, usually.
Please practice leaving a comment here even if it's just to say that you've read the syllabus and it's crystal clear.
Alex
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Monday, January 28, 2008
Welcome!
Welcome to Identity and Globalization.
Since we will only be meeting once per week, this is the class blog which I will ask you to check a couple of times per week. Moreover, I will be asking you to contribute/comment in response to blogs I post. Hopefully, this will help keep people connected to the material and to the class in general.
Course Overview
Course Description
As information technology proliferates, the farthest reaches of the earth are drawn closer to each other; indeed societies around the globe are increasingly interconnected. A consequence of this is that the larger world is having an ever more profound affect on ‘our’ own life experiences. Just as American culture is spreading itself around the world, other societies, too, have an impact on ‘us’.
The need to take a more global perspective, which encourages us to examine the larger world and our society’s place in it, is exceptionally important when thinking about the question of identity in contemporary America, not least because American society is exceptionally diverse.
Mass diaspora has meant that America houses many cultures, which often give rise to conflict. We often perceive our own culture to be ‘right’, ‘normal’, and ‘appropriate’, deeming others who we identify as different to us, or who originate from other geographical locales, to be strange or even deviant.
Our beliefs and opinions about other societies and cultures, and in turn other identities, are largely affected by media images and representations that we consume every day. We habitually fail to question these images, incorporating stereotypical beliefs and values, which enable us to continue to believe that our way of ‘being’ is superior and right, and that ‘others’ are lesser
Difference and Identity will examine representations of ‘other’ cultures and of ‘other’ identities, through American popular culture (including films, TV, newspapers, news stories, and so on), so as to engender a critical appreciation of stereotyping processes. We will concentrate on, in particular, both domestic and international cinema. Indeed this course will also examine ‘alternative’ images of the world, produced and circulated elsewhere, which show different cultures and identities in a new light.
In a multicultural society such as America, the need for understanding and the need to appreciate diversity are considerable. We all too often look for points of difference between cultures, while plastering over points of similarity, which can importantly function to unite groups of people. This course will also seek to explore the meeting of global cultures, and the exciting opportunities that these may bring about.
Since we will only be meeting once per week, this is the class blog which I will ask you to check a couple of times per week. Moreover, I will be asking you to contribute/comment in response to blogs I post. Hopefully, this will help keep people connected to the material and to the class in general.
Course Overview
Course Description
As information technology proliferates, the farthest reaches of the earth are drawn closer to each other; indeed societies around the globe are increasingly interconnected. A consequence of this is that the larger world is having an ever more profound affect on ‘our’ own life experiences. Just as American culture is spreading itself around the world, other societies, too, have an impact on ‘us’.
The need to take a more global perspective, which encourages us to examine the larger world and our society’s place in it, is exceptionally important when thinking about the question of identity in contemporary America, not least because American society is exceptionally diverse.
Mass diaspora has meant that America houses many cultures, which often give rise to conflict. We often perceive our own culture to be ‘right’, ‘normal’, and ‘appropriate’, deeming others who we identify as different to us, or who originate from other geographical locales, to be strange or even deviant.
Our beliefs and opinions about other societies and cultures, and in turn other identities, are largely affected by media images and representations that we consume every day. We habitually fail to question these images, incorporating stereotypical beliefs and values, which enable us to continue to believe that our way of ‘being’ is superior and right, and that ‘others’ are lesser
Difference and Identity will examine representations of ‘other’ cultures and of ‘other’ identities, through American popular culture (including films, TV, newspapers, news stories, and so on), so as to engender a critical appreciation of stereotyping processes. We will concentrate on, in particular, both domestic and international cinema. Indeed this course will also examine ‘alternative’ images of the world, produced and circulated elsewhere, which show different cultures and identities in a new light.
In a multicultural society such as America, the need for understanding and the need to appreciate diversity are considerable. We all too often look for points of difference between cultures, while plastering over points of similarity, which can importantly function to unite groups of people. This course will also seek to explore the meeting of global cultures, and the exciting opportunities that these may bring about.
Blog Instructions
Blog Instructions
A blog or web log is a personal web site made up of usually short, frequently updated posts that are arranged chronologically. The content and purposes of blogs varies greatly from links and commentary about other web sites to observations about news or politics, diaries, photos, poetry, essays, project updates, even fiction. Blogs are a fast growing segment of the web. An article in the August 26, 2002 Newsweek estimated the number of blogs at 500,000 with a new one coming online every forty seconds.
We have a class blog! As indicated in the syllabus, I will post something to the blog most weeks. I will ask you to comment on it – similar to how I ask you to comment on something in class. However, your response will be in text. Responses do not have to be lengthy – but I encourage you to be thoughtful about what you write so that you are awarded the maximum points. ‘Thoughtful’ means that you consider what is being commented about in light of the reading, class discussion, etcetera. Also, I encourage you to check back to the blog after you have left your comment so that you can see what your classmates think.
The blog, then, should be thought of as an ongoing class discussion… and for those of you who are a little shy this will be away for you to increase your participation. Also, some people do their best thinking in writing…
Instructions:
1) click on the link to the blog: http://identityandglobalization.blogspot.com/
2) Posts appear in chronological order but they are archived in the sidebar.
3) Read the blog and from the main page, click the Comment link under the post on which you want to comment. On an individual post page, scroll down to the end of the post if necessary.
4) You can choose to sign-in and create a blogger account and profile (you will need a name and email address to do this)… If you choose to do this but are not comfortable with having your real name out there in blogger world, you can create a ‘name’ for yourself. Obviously you will have to let me know what your screen name is…
5) You can also leave posts anonymously, but you will have to identify yourself in the body of your comment so that I know who you are
6) You will need to post at least one comment in response to a blog.
7) The blog is public for now. However, if there are a lot of comments from people not in the class which are not appropriate, I can make the blog private (i.e. only the class will be able to access the blog).
8) If there are any inappropriate class comments I can delete the comment.. and I can also make the blog so that I moderate the comments before they’re posted (I’d much prefer not to do this.. so keep it clean and respectful…)
9) You should check the blog regularly – at least twice week.
10) Finally, thanks to tracking software I can see how often your computer is logged into the blog, and for how long!
11) Any questions? please let me know.
A blog or web log is a personal web site made up of usually short, frequently updated posts that are arranged chronologically. The content and purposes of blogs varies greatly from links and commentary about other web sites to observations about news or politics, diaries, photos, poetry, essays, project updates, even fiction. Blogs are a fast growing segment of the web. An article in the August 26, 2002 Newsweek estimated the number of blogs at 500,000 with a new one coming online every forty seconds.
We have a class blog! As indicated in the syllabus, I will post something to the blog most weeks. I will ask you to comment on it – similar to how I ask you to comment on something in class. However, your response will be in text. Responses do not have to be lengthy – but I encourage you to be thoughtful about what you write so that you are awarded the maximum points. ‘Thoughtful’ means that you consider what is being commented about in light of the reading, class discussion, etcetera. Also, I encourage you to check back to the blog after you have left your comment so that you can see what your classmates think.
The blog, then, should be thought of as an ongoing class discussion… and for those of you who are a little shy this will be away for you to increase your participation. Also, some people do their best thinking in writing…
Instructions:
1) click on the link to the blog: http://identityandglobalization.blogspot.com/
2) Posts appear in chronological order but they are archived in the sidebar.
3) Read the blog and from the main page, click the Comment link under the post on which you want to comment. On an individual post page, scroll down to the end of the post if necessary.
4) You can choose to sign-in and create a blogger account and profile (you will need a name and email address to do this)… If you choose to do this but are not comfortable with having your real name out there in blogger world, you can create a ‘name’ for yourself. Obviously you will have to let me know what your screen name is…
5) You can also leave posts anonymously, but you will have to identify yourself in the body of your comment so that I know who you are
6) You will need to post at least one comment in response to a blog.
7) The blog is public for now. However, if there are a lot of comments from people not in the class which are not appropriate, I can make the blog private (i.e. only the class will be able to access the blog).
8) If there are any inappropriate class comments I can delete the comment.. and I can also make the blog so that I moderate the comments before they’re posted (I’d much prefer not to do this.. so keep it clean and respectful…)
9) You should check the blog regularly – at least twice week.
10) Finally, thanks to tracking software I can see how often your computer is logged into the blog, and for how long!
11) Any questions? please let me know.
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