Shouting into the void since January 21st, 2010.
blog
locations feb 9, 11
We will be meeting in Doane today (Tuesday), and meeting location on Thursday is flexible. (You'll understand after class.)
paper incoming
Darren recently sent an email to his section of FS102, and I'm passing it along.
Your papers are due in your Sakai dropbox tomorrow before 11AM. As you
put the finishing touches on your paper and begin proof-reading, please
consider crafting a compelling thesis statement for the first paragraph
of your paper. I know this may sound counter-intuitive, but it is best
to write the thesis statement AFTER you complete the body of your
paper. The statement should sum-up the content of your writing by
clearly and concisely stating the main idea of your paper. A 2-3 page
paper should explore and begin to flesh-out just one idea. I've
attached a link with some helpful information, but when you read the
linked article please consider that you are writing a response to the
exhibition and artist's talk and your opinions are quite important.
Even so, please avoid talking about "likes" and "dislikes," but instead
focus on what you feel is effective/ineffective and the what/why/how of
an artwork's effectiveness.
And, the link Darren passed along.
http://www.campusgrotto.com/
We'll see you tomorrow in Doane.
rebecca davis, presentation and dance
Rebecca Davis will be performing Saturday, January 30th in Shafer Auditorium. From the news blurb:
“Darfur” is based on The Devil Came on Horseback, an Emmy-nominated documentary film. T-shirts will be sold after the performance to benefit Global Grassroots, a charity that provides education to women in southern Sudan.
She is also giving a workshop on Friday from 3-5 PM titled Creative Process and Social Change.
Related, seen on Inside Allegheny:
Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Religious Studies Vika Gardner will present a lecture, “A History of Islam in America: Black Americans and Islam,” at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 27 in Campus Center 301/302 as part of the Allegheny Faculty Lecture Series. Gardner will examine the varieties of Islam practiced in 18th- and 19th-century African-American communities. She also will discuss some of the ways that local adaptations of Islam among black Americans in the past century have created spiritual zones of empowerment for those Muslims. All are invited and welcome. Refreshments will be served.
The events I've pointed to here are in the "FYI" category: I thought you might be interested in either the talk and/or the dance performance. Both should be good.
I was very glad to see so many of you last night at the show, and I look forward to class tomorrow.
reading for thursday
As we get into the rhythm of things, it won't seem like I'm just dropping things on you from the safety of a course weblog...
For Thursday, I'd appreciate it if you could read the introduction to Free Culture. More information is hiding behind the link.
Along with discussion of the reading (or through it) we'll take some time to get to know each-other a bit better. Some of that will involve talking a bit more about the class and any hopes/expectations you have regarding this FS. I'm filling in the course schedule, and will continue to do so over the coming week.
Lastly, the participation rubric that we'll be using throughout the term is up. We'll discuss that a bit as well.
tuesday 01/26 reading and activity
Tuesday will be another "combined" class in Doane, and Thursday of next week we'll be on our own in Alden 210. A full calendar will go up shortly. So, to be clear:
TUESDAY - DOANE
THURSDAY - ALDEN
For Tuesday, I'm asking if you'll do a bit of reading online followed by some active exploration of a simple social networking tool. That tool is called Delicious Bookmarks. As I said in our intro, we'll be engaging with and discussing these kinds of tools actively throughout the semester; this is the first one we'll explore.
I've titled this assignment the commons and your bookmarks. Dive in and give it a go. Don't be afraid to ask questions of me or of the group (on the course mailing list) if you get stuck or have any difficulties.
course texts
Some of you had questions about the course texts for Tech and Activism. I don't know what confusing messages the college decided to send, but let me be clear:
You did not need to buy any books.
The texts for this course are all available freely, legally, online. See the syllabus for more information.
If you want to own any of these books, you are welcome to buy them in print. I purchased them as paperbacks off Amazon for fairly cheap. (I think they were $2 or $3 in some cases.) Note that it is my intention that we will only be reading selections from these resources (a chapter here and there).
Hopefully that makes the textbook situation clear. I have another note that will go out later today. In the meantime, enjoy the sunshine.
first post!
First post! First post!
No, seriously, I'll be updating this space shortly. These posts get routed through to your email automatically. This way, you know when I post something new to the class weblog, and you're able to click the link at the bottom of the email to go directly to the blog to read the post online. (This is often useful if I include images and the like.)
For the moment... I'll see you in an hour!
