ASSIGNMENT 1 | Participation (40%)

The majority of your learning will take place within the space of the seminar. This will take place in four main ways: 1) coming to class prepared to participate; 2) weekly reflections on the readings; 3) acting as a host to our guest speakers at least once; 4) preparation and participation in a Memolab and field trips.

In class discussion | Each seminar is a space to explore ideas and to learn from each other. The success of this relies on you completing each reading in advance and being fully present within each seminar and ready to discuss the ideas, themes and questions. We will strive to make the classroom inclusive, the goal is to hear from every student in each class (although naturally, in some classes, some students have more interest in the topic and so will speak more; rather, the idea is that no one person or group of persons should ever dominate every seminar). Please see the section on ‘Respect and Inclusion’ on this website, and we can discuss the first class a set of agreements on how we want to be together. If speaking in class is something you feel uncomfortable with or if it’s an off week for you, please reach out.

Reflections/Comments | No reflection due the first class (Jan 7)
 You are to prepare short reflections on the readings (300-500 words) and post these to the class website at mid-night prior to class (see posts on front page, right hand column).   Reflections are not summaries of the readings. Rather, it is an opportunity to pull out some central concepts / quotes you found useful or thought-provoking that you want to discuss further in class /  to offer analysis of them and interconnections between readings / to link these to current events or experiences you have that help further the discussion.  At the end of every reflection / comment you are to pose a question or choose a question / section of the readings you would like to discuss further in class. Questions should reflect deep engagement with all the readings, but consider posing it in a way that generates discussion.

Remember: Weekly reflections on readings and the question are due at midnight the day prior to class.

A few prompts for note-taking on readings for class: What concepts do the authors develop? How does each reading approach this? What is at stake in the reading? How do the readings speak to each other? How is the author making their argument, and what are they using to help get there? Is there an issue or event you connect the readings to, and if so how? 

Memo-Labs – see Tab on Memolabs

photo:  https://news.uchicago.edu/story/renowned-artist-jenny-holzer-debut-project-uchicago-using-augmented-reality