FL560/CA610

 

2:30 - 3:45 PM Tuesdays and Thursdays in Grainger 2180 Professor Robert Howard rgh[NOSPAM]rghoward.com http://rghoward.com/ 6170 Vilas Communication Hall OH: 11:00 - 12:00 Thursdays (Please email ahead if possible to ensure availability.) Comprehensive Exam: 5/ 17, 7:45 - 9:45: Location TBA.

 

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Schedule

Project Cover Sheet (in .rtf format)

Project Check List (in .rtf format)

Project Description Sheet (in .rtf format)

Consent Form (in .rtf format)

Project Proposal Form

Presentation Schedule

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Course Objectives:

(1) to gain a general sense of the breadth and diversity of research into vernacular communication; (2) to establish a general model of the historical progression of those studies, (3) and to place those studies in the larger context of developing technologies by recognizing their participation in and implications for contemporary American society; (4) and to engage ethnographic field methods to document examples of contemporary vernacular expression.

Grading and Assignments:

Grading Scale in Percents of Total Possible Earned Points

 

A : 100 - 93%

AB: 92 - 88%

B: 87 - 83%

BC: 82 - 78%

C: 77 - 70%

D: 69-60%

F: below 60%

Individual Assignments with Weights

Undergraduate Students

5%: discussion participation

The section instructor will base this grade on the paper proposal, attendance, discussion participation, quizzes, and other criteria.

 

10%: informal project presentation

Each student will give a short presentation to the rest of the class on their documentation project during the last two weeks of the course.
This will be informal, but graded based on the clarity and thoroughness of the presentation.

20%: first examination

The midterm examination will be a factual exam of all material to that point in the course. It will be taken in class on the appropriate date. (Critical analysis will not be tested on the midterm.)

25%: second examination

The final examination will be a factual exam of the cumulative of all material in the course. It will be taken during the final time period. (Critical analysis will not be tested on the final.)

40%: final project

The project must include all components as outlined in the assignment.
The project must document at least 4 vernacular communicative events as approved by the section instructor on or before the approval deadline.
The document must be presented to your section instructor by the due date.

 

Graduate Students

20%: participation

Graduate students are expected to attend and participate in the discussions.
Graduate students will give formal presentations at the end of the course.

80%: seminar length paper based on ethnographic research

The paper must be 20 -30 pages/6,000 - 10,000 words.
The topic must be approved by Professor Howard in face-to-face or email correspondence.
The paper must be emailed to your section instructor by the due date via email attachment in pdf., .rtf, .or .doc format.

 

Exam Dates and Times

Students not able to attend the schedule exam dates and times may not take the exams at another time. If a student has a schedule conflict, please enroll for the course another semester when there are no conflicts. Students needing special accommodations must display their VISA to the professor-in-charge before the end of the second week of class. Every effort will be made to provide accommodations through the testing center. Exams missed due to severe illness can be rescheduled if a dated medical document is presented after the missed exam.

Attendance:

Full attendance is required of all students. Because discussion sections are not interchangeable, students must attend the section for which they are registered or they will not be graded and will fail the course. Because the ideas and meanings in a course such as this emerge in the interaction between the instructors and students, students missing more than 3 discussion sections shall not have participated at an acceptable level and may fail the course. Students not attending lectures will miss material not otherwise available and are obligated to seek out that material from classmates. To avoid duplication and reserve both office hours and class time for students attending lectures, please do not ask the instructors to recapitulate material missed or not understood as a result of not attending lectures.

Required Texts:

Georges, Robert A. and Michael Owen Jones. Folkloristics: An Introduction. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press, 1995.
(Available for purchase at the Underground Campus Textbook Exchange.)
Course Packet
(Available to order for purchase at Bob's Copy Shop on University.)
(Also available online through links on the schedule page.)

 

©These materials are made available for students in the classes of R. Howard all copy rights are reserved by Robert Howard.