Course Description:
EXL 300: Cross‐Cultural Learning: Theory and Practice. (1 credit) Spring 2012 Instructor: Dr. Ishita Sinha Roy (Communication Arts) Office: Vukovich 310. Office Phone: (814) 33‐4384. Email: [email protected]
Course Description:
This is a one credit letter grade course that may also be taken credit/no credit. It is mandatory, along with all the other pre‐departure and re‐entry requirements specified in your contract, if you are going on an Allegheny‐sponsored program.
If you are participating in a non‐Allegheny sponsored program, you may take the
course and have it reflected on your academic transcript. However, you must request the Registrar’s Office to officially add you to the roster.
If you are participating in a program that is through the college, you are
automatically registered for the course as part of the academic requirements for participating in the Allegheny College semester away program. Your participation on all assignments will therefore be reflected in your final grade for the course. The course is designed to encourage you to think and be actively engaged in your new cultural setting, whether this is Washington D.C. or Africa. We hope that you will be worthy cultural ambassadors of Allegheny College, representing the college and your country honorably in your academic and social interactions with your host institution.
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Readings: The EXL300 _Sp12 course folder should show up as a tab on the top of your page, when you login to Sakai using your Allegheny email ID and password. If you have trouble logging into Sakai, please consult this webpage: http://help.allegheny.edu/tutorials/sakai/index.php The readings have been uploaded to a folder marked “Readings” which you can access by clicking on the “Resources” link (on the left side bar of the sakai course page). You will need Adobe Acrobat to open these files. 1. Appadurai, Arjun. “Disjuncture and Difference in the Global Cultural Economy,” in The Anthropology of Globalization, Jonathan Xavier Inda and Renato Rosaldo (eds.), 2nd ed. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2008. 47‐65. 2. Andreotti, Vanessa. “Soft Versus Critical Global Citizenship Education,” Policy & Practice: A Development Education Review. Issue 3: “Global Citizenship,” Autumn 2006: 40‐51. 3. Ritzer, George. The Globalization of Nothing. New York, Pine Forge Press: 71‐ 96 4. Zemach‐Bersin, Talya, “American Students Abroad Can’t be Global Citizens,” The Chronicle of Higher Education. Mar. 7, 2008 http://chronicle.com/weekly/v54/i26/26a03401.htm 5. Byers, Michael. “Are You a 'Global Citizen'?” The Tyee Online. 5 Oct. 2005. http://thetyee.ca/Views/2005/10/05/globalcitizen/ 6. “Capturing and Building on Study Abroad” – articles from Abroad View magazine.
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You will be asked to refer to the readings as you cover the blog assignments while you are on your study away program. Therefore, it is a good idea to print the articles and carry them with you. Assignments: A. The Weblog: The URL for the weblog is http://exl300sp12.blogspot.com/ You will be posting an entry to a specific question according to the specified schedule. You are also required to comment on at least two other peer entries for each blog assignment. Please do not choose the same two people to respond to each time. I will be checking the blog site regularly, so if you choose do not post blog entries, this will be taken as non‐participation in the course. The blogs will help you keep track of your experiences. The readings will also help provide a framework within which to situate these experiences. If your study abroad semester starts way before or after the first few blogs are due, please contact me before your program begins, and we will discuss how you can post those entries. Do not contact me to resolve this after the due dates for the entries have passed. The first blog is a test posting to make sure you are comfortable with and able to navigate the software. It is due by December 8, 2011. Please also post comments to at least two other peer entries by Dec. 12, 2011. Please keep in mind that this is an academic forum and therefore you are requested to be mindful that the language and tone are appropriate according to the rules of academic community discourse. Blogs that violate these terms will be removed from the site and no credit will be given for the assignment. Repeated violations will be reviewed
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under the guidelines of the Allegheny Compass, and the student will receive appropriate sanctions upon their return to Allegheny College. Blog Guidelines: 1. Please comment on at least two peer entries each time you post a response to a prompt. 2. Please avoid posting comments for the same two people each time. 3. Your blog entry is expected to respond to the assigned reading, and to incorporate your own study abroad experiences in expressing your opinions. 4. Photographs that you take, and that are relevant to the entry, are always welcome. Please keep in mind that photos should be appropriate for public viewing and should be your own. Test Blog: Dec. 08, 2011
Why Should we Care? Mar. 30, 2012
Preparing for the Journey
(Read “Soft Versus Critical Global Citizenship Education”)
A Historical Lesson: Jan. 23, 2012
Sustainable Communities: Apr. 15, 2012 (Read “The Globalization of Nothing”)
Culture Trade: Feb. 10, 2012
Changing ‐scapes: April. 30, 2012
(Read “Are You a 'Global Citizen'?)
(Read: “Disjuncture and Difference in the Global Cultural Economy”)
Class Privilege: Feb. 21, 2012
Coming Home: May. 10, 2012
(Read “American Students Abroad Can’t be
(Read: “Capturing & Building on Study
Global Citizens”)
Abroad”)
A Picture worth a 1000 words: Mar.15, 2012
PLEASE USE THE SAME TITLE FOR YOUR BLOG POST AS ON THE ASSIGNMENT QUESTION.
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B. Final Project on Re‐entry – DIGITAL STORYTELLING: (2‐3 minutes) IT IS IMPORTANT THAT YOU START SCRIPTING THIS AS YOU TRAVEL, SO YOU CAN
DEVELOP A STORYLINE AND TAKE ENOUGH PICTURES THAT CORRESPOND WITH YOUR IT IS IMPORTANT THAT YOU START SCRIPTING THIS AS YOU TRAVEL, SO YOU CAN DEVELOP A STORYLINE AND TAKE ENOUGH PICTURES THAT CORRESPOND WITH YOUR WORDS, AND ALSO PROVIDE TRANSITIONS BETWEEN IDEAS. REMEMBER, YOUR AUDIENCE HAS NOT BEEN TO YOUR HOST COUNTRY, SO TAKE PICTURES THAT HOLD THEIR INTEREST AND ARE HUMAN‐INTEREST ORIENTED. 1. Please note that there will be mandatory academic and technology re‐entry meetings on Saturday, September 8, 2012 – exact locations and times of the sessions will be announced. These are separate from the ACCEL re‐entry meeting, which will be held on a different date. Among other things, the sessions will prepare you to complete the final assignment. 2. The digital storytelling project is due by September 25, 2012 by 4pm. 3. The typed script of the commentary for the digital story should also be uploaded to your EXL 300_SP12 sakai dropbox as a Word document by 4pm on Sept. 25 , 2012. For this final assignment, you are synthesizing the experiential reflections and lessons from your study abroad experience, to produce a media artifact that can be used to share your own personal growth and intellectual processing of the semester away, in ways that are non‐touristy, and that really showcase the educational value of the intercultural experience.
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Your digital story could be about: • a person you met (or your host family); • an incident/event at the host destination, that summarizes your study abroad/away experience; • a course you took during semester away, that opened your eyes to something; • an actual journey and what you learned from it; • some trial or misfortune that produced reflection; or • your confrontation of stereotypes (either the ones you had of the other culture or people in your host destination, or the stereotypes they have of Americans) It is smart to collect the images that you will be using to tell this story, while you are at
your host destination. Apart from the photographs you take (and make these interesting and not static please), you could also create video clips, take interviews of people from your host destination, etc. that can be used in this assignment. The actual playtime (not counting time for titles/credits) should be between 2‐3 minutes. On your script AND on your title slide, please include the following details: Your full name and major/minor EXL 300 (Cross‐Cultural Learning: Theory and Practice) Allegheny College, Meadville, PA Spring 2012 Host site/Program: Title of the piece Digital Story Commentary: The digital story should have a scripted commentary that is organized and well thought out, and a thoughtful informed response to your chosen prompt. This means that you should plan and type out your commentary for the digital story and make sure it:
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a) Responds to the selected prompt, and tells a rich and informative story with a dramatic twist. b) Draws its content from from your personal travel experiences and illustrates experiential intercultural learning. c) Adds value to the viewing experience. Does the viewer feel engaged and does s/he feel compelled to keep watching? At the end of the viewing experience, does the viewer feel this was time well spent because they loved your story (were entertained) and learned something new through it (cultural education). SOME POINTERS: • If you use music, please be aware of copyright issues and do not use sound effects or any soundtrack that has copyright protection. • Please also be careful that the music does not drown out your words. • When speaking into the microphone, please use a quiet room for the recording (to avoid background noise). • Speak clearly and slowly so that your words can be made out. Mumbling destroys all your hard work. • To engage your viewers, vary your tone. Don’t just read out the script – be a good storyteller and perform the story. Please choose visuals that have human interest and will engage the viewer. Static shots of monuments and buildings may have meaning to you because you were there, but they don’t do much for the story. When storyboarding, time your narration, and break it down in terms of how long it takes you to say a sentence or a phrase, with intonation and clarity. Take notes on the time for each frame, with the narration and image components for each, and the transition time/image in between.
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Michael Hurley, the Instructional Technologist for this course, will help you with the technical aspects of this assignment. We will address the technology training you need to complete this assignment, at the re‐entry meetings in fall 2012 (details TBA). Please keep in mind that your final assignment is intended for public display. We will be sharing the best presentations with various publics (Allegheny College trustees, members of and visitors to the campus, conferences related to Study Abroad, other students, etc.). Therefore, you will be showcasing yourself as a campus ambassador for study abroad through your work in this course. Contact Information: 1. If you have technical problems or questions about the weblog software, read the help tips at http://help.allegheny.edu/tutorials/mtype/weblog.php If the problem cannot be resolved through the tips on that site, please email Michael Hurley ([email protected]), our Instructional Technologist. Please put "EXL 300_SP12 Blog Question" in the subject header, so your question can be addressed in a timely manner. 2. If you have a question that is related to the EXL 300 academic content, please email Dr. Sinha Roy at [email protected]. Please put: "EXL 300_SP12 Question" in the subject header of your email. 3. Questions related to administrative aspects of your academic program at the host site, course registration for the next Allegheny semester, or immigration‐related issues: Jenny Kawata at the International Office ([email protected]). Please note that all email correspondence regarding the course will be sent to your Allegheny e‐mail account. If you plan to use another account during your semester
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abroad, please configure that account to have your Allegheny e‐mail forwarded to that account. You should be able to read your Allegheny email using webmail on any internet browser‐‐ (http://my.allegheny.edu/)
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