EXL 300 Maximizing Study Abroad & Experiential Learning (one unit
EXL 300 Maximizing Study Abroad & Experiential Learning (one unit) Spring 2008 Instructor: Dr. Ishita Sinha Roy (Communication Arts)
This one unit course is for Credit/No Credit. Your participation is part of the contract you signed when you agreed to register for the Study Abroad program. The course encourages you to actively participate in and reflect on experiences in your new cultural setting, whether in Washington D.C. or Africa. We hope that you will be worthy cultural ambassadors of Allegheny College, representing the college and your country/town well in the academic and social interactions with your host institution and culture. We also encourage you to bring back meaningful reflections and cultural knowledge that you can share with the campus community here that will motivate other students to think of expanding their horizons. Readings: 1. The course syllabus and assignments are on the electronic course reserves on the Pelletier Library web site under EXL*300 (Spring 2008). The password is "global" (without the quotation marks). Readings are:
George Ritzer. "Globalization." The Globalization of Nothing. Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press. 2004: 71-96
William B. Gudykunst & Young Yun Kim. Communicating With Strangers: An Approach to Intercultural Communication. 2nd Ed. New York: McGraw Hill Inc. 1992: 229-269.
Malcolm Gladwell. Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking. New York & Boston: Little, Brown & Co. 2005: 3-71.
2. The weblog assignment is an ongoing project that you will be writing once every two weeks. There is a final paper & poster presentation that is due when you return to campus (see details below).
Ishita Sinha Roy: Box 45 : Allegheny College : 520 North Main Street : Meadville, PA 16335 : 814.332.4384
Assignments: A. The Weblog: The URL for the weblog is http://studyabroad.allegheny.edu/sp2008/ To check a question, you would refer to the URL above. To post a reply, you would login at http://webpub.allegheny.edu/cgi-bin/moveabletype/mt.cgi Once you login for the first time, you may change your password. However, please make your new password your email password so you do not forget it. If you forget your password, we cannot retrieve it for you and this means resetting your account. You will be posting an entry to a specific question once every two weeks (except for the last two entries that are a week apart). I will be checking your blog entries regularly, so if you choose not to maintain your blog, 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. Please remember to resize your pictures before you upload them to the blog site. You must hit the "Rebuild Site" button under "Utilities" in the left-hand bar on the Moveable Type page, after you save your entry, or it will not post the entry to the blog site. The first blog is a test posting to make sure you are comfortable using the software, and are able to navigate the software. It is due by December 12, 2007. Blog Deadlines: Test Blog 2007 Why Study Abroad 2008 Being a Traveling Scholar 2008 Celebrating Love 2008 About Differences 2008
: Dec.12,
Memorable Experience
: Mar.28, 2008
: Jan. 31,
Popular Culture
: Apr. 10, 2008
: Feb.15,
Reflections
: Feb. 29,
Cultural Ambassadors
: Apr. 24, 2008 : May 08, 2008
: Mar. 14,
B. Final Paper and Poster Project: Due: Second week of fall 2008 semester upon your return to the campus. i) You will be writing a four page critical paper that provides an informed insight into an aspect of your host culture that we, as ordinary tourists, would not be privileged to notice or know.
Ishita Sinha Roy: Box 45 : Allegheny College : 520 North Main Street : Meadville, PA 16335 : 814.332.4384
In other words, because of your conversations with people from the culture, and your own explorations, you should have discovered something about your host culture that is worth discussing in detail, as "insider" cultural knowledge. Your paper should use, or respond to any quote from the course readings. Citations should be as per the MLA style handbook. The front page of the paper should contain your name, the course # (EXL 300), the semester of your semester abroad (Spring 2008), and the words "Final Paper", in the upper left corner. There should be a title for your paper. The paper should be typed (Times Roman 12 pt. Font), double-spaced and stapled. PROMPT: What have you learnt from your stay in a different culture that you would share with scholars who study intercultural exchanges? How does this add to the observations made by the authors of your readings? ii) The poster is a short-hand visual presentation of the ideas in your paper. Avoid using a touristy approach. Again, we are interested in seeing the culture through YOUR eyes, and sites/sights that are not in the usual guide books. The poster will be done on a three-panel display panel that is available through the International Office (ask Danuta). You can be as creative as you like with the poster, but your ideas should be evident, and organized in their presentation. Please be prepared to be present at the Poster Presentation display at the Campus Center lobby on the Tuesday of the second week in fall 2008 at noon. You should also have at least ten printed copies of your paper with you at the display, for interested visitors. There will be three prizes awarded by the Dean of the College for the top three paper & poster combinations.
Ishita Sinha Roy: Box 45 : Allegheny College : 520 North Main Street : Meadville, PA 16335 : 814.332.4384
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
2. If the problem cannot be resolved through the tips on that site, please email Helen McCullough ([email protected]), our technical consultant. Please put "EXL 300 Blog Question" in the subject header, so your question can be addressed in a timely manner. 3.
If you have a question that is related to the EXL 300 course content or assignments, please email Dr. Sinha Roy at [email protected]. Please put: "EXL 300 Question" in the subject header of your email.
4. Questions related to your academic program at the host site, registration for the next Allegheny semester, or immigration-related issues: Danuta Majchrowich ([email protected]) 5. 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 abroad, please configure that account to have your Allegheny e-mail forwarded to that account. In other cases, you should be able to read your Allegheny email using webmail on any internet browser--(http://webmail.allegheny.edu)
Ishita Sinha Roy: Box 45 : Allegheny College : 520 North Main Street : Meadville, PA 16335 : 814.332.4384
This one unit course is for Credit/No Credit. Your participation is part of the contract you signed when you agreed to register for the Study Abroad program. The course encourages you to actively participate in and reflect on experiences in your new cultural setting, whether in Washington D.C. or Africa. We hope that you will be worthy cultural ambassadors of Allegheny College, representing the college and your country/town well in the academic and social interactions with your host institution and culture. We also encourage you to bring back meaningful reflections and cultural knowledge that you can share with the campus community here that will motivate other students to think of expanding their horizons. Readings: 1. The course syllabus and assignments are on the electronic course reserves on the Pelletier Library web site under EXL*300 (Spring 2008). The password is "global" (without the quotation marks). Readings are:
George Ritzer. "Globalization." The Globalization of Nothing. Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press. 2004: 71-96
William B. Gudykunst & Young Yun Kim. Communicating With Strangers: An Approach to Intercultural Communication. 2nd Ed. New York: McGraw Hill Inc. 1992: 229-269.
Malcolm Gladwell. Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking. New York & Boston: Little, Brown & Co. 2005: 3-71.
2. The weblog assignment is an ongoing project that you will be writing once every two weeks. There is a final paper & poster presentation that is due when you return to campus (see details below).
Ishita Sinha Roy: Box 45 : Allegheny College : 520 North Main Street : Meadville, PA 16335 : 814.332.4384
Assignments: A. The Weblog: The URL for the weblog is http://studyabroad.allegheny.edu/sp2008/ To check a question, you would refer to the URL above. To post a reply, you would login at http://webpub.allegheny.edu/cgi-bin/moveabletype/mt.cgi Once you login for the first time, you may change your password. However, please make your new password your email password so you do not forget it. If you forget your password, we cannot retrieve it for you and this means resetting your account. You will be posting an entry to a specific question once every two weeks (except for the last two entries that are a week apart). I will be checking your blog entries regularly, so if you choose not to maintain your blog, 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. Please remember to resize your pictures before you upload them to the blog site. You must hit the "Rebuild Site" button under "Utilities" in the left-hand bar on the Moveable Type page, after you save your entry, or it will not post the entry to the blog site. The first blog is a test posting to make sure you are comfortable using the software, and are able to navigate the software. It is due by December 12, 2007. Blog Deadlines: Test Blog 2007 Why Study Abroad 2008 Being a Traveling Scholar 2008 Celebrating Love 2008 About Differences 2008
: Dec.12,
Memorable Experience
: Mar.28, 2008
: Jan. 31,
Popular Culture
: Apr. 10, 2008
: Feb.15,
Reflections
: Feb. 29,
Cultural Ambassadors
: Apr. 24, 2008 : May 08, 2008
: Mar. 14,
B. Final Paper and Poster Project: Due: Second week of fall 2008 semester upon your return to the campus. i) You will be writing a four page critical paper that provides an informed insight into an aspect of your host culture that we, as ordinary tourists, would not be privileged to notice or know.
Ishita Sinha Roy: Box 45 : Allegheny College : 520 North Main Street : Meadville, PA 16335 : 814.332.4384
In other words, because of your conversations with people from the culture, and your own explorations, you should have discovered something about your host culture that is worth discussing in detail, as "insider" cultural knowledge. Your paper should use, or respond to any quote from the course readings. Citations should be as per the MLA style handbook. The front page of the paper should contain your name, the course # (EXL 300), the semester of your semester abroad (Spring 2008), and the words "Final Paper", in the upper left corner. There should be a title for your paper. The paper should be typed (Times Roman 12 pt. Font), double-spaced and stapled. PROMPT: What have you learnt from your stay in a different culture that you would share with scholars who study intercultural exchanges? How does this add to the observations made by the authors of your readings? ii) The poster is a short-hand visual presentation of the ideas in your paper. Avoid using a touristy approach. Again, we are interested in seeing the culture through YOUR eyes, and sites/sights that are not in the usual guide books. The poster will be done on a three-panel display panel that is available through the International Office (ask Danuta). You can be as creative as you like with the poster, but your ideas should be evident, and organized in their presentation. Please be prepared to be present at the Poster Presentation display at the Campus Center lobby on the Tuesday of the second week in fall 2008 at noon. You should also have at least ten printed copies of your paper with you at the display, for interested visitors. There will be three prizes awarded by the Dean of the College for the top three paper & poster combinations.
Ishita Sinha Roy: Box 45 : Allegheny College : 520 North Main Street : Meadville, PA 16335 : 814.332.4384
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
2. If the problem cannot be resolved through the tips on that site, please email Helen McCullough ([email protected]), our technical consultant. Please put "EXL 300 Blog Question" in the subject header, so your question can be addressed in a timely manner. 3.
If you have a question that is related to the EXL 300 course content or assignments, please email Dr. Sinha Roy at [email protected]. Please put: "EXL 300 Question" in the subject header of your email.
4. Questions related to your academic program at the host site, registration for the next Allegheny semester, or immigration-related issues: Danuta Majchrowich ([email protected]) 5. 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 abroad, please configure that account to have your Allegheny e-mail forwarded to that account. In other cases, you should be able to read your Allegheny email using webmail on any internet browser--(http://webmail.allegheny.edu)
Ishita Sinha Roy: Box 45 : Allegheny College : 520 North Main Street : Meadville, PA 16335 : 814.332.4384
