April Update
by Dr. H - April 5th, 2016
Just some reminders as you work on revising your drafts…
Wed 4/6 – We will discuss ALL of Flake’s book, paying particular attention to how her story illuminates larger themes in American religious history and US history in general. Please bring the book with you; it’s your admission ticket to class.
Read not just for the content but for how Flake constructs her argument, how she uses evidence, and what writerly techniques she uses to tell this compelling story. What are the core problems / themes / concepts in this monograph? What are her framing questions? Why is this historical episode a good one through which to explore these questions? What is the historiography of her topic? Pay attention to her footnotes as well – what’s in them? How/when does she employ primary v. secondary source evidence? How does the visual material enhance the narrative?
Also I will have signups available for our next round of writer’s conferences taking place week of 4/11. I’ll also hand out guidelines for writing a book review.
Due: Revised version of your CV, ready for posting on your portfolio site.
Mon 4/11 and Wed 4/13 – no class in our classroom; instead we will attend two campus events. You should meet with me in person this week to conference about your draft, and your J7 post is due Wed 4/13, a review of Flake’s book.
4/11 = Manisha Sinha campus lecture in Sheehan Multipurpose Room 12:30 – 1:45. Here’s a NYT review of her recent book which she’ll be discussing.
4/13 = attend campus Celebration of Scholarship and Creativity during our class time. Locations: May St building for poster presentations, Fallon/Foster room in Student Center for papers and panel presentations.
Mon 4/18 – no class, University holiday
Wed 4/20 – Back to class meetings! Revision workshop in class. Please bring your essay in its current form, either as a printout or on your laptop. J8 is postponed until next week, see below.
Mon 4/25 – Revised Draft is due back by classtime, sent electronically as a Word or PDF document. In class, we’ll have a workshop on abstract-writing.
Wed 4/27 – Religious Literacy. Set aside an hour to watch and take notes on this lecture by Stephen Prothero (Professor of Religion at B.U.) about “Religious Literacy in a Christian (and Multireligious) Nation.” [PS – if you’ve never heard of Chautauqua, look into its history a little] Remember in the clip we viewed on Monday, Prothero identifies this as a religious problem; a liberal arts problem; and as a civic problem. Come ready to discuss the stakes, challenges, and possible solutions as you see them. Also, J8 is due reflecting on your writing process.
Prompt = What has worked? Where have been your bottlenecks? What advice would you give me about how to teach writing better and help support students’ good writing practices? What advice would you have given to yourself at the beginning of the term, given what you know now? What have you learned about yourself as a writer?