Assignments

Reader Reports

Reader reports are submitted on Moodle by Sunday nights at 11:59pm. Each week, a selection of readings will be highlighted to be read carefully. Your Reader Report should consist of: 1) A 3-5 paragraph synopsis of the main points of the reading. 2) 3 or 4 quotes that are germane to the central arguments of the reading. 3) 2 or 3 questions you are asking of the material.

Midpoint and Final Essays

You will write a set of reflective essays of approximately 5 -7 pages in length in response to a set of guided questions. The prompt for each essay will be available on Moodle. Essays are due by Friday of 5th week and Monday of Finals Week, respectively, by 11:59pm EST.

Site Exploration

How often do you spend time noticing where you are? To encourage you to develop the habit of noticing and analyzing your surroundings, you will select and visit three sites/spaces during the quarter. Challenge yourself to stay in the same spot for at least 30 minutes. Set up a timer on your phone and take note of what things you notice about your space/site during that duration of time. Are you in a public space? A private space? What markers designate it as such? What do you hear and what do you smell? What made you want to stop in the spot you selected? Take a photograph and write a 3 – 4 paragraph reflection. Site Exploration Credits can be completed individually or in groups. If writing it up as a group, make sure to include everyone’s name on the forum post so I can give credit accordingly.

Public Art Mapping Project

A separate prompt will be posted on Moodle.

Community Events Forum

There is a LOT that happens during the quarter! If you know of an event coming up, or participated in one, receive 10 points each time you post about it on the Community Events forum. I will also be announcing opportunities throughout the quarter where you can receive double Community Events points by participating.

Due Dates

Reader Reports

Due Sunday evenings, starting with the Sunday evening of the start of week 2, by 11:59pm, uploaded onto Moodle.

Midpoint and Final Reflective Essays

Midpoint Essay due Friday night of 5th week; Final Essay due Monday night of Finals Week by 11:59pm.

Site Exploration

Posted by Monday of Finals Week by 11:59pm.

Public Art Mapping Project

Due Monday of Finals Week by 11:59pm.

Community Events

Posts due on the Moodle forum by Monday of Finals Week by 11:59pm.

Grading

This course utilizes contract grading. We will discuss how contract grading works during Week One.

There are 1400 total possible points.

Grading Scale

Class Policies

Classroom Interactions

Your communication with others in this class should be professional and polite. Even when we disagree strongly, we will focus on the content of arguments, not evaluations of other people’s character. To encourage respectful interaction, students are unable to revise or delete their comments on the discussion boards, so think carefully before you post.

For this reason, I encourage you to read the discussion board assignment early on, think about it for a few days, and then return to write and revise your answer before you post. If you see something inappropriate on our class discussion boards, please tell me. I’m not able to monitor posts as they arrive, so I rely on students to alert me if a post violates our classroom standards.

Recording Class Content

It is a violation of copyright law and may be a violation of FERPA (if you include student-related content) to share recordings or images produced in this or any other class without explicit permission from the instructor. Students in violation of this will be charged with an academic misconduct violation. While I encourage you to discuss what you are learning in this class with friends and family members, you may not share recorded lectures, notes that I have written, or other content I have created without my written permission, and you may NEVER share comments or other content written by your classmates. This is a violation of the trust in our classroom as well as copyright law.

Short Writing Assignments

Each week, students will complete two regular written responses to the reading and listening assignments, one short (1.5-2 pages, due Tuesday) and the other extremely short (2-4 sentences, due Thursday).

Tuesday Short Response: Weekly short responses will require students to demonstrate engagement with the reading and listening material and will take various forms depending on the topics covered. The criteria and mode of evaluation for each of these assignments will be discussed in class. (1-2 pages)

Thursday Shorter Response: Short responses will consist of a comment posted on the course website, in which the student will 1) clarify an aspect of the reading or define a word that people might have some trouble with (including a reference if necessary) and 2) Ask a question about some aspect of the reading.

Assignments are due either over email (short) or on the course website (shorter), by midnight the evening before class.

Class Participation

Participation will be evaluated on the following criteria:

A: You contribute to class frequently (almost every session, though I don’t expect everyone to be “on” every day). Your comments reflect excellent preparation, build from the comments of others and/or offer direction for the discussion. If you were not in the class, the quality of discussion would be diminished markedly.

B: You contribute to class sometimes. Your comments reflect good preparation, sometimes build from the comments of others and/or sometimes offer direction for the discussion. If you were not in the class, the quality of discussion would be diminished.

C: You contribute to class rarely. Your comments reflect adequate preparation, occasionally build from the comments of others and/or occasionally offer direction for the discussion. If you were not in the class, the quality of discussion would be diminished somewhat.

D: You contribute to class very rarely or not at all. As a result, there is little or no basis for evaluation. If you were not in the class, the discussion would not be changed.

Also D: You contribute to class but your contributions reflect inadequate preparation and offer no direction for the discussion. If you were not in the class, the discussion would be improved

Required Music Streaming Service

This semester, we will primarily be using Spotify (www.spotify.com) and Youtube as our music portals, supplemented by online databases accessed through your Kalamazoo login, as well as a variety of online resources. All students should sign up for a (free) Spotify account.

Attendance Policy

Students are expected to attend every class session. In the event that you must miss a class due to religious observance, illness, family emergency, etc…, please provide notification as soon as possible, preferably in advance of the absence. After two unexcused absences, each subsequent absence will result in a 4% reduction in total course grade.

Statement on Academic Integrity

Acts of academic dishonesty are prohibited. Cheating includes, but is not limited to: (1) use of any unauthorized assistance in taking quizzes, tests, or examinations; (2) use of sources beyond those authorized by the instructor in writing papers, preparing reports, solving problems; or carrying out other assignments; (3) the acquisition, without permission, of tests or other academic material belonging to a member of the College community; (4) engaging in any behavior specifically prohibited by a faculty member in the course syllabus or class discussion. If you have any questions about these policies, please ask, and refer to the guidelines here: https://studev.kzoo.edu/policies/

Statement on Learning Difference

Any student with a learning difference who needs an accommodation or other assistance in this course should make an appointment to speak with me as soon as possible. Please do feel free to reach out as soon as possible.

An Important Tip for The Rest of Your Life

Whenever you send an assignment to a professor, a resume to a potential employer, or a request to a new contact, you should assume that this person receives dozens (or hundreds) of files as attachments every week. As such, it is in your interest to title your file in such a way that it is easy to track and identify at a glance. Using very specific filenames will also make your life much easier down the road when you are trying to find an old file.

Good Filename: MyName__Week1Response_Sept2022.doc
Bad Filename: Assignment1.doc

Good Filename: MyName_NewOrleansBoucePaper_10Oct22.pdf
Awful Filename: NewOrleans.pdf

Good Filename: MyNameResume_PositionTitle-CompanyName_2Nov24.prf
No Good, Terrible Filename: Resume.pdf

If you send me a filename similar to the bad examples above, you will receive a reply
email consisting entirely of “what.huh?”

Drafts

In addition to the assigned draft sections and preliminary assignments that every student will complete as they work towards their final project, I am happy to review early drafts of final papers, provided that I receive them at least five days in advance of the due date. This is to ensure that I can review and comment on drafts with enough time for students to revise and improve their work before the final deadline. Remember that the act of submitting an early draft doesn’t achieve anything on its own; rather it is the act of revision in response to reader comments that helps all of us improve a piece of writing.

The [Imaginary] Final Paper – Designing a Research Project at Multiple Scales

Early on in the term, each student will decide on a topic of interest for their research paper. This can be an individual artist, a particular recording, a dance, a physical site, a historical event, or a stylistic feature of a musical subgenre or practice. While you are not limited to a specific range of subjects, you should choose a concrete person/place/thing/event (rather than a more abstract concept) that is embedded in an existing musical culture of or related to New Orleans. The subject does not need to be geographically restricted to New Orleans itself.

The task for this project is not to “write a paper” about the subject. Rather, each student will develop a bibliography, discography, and potential research agenda that could be used to explore a variety of questions about the subject. These questions will range in type, from the factual to the theoretical, and in scope, from the type of question that might make an interesting footnote to the type of question that would be the basis for a scholarly monograph. You will not, importantly, be asked to actually complete more than discrete elements of this research agenda. Thus you will construct a bibliography that is larger than what you could possibly read in a 10 week term, and will detail potential research methodologies and practices that you will not be able to undertake during the Fall.

The point of this project is not only to explore the topic at hand, but to begin to ask questions about knowledge production and what counts as knowledge on this topic:

What kinds of knowledge are valued and understood as knowledge within the musical culture in question here? Who counts as a knowledgeable listener in this setting? How is that knowledge acquired, transmitted, or created? What kinds of inquiry would be relevant to understanding this subject? What methodologies or humanistic or social-scientific research are appropriate or useful for the exploration of this topic? What kinds of research are possible? Feasible? Ethical?

In the process of constructing a general overview for this subject you will write several abstracts for hypothetical academic papers and non-academic articles based on smaller-scale subsets of this imaginary research agenda. At the end of the term, you will give a preliminary presentation on one of these small-scale questions related to your topic.

The timeline for the term project will be as follows.

Week 4: Students select a research interest
Week 6: Abstract 1 Due.
Week 7: Abstract 2 Due.
Week 8: Student and Professor agree on final grading rubric.
Week 9: Mock exam due.
Week 10: Abstract 3 Due – Class Presentations

Final Paper Due

Monday, November 21.

3000 words (about 12 pages) Times New Roman/12-point font/Double-spaced
Annotated Bibliography (criteria will be discussed in class)
Annotated Discography (criteria will be discussed in class)

Grading

Your final project will be assessed according to a rubric that we will discuss and agree upon in class. Since each member of the seminar will be investigating very different topics, each student will contribute one specific parameter to the rubric (in consultation with Prof. Bothwell) upon which they will be evaluated. This parameter should be specific to the content of your project, and how well you are able to compile, analyze, and communicate material in a way that is specifically appropriate to your chosen musical culture.

Draft Timeline for the Quarter

NEW ORLEANS CLUSTER INFORMATION

In January, Kalamazoo College received a three-year Mellon grant (For information about the grant, see the grant announcement.) Entitled Humanities Integrated Locational Learning (HILL), this initiative examines how many problems of our time can be analyzed through the lens of location and dislocation. To develop a deeper knowledge of these disruptions (physical, psychological, social, linguistic, and more) with the aim of generating the potential for change, HILL supports the formation of class clusters linked to specific places within and beyond Kalamazoo. Our course contributes to a “Beyond Kalamazoo” Cluster focused on New Orleans, comprised of the following courses: ARTX225 Public Art and Its Publics (Dr. Christine Hahn), ENGL490: NOLA Divided: Race in the Big Easy (Dr. Shanna Salinas), ANSO426 Lest we Forget: Memory and Identity in the African Diaspora (Dr. Espelencia Baptiste), SEMN295/MUSC295 The World Through New Orleans (Dr. Beau Bothwell). While these courses will function independently, they are united by their engagement with New Orleans as a historical and contemporary site, as well as the way they draw from humanistic inquiry to construct justice-based notions of land, place, and belonging in response to humanistic concerns and social inequities (i.e., systemic racism, body and border policing, economic inequity, global warming, etc.)

After the conclusion of the quarter, cluster faculty and selected students will extend the classroom to New Orleans for a 7-day, fully-funded* study away experience (includes airfare, housing, and meals). During this partial-unit experiential social justice research seminar in New Orleans (November 26th – December 2nd, 2022), 4-5 students from each cluster course will undertake individual and collaborative research within and across the disciplinary knowledges acquired in their respective courses in order to produce a supradisciplinary research project. The trip will prioritize place-based learning, humanities-based inquiry, and social justice problem-solving via relevant site visits, partnerships with local community organizations, and student-led discussion and reflection. At the end of the trip, students will
publish their research on a digital humanities website.

Application process: Interested students will need to submit an application and a research proposal to the HILL site (https://hill.kzoo.edu/) by October 3rd (4th week Monday) at 5pm ET. In it, students will be asked to address the following questions:

1000-word proposal that addresses the following questions:

1. What is your research area of interest? Please highlight subject matters, themes, texts, etc. from
   your cluster course for support.
2. How does New Orleans’s “placeness” (history, geography/landscape, culture, etc.) pertain to
   your research interest? How do you see the theme of “location and dislocation” at work?
3. How does your research interest connect to relevant social justice concerns?
4. Review the websites of our confirmed community partners: The Whitney Plantation; People for
   Public Art; Junebug Productions; and Lower Nine. How do you see your research interest aligning
   with at least two of these organizations? What appeals to you about these organizations and
   their work in the community?

Optional research and past experience questions:

1. Review the Historic New Orleans Collection’s exhibitions, special collections, and digital archives.
   Are there particular materials that relate to your research interest? If so, please explain their
   relevance.
2. Have you had any experiences that may have prepared you for this experiential research
   seminar? Please detail any past research (individual or collaborative), service-learning courses,
   and/or experiential learning engagement you identify as relevant.

*Please note: Previous research experience and/or experiential learning engagement are NOT required and will not positively or negatively impact your selection.

Community Partners

Whitney Plantation Museum

People for Public Art

Junebug Productions

Lower Nine

Historic New Orleans Collection

• Oral Histories
• Special Collections
• Current Exhibitions
• Upcoming Exhibitions
• Past Exhibitions (now offsite at River Road African American Museum)

Applications will be reviewed by cluster faculty in conjunction with the Center for International Programs. Participants will be chosen based on potential collaborative research intersections across cluster courses and the importance of New Orleans as a site. Those selected for the experiential research seminar in New Orleans will be notified no later than October 7th (4th week Friday).

Selection for the New Orleans Cluster Seminar will require the following mandatory commitments:

• Additional preparatory work throughout the term to prepare you for site engagements in New Orleans. You will be provided with a seminar syllabus after cohort selection is finalized.
• Weekly meetings with your research group (held weeks 5-10 on Mondays during common time, Hicks Banquet Hall West)
• Attend information sessions with community partners (TBA)
• Meetings with the HILL Digital Humanities Coordinator, Bruce Mills
• Submission of pre-departure materials, due 7th week Thursday.
• Attend an orientation meeting, 10th week Wednesday (4:15pm DE 305)
• Write and submit a group project research proposal
• Individual or group seminar experiential reflection blog, video, interview due [TBA]
• Research project, due first week Monday in Winter quarter, with revision and approval in consultation with cluster faculty and DH Coordinator finalized 2nd week Friday.

Additionally, a $4,500 summer research stipend for June-August 2023 is open to all students, with priority given to students who want to return to New Orleans after the cluster trip or students who participated in one of the four New Orleans cluster courses in 2022. More information is available on our website.

Student Resources

COVID-19

Be sure to familiarize yourself with the College’s COVID-19 policies and protocols. For information about symptom screening, testing, and isolation or quarantine, visit the Student Health Center site for guidance. Call 269-337-7200 if you need to schedule a COVID-19 test.  

Counseling Services

The counseling center is located in Hicks Hall (campus map #12). If you enter from the center quad of campus, go through the front door and to the right. Go up one set of stairs and turn right past the game room and health center. We are on the left side of the hallway. The waiting room is to your right. To make an appointment: Please visit the counseling center in Hicks to complete intake forms on one of the iPads in the lobby. When you have completed the intake forms, a counselor will receive your intake information electronically and contact you by email within 48 hours to arrange and initial appointment. Emergencies: A counselor is available 24/7. If you are in crisis, the counseling center has a walk-in crisis hour M-F at 2 P.M. Please ring the bell on the credenza near the front door of the center and a counselor will come to greet you. If you experiencing a crisis at any other time during business hours, please go to the health center next door and let the front office staff know that you need to speak to a counselor right away. They will contact a counselor. If you are experiencing a crisis outside of office hours, please call campus safety at 269.337.7321 or contact your Resident Assistant and let them know that you need to speak to the on-call counselor. Confidentiality: The fact that you are seeing us and the content of our session is confidential information. We do not give this information out—even to faculty members, parents, or RAs—unless you give us your consent. Typically, that consent involves filling out a short written form that indicates with whom we may communicate and about what. There is an exception to this policy of strict confidentiality. It involves those situations where we believe that you are unable to continue functioning, are a threat to yourself or the safety of others, or inform of us others in potential danger (e.g., current abuse of children or vulnerable adults). In those cases, we are ethically and legally bound as psychologists and counselors to inform persons who can help reduce the risks of harm. Most often, those people are family members and/or the residence hall staff. The Dean of Students is also informed of these very serious situations. Sometimes our student interns will tape-record sessions for their learning process. This is always done with permission from the client first. All session tapes are kept in a confidential file in the Counseling Center which is only available to the Counseling Center staff. These recordings are destroyed at the end of each academic year. More information can be found on the Counseling Center website.  

Writing Center

If you want individual guidance on your assignments, please visit the college’s Writing Center. Writing Center Mission: We, the staff of the Kalamazoo College Writing Center, strive to assist the students of this college to create stronger pieces of writing. We will work to accomplish this by helping students hone the skills that they already possess as writers and editors, providing them with strategies and constructive feedback so that they may seek further accomplishment in the craft of writing. We will help students with any kind of writing and any writing-related skills. About the Writing Center:The Writing Center is staffed by Kalamazoo College students who are selected through a competitive interview process and trained to assist their peers with all types of writing and all stages in the writing process. Writing Consultants work with students in individual thirty or sixty minute appointments or on a walk-in basis. The Writing Center is located in the Upjohn Library Commons, Room 110. Making an Appointment: To make an appointment with a Writing Consultant, visit the Writing Center’s online scheduler. Here you can view available appointment times, view consultant bios, and register for a consultation. You can also just walk in during our open hours. Please note, Writing Consultants are also available for classroom visits and in- 
class workshops. For more information, contact Writing Center Director Bela Agosa by email 
at Isabela.Agosa@kzoo.edu.  

Bias Reporting

The College’s working definition of bias for the Bias Data Gathering System (BDGS) is a preconceived negative preference, inclination, or attitude about groups of people, often based on physical, cultural, religious, or social identities. The term ‘bias related’ refers to language and/or behaviors that demonstrate bias against persons because of, but not limited to, their actual or perceived identities. Examples may include defacement of posters or signs, intimidating comments or messages, vandalism to personal or university property, or similar acts, if there is evidence that the target or victim was chosen because of a characteristic such as those listed above. To find out more about BDGS or to report an incident of bias, visit the BDGS website. Additionally, the college has several channels through which you can report an incident of bias or receive support. Incidents involving students may be reported to the Office of Student Development: Office hours are 8am –5pm Monday through Friday, with the exception of the lunch hour from 12:00–1:00 pm (Hicks 119). The Office of Student Development can be reached at 269.337.7210 or at studev@kzoo.edu. Incidents involving faculty or athletic staff may be reported to the Provost’s Office: Office hours are 8am –5pm Monday through Friday (Mandelle Hall 203). The Office of the Provost can be reached at 269.337.7158. Incidents involving support and administrative staff behavior may be reported to Renee Boelcke in Human Resources (Mandelle 112) by email renee.boelcke@kzoo.edu or phone 269.337.7248. 

Title IX Office 

If you need to report any incidents involving sexual assault or harassment, you can fill out this form to start an investigation (reports can be submitted anonymously). If you would rather speak to someone confidentially about an incident of sexual assault or harassment, please set up an appointment with the Counseling Center or the college chaplain, Liz Candido (Elizabeth.Candido@kzoo.edu). Please be aware that faculty are mandated reporters and cannot maintain your confidentiality.  

Resources for Students with Disabilities 

In the spirit of our strong commitment to diversity and inclusion, here at Kalamazoo College we are committed to making education accessible to all students. We strive to increase access and opportunities for students with disabilities, and promote self-advocacy and growth. Dana Jansma, the Senior Associate Dean of Students, collaborates with students with disabilities on an individualized basis to create reasonable accommodations that support and promote success. In compliance with section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as Amended, and with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), Kalamazoo College recognizes that qualified students who have diagnosed or identified learning, physical, or emotional disabilities are entitled to the same benefits from the educational programs of the college as non-disabled students. Kalamazoo College is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to qualified students with disabilities, unless that accommodation imposes undue hardship or burden or would not alleviate a direct threat to the student or others. The Senior Associate Dean of Students and the student will work together to negotiate and ensure appropriate accommodations that will work for the student. Cost associated with diagnosis, evaluation, and testing is the responsibility of the student, except in cases of severe financial need demonstrated to, and upon recommendation of, the Senior Associate Dean of Students. The office also makes assistance available to students experiencing short-term illness or physical injury. To request an accommodation, fill out this form. For more information about available resources, visit their website. 

Humanities Integrated Locational Learning (HILL) Curriculum

In January, Kalamazoo College received a three-year Mellon grant. (For information about the grant, see https://www.kzoo.edu/news/humanities-grant/.) Entitled Humanities Integrated Locational Learning (HILL), this initiative examines how many problems of our time can be analyzed through the lens of location and dislocation. To develop a deeper knowledge of these disruptions (physical, psychological, social, linguistic, and more) with the aim of generating the potential for change, HILL supports the formation of class clusters linked to specific places within and beyond Kalamazoo. Our course contributes to a “Beyond Kalamazoo” Cluster focused on New Orleans, comprised of the following courses: ARTX225 Public Art and Its Publics (Dr. Christine Hahn), ENGL490: NOLA Divided: Race in the Big Easy (Dr. Shanna Salinas), ANSO426 Lest we Forget: Memory and Identity in the African Diaspora (Dr. Espelencia Baptiste), SEMN295/MUSC295 The World Through New Orleans (Dr. Beau Bothwell).  While these courses will function independently, they are united by their engagement with New Orleans as a historical and contemporary site, as well as the way they draw from humanistic inquiry to construct justice-based notions of land, place, and belonging in response to humanistic concerns and social inequities (i.e., systemic racism, body and border policing, economic inequity, global warming, etc.) 

New Orleans Cluster Experiential Social Justice Research Seminar 

After the conclusion of the quarter, cluster faculty and selected students will extend the classroom to New Orleans for a 7-day, fully-funded* study away experience (includes airfare, housing, and meals). During this partial-unit experiential social justice research seminar in New Orleans (November 26th – December 2nd, 2022), 4-5 students from each cluster course will undertake individual and collaborative research within and across the disciplinary knowledges acquired in their respective courses in order to produce a supradisciplinary research project.  The trip will prioritize place-based learning, humanities-based inquiry, and social justice problem-solving via relevant site visits, partnerships with local community organizations, and student-led discussion and reflection. At the end of the trip, students will publish their research on a digital humanities website. 

Cluster Seminar Application 

Interested students will need to submit an application and a research proposal to the HILL site (https://hill.kzoo.edu/) by October 3rd (4th week Monday) at 5pm ET. In it, students will be asked to address the following questions: 

1000-word proposal that addresses the following questions:  

1. What is your research area of interest? Please highlight subject matters, themes, texts, etc. from your cluster course for support.  

2. How does New Orleans’s “placeness” (history, geography/landscape, culture, etc.) pertain to your research interest? How do you see the theme of “location and dislocation” at work?  

3. How does your research interest connect to relevant social justice concerns?  

4. Review the websites of our confirmed community partners: The Whitney Plantation; People for Public Art; Junebug Productions; and Lower Nine.  How do you see your research interest aligning with at least two of these organizations? What appeals to you about these organizations and their work in the community? 

Optional research and past experience questions:  

1. Review the Historic New Orleans Collection’s exhibitions, special collections, and digital archives. Are there particular materials that relate to your research interest? If so, please explain their relevance.  

2. Have you had any experiences that may have prepared you for this experiential research seminar? Please detail any past research (individual or collaborative), service-learning courses, and/or experiential learning engagement you identify as relevant.  

*Please note: Previous research experience and/or experiential learning engagement are NOT required and will not positively or negatively impact your selection.  

Confirmed Community Partners

Whitney Plantation Museum  

People for Public Art  

Junebug Productions 

Lower Nine  

Historic New Orleans Collection  

• Oral Histories  
• Special Collections  
• Current Exhibitions 
• Upcoming Exhibitions 
• Past Exhibitions (now offsite at River Road African American Museum)

Applications will be reviewed by cluster faculty in conjunction with the Center for International Programs (CIP). Participants will be chosen based on potential collaborative research intersections across cluster courses and the importance of New Orleans as a site. Those selected for the experiential research seminar in New Orleans will be notified no later than October 7th (4th week Friday). 

Selection for the New Orleans Cluster Seminar will require the following mandatory commitments:  

• Additional preparatory work throughout the term to prepare you for site engagements in New Orleans. You will be provided with a seminar syllabus after cohort selection is finalized.  
• Weekly meetings with your research group (held weeks 5-10 on Mondays during common time) 
• Attend information sessions with community partners (TBA) 
• Meetings with the HILL Digital Humanities Coordinator, Bruce Mills 
• Submission of pre-departure materials, due 7th week Thursday. 
• Attend an orientation meeting, 10th week Wednesday (4:15pm DE 305) 
• Write and submit a group project research proposal  
• Individual or group seminar experiential reflection blog, video, interview due (TBA) 
• Research project, due first week Monday in Winter quarter, with revision and approval in consultation with cluster faculty and DH Coordinator finalized 2nd week Friday.  

Student Summer Research Stipend 

A $4,500 summer research stipend for June-August 2023 is open to all students, with priority given to students who want to return to New Orleans after the cluster trip or students who participated in one of the four New Orleans cluster courses in 2022. More information is available on the HILL website.

Reading and Assignment Schedule 

The following is a tentative schedule and is subject to change 

Empire and the Creation of New Orleans

Drawing Racial Lines and Consolidating Whiteness

The Haunting Fear of Black Spiritual Practices

The Codification of Creole Racialized Gender and Sexuality and Regulation of Race, Sex, and Desire

The Public Politics of Race and Sex

Course Policies

Accommodations

If you have a disability and qualify for accommodation or other assistance in this course, please contact me as soon as possible. Kalamazoo College is committed to making every effort to provide reasonable accommodations. If you want to discuss your overall needs for accommodation at the college, please direct questions to the Associate Dean of Students Office at 269.337.7209. Additional information regarding accommodations can be found on the Resources for Students with Disabilities website.

Attendance and Class Participation

If you have any concerns or issues that may interfere with attendance—for example, if you are a student-athlete or have an upcoming religious observance—please let me know at the beginning of the course. 

This class is, first and foremost, an intellectual community. As a member of any community, you must be present, actively participate, and contribute towards the overall course goals. I expect you to:

• Be on time and ready to go at the beginning of class;
• Come to class with hard copies of your reading, reading notes, and questions;
• Contribute meaningfully to the class discussion. 
• Participation also means attentively listening to your colleagues. It is ok to disagree with your colleagues, but you must allow others the space to express their opinions. Like any other community, I expect you to respect and support one another.

 You may miss two classes without penalty or excuse. Please plan accordingly. Missing five or more classes will result in an automatic failing grade for the class.

Although attendance is essential to your learning, we must be mindful of the well-being of others; if you have tested positive or have been exposed to COVID-19, please follow the College’s COVID-19 guidelines. Health-related absences will, of course, be excused.

College Honor System and Academic Honesty

This course operates under the College’s Honor System. That means:  we treat each other with respect, we nurture independent thought, we take responsibility for personal behavior, and we accept environmental responsibility. Additionally, academic honesty is a critical part of our value system at K.  When you borrow an idea, express it in your own words, thus thinking it through and making it your own, you need to acknowledge the source of the idea with a citation. In certain situations, it is appropriate to use the exact words of the reading in quotation marks and provide the appropriate citation. Ideas raised in class are part of the public domain, and, therefore, you do not need to cite classroom discussions. If you are ever in doubt about this, ask! Visit the Student Development website for more information on the College’s Honor system.

Assignment Extensions and Late Assignments

The assignment deadlines are structured in a way to keep you advancing in this course and to ensure that the work is spread out and balanced. Each deadline is a hard deadline, meaning that is when the assignment should be completed. I am happy to give extensions with no grade penalty (up to one week after the allotted deadline) for any assignment. Please email me at least 24 hours before the deadline if you will be requesting an extension. In that email exchange, we will arrange for and finalize a new deadline. I will accept late assignment submissions only if an extension was requested. If you are unable to complete the assignment by the new deadline, I will accept a late submission up to two weeks after the original deadline, with a full letter grade reduction. 

Communication and Contact

I encourage you to come to office hours, whether you have a specific question, want to discuss something from class, or say hello. I hope to see you at least once throughout the semester, in addition to the mandatory meeting to discuss your paper topic. If my posted office hours do not work with your schedule, please email me, and we can work out an appointment. Email is good for emergencies or to schedule an appointment, but not very useful for substantive questions – for these, office hours work best. Please keep in mind that I am unlikely to read and respond to emails on nights and weekends.

Assignments

Reading Notes

The success of this class is heavily dependent on all of us coming to class having read and thought about the assigned readings. To that end, you will hand in reading notes for each day’s readings. Your posts are due by midnight on the day before we discuss the readings. Depending on the length of the quotes, each set of notes will probably be two pages, single-spaced. Any reading notes posted late (after class) will not be accepted. You can miss two sets of reading notes over the course of the quarter without penalty. Please make sure to let me know when you decide to take your free reading notes to make sure you are credited appropriately.

Reading notes should include the following sections:

• MAIN POINTS. 2-3 quotes per article or chapter assigned that encapsulate the article or chapter’s main argument. You must type the quotes (no screenshots) and provide the page numbers. Note: If, for example, three (3) chapters or articles are assigned, you need 2-3 quotes per chapter.
• MAKING SENSE OUT OF THE READINGS. 1-2 paragraph response to the day’s readings as a whole. These responses should not be in the form of an opinion of the reading–i.e., do not talk about whether or not you liked the reading or your estimation of the writing. Instead, reflect on new insights that emerged for you out of the reading. This paragraph should be a minimum of ½ page single-spaced, longer as the class progresses. Note: You do not need a separate response for each article or chapter assigned; instead, your reflections should be integrative.
• QUESTIONS/ISSUES FOR DISCUSSION. For each set of readings, please include two (2) questions or issues you would like the class to discuss. (Do not construct yes/any questions!) These questions should be insightful and probing, as they may well form the basis of actual class discussions. Ideally, they will push us to use the readings to make sense of things going on in the world today.
• The reading notes will be graded on a credit/no credit scale. I will use the following criteria to assess your reading notes:
  • Do your quotations reflect the authors’ main points?
  • Have you provided interesting, analytical reflections on those quotations and the readings?
  • Do you come up with clear and insightful questions/issues for discussion?

Class Presentations

Two times during the quarter, you will be responsible for leading class discussions. Your goal is to engage your peers in a critical discussion of the reading(s). Working with a partner, you will prepare your ideas and be able to talk for about 10-15 minutes with your partner in a manner that moves beyond summarizing. As you read the articles, consider what the author’s argument consists of (the problem statement or thesis.). What data does the author marshal to support this argument? Is it convincing? Why or why not? What key points or details seem particularly striking and why? What limitations, problems with the line of reasoning, or gaps might you see in the piece? Do the authors do what they set out to do? How do the articles relate to the ideas to previous discussions/readings? Are there things you do not understand and would like to discuss? Do the authors do what they set out to do? How do the articles relate to the ideas in discussions/readings? Are there things you do not understand and would like to discuss?

Create a handout (1 page) that summarizes your discussion’s main points. Make copies for each member of the class. Your presentation should include the following:

• A general overview of each author’s goals and assumptions, keeping in mind their academic training, if possible.
• The significance of each reading to our understanding of the African diaspora.
• Relate your articles to other class readings– contextualize 
• Two provocative, penetrating questions – That will jumpstart the class discussion
• Do not quiz people on details of dates or names, but rather construct questions that will provoke discussion of the day’s topics.

Memory and Identity Essay

The central idea of this course is that people of African descent are defined by the memory of slavery while often deploying the memory of slavery to make social and political claims to their nations of settlement. For this essay, write a 3-4 page essay (double-spaced, Times New Roman, 12pt font, 1” margins) that explores how memory affects your own identity. How does memory draw the boundaries around your community? Please note, that memories need not be negative or oppressive. How do your memories relate to the national narratives? When do you enter the national narrative? How does the community with which you identify fit in your country’s narrative? Are there conflicts between your community’s narrative of itself and the national narrative? Does your identification with these overlapping narratives ever bring your identity’s two (or more) components into conflict or tension? In short, how does the history of your community and nation impact your sense of belonging?

New Orleans Research Project

The objective of the project is to develop an original interpretation of the relationship of memory to some aspects of African diasporic history and culture in New Orleans. Students can choose their projects, but projects must be designed with the assistance and approval of the professor. The research paper should be no less than 20 pages in length. I suggest you use this assignment to start thinking about the project you will be working on during the December experiential experience in New Orleans. I suggest reviewing the websites of our New Orleans community partners as a source of inspiration for ideas and topics for your papers.

Your paper will be evaluated on the following criteria:

• Understanding of the concept, idea, or issue that you have chosen to investigate; and
• Ability to draw upon, analyze and use the knowledge gained from the research in making an argument;
• Clarity of writing (punctuation, grammar, sentence construction, spelling);
• Formatting and style (use of standard in-text citation and referencing system).

Paper Proposal and Bibliography

To facilitate the task of the final project, you will complete two preliminary assignments geared toward developing the final research question and kick-starting the research process.

The first part of the preliminary assignment is a 2-page paper proposal. The proposal will describe the research topic and formulate the research question the paper intends to pursue. When writing the research proposal, imagine the audience as scholars interested in the subject but unfamiliar with it. The goal is to give a good overview of the topic and get the audience excited about the project. Please schedule a meeting to discuss your paper proposal as soon as possible.

Annotated Bibliography

The second part of the goal of the bibliography will help you start the research process and begin thinking critically about the different writings on your topic. You will prepare an annotated bibliography of no less than 10 peer-reviewed journal articles on the subject.

You may use class readings as part of your bibliography.

Final paper presentation

During 9^th and 10^th week, students present the results of their research to the class

Guidelines for Presenters and Discussants

Presenters

• Please prepare a 5-minute statement on your paper.
• Remember that your classmates have already read the paper so you do not need to go over the whole paper.

Discussants

• Please read the paper carefully.
• Comments can include, but need not be limited to constructive criticism about the research questions addressed, the theoretical foundations established, the analyses and results presented, and the implications derived as they relate to the readings encountered in class over the course of the quarter.
• Importantly, the bulk of your time as a discussant should be spent stimulating audience interest in the subject and the paper. Whenever possible, I encourage you to assume the role of devil’s advocate by provoking discussion and engaging the rest of the class in the topic. Use the bulk of your time to highlight controversial issues that will stimulate a dialogue.
• Discussants should be as well prepared as the presenters.
• Discussants have 10-minute. Please try to keep your remarks limited to this amount of time so that we have ample class discussion.

Class

• Your engagement with your colleagues’ papers constitutes part of your participation grade.
• For each paper presented, students will prepare a short paragraph with comments, questions, and suggestions for the presenter.
• Please EMAIL your comments paragraphs to both your classmate and myself before the beginning of class.  

COURSE OUTLINE