ATTENDANCE AND PARTICIPATION
Our class is a mix of seminar and workshop, and its success depends on your regular attendance and reliable participation. We need each other to show up on time, having completed the readings, and prepared to engage constructively and respectfully with one another. See “Policies and Procedures” for more on our commitment to inclusion and respect.
[I apologize for the pedantry of the following. Yet recent semesters’ experience has demonstrated that such codification of policy is necessary.]
If you must be absent, please notify me in advance. One absence will not affect your grade. Two absences will result in a “one step” reduction in your final grade (i.e., from an A to an A-). Three absences will result in a “two-step” reduction. Four absences will result in failure of the course; to avoid the ‘F’ on your transcript, I’ll instead advise you to withdraw from the class. Please note that absences include those days you might miss at the beginning of the semester because of late registration. Please note, too, that a class absence does not entitle you to a private reenactment of the missed class.
I am required by The New School to take attendance at the start of class. Students who arrive more than 15 minutes late will be marked absent. Your timely arrival is appreciated. Students who are consistently late disrupt their classmates and impede our class progress.
While I am happy to work with you to tailor the class’s content and assignments to your interests, and to help you develop strategies for project planning and time management – and while I aim to be sympathetic to the challenges students face both inside and outside the classroom – I ask that you please also respect my time and acknowledge my heavy load of responsibilities. I cannot allow expectations for accommodation to compromise my own health.
Attendance and participation are worth 20% of your final grade.
PROCESSING POSTS
Just as archivists “process” a newly-acquired collection, I’ll ask you to process our readings before coming to class, so we can make the most of our in-class discussion. You’ll need to post to our class blog five four ~150-word (maximum! seriously!) “processing posts” over the course of the semester; you should begin posting within the first three weeks of the semester, and keep posting at least once every three weeks for the duration of the semester. Posts are due by noon on Tuesdays. Seriously. Your posts should involve some critical, synthetic reflection on the week’s assigned readings, but would also ideally include: ideas that you find particularly captivating or frustrating and that you might like to explore through further research (perhaps your final project); questions you’d like us to address in our group discussion; connections you’ve drawn between the readings and art you’ve recently experienced, places you’ve recently been, current events you’ve heard about, etc.
You’ll find “how to post” tips here. You’re welcome to illustrate your posts with images, audio, video, etc., where appropriate. These posts are worth 20% of your final grade.
APPLICATION
Over the course of the semester each student will submit one 900- to 1200-word post and deliver one 15-minute in-class presentation focusing on a concrete application of the theories we discuss in class. These are not two separate assignments; your paper can be the script for your presentation!
Where do you see the week’s central themes playing out in the world – in the news, in a brick-and-mortar library or archive, in an artist’s work, in a particular online database, in one of the many behind-the-scenes spaces supporting our digital infrastructure, etc.? In your paper and presentation you’ll want to strike a balance between (brief) synopsis of the relevant theoretical frameworks or concepts; references to (quotes or paraphrases!) at least one of the assigned readings; description of your chosen concrete subject; and critical analysis of that subject in light of those theories and concepts.
Your paper should be posted to our class website before class on the date you’re scheduled to present (you’ll find “how to post” tips here). You’re encouraged to include illustrative media. And please note that, just because it’s a blog post doesn’t mean it’s casual writing; please edit and proofread! You’ll have ten minutes for your formal presentation, then we’ll dedicate roughly five minutes to discussion. The presentation and paper are together worth 20% of your final grade.
You’ll find a few sample application projects from our Spring 2011 class here, from our Fall 2014 class here, and from our Fall 2017 class here.
FINAL PROJECT PROPOSAL
See below for more on the format of the final project. Throughout the semester I hope you’ll come across several ideas, arenas, individuals, etc., about which or whom you would like to know more. This final project will give you the opportunity to delve deeply into a research and/or creative area of personal interest. You can draw inspiration from previous students’ work: here’s what the students in my 2011 “Archives/Libraries/Databases” class did, here’s what the 2012 students did, here’s what the 2013 students did, here’s what the 2014 students did, and here’s what the 2017 students did.
You should begin thinking about potential topics early in the semester. By noon on Monday, October 29, you’ll need to submit to me privately, via Google Drive, a formal ~900-word (including end-matter) project proposal. Please share your work as a Google Doc or Word Doc so I can add margin comments.
This proposal should include:
1. a problem statement or research question;
2. a discussion of your proposed research methodology and an outline of your research/production plan*; and
3. a tentative bibliography containing at least ten sources, half of which must be scholarly sources.
You’ll be expected to share your proposal in an informal three-minute presentation in class on October 30. I certainly don’t expect your proposals to be perfect (the primary reason I ask you to submit these is so you can receive constructive feedback before delving too deeply into your projects), but I do expect the proposals to evince some serious contemplation, good planning, and an awareness of relevant resources in the field. The proposal is worth 10% of your final grade. You’ll have an opportunity to revise and resubmit the proposal if necessary.
*If you’re considering a research-based creative project or media production, your “research methodology” section should explain how your chosen format – video, artist’s book, interactive map, audio documentary, etc. – serves as an appropriate “method” for your project, i.e., how the form suits the content.
FINAL PROJECT
Throughout the semester you should be working toward the completion of either (1) a 4,000- to 6,000-word paper (word count includes end-matter), or (2) a creative/production project (that’s of final-project-appropriate scope) with a 600-word accompanying text, in which you address the critical and/or aesthetic issues you aimed to explore through your work, explain how your chosen format aided in that exploration, and provide a bibliography listing the critical resources that informed the project. This research project is worth 30% of your final grade, and is due before class on December 11, our final meeting. Papers and support papers for creative projects should be submitted via Google Drive.