Project Blog: International Studies Archives

June 24, 2005

Literature courses--comment from Gavin

I'll be on sabbatical during fall 2005, so I can't help much when the committee considers curriculum then, but I wanted to add some ideas now, before my sabbatical work swamps me.

First, why I'm writing: I was hired in 1999 as a prof in 20c British lit w/ a secondary area in Postcolonialism. In the past six years, I've taught numerous upper-division classes in British, Irish (and other) literature (see teaching links). Because I teach some of the courses Carol cited in her earlier email, I wanted to clarify some potential problems -- which can be fixed, provided the department is cooperative (never a guarantee), but do need to be considered before curricular proposals are made.

Specifically, enrollment may become a serious problem, especially for ENG 206 and 325, both of which I teach. Ultimately, it depends on how many students choose to major in I.S., but those classes to tend to close early already. Similarly, and sticking with the enrollment theme, LING 210 tends to close often, as it's a core service class for our major, as is ENG 206.

Additionally, there's no reason to stipulate ENG 206 alone without adding its complements, ENG 204 and 205, which cover earlier centuries but are equally international in scope, especially if one lists ENG 108-109 as a sequence. 204-205-206 are similarly sequential. There are also a number of other 300-level courses in British lit that didn’t make Carol’s list. I'd have to verify the numbers in the catalog, but ENG 323 and 324 (18th and 19th century Brit lit) would certainly belong. I'd also add ENG 107, as it is the first in the 107-108-109 sequence. The 100-level lits tend to have comparatively low enrollment, especially vs. the 200s. Again, that’s because 204-205-206 are part of the English major core, and we have many majors.

Finally, and this Carol did note, many of our upper-division courses come with a string of important prerequisites attached, usually ENG 223w (which is already offered every term and is usually filled) and one 300-level lit course. So, although the subjects of our 400-level offerings would work perfectly, they won't always work conveniently. ENG 206 is a pre-req for ENG 325, for instance.

What I think would work far better -- and this is something that Carol and I have discussed; actually I think it was her idea -- is to create a number of new courses with, say, the HUM designation. I could offer some wonderful courses in British, Irish, and Indian (Indian subcontinent, not Native American) literature that I could restructure without our major's prerequisites. I'm doing something similar next year for my Junior Honors Seminar on 20c Irish lit, for instance. Nor am I the only prof who could happily do so. Then again, that brings up a new series of questions, but those have more to do with departmental staffing.

Anyway, I just wanted to give you a heads-up about some of the issues with the literature courses. They're not impossible problems, but they also aren't minor ones, either.

Happy to answer any questions,

Gavin

Posted by khes at 10:34 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 03, 2005

Grant for French Films on Campus

Tournees is a program to organize French Film Festivals on campus, and applications for a grant are invited. Deadline is end of July.
URL: http://www.facecouncil.org/tournees/index.html
This may be of value to International Studies and Film Studies.

Posted by khes at 11:32 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Max's recap of the meeting on May 31, 2005

Here is a report on the ad-hoc meeting that we held, regarding the International Studies program last Tuesday (May 31) to discuss necessary revisions to the international studies program and major, and to explore strategies for managing advisement of students in this program.

These are in the category of preliminary planning for more formalized program changes that will be put forward in Fall 2005, thorugh the normal curriculum review process. For now, please review these ideas, ponder them over the summer, and get back to me with any concerns or comments. I will shedule another meeting of this group early in fall so that we can plan next steps.

1. Advisement for Fall 2005:

interested faculty will be sharing the advisement load (there will not be one, single director for the program, but rather a group of cooperating advisors, as detailed below)
Advisees should be directed to the following faculty, depending on the student's specific area of specialization within the major:
French Studies: Dr. Chris Ferraris and/or Dr. Narasingha Sil
German Studies: Dr. Gudrun Hoobler* and/or Dr. David Doellinger
Asian Studies: Dr. Sriram Khe and/or Dr. Bao Hua Hsieh*
Latin American Studies: Dr. William Smith, Dr. Maureen Dolan, and/or Dr. Gianna Martella
(note: those faculty marked with an "*", above, are on sabbatical/leave in Fall 2005)

2. Proposed Changes to the Core (thanks to Carol for summarizing these):

instead of Anth 312, now use Anth 216; 4cr rather than 3cr
Add Hist 470 as an option to 492
Add PS 481 and 477 to the PS options
3. Specific changes to the *Current* structure for regional specializations (again, thanks to Carol for noting these details):

Instead of Anth 216, a choice from ANTH 370,384,388 (all 4-credits)
4. Proposed major revisions to the structure of the major (these are preliminary ideas, only):

re-strucuture the "regional studies" to include a wider array of options, and re-name "regional studies" to allow a more flexible approach that would allow more integrative groupings, such as British Commonwealth studies, post-colonial studies, etc. (various terms, including "area" or "options" were floated without resolution)
Specific listing of proposed "area" or "option" concentrations (building beyond current offerings):
French Studies
German Studies
Asian Studies
Latin American Studies
African Studies
Canadian Studies
British Commonwealth Studies
Postcolonial Studies
re-structure the current language specialization to allow for a more flexible use of "language arts" options that would support an area option where an obvious "second language" is not available at WOU, or where there is no single, second language uniquely appropriate to the area (as in Asian studies, African studies, Canadian studies, commonwealth studies, or postcolonial studies, above)
Include a package of options for each "area" that would include the possibility of study-abroad in place of other requirements, and link that to specific study-abroad sites, depending on the "area" of study (particularly in cases where no obvious second language is available)

possible language arts courses that might be included in a restructuring of this nature include (thanks to Carol for this listing):
Eng 108,109 Literature of the Western World {108=Medieval through 1750ish, 109=1750ish through modern)
Eng 206 Victorian thru Modern Brit Lit (survey course)
Eng 325 Modern British Lit (offered eoy)
Eng 421 Studies in Brit Lit (topics vary; offered eoy)
Eng 341 World Lit after 1700 (topics vary; offered eoy)
Eng 441 Studies in World Lit (ditto)--note:
UD English courses usually have pre-reqs, like intro to literary study

FR 110, GL 110 - French/German lit in translation
Hum 328 Intro to Chicano Lit
Hum 340 Civ of Mexico
Hum 342 Chicano Culture

(note: These three Hum courses are offered sporadically due to staffing
issues; they are offered regularly as Spanish (with lang. req.)
Ling 210 Intro to Linguistics
Ling 312 Language and Society (pre-req Ling 210 and 215, or consent; offered eoy)
Phil 314 Modern Euro Philosophy (topics vary)
Phil 316 Contemp Philosophy (topics vary)
Rel 201/204 Intro East/West religions (offered eoy)
Rel 460 Comparative Religion (offered eoy)
Sp 325 Intercultural Communication
4. Recruitment of additional courses/instructors:

we agreed to contact other members of the faculty inviting proposals of courses that may be relevant to this major
faculty present at the meeting expressed concern that the program should remain focused on Social Science and Humanities offerings
5. Other proposals from communication outside the meeting:

a capstone experience that would be linked to program assessment/outcomes assessment (thanks to Sriram)
SP 325D: Intercultural Communication course (thanks to Emily) and a follow-up, 400-level Communication and Culture course could be integrated into the program in various ways, depending on the concerns of this committee.
internships linked with the program could be coordinated through the new International Students Director to focus on programming, publicity, and outreach (again, thanks to Emily)
Please let me know if I have left out anything important from our meeting that should be included in this listing, which is intended as a discussion paper that will help us focus on developing a more concrete curriculum proposal in the Fall.

Thank you all for your work on this project, and for your continued interest.

Posted by khes at 08:30 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

June 01, 2005

Info from Carol on courses

I took a look at our Humanities courses, and the following might be considered as options for a non-FL international focus. I've also noted issues tied to some

I took a look at our Humanities courses, and the following might be considered as options for a non-FL international focus. I've also noted issues tied to some (eoy=every other year). Basically, the only "dependable" yearly courses are Eng 108&109, Eng 206, FR & GL 110, Ling 210, and SP 325, for a total of 27 hours and only 3 UD.

Eng 108,109 Literature of the Western World {108=Medieval through 1750ish, 109=1750ish through modern)
Eng 206 Victorian thru Modern Brit Lit (survey course)
Eng 325 Modern British Lit (offered eoy)
Eng 421 Studies in Brit Lit (topics vary; offered eoy)
Eng 341 World Lit after 1700 (topics vary; offered eoy)
Eng 441 Studies in World Lit (ditto)
UD English courses usually have pre-reqs, like intro to literary study
FR 110, GL 110 - French/German lit in translation
Hum 328 Intro to Chicano Lit
Hum 340 Civ of Mexico
Hum 342 Chicano Culture
These three Hum courses are offered sporadically due to staffing issues; they are offered regularly as Spanish (with lang. req.)
Ling 210 Intro to Linguistics
Ling 312 Language and Society (pre-req Ling 210 and 215, or consent; offered eoy)
Phil 314 Modern Euro Philosophy (topics vary)
Phil 316 Contemp Philosophy (topics vary)
Rel 201/204 Intro East/West religions (offered eoy)
Rel 460 Comparative Religion (offered eoy)
Sp 325 Intercultural Communication

There will, of course, be sporadic seminars and special courses. carol

Posted by khes at 11:25 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 31, 2005

Capstone for the major?

In a major like International Studies where students take courses in a number of disciplines it is perhaps even more of a challenge for students to be able to spontaneously get a sense of coherence.

Max, Gudrun, Carol, John:

Thanks for organizing the meeting and leading the discussions today.

Only at the meeting did I begin to understand the International Studies major, and throughout the meeting I felt that I was playing catch-up. Now most of that new information--including the idea that this is the beginning of a process that will end sometime the middle of next year--has sunk in :-)

I wonder if you think that the comments I have in this email are worth discussing ...

Even in majors that are rooted within only one field of inquiry, a concern is that students may (mis)understand that discpline to be a series of coursework without understanding the big picture. Hence, increasingly faculty require students to complete a "summing up". As Somerset Maugham wrote in his "Summing Up" of his own life and literary experiences: “It has seemed to me that if I set them down in some sort of order I should see for myself more distinctly what they really were and so I might get some kind of coherence into them.”

Theses and other senior projects, including portfolios, provide students that opportunity for them to understand for themselves, without anybody telling them, the big picture of the discipline and their own individual experiences within that discipline.

In a major like International Studies where students take courses in a number of disciplines it is perhaps even more of a challenge for students to be able to spontaneously get a sense of coherence. To some extent the model that combined language with social science (the French and German focus) may have helped students derive a sense of coherence.

In fact, one of the motivators for the freshmen seminars has been a perception that students do not quite get the big picture on "general education": that they see general education as a series of hurdles to jump through instead of being able to appreciate its value.

Perhaps then it is all the more important that we systematically develop a process within such an interdisciplinary major whereby students can articulate that coherence. (In fact, I think this should be requried of every interdisciplinary major on campus.) I recall that students appreciated the capstone experience (once it was all completed, of course) in the interdisciplinary ERM major that I was fortunate to direct at CalState.

So, perhaps we need to have discussions on the "big picture" before we identify the major only through a series of courses. We have a wonderful opportunity to (re)create a major that resonates well with our everyday lives that are truly international. I am equally convinced that a capstone experience is critical to this major, and discussing this will also be a neat parallel to the discussions on freshmen seminars.

Posted by khes at 10:11 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

May 27, 2005

Invitation for discussions

At the request of several colleagues who currently teach and advise in the international studies program, I am extending this invitation for you to attend an ad-hoc meeting next Tuesday (May 31) at 3:30 p.m. in the Rogue River Conference Room (HSS 231) to discuss necessary revisions to the international studies program and major, and to explore strategies for managing advisement of students in this program.

Colleagues;

This time was selected because it is the 5th Tuesday of the month, meaning there are no regularly scheduled committee meetings assigned this time (3:30 on Tuesdays), which most of us have otherwise set aside for regular committee meetings. Hopefully, this will make it possible for a majority of you to attend this exploratory meeting on relatively short notice, even this late in the term.

Please consider attending, even if you have never previously participated in the international studies program. There are no implied, long-term commitments if you participate, but there is an opportunity to directly shape and influence the future of a program that has long served the university community by enhancing the climate of international awareness and academic experiences on this campus.

There are some pressing, short-term matters relating to advisement in this program in 2005-6, but the meeting is also intended to address more far-reaching, long-term issues of program revision and/or re-design, as the opening phase of a process that will likely resume in Fall 2005.

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns about this initiative.

Posted by khes at 06:55 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack