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Berlin Project

Random Notes Based on Scanning Berlin's Syllabi

12/11/2013

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Upon examining syllabi from 1987-1990 and 1993 seeing the obvious changes Berlin made between those two groups, it seems his cultural studies approach was very much a work in progress. The units we discussed in our meeting and that he discusses in chapter 7 of Rhetorics, Poetics, Cultures, aren't really there in the earlier syllabi. I'm curious how this shows that despite the fact that scholars like Alcorn and Sanchez critique his work as if it's a done deal, it was very much a work in progress at he time of his death. I just stated riffing on some more elegant way to say this, so I'm just reposting it here not to lose it...


It's interesting to look at someone's teaching documents in contrast to published works about those documents. It makes you realize how fragile and less static the former is compared to how academics deal with the latter. In academia, one's published work becomes their identity, particularly if they become known for the article or book and the methods described in it: it becomes a more critiquable doppleganger for the person and their investments. But, looking at teaching documents feels less final or finished. In documents written for use in the classroom, there's always something missing. Subsequent iterations of the documents give you some idea what the teacher thought was missing, or maybe if we read these documents not as having missed something but as reaching out to students, subsequent iterations point out the small changes the instructor or professor made to reach out further or better or differently to students--that is to say subsequent documents demonstrate the teacher's learning from students and desire to commune with students writ large. In examining teaching documents spanning multiple semesters or years, we can see the teacher's movement (if any) and their changing investments, which extend beyond a desire for disciplinary stability or teaching as an act determined entirely by one's content-area.

- Don
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December 11th Meeting Agenda and Notes

12/11/2013

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Overview of the Project and Project Site – Don
    Berlin’s Pedagogy – Don
    6 Units – Advertising, work, play, gender, education, and individuality

Project Teams – Kyle
    1.   Data and Coding Team – Responsibilities will include research into qualitative methods, coding, and related empirical     topics as well as transcribing and coding data from focus groups and instructor journals. If you are taking empirical                 methodology in the spring, this might be a good option for you.
    2.   Traditional Article Team – Responsibilities will include gathering research on Berlin and related ideological critiques as     well as reporting on our teaching experiences as an empirical/archival study. If you are taking postmodern rhetoric in the         spring, this might be a good option for you.
    3.   Webtext Team – Responsibilities will include gathering research on teaching self-studies, pedagogical accounts and         similar works that have both a print and digital form as well as developing a webtext that includes a completed Berlin             bibliography and accounts of our teaching experiences. If you are taking Sam’s gaming course in the spring, this might be     a good option for you.

Establishing a Project Timeline – Kyle & Don
    1.   Readings for Winter Break – In order to prepare for this project, we’re hoping to all read 2 selections from Berlin and 1     critique from Raul Sanchez and/or Marshall Alcorn. These readings will provide an overview of Berlin’s pedagogy and its         limitations.
    2.   Pre-teaching Focus Group – On adapting Berlin's materials in spring course
    3.   Teaching Journal – During the unit sequence, we hope that we can all keep teaching journals to keep track of our             experiences in adapting Berlin’s pedagogy.
    4.   Post-teaching Focus Group – On teaching (adapted) Berlin’s materials in spring course
    5.   Project Team Meetings – Each project team will determine the frequency of smaller meetings throughout the spring         semester.

Tasks for Today
1.0 Schedule a face-to-face meeting for early January: Thursday, January 9, 2014 at 11 am
2.0 Create 3 Project Teams
    2.1        Data coding team: Jon and Dan
   
2.2        Traditional article team: Kyle and Sherri
   
2.3        Webtext team: Jeff and Amelia
    Don and Nick?
3.0 Determine unit theme (we will need at least 1 instructor per unit):
    3.1        Advertising: Amelia and Jon
    3.2        Work: Kyle
    3.3        Play:  Jeff
    3.4        Gender: Nick?
    3.5        Education: Don
    3.6        Individuality: Sherri
    Dan?
4.0 Creative endeavor grant opportunity due January 15th
    4.1        1-page description of project: Dan and Jon
    4.2        Timeline and budget for project: Don
5.0 Council for Writing Program Administration (CWPA) proposal due January 1st
    5.1        1-page description of project: Kyle and Jeff
6.0 Venue options:
    6.1       CFP for Microhistories edited collection
    6.2       Kairos (digital heavy webtext) or Enculturation (not so heavy webtext)
    6.3       College Composition and Communication (CCC)
    6.4       Other venues?

Winter Break Tasks
1.0 Exempt Category 1 IRB Application: Kyle
2.0 Transcribe the rest of Berlin archive materials: Don and Sherri
3.0 Assigning folks to contact Berlin’s former mentees: Jon, Dan, and Amelia
Nick
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