Final Grades for Course

Hi everyone,

Hope you're having a great summer. Here's a link for your final grade for the course: Humanities 160 Spring 2010

Good luck with your courses, and have a great break!

Femininity in America

Presentation: Masculinity in America

Reading for Tuesday, April 27

Here's a link to the reading for next Tuesday - this was pushed back from the original date of today. We'll finish up the discussion and presentation about "From Mama's Boy to He-Man" today in class, and then move on to this paper next week.

This is an excerpt from a debate at Harvard University. If you want to read, watch, or listen to the entire debate, go here: Science of Gender

Photo (c) John A Beal, PhD
Dep't. of Cellular Biology & Anatomy, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center Shreveport under Creative Commons

Midterm Self Assessment Project

A test is always a good opportunity to think about what you're doing right, and what you can work on, in a class. Please take some time to fill out the survey, below. It will help you think about what you can do to achieve your goals in the class, and help me to see what I can do to help you.

Reading for Tuesday

Because I put this up so long ago, it's buried several pages deep on the blog, now. I thought I'd repost so you can get to it easily.

Here's the link for the reading due on Tuesday: From Mama's Boy to He-Man

To flip the pages, click on "download" and then open the file in preview. Then go to "view" and have it rotate the page.

Grade Updates

Here's a newly updated grade form. Look your grades up by Student ID number (excel drops the 0's off of the front of numbers, so if your student ID starts with any zeros, drop them to find your ID).

The first three pages show your overall grade thus far. The farthest column to the right shows your current percentage grade (as a decimal - .74368574 would be a 74%, or C). Each set of three pages after that gives you a breakdown of an individual part of your grade - short papers, group project, quizzes, etc., so you can see what you've gotten on each assignment, if you're missing any assignments, etc. Let me know if you think there are mistakes right away! It's much easier to fix things now before anything is officially posted.

If you owe me assignments, get them to me right away. All of the assignments are posted on the blog. Some of you are missing the latest assignments: the short paper on Sex and Culture, or the group project on Sex and Culture. There's a make-up assignment for that group project posted on the blog, for those of you who missed it. Be sure to read the make-up assignment carefully! There are multiple readings and videos for you to watch in preparation for the writing portion of the assignment. You're making up for 10 - 12 hours of work, so it's a multi-part assignment.

Let me know if you have questions. See you tomorrow!

Midterm Review Tuesday

Hope you had a lovely Spring Break! I'm sure you're all eagerly waiting to get back to classes, so I'll see you bright and early on Tuesday.

Here's a link to the Midterm Review sheet. Don't forget to go over all of your notes, readings, and the presentations and to come to class on Tuesday with questions.

The Midterm is Thursday. You will need a functioning pen or pencil, 8-1/2 x 11" paper (for the short answer section of the test), and your notes and articles. You will have the whole class period on Thursday to complete the Midterm.

Alternative Assignment - Missed Group Project

Part one - research and background.

Watch John Berger's Ways of Seeing - Final Episode on YouTube (the first part of the final episode in embedded below - go to YouTube for parts 2-4)



Then read the linked article about subject, object, and the gaze: Scopophilia, voyeurism, the gaze
objectification, fetishism

Then read the linked article about objectification of people in the media: Objectification and Dismemberment

Part Two: Application and Analysis

Now, choose a contemporary commercial and apply what you've learned from the resources above:

Write a 4-page paper in which you apply what you've learned about media and objectification to a particular example. Your paper should be double-spaced, in 12-point font, and should include parenthetical citations and a Works Cited page.

Submit the paper to me electronically, with links to a copy of the commercial you're analyzing.

Papers missing citations and/or works cited pages won't be accepted.

Making Your Own Wiki

Using Your Group Wiki

Getting a Google Account

Group Project Instructions

Humanities 160

Group Project 3: Sex and Culture

Project

Develop an in-depth analysis of the messages a particular cultural object conveys about sex. We’re using “sex” in the broadest terms, to cover issues of

· Biological sex (apparent and experienced)

· Gender expression (the set of body language, expressions, ideas, reactions, preferences, and beliefs that indicate, publicly and privately, “masculinity” or “femininity”)

· Sexual relationships

· Romantic relationships

· Dynamics among groups or pairs of men, groups or pairs of women, and mixed groups or pairs

Present that analysis to the class, using the cultural object you chose as a reference.

Day 1

1. Have each person in the group share their short paper. Listen actively: take notes, ask questions, add ideas.

2. Decide as a group which object will be most helpful to continue with.

3. Spend the rest of the class continuing to think of ideas that the object conveys (see above). You’ll work on exactly how to present your case on Thursday.

4. Homework (this will be collected, and will count toward your individual grade on this project): think of either one new insight regarding the object, or develop an insight your group already began to discuss.

Day 2

1. Have everyone share their homework. Listen actively: take notes, ask questions, add insights.

2. Decide which 4 or 5 central points you’ll make in your presentation. List each general point separately as a sub-header. Under each sub-header, include a couple of paragraphs developing the point in more detail, and saying how you got that point from the object you’re analyzing.

3. Then and only then, decide the mechanics of your presentation.

a. PowerPoint presentations must be saved in compatibility mode (click “file,” then “save as” and choose “PowerPoint 1997-2004 (.ppt)”)

b. You can decide as a group whether you want to have everyone present a part, or have one or two presenters, as long as everyone ultimately participates equally (non-presenters can do more preparation, for example)

c. Assume that everyone else in the group will be absent on the day of presentation – each of you should be able to do the whole presentation on your own in case of emergency.

Here's a link to the course wiki: Humanities160

Grade Updates

Here's a link to your current grade report. You'll have to look up your grade by student ID number. The first section shows your total current grade; each section after that has a more complete breakdown of each part of your grade (for example, the first section shows your total current groupwork grade, which has a total of two completed group projects. The second sections has a breakdown of each group project grade).

Let me know if you have questions, or if I've entered a grade wrong! Now's the time to fix typos!

Spring 10 Current Grade Update

Presentation for Thursday 3.18

Second Short Paper Assignment - Due 3/23

Here's a link to your second short paper assignment.
The paper is due on March 23, when we'll begin a several day long group project. You'll be presenting your group's findings in class. Please have your paper finished on time, as the group project depends on your papers.

I'll go over the assignment in class, where you can ask any questions. Contact me right away if you have questions while you're working on the paper, and get started soon so that you have plenty of time to work!

Reading for Thursday, March 18

Here's a link to your reading for March 18: Projective Disgust and Group Subordination.

There will be a quiz on the reading at the beginning of class. Let me know right away if you have trouble opening the link.

See you then.

Reading for Tuesday, March 16

Here's a link to your reading for Tuesday the 16th: Blanke excerpt epilogue.

There will be a quiz at the beginning of class on the reading. Let me know right away if you have trouble opening the link.

Discussion Questions for March 9

You should contribute at least one substantive post in response to one of the questions below. Think about your answer for some time before posting. A good response will be at least 2 substantial paragraphs long, and will show evidence of serious reflection.

Then give a response to at least one of your colleagues. Identify which post you're responding to by screen name and date and time posted. A good response will be at least one substantial paragraph long, and will show evidence of serious engagement with the issue raised by your colleague.

Please give your own response to these questions by 2 a.m. on Sunday morning; then read your colleagues' thoughts and respond to them by 2 a.m. on Tuesday morning. Have fun! I hope it'll be an interesting discussion.

Remember to treat everyone with dignity and respect.

1. The movie argues that romantic love could withstand quite profound changes in personal qualities - what do you think about that?
2. What do you think about the relationship between love and sex implied by the movie?
3. What else did you find particularly interesting about the concept of love raised by the movie?
   

Reading for February 25

Here's a link to your reading for February 25:

Symposium

There will be a quiz at 9:40 on the reading; let me know if you have any questions, or any problems with the link.

See you in class!