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HSS 403, Spring 2021 Office: 413 Cullimore Hall Hours: Mon., Class Meeting 11-12:20, & by appointment Mail: Humanities Dep't, NJIT, Newark, NJ 07102 |
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COURSE
DESCRIPTION
This course examines journalism and its relationship with either fact or truth, or both, especially considering its vital role in a politically free society. The course also compares journalism, and literary journalism, along with (other) literature and film. Aside from written assignments, required work in the course will consist of reading journalistic / literary journalistic texts of various kinds, and viewing like films--all relevant to the overarching discussion in the course. This course is a senior seminar; as such it is designed and committed to allowing students the opportunity to work closely with an instructor in a specific area of the instructor's expertise.
Prerequisites: HUM 102; and one from among HUM 211, HUM 212 and Hist 213 or their equivalents, all with a grade of C or better; completion of either the Lit/Hist/Phil/STS or the Open Elective in Humanities and Social Science, with a grade of C or better.
Learning Outcomes: By the end of this course
Books:
Kovach, Bill, and
Tom Rosenstiel. The Elements of
Journalism: What Newspeople Should Know and the Public Should Expect.
Writing and Documentation Guides (explanations, examples, etc.)
Abbreviations
for Marking Papers
See also:
Guidelines for a Successful Oral
Presentation (see also
SUGGESTED
PROTOCOL FOR TEAM ORAL REPORTS toward the bottom of page):
http://go.owu.edu/~dapeople/ggpresnt.html
http://www.auburn.edu/~burnsma/oralpres.html
http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~riceowl/oral_presentations.htm
http://web.cba.neu.edu/~ewertheim/skills/oral.htm
• Oral/Visual Reports, one a group report on a weekly assignment, the other an individual report on the term paper project.
• Weekly Canvas postings (one original of 100 to 150 words, another 50 to 100-word response to someone else’s post).
• A two-staged research project culminating in a researched and fully-cited term paper* (see writing and documentation guidelines above, listed with the course readings):
Stage One: a Term Paper Announcement (see below^) consisting of a Working Title, a one-sentence Thesis Statement (one sentence only, though the sentence can be long and multi-claused and may use one semicolon), a detailed, step-by-step Description of your future paper’s Writing Strategy (i.e. how you will prove your thesis, not a summary of what will be in your paper), and a Bibliography (in MLA format--see the link to documentation guides above) of at least three secondary sources, one of which must be a hard-copy source (for the purposes of this assignment assigned readings, encyclopedias, dictionaries, and textbooks will not be considered as counting toward the requisite minimum number of secondary sources, although they can be used in your term paper project);
Stage Two: a 1500 to 3000-word, fully-documented, original and critical, discursive, polemical (please look up this word if you don't really know what it means) and otherwise argumentative essay that must include at least some detailed analysis of the artifacts being discussed (see below^^), along with a bibliography of all sources (the bibliography will not be considered part of word count). The term paper topic is open (though the topic must have something to do with the subject of this course) but must be approved ahead of time by the instructor.
The Term Paper is credited when preceded
by the Term Paper Announcement.
• Final examination, comprehensive, essay in format, open-book.
Failure to submit the final exam will result in the papers that are part of the term paper project being disqualified.
N.B.: Papers must be word processed using a 12’ font, double-spaced with one inch margins, spell-checked, and to the best of one's ability grammar-checked. Papers must be submitted as Word files; under no circumstances should a paper be submitted as a pdf.
Weekly Canvas posts should be single-spaced
but otherwise must also be spell-checked and to the best of one's
ability grammar-checked, and must be in standard English and adhere
to standard formal writing protocols.
As regards all writing submitted in this course, please keep the following in mind. If on occasion use is made of the ideas or words of someone else in one's writing, then the source(s) of those ideas and/or words must be cited; that is, when appropriate, papers must be fully documented in MLA format (you must cite sources--using footnotes, endnotes, or parenthetical documentation, which include specific page numbers keyed to particular passages in your text, and complete bibliographical information). WRITTEN TEXTS NOT MEETING ALL OF THESE REQUIREMENTS WILL NOT BE READ AND WILL NOT RECEIVE CREDIT.
N.B. Academic Integrity is the cornerstone of higher
education and is central to the ideals of this course and the
university. Cheating is strictly prohibited and devalues
the degree that you are working on. As a member of the NJIT
community, it is your responsibility to protect your
educational investment by knowing and following the academic code of
integrity whose policy can be found at: http://www5.njit.edu/policies/sites/policies/files/academic-integrity-code.pdf.
Please note that it is my professional obligation and
responsibility to report any academic misconduct to the Dean of
Students Office. Any student found in violation of the code
by cheating, plagiarizing or using any online software
inappropriately will result in disciplinary action. This may include
a failing grade of F, and/or suspension or dismissal from the
university. If you have any questions about the code of Academic
Integrity, please contact the Dean of Students Office at dos@njit.edu.
Papers must be submitted to the instructor via Canvas, as Word for Windows (preferably Word 2003) attachments, using a proper identifying subject line.
N.B.: Failure to participate in class discussions (especially online) at a minimally acceptable level will result in disqualification of end-of-term assignments such as the term paper and final exam; such disqualification must inevitably spell failure in the course. In order to pass this course a student must be consistently active in weekly class work starting from the beginning of the course term. Furthermore, only three unexcused absences will be allowed; more than these will mean automatic course failure.
^Term
Paper Announcement:
Consists of 1) a
descriptive paper title, and a subtitle to show focus and
specificity, 2) a one-sentence thesis statement that includes the
point of your argument, the breadth of that argument, and the
argument’s significant concepts and details, 3) a detailed,
step-by-step description of the writing or argumentative strategy to
be employed in your paper, 4) a bibliography of all sources
both primary and secondary in MLA format and alphabetized. For the
purposes of this assignment, use must be made of at least three
secondary research sources (one of them hard copy) excluding
assigned
readings, textbooks, encyclopedias and dictionaries.
A description and samples of the Term Paper Announcement are available from the course Canvas homepage.
^^Term
Paper:
Consists of: 1) a
descriptive paper title, and a subtitle to show focus and
specificity, 2) a full-length essay, 3) a bibliography in MLA format
and alphabetized. For the purposes of this assignment, use must be
made of at least three secondary research sources (one of them hard
copy) excluding assigned readings, textbooks, encyclopedias and
dictionaries.
N.B.: While
one research paper source must be hard copy--and there is no
substitute for physically going to a library to do research--a
downloaded article from one of the NJIT Library's databases can be
considered as a hard copy source (it is best to check with the
instructor about the suitability of such an article)
Samples of the Term Paper are available from the course Canvas homepage.
COURSE GRADE
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Final Examination Term Paper Term Paper Announcement Class Participation online (initial, originating posts - graded weekly) Class Participation online (responses to classmates' posts) Follow-up Questions or Comments Portfolio of Eight Best Posts online Group Report Individual Report Extra credit project |
30% 25% 10% 10% (5% if late) 5% (3% if late) 5% 5% 5% 5% 10 points (extra credit) |
Week 1: Kovach and Rosenstiel,
Elements of Journalism pp. 1-19,
22-26, 47-61, 65-68.
Week 2: Kovach and Rosenstiel,
Elements of Journalism
pp. 97-116, 169-92, 213-39.
Week 3: Kerrane and Yagoda, “Preface" and
“Introduction" to The Art of Fact;
"Introduction" to Let Us Now Praise Famous
Men; Hersey,
Hiroshima excerpt (1946); Heinz, "Death of a
Racehorse" (1949).
Week 4: Baldwin, “Notes of a Native Son”(1955).
Week 5: Breslin, “It’s an Honor” (1963); Didion “Los Angeles Notebook”
(1965, 67, 68).
Week 6: Thompson,
Hell’s Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga of the Outlaw Motorcycle
Gang excerpt (1965).
Week 7: Herr “Kesanh” (1969).
Week 8: Davidson, from
Loose Change (1977)
Week 9: Simpson, “Tienanmen Square” (1989); Kincaid, “On First Seeing
England” (1991).
Week 10: Brown, “One Spoonful at a Time” (2006); Gawande, “Letting Go”
(2010).
Week 11: Diaz, “The Money” (2011); Fan, “How My Mother and I Became
Chinese Propaganda” (2020).
Week 13: Alexander, “The Trayvon Generation” (2020); Tabios, “A Letter
from Napa Valley” (2020).
Weeks 14&15: REPORTS ON TERM PAPERS.
ABBREVIATIONS FOR MARKING PAPERS
Key: Abbreviation - Meaning
| A - Agr - Awk - CS - Dic - Exp - FS - RO - SF - Sp - SS - Syn - Tr - Un - Uncl - Us - V - Va - VF - VT - WF - WW - |
Article Agreement Awkward Comma Splice Diction Explain Fused Sentences Run On Sentence Sentence Fragment Spelling Sentence Structure Syntax or Word Order Transition Unclear Unclear Usage Verb Vague Verb Form Verb Tense Word Form Wrong Word |
SUGGESTED PROTOCOL FOR TEAM ORAL REPORTS
Introduction
Spokesperson for group (preferably Speaker #1 or #4) puts up first viewgraph (topic of report) and defines:
A. Topic of the group report
B. Introduces self and other members of the team (both first and last
names)--Viewgraph #2
C. Explains briefly how the topic has been broken down and what aspect
of the topic each speaker will address.
D. Introduces Speaker #1.
Speaker #1:
A. Thanks spokesperson
B. Restates his/her particular topic (with viewgraph)
C. Addresses topic (with viewgraphs)
D. Introduces Speaker #2
Speaker #2:
A. Thanks Speaker #1
B. Restates his/her particular topic (with viewgraph)
C. Addresses topic (with viewgraphs)
D. Introduces Speaker #3
Speaker #3:
A. Thanks Speaker #2
B. Restates his/her particular topic (with viewgraph)
C. Addresses topic (with viewgraphs)
D. Introduces Speaker #4
Speaker #4:
A. Thanks Speaker #3
B. Restates his/her particular topic (with viewgraph)
C. Addresses topic (with viewgraphs)
D. Asks for Questions (or reintroduces Spokesperson)
Question and Answer Period:
A. Spokesperson asks if there are questions
B. Recognizes questioner and directs question to appropriate member of
team
C. Allows any other member of team to comment
D. After last question, thanks audience.
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