COMM 401 Fall 2010 Seminar

CULTURE SPACE PLACE

INSTRUCTOR: OFFICE: Dr. Daina Nathaniel Dana 107

OFFICE PHONE: 704-688-2743 OFFICE HOURS: TR 1:30-3:00pm and 4:30-6:00pm or by appt. Please email me. EMAIL: nathanid@queens.edu

COURSE DESCRIPTION How we use the space around us says everything about what we think is important. From our homes, communities, to cities and countries, the use of space is not random. In the field of communication, the study of space is known as proxemics. This course is designed to give you a richer appreciation for the way that various cultures around the world use space (in every application of the word) to communicate their various identities and to give meaning to their lives. From candles in a room to the layout of major cities, the decisions that people make everyday about their environments form lasting legacies for generations. COURSE OBJECTIVES 1. To encourage students to investigate the cultural significance of how peoples use their environments to communicate their identities

2. To foster a deeper awareness of the historical impact on the way that space is used across cultures 3. To help students understand how the use of space can be a powerful form of nonverbal communication COURSE READING This course has no assigned textbook. Instead, the readings for each week are posted on the course Moodle site in PDF format. You are free to read them online and make notes or print and bring them to class for easy reference. COURSE ASSIGNMENTS Leading a class discussion You will be required to lead a class discussion on one occasion during the semester. It will be your responsibility to find a clever way to illuminate the readings of the day for your classmates. You may use a media clips, magazine articles or a real life situations to generate a discussion around the theme for that day. Remember that you are free to criticize the articles to suggest ways in which they rings true but other ways in which the author may not consider all the factors involved. Be as creative as you can, bearing in mind that this is not a presentation, but a discussion that you must direct. This assignment is worth 25% of your grade so make sure that you are engaging and thoroughly explore the issue at hand. Weekly reflection papers For each week of the semester, you must write a two page reflection on the readings for the week. These reflections are to be typed in 12pt Times New Roman font and double spaced. Anything less than two full pages of text will be considered inadequate. Your reflections should involve a critical examination of the articles and convey your perspective on the issues covered. Be honest and insightful. These reflections will be assessed based on the depth of your observations and your ability to analyze the issues. Consider your own motivations, concerns, reactions and feelings. This assignment is worth 20% of your final grade. Tweets! In this course you will be using Twitter to stay connected to each other between classes. You should be prepared to send five tweets per week, related to your new experiences with your environment. Look at the world around you differently, including the web, and comment on the ways that people have used space to communicate their culture. Remember this course is not about interpersonal space but physical space, so be on the lookout for things that you have never seen before and tweet about it! I will

check your tweets on a daily basis, but assess them weekly. This assignment is worth 10% of your final grade. My Space project photo scrapbook and final essay This project consists of two parts, the photo scrapbook and the final essay. Each of these parts will be assessed separately. For the duration of the semester, you are to carry a digital camera to take photographs of your various environments. These are to be interesting or intriguing uses of space. There is freedom of creative expression here but within the confines of propriety and decency. This is not a digital photography class for which you are building a portfolio, but instead a photo journey for which you provide the narrative. The photos should be somewhat related to the material we are discussing in class each week. The final product should contain 20 photographs total. Each photograph should have a brief caption to explain what is being captured. This assignment is worth 20% of your final grade. NOTE: You should be prepared to take 100+ photographs and select the best 20 for your scrapbook. The final essay should answer the question: How does the use of space add a new dimension to understanding the connection between communication and culture? In 7 pages (not including the cover page and reference list) you should address this question in a formal way. It should not have the casual tone of the weekly reflections i.e. this paper demands that you do some research, not write from the first person. You may use any research you find useful to answer this question but Wikipedia must not be one of your sources. The paper should be written in 12pt Times New Roman font and double-spaced. All sources should be correctly cited using APA format for the paper and reference list. This assignment is worth 25% of your final grade. CLASS POLICIES
A. It is imperative that you come to class on the days indicated on the

syllabus. For the duration of the semester you are allowed one unexcused absence. Excused absences are allowed only in cases where you are involved in a university sponsored activity, are severely ill, or a close member of your family has passed away and you must attend funeral services. If you are taking part in some university sponsored activity, you must let me know at least one week in advance, not the day of the event. If you become very ill, remember to get documentation from a doctor stating that you were too ill to be in class. Attendance and participation is worth a portion of the final grade. Any student who misses more than one class day will earn a one letter grade reduction. This means that if at the end your final grade is a B, it will become a C. Any student who misses more than three class periods for any reason automatically fails

the course. When you miss class it is your responsibility to check with one of your classmates to find out what was covered. B. You are also expected to be on time to class on the days that we meet. Excessive late arrivals are disruptive and will negatively impact your final participation grade. C. All cell phones must be turned off before entering the classroom since they can be disruptive during class. All phones must be powered off during presentations. If you are found using the phone during class, you will be asked to leave and will incur an unexcused absence for that day.
D. Class meetings run approximately 2.5 hours. During that time you are

expected to be in the classroom and attentive to the lecture/activities of the day. Constant chatter and going in and out of the classroom is disruptive to all and is discouraged. We will take a break halfway. E. Finally, I also discourage you from bringing copious amounts of food to class. Although the time of the class meeting might disturb your regular meal times, it is also distracting for both the professor and your classmates when the aroma of a hot meal, fast food or delectable sandwich/salad is wafting by while we are all trying to concentrate. A beverage is one thing but a buffet is quite another. Unless there are some extraordinary circumstances, please exercise some constraint and have your meals outside of class time. WHAT GOOD WRITERS DO: 1. Review and follow honor code guidelines regarding plagiarism. Submitting an assignment that includes plagiarized material can earn you expulsion from the university at worst, a grade of 0 at best or an F in the course. 2. Submit all formal writing double-spaced, in 12-point type using Times New Roman font. 3. Conform to a standard academic citation style, specifically the American Psychological Association (APA) style unless otherwise specified. 4. Make sure that each of your documents notes the title, your name, course number and e-mail address. 5. Cite all material that is not your own, even if you quote from a class textbook. SUBMISSION OF ASSIGNMENTS:

All written assignments must be submitted on the day they are due according to the guidelines outlined above and per the assignment description. Please note that I will try to give you feedback as quickly as possible, but I too can get busy as the semester progresses. Final grades are released by the Registrars office at the end of the semester. Legally I cannot send you final grades via email so be patient for those final grades to be posted. Graded materials that have not been distributed by the end of the semester may be collected at my office in the following semester. You are discouraged from handing in work late. In exceptional circumstances you can turn in an assignment late but you need to make that arrangement with me in advance. All late work, once it is not turned in by the date on the syllabus, is penalized by 25% for the first day, 50% for the second day. Work handed in three days late or more will earn a zero. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Tech Support: For training, contact Jada Williams for orientation and instruction in Moodle (our online Learning Management System). Scheduled orientations will also be announced on RexText and on the help page. For log-in, Qmail, Moodle or online registration problems, contact the QUEST help desk at 704-337-2323. Library: For Everett Library, call 704-337-2401 (Circulation Desk) or 704337-7127 (Reference Desk). Bookstore: Visit www.queensbookstore.com or call 704-337-2413. Disability Accommodations If you are a student with a verified disability and you require accommodations, please provide me with the necessary memorandum that was given to you by Student Disability Services. Contact: The Coordinator of Disability Services: Sandy Rogelberg, 704-337-2508. Honor Code The Honor Code, which permeates all phases of university life, is based on three fundamental principles. It assumes that Queens students: a) are truthful at all times, b) respect the property of others (this includes written works, thus, plagiarism is a Honor Code violation), and c) are honest in tests, examinations, term papers, and all other academic assignments. It is a violation of the Honor Code for a student to be untruthful concerning the reason for a class absence. If you believe that you have witnessed a violation of the Queens Honor Code, I encourage you to speak with me confidentially. All members of the Queens community adhere to the Honor Code, these

expectations are outlined in the Honor Code Booklet, http://portal.queens.edu. University Closings / Cancelled Classes In the rare occasion when it is necessary to close the university announcements will be made on TV and radio, and will be posted on the Queens web site, www.queens.edu. The best way for the Queens community to receive fast and accurate information about closings is to sign up for QALERT. QALERT: Receive campus emergency notifications via voicemail, text and/or e-mail, sign up at www.queens.edu/alert. Remember, you must register as a new user each academic year, even if youve signed up in the past. The system is wiped clean every August, and you will receive a message before that happens. For more information, e-mail alert@queens.edu. NOTE: If classes are meeting but you feel that you cannot find a safe way to get to class, you should notify me as soon as possible. Intellectual Property Policy Queens University of Charlotte faculty and students adhere to the Queens Intellectual Property Policy and U.S. Copyright Law. See Faculty Handbook, http://moodle.queens.edu, and the Queens University of Charlotte website at http://www.queens.edu.

OUR ADVENTURE 08/31 Introduction to the course Guest: Dr. Mac McArthur on Twitter Field trip: Queens and Myers Park walkabout

09/07

Space and Identity Reading: Identities and agency in religious spheres: a study of British Muslim women's experience Religion, immigration and homemaking in diaspora: Hindu space in Southern California Guest: Laney Jahkel-Parrish on interior design 09/14 City space Reading: Whats race got to do with it? Looking for the racial dimensions of gentrification Urban space, belonging and inequality in multi-ethnic housing estates of Melaka, Malaysia Field trip: The Gentrification Tour 09/21 plantations Clearing swamps, harvesting forests: Trees and the making of a Plantation Landscape in the colonial South Carolina Lowcountry 09/25 09/28 10/05 No class Field trip to Levine Museum Historical space Reading: Slavery and the spatial dialectics on Cuban coffee

Artistic space Reading: Public Art as an Educational Resource Giving a building its soul: Art as an expression of values, mission, vision and heritage Guest: Jason Fararooei, photographer 10/12 Dead space Reading: Planning for the disposal of the dead Conventional practice, courageous plan: women and the gendered site

of death rituals in Japan Field trip: Vietnam War Memorial 10/19 the interpretation of AIDS Campaigns in Accra, Ghana They come in peasants and leave citizens: Urban villages and the making of Shenzhen, China Field trip: supermarket tour 10/26 space The Sacred Site in Civil Space: Meaning and Status of the Temple Mount/al-Haram al-Sharif Homework: bring a travel magazine to next weeks class 10/30 Field trip to area places of worship 11/02 attractions Should I stay or should I go? Negotiating township tours in postapartheid South Africa Screening: Jamaica for Sale 11/09 Media space Reading: Re-thinking media events: large screens, public space broadcasting and Beyond Popular culture and public space in Africa: The possibilities of cultural Citizenship Guest: 11/16 virtual communities The cultural dimensions of online communication: A study of breast cancer patients internet spaces Guest: web designer Web space Reading: Policing diversity in the digital age: Maintaining order in Tourism space Reading: Sightseeing buses: Cruising, timing and the montage of Religious space Reading: Toward the year 2000: Reconstruction of religious Urban space Reading: Cultural objects as objects: Materiality, urban space and

11/23 11/30

No class - Thanksgiving Break

Social space Reading: Disco super culture: Consuming foreign sex in the Chinese disco Surinamese maroons as reggae artists: music, marginality and urban space Field trip: McAdenville aka Christmastown USA 11/07 Presentation of projects