Round and Square: Ponder College Syllabus 2015 (a)

From Round to Square (and back)

For The Emperor's Teacher, scroll down (↓) to "Topics." It's the management book that will rock the world (and break the vase, as you will see). Click or paste the following link for a recent profile of the project: http://magazine.beloit.edu/?story_id=240813&issue_id=240610

A new post appears every day at 12:05* (CDT). There's more, though. Take a look at the right-hand side of the page for over four years of material (2,000 posts and growing) from Seinfeld and country music to every single day of the Chinese lunar calendar...translated. Look here ↓ and explore a little. It will take you all the way down the page...from round to square (and back again).
*Occasionally I will leave a long post up for thirty-six hours, and post a shorter entry at noon the next day.

Sunday, August 23, 2015

Ponder College Syllabus 2015 (a)

On this date on Round and Square's History

23 August 2014—China's Lunar Calendar 2014 08-23
23 August 2014—Reflexivity Seminar Syllabus (a)
23 August 2013—China's Lunar Calendar 2013 08-23
23 August 2013—From the Geil Archive: Orator
23 August 2012—The New Yorker and the World: Course Description (b)
23 August 2011—Displays of Authenticity: Sacred Objects

[a] Pondering Society RF

Click here for the other half of this two-part syllabus post:

INIT 100: Weeks 1-8 INIT 100: Weeks 9-16

Ponder College
INIT 100, First-Year Initiatives
Autumn 2015
TTh 10:00-11:50 AM

Robert André LaFleur Office Hours:

Morse Ingersoll 111 Tuesday 2:00-3:30

363-2005 Thursday 2:00-3:30

lafleur@beloit.edu …or by appointment

Required Books
Allitt, Patrick. I'm the Teacher, You're the Student.
Bain, Ken. What the Best College Teachers Do.
Bain, Ken. What the Best College Students Do.
Chace, William. One Hundred Semesters.
Emerson, Robert. Writing Ethnographic Fieldnotes.
Kluge, P.F. Final Exam.
Martin, Roger. Brave Noises.
Nathan, Rebekah. My Freshman Year.
Rosovsky, Henry. The University: An Owner's Manual.
*** ***
Fieldnote notebook (required).
The Chronicle of Higher Education (arrives in bookstore in September)

Reserve Books
Landon, Brooks. Building Great Sentences: Exploring the Writer's Craft.
All course books are also available at the reserve desk at the library. Since there are a limited number of each book (usually one or two), please make sure that you plan ahead if you are going to read a book on reserve. Listen in class for "reserve strategies," as well.

Course Description

In this seminar, we will explore the changing world of liberal arts education. Beginning with the playful “foundation” of a fictional college created by the instructor, we will examine the role of small colleges in a vast system of American higher education.

While learning about classes, academic requirements, and student life at Beloit College (something we share with all FYI students), our seminar will explore the ways that colleges perceive their histories, how they “sell” themselves, and even how they run their business operations. In the process, we will read a wide array of stories, novels, memoirs, financial reports, and educational treatises that speak to the role of education in a rapidly changing twenty-first century.

We will not limit ourselves to the American liberal arts college, either. The idea to put talented students and creative teachers together in small classes has caught on in a few parts of the world, and we will learn how these colleges look and operate in Hong Kong, Japan, India, and several parts of Europe. In the process, students will gain a distinctive perspective on the work that they will be doing right up until their own college graduations in 2019.

Evaluation

Quizzes 15%

Fieldnotes                    25%
Rewrites    15%
Ponder Letter             15%
Ethnographic Essay     30%
Class attendance and participation is expected.

See my class attendance and participation policy.

Late assignments will be penalized—see my late assignment policy.

Ponder College
INIT 100.12

New Student Days

(August 17-22)

Fieldnote Notebook (buy it at the bookstore; we'll use it in class all semester)

Emerson, Writing Ethnographic Fieldnotes, ix-xiii; 1-44

Fieldnotes in Ethnographic Research

In the Field: Participating, Observing, and Jotting Notes

Martin, Brave Noises: Journal of a First-year College President, 1-30

Getting Hired

Getting Started

Getting Established

Week I

(August 25, 27)

Tuesday
Film: Geil of Doylestown (in-class Tuesday)

Round and Square      Syllabic Cycles:Introduction (a-d)
     Read all four posts, not just “a.”
Emerson, Writing Ethnographic Fieldnotes, 45-128
Writing Fieldnotes I: At the Desk, Creating Scenes on a Page
            Writing Fieldnotes II: Multiple Purposes and Stylistic Options
Martin, Brave Noises: Journal of a First-year College President, 31-120
            Coping

Constituencies

Students

Personal Sacrifices

Susan's Story

Lessons Learned

Appendix: Signing Up

Week II

(September 1, 3)

The Chronicle of Higher Education (at the bookstore; we'll use it in class all semester)
Round and Square Quotidian Quizzes:Introduction (a-h)
Skim a-d, and read posts e-h very carefully; your quiz grade depends on it).
Bain, What the Best College Teachers Do, 1-180
Introduction: Defining the Best

What Do They Know About How We Learn?

How Do They Prepare to Teach?

What Do They Expect of Their Students?

How Do They Conduct Class?

How Do They Treat Their Students?

How Do They Evaluate Their Students and Themselves?

Epilogue: What Can We Learn From Them?

Week III

(September 8, 10)

Round and Square See separate Round and Square syllabus
Bain, What the Best College Students Do, 1-262
The Roots of Success
            What Makes an Expert?
            Managing Yourself
            Learning to Embrace Failure
            Messy Problems
            Encouragement
            Curiosity and Endless Education
            Making the Hard Choices
            Epilogue

Week IV

(September 15, 17)

Round and Square See separate Round and Square syllabus

Emerson, Writing Ethnographic Fieldnotes, 129-170

Pursuing Members' Meanings
Nathan, My Freshman Year, vii-89
Preface
Welcome to "Any U"
Life in the Dorms
Community and Diversity
As Others See Us
LaFleur, Rob's Style Sheet, 1-30 (handout)

Week V

(September 22, 24)

Round and Square See separate Round and Square syllabus

Emerson, Writing Ethnographic Fieldnotes, 171-200

Processing Fieldnotes: Coding and Memoing

Nathan, My Freshman Year, 90-168
Academically Speaking
The Art of College Management
Lessons From My Year as a Freshman
Afterword: Ethics and Ethnography

Week VI

(September 29, October 1)

Round and Square See separate Round and Square syllabus

Rosovsky, The University: An Owner's Manual, 9-156

Introduction
Preface: The Concept
A Letter of Introduction
Two Thirds of the Best
A Dean's Day
Students
The University College: Selectivity and Admission
Making Choices
The Purposes of Liberal Education
One Version of the Core
Graduate Students: Welcome to the Ancient and Universal...

Week VII

(October 6, 8)

Round and Square See separate Round and Square syllabus

Rosovsky, The University: An Owner's Manual, 157-300

Professors
Academic Life: Some Virtues, Some Vices
Tenure: The Meaning of Tenure
Tenure: A Model Case
Burnout, Envy, and Other Forms of Pain
The University as Marketplace
Governance
Deaning
University Governance: Seven Principles...
Postscript: Omissions and Conclusions

Week VIII

(Midterm Break)

Click here for the other half of this two-part syllabus post:

INIT 100: Weeks 1-8 INIT 100: Weeks 9-16