Reading and blogging



Reading:  

Being able to read carefully is a skill. Once you know a lot, you can start skimming but until then, here’s what I expect. At a minimum, you should know what questions or big ideas the author introduces and what she concludes. Read everything critically. This DOES NOT mean disagreeing with the author, but it does mean asking questions. What would you want her to explain further? Read for what makes sense, what you can use and what inspires you. Read above all to connect ideas in this reading to other readings, lectures and discussions. These works are full of ideas and evidence that help us make sense of the food world. It’s important that you wrap your head around what’s being said, difficult though that may be. As you have probably learned, taking notes using an organization system that helps you understand and remember is pretty important. 

A note on readings from the social sciences and humanities:

The authors of these readings are presenting arguments derived from research they have done and drawing on bodies of theory useful to their analysis. For instance, many scholars in the social sciences and humanities have developed careful studies of society that uncover how social hierarchies operate to alter the lives of people who are not part of dominant groups. What you will read begins from the basis that class hierarchies, racism, heterosexism and patriarchy exist in various forms, have consequences and must be explored. They also adopt the perspective that social critique is an essential part of scholarship. The readings seek to explain how society 'ticks'. 


A note on opinion
The Apple dictionary states that opinion is "a view or judgment formed about something, not necessarily based on fact or knowledge" and  "a matter of opinion: something not capable of being proven either way." Some students think that social science and humanities scholarship is opinion. What you will read in this class is scholarship based on research that is then peer reviewed. In certain cases you will be reading investigative journalism that must pass fact checking and several editor's desks. Nothing in the syllabus is derived from opinion. All academic disciplines engage in debate over findings and ideas, challenging authors to present research based on ethical and meticulous data collection and analysis and robust conceptual explanations. Debates are couched not in opinion but in an analysis of the relationship of a piece of scholarship to a body of literature.


Your primary task is to do the readings thoughtfully and to discuss them in class. In order to help you do the readings well and to facilitate class discussion, you will write a short (1-2 paragraphs) comment pertaining to the day’s assigned readings. I'll usually pose questions that you should attempt to address fully or partially. Your blog comment should be posted on the course blog http://geo470food.blogspot.com/ before class.  These comments should raise issues that you feel are worth discussing in class. You should also address points raised by your peers. The objective is to generate a set of points of departure for class discussion as well as to demonstrate that you have thought about the readings. In your discussion of the readings and my questions, you should: 
 
å  Grapple with things you don't understand in the reading(s) or simply raise them as parts you didn’t understand; Other students who can answer these questions should do so.
å  Comment on parts of the reading(s) that you find especially enlightening;
å  Explore how the readings relate to your own personal experience or are similar to or different from what you've learned elsewhere;
å   Explore how the readings relate to each other;
å Explore how the readings relate to ideas and issues raised in this course or to your research project.
å Anyone can see what you post so I encourage you to put your best words and thoughts out there. Be respectful of the authors you read, your professor and each other. I have invited other academics at UWL and outside as well as advocates for food system change to look at the blog. Be aware that you're in a public forum.
 å Keep an open mind about what you read. Ideas in the readings may not correspond to your own perspective. If that's the case do not simply dismiss the ideas.
 å This blog is NOT an opportunity for you to voice opinions.  Opinions about the class, your professor or other students are particularly not acceptable. The blog is NOT a safe space for intolerant and ignorant views. It is a safe space for open minded engagement with the important ideas expressed in the readings. The blog is NOT a place to discuss the complexity, writing style or length of the reading.  If you are asked to write your views or reactions, please do so by using EVIDENCE to support your claims.  For instance, "I learned in NUT __ that ....". Or, "according to  ____, ..." To be convincing, arguments have to be supported by evidence. Simply agreeing or disagreeing is not sufficient.

Blog posts will be graded using 0-3 points per post. Blog assignments receiving a 0 are those that are not written within the allotted time frame. 1 to 1.9 is for a partial post—you may not have dealt with all the questions or your post is very short or superficial.  2-2.7 is for a full post that is a well-written discussion of the question posed.  A 3 is for a well thought out post plus a thoughtful response to your classmates. “I agree.” is not a thoughtful response. This is the place to display your knowledge of the material, inquisitiveness, critical thinking and ability to link the reading material or podcast to the lecture. You don’t have to write long entries, but these posts are an opportunity for you to make connections, bring up ideas that come up for you during the readings, and begin to articulate your thoughts. I suggest that you compose all written posts first in Word and paste it into the blog. This will prevent you from losing your work should your server time out while completing an assignment.

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