Old/Archived
COMM 2725 <2021-FA> | Office hours | Content |
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TU/FR 1:35–3:15 TODO |
TU appointments at 15:30+ Prof. Reagle, <j.reagle> Comm Studies, 215 Holmes Hall Tip: Enter at 41A Leon St. |
Get Stuff Done within a 4-Hour Workweek by following The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Take a Clarity Cleanse during The Year of Yes to be well and wise. Master The Game to bed a hottie or follow The Rules to marry them. The self-help genre reflects popular aspirations and fears across work, wealth, health, relationships, and meaning. They are also laden with assumptions – and biases – about what is worthwhile and worthy. You’ll work to understand how this genre of popular communication reflects and shapes our sense of identity, purpose, and worth. You’ll even have a chance to write some self-help of your own.
Successful completion of this course enables you to:
“I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.” – Confucius
This is an active learning course meaning that you will be engaged with activities such as class and group discussion, participating in and designing class exercises, collaborative note-taking, and peer assessment.
I also make much use of the Web. For instance, this syllabus is a Web page that I update; I expect you to bookmark it and to follow links. (If you find a broken link or typo, let me know!) You can easily find things on this page with ⌘+f. You can open links in new tabs with control-click. We will also make use of Google Docs. In emails I often use markdown conventions and respond below your quoted (‘>’) text.
In short, come to class on time and with the readings and assignments completed; be respectful and willing to collaborate. There are no provisions for missed exams or late assignments.
In general, if you have an issue, such as needing an accommodation for a religious obligation or disability, speak with me before it affects your performance. Do not plead afterwards. Instead, beforehand, offer proposals that show initiative and a willingness to work.
Academic Integrity is of utmost importance: “The promotion of independent and original scholarship ensures that students derive the most from their educational experience and their pursuit of knowledge.” Violations include cheating, plagiarism, and participating in or encouraging dishonesty. If you cheat on an exam, you will receive zero credit and be referred to the Office of Student Conduct. If you plagiarize seven or more words in a row, the same will follow.
Deviations from classroom professionalism and respect may result in dismissal from class and demerits against your grade. See full course policies for more detail.
NOTE: I usually discourage use of devices during class, but during COVID/NUflex they are necessary. It’ll be doubly important, then, that you contribute in person or remotely and can’t be mistaken for being distracted. Also, I think having our cameras on makes for a better experience. Feel free to turn your camera off if you need to attend to something; if you have a larger concern/issue, please let me know. Aside from the first few days of class (for students that join later) my preference is not to record our classes, but this, too, is something we can discuss and if you have a specific request or concern, please let me know.
There are 1000 points at stake over the course of the term. This is converted to letter grades on the basis of thresholds; they are not rounded. Due dates are included in the schedule.
(200 pts) Class participation
This entails much more than (even perfect) attendance; participation is not an easy “gimme grade” and is assessed rigorously. Please see the participation rubric for more.
(200 pts) Reading responses
You are expected to read and be prepared to discuss all readings. In each half of the course you must also complete a certain number of reading responses. You must complete five responses (typically 250-350 words) by the middle of the semester and five after; do not add or edit responses after they are due. Plan this ahead of time so you are not caught short. Absent a specific prompt, summarize and engage.
Draft and keep your responses in a Google Doc “viewable by anyone with link.” Date each entry, and spell and grammar check your writing. You can maintain a checklist of how to write an excellent response at the top of your document. (Note, GDoc now works with Grammarly, which I recommend.) Email responses to me 90 minutes before class with pc-r
in the subject and the prose in the body of the email (no attachments).
(2x150 pts) Film analyses
View and analyze two self-help films and write a ~750 word essay on each. Make and support a compelling thesis (e.g., a novel argument) relative to course content. You might, for example, touch on
(100 pts) Be a guru
Demonstrate an understanding of the self-help genre by (1) exemplifying it with a (2) reflection.
Write an online post of ~700 words presenting self-help advice (e.g., zen habits, tiny buddha, and marc & angel). You must post it publicly, wherever you like (e.g., medium.com, carrd.co, Instagram, and Tumblr). You can use a pseudonym – and do keep your privacy in mind. You need not believe the advice you give, the post can be exaggerated satire. If you write on a deeply personal topic, ask yourself if it’s something you want to be graded on?
On Canvas, submit a link to your post, a copy of the prose and a ~400 word preface reflecting on the piece relative to our class readings and discussions (e.g., a “guru analysis.”) In the preface, use APA citations but you don’t need a bibliography.
This will be assessed on the quality of the self-help’s writing and presentation, and the reflection’s writing and engagement with course content.
(200 = 150 pts + 50 pts) Book analysis
Select a self-help book to read and analyze. You will give a five-minute presentation and write a ~1200 word analysis. In both, briefly introduce the work and then convey a compelling thesis relative to course content and some of the questions of our “guru analyses.” Your essay should also use three external sources (e.g., book reviews, critiques, or scholarly works). Consider the writing rubric and presentation tips and rubric.
If you wish to use visuals during your presentation, link to your slides in the Slides Doc and make your deck public to everyone, not just Northeastern, so I can display them if necessary
TRACE
Our college requires all students to complete TRACE evaluations at the end of the semester even if you (anonymously) opt-out of completing the survey. Those who send me evidence of completing TRACE receive a bonus-point.
Assignments must be double-spaced, 12 point font, 1-inch margins. (One page contains approximately 250 words.) Citations must be in the APA style. No APA cover page is required. Include your name.
Your work should be reviewed by two peers relative to the writing rubric. Make use of Hacker’s Pocket Manual and my writing tips handout. On the due date, assignments are due at start of class (and the digital version must be submitted via Canvas.) If you have permission to revise a written assignment for re-assessment, please see these revision instructions.
Communication Studies courses are expected, on average, to have a GPA of no more than a 3.3 (B+); this means those receiving an A or A- are in the minority. The course rubric notes that “A” students have all of the following attributes.
Many links to my public wiki are found through-out this syllabus (remember, ⌘+f is your friend), but I’ve gathered some of the most important ones below.
Most readings are linked to from this page, if not check this zip file .
You will need access to the following two films.
I highly recommend you get a copy of:
Note that for selections, I specify the chapter (ch=) or pages (pp=) to read.
Welcome! We introduce ourselves, cover class logistics, and begin our semester of discussion. Specifically, why is Goop so popular?
Also, bring a mnemonic that connects your name with a memorable image: “Imagine me …” I could say: “Imagine Prof. Reagle being chased by beagles.”
We’ll continue our discussion of why self-help is popular and ask what ideological assumptions underly the advice given?
(You can do your first out of five reading responses required by mid-semester.)
Self-help is a object of study within the subfield of popular communication and culture. What is culture, and what does it mean to speak of popular culture? The two classic works below are a bit difficult, so make note of concepts or claims you don’t understand, as well as those that you think are relevant to self-help (e.g., are readers of self-help “cultural dopes” of a dominating power?)
Stuart Hall, 1981, “Notes on Deconstructing ‘The Popular’,” Popular Culture: A Reader, ch=6, pp=66–71
In this trimmed version of a classic essay, Hall considers three different definitions of popular and their strengths and weaknesses. (Focus on pages 66–71.)
John Fiske, 1989, “Understanding Popular,” Reading the Popular, ch=1.
This is the introduction chapter to a book full of 1980s popular culture case studies. This serves as a nice summary of Fiske’s complementary book Understanding Popular Culture and of thinking about this field.
Salerno is a harsh critic of self-help. Absent a specific prompt, summarize and engage.
In 1984, Janice Radway published Reading the Romance, an important piece of pop-culture criticism that investigated the romance genre (and its readers). This type of work came to be known as “audience reception” research, and in 1991 Debra Grodin did the same for self-help; she asked self-help readers about their motivations and thoughts about the genre. Norman Vincent Peale’s The Power of Positive Thinking is mentioned and is a classic biblical-based instance of self-help. I include a link to some Peale quotes and an article describing his book.
When you read Grodin, ask yourself if contemporary self-help fulfills a similar role and do today’s readers have similar motivations? (Ask your friends!)
What is quackery and how do we distinguish it from science-based medicine?
We continue with our second “audience reception” study of self-help. Now that we’ve read Salerno’s harsh critique, note how Lichterman claims such critiques are missing the point. Does Lichterman disagree with Grodin? What interpretive communities exist today? Also, review the description of and quotes from a self-help book mentioned by Lichterman.
Turn in your film response and be prepared to discuss in class. There’s no reading response today as it’d be redundant with the assignment.
If you wish to reference a portion of the film prior during discussion, have the time stamp at hand, and I might be able to cue it up.
DUE: 1st half of reading responses, including today. Please send me the link to your Google Doc, with sharing set to “viewable by anyone with link.”
A popular TED talk about the “life hack” of good posture exposed the frailties of social science.
Turn in your “Be a Guru” assignment.
In this eclectic group of short readings, we’ll encounter the gendering of our relationship to stuff, past and present, as well as a short-story about one man’s obsession.
In anticipation of discussing Kumaré and hacking meaning, how ought we understand the “exotic” facets of much of self-help, including the teacher-student relationship and superstition?
We’ve seen how the hacker ethos is well suited to the authorpreneurs of the creative class. We’ve also seen it associated with masculine culture. Duffy speaks to a different set of entrepreneurs trying to make it online. What similarities and differences do you see between her subjects and life hackers?
Turn in your film response and be prepared to discuss in class. There’s no reading response today as it’d be redundant with the assignment.
If you wish to reference a portion of the film prior to your point or question, have the exact time stamp at hand, and I might be able to cue it up.
In five minutes, present your self-help analysis and thesis. See presentation tips and rubric.
If you wish to use visuals during your presentation, link to your slides in the Slides Doc and make your deck public to everyone, not just Northeastern, so I can display them if necessary
Turn in your book analysis. Remember the writing tips handout.
DUE: 2nd half of reading responses, including today. Please send me the link to your Google Doc, with sharing set to “viewable by anyone with link.”
DUE: Evidence of TRACE completion due via email at 12:00 ET.
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