Returning to Hampshire: Reflective Writing and Project Workshop

Basic Information
Fall 2002/SS 292

Returning to Hampshire: Reflective Writing and Project Workshop

Vivek Bhandari Meeting Time: Tuesday 9-11.50, in ASH 111 Office Hours: Tuesday 1-3 pm, Wednesday 10.30-12, and Thursday, 1-3.30, Phone: (413) 559 5356; Email: mailto:vbhandari@hampshire.edu Website:

Course Information
This course brings together students returning from international programs, and organizations working with the following Hampshire programs: Community Partnerships for Social Change, Civil Liberties and Public Policy, and Population and Development. The purpose of the course is to help students integrate their off-campus learning experiences with their academics. Opportunities are provided for students to share and critique reflective writing and project work related to their off-campus studies or internships.

The course introduces students to questions of subjectivity and complex dichotomies such as global/local, structure/agency, etc. These themes are meant to provoke students into discussing the limits of their own understanding, while exploring the possibilities of finding new spaces for engagement. Additional themes and readings will be decided upon based on the interests of those participating in the seminar.

Questions include: How do students respond to the attributes of, and boundaries that define specific social groups? How are the boundaries of such groups determined, policed, or transcended? What is the relationship between the “autonomy” of a social group (generally seen as a good thing) and the boundaries that circumscribe the group (potentially, a bad thing)? Do categories like “cultural/multi-cultural” help us in this dilemma, or do they end-up distracting us from a fruitful understanding of the connection between culture and power?

Requirements

 * Every three weeks or so, you are required to complete an assignment (approx. 6-8 pages long) based on the questions posed in the syllabus. These essays should also address issues raised in the weekly readings and the class discussions. There will thus be a total of 3 writing assignments. Please use these essays to develop your critical and analytical abilities, to experiment with new interpretations and approaches, and to develop your personal voice and writing style. You are welcome to incorporate external readings and references. Please provide a bibliography when you do so.


 * In addition, you are required to write a Research Proposal (8-10 pages long). The purpose of this essay is to give you the space to integrate your off-campus experiences with substantive elements of your on-campus academics. Independent research should inform this paper. Also, I would encourage you to solicit advice from you Div 2/Div 3 committee members on how to streamline this proposal. In fact, it is very likely that this committee will continue to engage with this proposal well after the end of this semester, so meeting with your committee is in your best interest! The Proposal should outline the main questions that you intend to address in at the Div 2/Div 3-level. You are required to include a detailed bibliography. Also, please follow the writing conventions outlined in the Chicago Manual. (For details on the these conventions, please consult Kate L. Turabian A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertation.)


 * All written assignments are due in class. Feel free to email me if this does not work for you, or you would like to discuss any other matter related to the course. If you choose to miss a class or submit a late paper, please inform me in advance. In order to receive an evaluation, you must complete all assignments and make all of the presentations. During the semester, you should focus on engaged reading and writing, substantive revising, and analytical and critical thinking. You will receive feedback on your papers during the semester from your peers and myself. At the end of the semester, please turn-in a portfolio that contains all your writings.

Course Readings
Readings are collected in a course packet to be purchased from Paradise Copies in downtown Northampton. You will also receive periodic handouts.

Important Deadlines

 * First Assignment is due on September 17th
 * Second Assignment is due on October 22nd
 * Third Assignment is due on November 12th
 * Research Proposal is due on December 10th

Class Schedule
September 10	 Introduction Open Discussion

September 17 Traveling Cultures Readings: Clifford “Traveling Cultures”; and Iyer “The Airport,” and “The Global Marketplace” First Assignment due today: Describe your experience as an intern/international student by focusing on the kind of work that you did, and your location in the organizations that you encountered. Feel free to intersperse your narrative with a discussion of some of the main issues that you confronted in trying to integrate your experiences with your academics at Hampshire. Please note that we will circulate these essays amongst ourselves.

September 24 Tourism, Research, or a bit of both…? Readings: Edensor “Narratives of the Taj Mahal” and “Walking, Gazing, Photographing, Remembering” and Iyer “The Empire”; Clifford “Museums as Contact Zones”

October 1 Theorizing Community Readings: TBA, based on the student composition of the class.

October 8 Advising Day: No Class

October 15 Fall Break: No Class

October 22 A Crash Course in Theory Readings: Walsh “Structure/Agency”; Back “Local/Global.” Second Assignment due today: Based on our discussion of the readings and our discussion of the relationship between social structures and individual agency, reassess the comments you made in your first essay. Do you find that you view your academics at Hampshire differently as a result of your off-campus experiences?

October 29 Issues Confronting Community-Based Learning (Guests: From Community Partnerships for Social Change, and Civil Liberties and Public Policy, and Population and Development Programs) Readings: TBA

November 5 Theorizing Subjectivity (Guest: Kimberly Chang) Readings: TBA

November 12 The Research Imagination and the Predicament of International Boundaries (Guests: From International Programs Office) Readings:Ghosh “The Imam and the Indian”; handouts on the dilemmas of subaltern studies research. Third Assignment due today: Please summarize, in under a thousand words, the core concerns that you would like to address in your Div 2/Div 3. It is strongly recommended that you meet with your committee before finalizing the contents of this essay.

November 19 Mobile Families and Static Notions Readings: Romero “Life as a Maid’s daughter”; Hochschild “Global care chains and the emotional surplus value”; Film: “When Mother Comes Home for Christmas”

November 26 So—are all of us suddenly cosmopolitan, transnational, and global?!: Of Virtual Reality and Multiple Publics Readings: Dirlik “Three Worlds or One, or Many?”; Featherstone “Public Life, information technology and the global city”; and Nelson and Tu “Appropriating Technology” (an interview with Vivek Bald); Film: “Taxi-vala/Auto-biography”

December 3 The Place of the University in a Globalizing World Readings:Vishwanathan “The Naming of Yale College”; Miyoshi “Globalization, Culture, and the University” and “In Place of a Conclusion”

December 10	Conclusion: Hampshire and Beyond