Today in class, we broke into groups and researched questions in Native American history. 

For next week, please read:

Chapter 5: The Heritage of Abundance

Rachel Carson, speech on “The Exceeding Beauty of the Earth”

Andrew Carnegie, excerpts from The Gospel of Wealth

Jacob Riis, How the Other Half Lives

By Tuesday at 10am, please email to me and two classmates a short response paper.  Choose one of the photographs from "How the other half lives."  In the first paragraph, describe what you see in the photograph.  In the second paragraph, respond and give your opinion about what you see.  In the third paragraph, connect the photograph to something else--something from the textbook, something from a primary source, or something from your experience or observation of American or global culture.

IMPORTANT!!!  PLEASE PRINT FOUR COPIES OF THIS RESPONSE PAPER AND BRING THEM TO CLASS ON TUESDAY.  I didn't say this in class, but this will be very important for what we will do on Tuesday.

By Thursday at 9:00 PM: Propose your final project!  See the final project guidelines document, linked elsewhere on the blog, for more information.

Tomorrow!

Tomorrow is the Get Involved! Volunteer Fair.  It's taking place in the D-lounge from 8:30 to 5:30 tomorrow.  If you're interested in doing one of the final project options that involves volunteering, you might want to go to the Volunteer Fair and meet some of the organizations that want BHCC students to volunteer!

The American frontier heritage is our topic for this week.  In class, either today or tomorrow, we might watch one or both of these videos on Native American life.  You don't need to watch these out of class unless you hear otherwise.

Aaron Huey's TED talk
We Shall Remain: Trail of Tears

These are the guidelines for the final project.  We'll discuss these in class today!

Oral exam coming up, week of 10/15

The oral exam is approaching!  It will take place during the week of 10/15.  Here are guidelines for the exam.  

We will not have class on 10/15 and 10/17.  Instead, please sign up for a timeslot to take your oral exam using this spreadsheet.

You can sign up by simply typing your name next to the timeslot you want.

There are a few rules.  Please follow them.

1. Sign up for one spot and one spot only.  If you change your mind, sign up for a new blank timeslot and remove your name from your old one.

2. Don’t steal someone else’s spot by deleting their name and typing yours in instead. If someone else has gotten to the timeslot you wanted before you did, that’s too bad, there are plenty of other timeslots available.  If you really need a specific timeslot, sign up early!

3. Don’t create new timeslots!  If you’re late to the party and you don’t find a timeslot you like, the solution is NOT to randomly create a new timeslot!

4. Don’t delete the breaks!  It’s to everyone’s benefit to have a happier professor grading your oral exams, and losing my built-in breaks will make me less happy.

Any questions, send me an email.  Happy signing up!

Today, we're going to dig into the idea of American exceptionalism, from John Winthrop to Vladimir Putin.

For next week--that is, before Tuesday, September 24--please read:

Chapter 4: The Frontier Heritage

Chief Joseph’s Speeches

Rayna Green’s “Modest Proposal” for a “Museum of the Plains White Person”

Robert Frost, The Gift Outright

By Tuesday, September 24, please complete the following writing exercise in your journal:

In 3-4 paragraphs, choose TWO of the excerpts in the “Exceptional?” handout and compare their perspectives on American exceptionalism.  Please include this in your journal, email it to me, and email it to two classmates.  Choose well!

9/17/2013

By 2:30 today, please email Prof. Poole your version of "I Hear America Singing."  This is an entry in your journal, so you should bring a physical copy of it to class, too.

Please make sure you have read the readings for this week on American culture and religion.  These are:

Chapter 3: The American Religious Heritage

A Model of Christian Charity, by John Winthrop

Interview with Stephen Prothero: http://www.pbs.org/godinamerica/interviews/stephen-prothero3.html

These are the handouts from class today:
On The Constitution
John Winthrop, excerpts from A Model of Christian Charity (shorter than the above link)
On American Exceptionalism

In class, we'll review the final versions of "I Hear America Singing," and think a bit about the idea of American exceptionalism as well as about the Constitution, in honor of Constitution Day (September 17th).

Before Thursday:

• read all of the above things, including the handouts!
• Find the famous phrase, "a city on a hill" in Winthrop's sermon excerpts.  What do you think he means by "a city on a hill"?  Write at least two paragraphs in your journal about it.  

Tuesday, 9/10/2013

Hello!

Today, we're going to talk about your reverse outlines of either Goldman or Kennedy, which you have emailed around to classmates and your professor, as well as printed out and placed in your journal.

We'll consider the six values identified by the textbook's authors to be central to American culture and life, and see how they connect with the primary sources' perspectives (like Patrick Henry and Walt Whitman and Ralph Waldo Emerson, but also Goldman and Kennedy).

Then, we'll look at some selections from Emerson's Self Reliance.

Your journal assignment for today (to be completed no later than 3:54 on Thursday afternoon) is this:

Choose one of the lines or paragraphs from the handout on self-reliance.  Quote it at the top of your essay.  What do you think Emerson means in just that one quotation?  Do you identify with Emerson's value of self reliance, or do you disagree?  Why or why not? 

Before Thursday, please make sure you reread I Hear America Singing as well as your fellow students' versions of the poem, as published in The Nation.  Choose which -ing verb you want to use instead of "singing" in YOUR version of the poem--we'll work on your poems in class on Thursday, and you'll finish them before class on Tuesday, September 17.

Don't forget--you can sign up for SpeechSLAM for extra credit!  You need to sign up by September 13 in order to perform!

Week 2: 9/10 and 9/12

In advance of Tuesday's class, please read/watch:

Chapter 2: Traditional American Values and Beliefs

Give me Liberty or Give me Death

Let America Be America Again

I Hear America Singing

Lincoln, Speech at New Haven

Excerpts from Self Reliance, by Ralph Waldo Emerson

Please note that this is different from what is listed on the syllabus.  The above readings are correct and up to date.

As noted in an earlier post, by Tuesday at class time, please write a reverse outline of EITHER Goldman or Kennedy (linked in the preceding post and handed out in class on Tuesday) print it out, and place it in your Journal notebook or folder to bring to class, AND email it to at least three classmates and CC your professor.   In order to do this successfully, please get three classmates' email addresses in class on Thursday, 9/5.

Get ready!  By Tuesday, September 16, please write a finished, polished version of "I hear America singing", email it to three classmates and CC your professor, and print it out and put it in your Journal notebook or folder.  Here are some versions of the poem written by your fellow students and published in The Nation for inspiration.  

Week 1 (9/3 and 9/5) (updated!)

Hello!

Here's what we're working with this week.

Week 1: What does it mean to be American?  (9/3 and 9/5)

For Thursday, please read/watch:

Chapter 1: Understanding the Culture of the United States

Emma Goldman, “What is Patriotism”

John F. Kennedy, Inaugural Address

“God Bless America”

“This Land is Your Land”

An excerpt from a book about God Bless America.
An article about This land is your land.

Along with consuming these media, on Thursday, please be ready to share a little about yourself and your own culture.  Think about these questions: What is your name?  What does your name mean, or what is the story behind your name?  What is your goal at BHCC? Where are you from, and how long have you lived in the Boston area? If you're not from Boston, what are one or two major differences between where you are from and Boston? What do you hope to learn this semester? Finally, share a quote or proverb that matters to you--it could be from your own culture, or something you have adopted from a culture other than the one you grew up with.

Please complete the Questionnaire on the syllabus as well.


By next Tuesday (not Thursday!!!) please write a reverse outline of EITHER Goldman or Kennedy, print it out, and place it in your Journal notebook or folder, AND email it to at least three classmates and CC your professor. You should get three classmates' email addresses in class on Thursday.

Welcome!

Welcome to the course site for American Culture (INT-110) at Bunker Hill Community College, as taught by Prof. Monica Poole.

Here is our syllabus.  The journey begins on September 3rd!