English 490: Senior Seminar

Spring 2007

Dr. Williams USC Upstate Office: 213 HPAC Phone: 503-5285 Email: gwilliams@uscupstate.edu IM (AOL/ MSN): ghwchats http://www.georgehwilliams.net/490

This class meets from 1:40- 2:50 on Tuesdays and Thursdays in LB254.   I hold office hours on Mondays & Wednesdays from 2:00-3:00, Thursdays from 11:00-1:00, and by appointment.

 

Course description from university catalog

The integration of knowledge; the exploration of ethical issues; and the application of the skills of research, analysis, and writing about literature at an advanced level. Completion of an academic portfolio, self-directed research and writing, and formal oral presentations are required. The specific focus of the course is designed by faculty and may vary depending on the instructor's area of interest and the students' areas of concentration.

 

Course Description from Dr. Williams

This semester you should conduct the most thorough research and engage in the most challenging thinking of your college career so far. There are two threads to this class. First, you will reflect on and synthesize what you’ve learned over the last four years about literature and culture, theory and research. You will also fill a gap you identify in your undergraduate education. Second, you will think and talk about what comes next for you, after you graduate. Most of our class sessions will be devoted to (and most of your grade will be based on) the research required for your Capstone Paper, which is the first thread. However, we will also discuss topics relevant to the second thread in class and in individual conferences in my office.

 

Because this is a seminar, the content of class meetings will be shaped and driven by you, the students. You are responsible for presenting your research as well as for responding to others’ presentations. Come to class fully prepared each and every time the class meets.

 

Course Requirements

You must complete all requirements to pass the class. If you fail to complete any assignment you will fail the class. Note that each seminar paper will be presented orally to the class. Assume you have 15 minutes for each presentation and plan accordingly. All written material you generate should be kept in a folder that you will submit at the end of the semester: this is your portfolio.

 

       Value         Assignment Due date

	5%	Seminar Project 1: Biography (essay + oral presentation)	Tues, Feb 6
	10%	Seminar Project 2: Cultural Context (essay + oral presentation)	Tues, Feb 20
	10%	Seminar Project 3: Annotated bibliography (essay + oral presentation)	Tues, Mar 6
	10%	Seminar Project 4: Critical overview (essay + oral presentation)	Tues, Mar 27
	15%	Capstone Presentation to faculty	Fri, Apr 27
	30%	Capstone Paper	Mon, Apr 30
	5%	Exit Essay	Mon, Apr 30
	15%	Discussion contributions (often called “participation”)	Every class

 

Assignments

 

Once each week you should attend my office hours (or make an appointment) to discuss your reading, research, and writing. You should also meet regularly with your outside reader.

 

Detailed assignment sheets will be distributed as the deadlines approach. Here are brief descriptions.

 

Note on research: All research conducted for this class must be completed using academic sources. Generally, this means articles published in academic journals (in print or online), or books published by university presses (though there are notable exceptions). Encyclopedias and other reference sources are fine as starting places, but not as sources listed on a Works Cited page. If you have any questions about a source, ask me. You will receive no credit for research completed using nonacademic sources.

 

Note on format for papers: All papers must adhere to MLA style. They must be double-spaced and have a 12-point font (preferably Times New Roman), one-inch margins, and a single staple in the upper left-hand corner. The upper left-hand corner of the first page must also have your name, the name of the assignment (e.g. Seminar Project 1), the due date, the course number, and my name.

 

Length: At least 25 pages

Research: At least 12 secondary sources not used in previous assignments

Locate a gap in your English education, then research and write a paper that helps to fill that gap. Work with a faculty reader on researching and developing this paper. This assignment should be the most sophisticated work of scholarship you have ever written. The four seminar projects build up to this paper. You will present this paper to your classmates in a 30-minute presentation. Respond to their questions and comments in a thoughtful and learned manner.

 

Length: 20 minutes

Present a condensed version of your Capstone Paper to the faculty of the LLC Department. Respond to their questions and comments in a thoughtful and learned manner.

 

Length: At least 5 pages

Research: At least 3 secondary sources

Research and write a short biography of the author you have chosen for your research.

Present this biography to your classmates in a 15-minute presentation. Respond to their questions and comments in a thoughtful and learned manner.

 

Length: At least 10 pages

Research: At least 5 secondary sources not used in previous assignments.

Research and write a paper describing the relevant details of the cultural context in which your author’s work was produced, distributed, and read. Present this cultural context to your classmates in a 15-minute presentation. Respond to their questions and comments in a thoughtful and learned manner.

 

 

Length: At least 8 pages

Research: At least 12 secondary sources not used in previous assignments.

Identify and locate at least 12 secondary sources of the work you have chosen. Write a brief summary (one substantial paragraph) of each source. Identify the central arguments and the main supporting points. Present the findings of your research to your classmates in a 15-minute presentation. Respond to their questions and comments in a thoughtful and learned manner.

 

Length: At least 10 pages

Research: At least 5 secondary sources in addition to the ones you have read so far

Write a critical history of the work you have chosen. What are has been said about this work? How have scholars responded to each other’s work? What are the important trends regarding the work? What’s your opinion of those trends? What’s been overlooked, in your opinion? What direction should future scholarship take? Present your critical overview to your classmates in a 15-minute presentation. Respond to their questions and comments in a thoughtful and learned manner.

 

Research: Look over your transcripts. Reflect on your experience at USC Upstate.

Write an assessment of the education you have received in your years at USC Upstate.

 

Course Calendar Overview: Important dates

Because of the nature of this seminar, we cannot have an exact and detailed agenda for every single day. We will meet every Tuesday, and almost all Thursdays. Any time the class does not meet, you should use the available time to work on the research for your capstone project. Where possible, the course will remain flexible to accommodate student research agendas. The following, however, are important, fixed dates:

 

Week 1	Jan 16-19	Course introduction; Majoring in English
Week 2	Jan 22-26	Majoring in English; Choosing the focus of your project
Week 3	Jan 29-Feb 2	Individual conferences with Dr. Williams on Tuesday (no class). Conducting advanced research in literary studies.
Week 4	Feb 5-9	Due: First seminar project
Week 5	Feb 12-16	Stephen Greenblatt field trip on Feb 12
Week 6	Feb 19-Mar 23	Due: Second seminar project
Week 8	March 5-9	Due: Third seminar project
Week 9	Mar 12-16	Due: Spring Break! No classes
Week 11	Mar 26-30	Due: Fourth seminar project
Week 13	Apr 9-13	Capstone presentations to class
Week 14	Apr 16-20	Capstone presentations to class
Week 15	Apr 27	Capstone presentations to faculty
Week 16	April 30	Portfolio with Capstone Paper and Exit Essay due

 

 

Course Policies

 

Accommodations: To request accommodation for a disability, please contact the Office of Disability Services (CLC 107, 503-5123) and see the course instructor as soon as possible.

 

Student Conduct for the Classroom

A Member of the USC Upstate Community of Scholars

• Displays personal and academic integrity.

You are honest, truthful, and trustworthy. You do not lie, cheat or steal. You do not present others’ work as your own or collaborate with others without acknowledgement or permission from the faculty member.

• Accepts responsibility for actions.

You do not blame others for academic consequences resulting from your own decisions and behavior. You follow established policies and procedures in the USC Upstate Catalog, the USC Upstate Student Handbook, and course syllabi.

• Respects the rights and dignity of all persons.

You are courteous and respect the rights and property of others. You do not harass, demean, ridicule, abuse, threaten or discriminate against others.

• Maintains a learning-focused attitude.

You are engaged in the classroom and other learning environments, both on and off campus. You are on time, prepared and alert. You participate until the faculty member in charge dismisses the class.

• Refrains from conduct that adversely affects others.

Your conduct is appropriate for learning. You do not enter the class late or leave early without permission of the faculty member. You follow the instructions of the faculty member regarding talking or using cell phones, pagers or other electronic devices in class. You do not use threatening, demeaning or inflammatory language.

• Follows the specific requirements of faculty members.

You meet the behavioral and academic expectations of your instructors recognizing that these standards will often vary.

 

Academic Integrity & Plagiarism: From USC Upstate Student Handbook

 

“The Academic Honor Code”:

 

Students are required to properly acknowledge sources as follows: students may not present as their own ideas, opinion, images, figures, languages or concepts of another, including those of other students. Students must acknowledge all sources such as magazines, journals, internet sites, records, tapes, films and interviews. The common specific uses of source material are:

 

Direct Quotation: Word-for-word copying of a source. A direct quotation must be accurate, must not misrepresent the source in any way and must be properly acknowledged.

 

Paraphrase: A recasting into one’s own words material from a source, generally condensing the source. A direct quotation with only a word or two changed, added or omitted should not be passed off as a paraphrase. A paraphrase restates the source but does not misrepresent it and must be properly acknowledged.

 

Use of ideas: The use of an idea from a source must be properly acknowledged, even when one’s application of that idea varies from the source.

 

Use of figures, tables, charts, statistics, images, photographs and other similar sources: These items must be fully acknowledged, and any changes must be clearly indicated. . .

 

. . .[A]ny kind of help (except that permitted by an instructor) in the preparation of a project . . . must be fully acknowledged. Papers and other materials [copied or] bought from ‘term paper writing services,’ if submitted as the work of anyone except the writing service, constitute a violation of the principles of this document.                                      (94)

 

BE AWARE: The consequences of plagiarism range from a grade change to expulsion.

 

Sanctioned Writing Assistance: The University Writing Center (HPAC 136) provides free individual tutoring in writing. Consulting a UWC tutor does not constitute plagiarism.

 

Course Calendar Details

 

Tuesday, January 16

• Introductions: to the course and to each other. Why did you major in English? What do you intend to do after graduation?
• Complete these assignments for the next class meeting and be prepared for discussion:
• Print a copy of your college transcripts and separately list all of your English courses. Make some notes (from memory, if necessary) on the readings and assignments you completed for these course:
• Read the USC Upstate academic catalog’s description of the English major and familiarize yourself with the department’s offerings and the major’s requirements.
• Conduct the same research at other schools by reading the catalogs of at least 10 other colleges and universities. Your selection strategy should be threefold. First, choose some nearby schools: Clemson, USC Columbia, Furman, Wofford, Converse. Next, pick a mixture of the “flagship” institutions of nearby states and private schools in those state: for example, the University of Georgia, Emory University, the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Davidson, the University of Virginia,or the University of Tennessee, Vanderbilt University. Finally, look at schools from some other parts of the United States: for example, the University of Kansas, the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, the University of Washington. How do their offerings and requirements differ from ours? Be prepared for this research process to take a few hours.

 

Thursday, January 18: How English is organized as an academic discipline.

• Discussion of what we’ve learned by surveying other schools’ requirements.
• Discussion of the courses that you’ve taken and the associated readings and assignments.
• Complete these assignments for the next class meeting and be prepared for discussion:
• Think about the gaps in the coursework you’ve taken in English.
• Conduct preliminary research: Pick what you consider to be the most significant gap and survey the most important writers, texts, topics, and approaches for that area.
• For next week, read the following essays (available through course website):
• Jonathan Culler, “Imagining the Coherence of the English Major”
• Lawrence Schwartz, “The Postmodern English Major: A Case Study”
• Alan Shepard, “Gumbo? On the Logic of Undergraduate Curricula in English Studies”
• Timothy Peltason, “Making the Case for Literary Education”
• Katie Conboy, “What Can You Do with an English Major?”
• Peter G. Beidler, “What English Majors Do Out There, How They Feel about It, and What We Do about It”
• Dorothy Z. Baker, “After the English Major”

 

Tuesday, January 23

• Discussion of essays by Culler, Schwartz, Shepard.
• Assignment:
• Continue your research into the most important writers, texts, topics, and approaches for the area you consider to be the most significant gap in your coursework.

 

Thursday, January 25

• Discussion of essays by Peltason, Conboy, Beidler, Baker.
• Complete this work before your individual conference with me.
• Sign up for a specific time to meet on Tuesday, January 30.
• Generate at least three different ideas for a Capstone Project. How does each idea fill a gap in your literary education so far? Which faculty member would you choose as your outside reader for each project and why?
• Be prepared for at least 15-20 minutes of discussion in which it is your job to convince me of your proposed projects’ merit.

 

Tuesday, January 30

• Individual conferences with Dr. Williams to discuss your project.
• No class meeting. Take this time to conduct your research.

Thursday, February 1

• Conducting advanced research in literary studies.
• Complete these assignments for the next class meeting and be prepared for discussion:
• First Seminar Project Paper + preparation for presentation

 

Tuesday, February 6

• Presentations: First Seminar Project
• Due: First Seminar Project: Biography

 

Thursday, February 8

• Presentations: First Seminar Project