Migration News

Hey, everyone. Welcome to the course. (Our first order of business is to come up with a cool name for me to call you all. "Migrants" is a bit off, and "Migrationnarrativeanalyzers" is a bit dumb. Extra credit to someone who can come up with a better tag.) I'll be putting announcements on this page having to do with course requirements, changes in these web pages, and other matters. Between this page and the main page, you should get a good sense of what's new and upcoming in the course. So I recommend checking out both those pages every time you visit the course web site--at least once a week.

5/10/02

My office hours for next week are M-F 10:30-4. Come on in if you want to discuss any aspect of the course with me or get feedback on a draft of your comparative essay.

In terms of getting these papers back to you, you may either pick them up from me when you return to campus next semester or include a large self-addressed envelope when you turn them in, so that I can mail them back to you.

It's home stretch time, people! You can do it!

5/7/02

I'm having extra office hours this week--staying past 4:30 on T, W, Th, and changing my Friday hours to be from 10-3. See me or email me if you have any questions about any aspect of the course.

4/30/02

Hopefully this will be my last change to my office hours this semester. I'm attending a conference on Friday, so have to cancel my Th and F afternoon hours. In their stead, I'll be available for extended hours the rest of the week: T 3:30-5, W 1:30-4:30, Th 8:30-9:30, 11-11:30.

4/24/02

I have to change my office hours a bit this week, even from what I announced on the listserv earlier in the week. T was as usual, but today I'm available from 10-2, Th 3:30-5:30, F 12-4.

4/3/02

Hey all, I've changed the syllabus on the main page to reflect the recent changes we agreed on in class Tuesday, after discussing your mid-term course evaluations. I'll change the assignment sheet for the comparative essay in the next two weeks. Look here for details.

3/21/02

Hey everyone, hope you have a wonderful break. Just wanted to gives you a heads-up on a few important matters to consider before our next class meeting.

• First off, congratulations on finishing the second unit of the course! We'll be turning to Mary Antin's autobiography The Promised Land for the first two weeks after break, and relating her approach near the turn of the century to Bulosan's mid-century autobiography as a way of shifting from the "Legacies of Occupation" unit to the "Promised Lands" unit.
• Second, congratulations on getting me your progress reports on your research projects and the mid-semester course evaluations. I'll be reading your reports over break and making suggestions on them, and then we'll meet when we return from break for a mandatory individual conference on your proposal and project. During that half-hour meeting, I can respond individually to your mid-semester course evaluation. (That first class after we return, T 4/2, we'll devote a good amount of time to discussing patterns in your course evaluations, but I want to follow-up individually on what each of you wrote me.) You can reserve a time on the sign-up sheet on my office door any time between now and your return from break. Please be sure to sign up for a time that first week after break, as the next week is course selection week and my advisees will have "first dibs" on my time. Hours available to be signed up for between 4/2 and 4/5 are as follows: T 3:30-6; W 9-12, 2-4; Th 3:30-6; F 9-12, 12:30-3.
• The following week, you will be allowed to sign up for times that my advisees have left open, but only on condition that you sign up for a time on the day after you look for openings. Let me explain what I mean by this. If you come by Friday 4/5 and see that there are slots open on M 4/8, you can sign up for any one of those, but you can't sign up for any times later than M 4/8. The same holds for people who stop by on M 4/8--they can sign up for any open slots on T 4/9, but not any later than that. And so on. This will allow my advisees to get "first dibs" but leave room for you to slip in during times they haven't reserved.... My hours for the week of 4/8-4/12 are as follows: M 9-12, 1-4; T 4:30-6; W 9-12, 1:30-4:30; Th 3:30-6; F 9-12, 1:30-3.

3/19/02

To make up for break cutting off my Friday office hours, I'm extending my T-Th hours. I'll be in my office T 3:30-5:30, W 10-12, 1-5:30, and Th 3:30-5:30. Stop by if you have any questions about the progress report for the research project, the re-vision of the analytical essay, your mid-term grade, or any other aspect of the course.

3/13/02

I've updated the research project assignment sheet to more carefully differentiate between the requirements and expectations for each of the separate options, and to clarify the role of the progress report. Please check it out at your earliest convenience, and contact me with questions that arise, either in or out of class. Thanks!

3/12/02

I've updated the links page to include more pages on all the authors we're reading this semester. For extra credit, you may propose sites to be added to this page that are at least as good as what I was able to find. You might want to focus in particular on Carlos Bulosan, to supplement our class discussions and readings of America Is in the Heart.

I have to restructure my office hours this week a bit. My TTh hours remain the same, but on W I'll only be available to meet from 10-12, 1-3, and F 10-12, 3-4.

3/7/02

I have to change my office hours for F 3/8: due to a meeting, I'll switch them two hours earlier from 2-4:30 to 12-2:30....

2/27/02

Hey all, just wanted to let you know that I have to reschedule my office hours for this coming Friday. Since I have meetings at 3 and 4 pm, I'm changing my F hours to 10 am -12 noon, 1-3 pm.

2/26/02

I've put a rough draft of the page on the research project up on the web site, a bit later than I had intended (see 2/13, below!)--sorry. Now that you've completed the first writing assignment in the course, the analytical essay, you should be turning your attention to the research project. Please come to next class with any questions about the new page you may have, and see me well before the progress report is due (3/21) to discuss possible avenues you might take, genres you might use, and research you might do. Given that the final version is due roughly a week after spring break, it's in your best interest to do as much planning and research before the break as possible. I'm happy to meet with each of you to discuss the project; feel free to make an appointment outside my regular office hours if they don't fit your schedule.

Also, see the main page for a slight change to our schedule in the near future!

2/13/02

Hey folks, I've gotten a first draft of the analytical essay assignment sheet and advice page up and running on the course web site. Please check it out before class and come with any questions you have about the assignment!

I've also put put two pages on the final project: an assignment sheet for the proposal for the comparative essay, and an assignment sheet for the comparative essay itself. Both these pages are under construction and subject to revision, but I wanted to give you a pretty clear sense of what "English"-style writing assignments in the course require as soon as possible. I'll try to get the page on the more experimental research project in good enough shape to be on the site by the end of the week!

2/7/02

Hey all, we're finishing Kingston next week, so be thinking about possible paper topics. People have been doing a great job on their reading responses thus far, but everyone may nevertheless still be interested in checking out the page that gives advice on generating observations and questions--click here for a link to that page! If you have any questions about this assignment, you can email me or meet with me, or just wait for the assignment sheet to be up and running on this site next Monday.

Which reminds me that I'll be in the office till 5 pm today, but have to cancel my office hours for tomorrow due to my travelling to my faculty union's delegate assembly in Albany. To replace those missing Friday hours, I'll be available in the office from 1-4 pm on Monday.

OK, have a productive weekend, and see you Tuesday!

2/5/02

Please email me if you'd like for me to reserve a place for you at either of the library on-line research tutorials I emailed you all about on the course listserv. The two that I thought might be of most use were on "Internet Searching Skills" (2/12, 6-7:30) and "English" (2/28, 5:30-7).

1/31/02

Hey folks, due to a department meeting, I have to curtail my office hours tomorrow a bit. Since I have to take off at 3, let's say I'll be there (Fenton 240) from 1-3 pm.

1/29/02

Hey, folks! The web site is beginning to come together. Not all the links are working, but the main, links, reserves, and listserv pages should be, with more to come on-line soon. I've fixed a few typos in the main page, but made no substantive changes to what's on your syllabus. If any do arise, I'll announce them here and in class. OK, that's about it--see you later today!

HON 203/208/228: American Migration Narratives, Spring 2002
Created: 1/29/02 11:57 am
Last modified: 5/10/02 3:08 pm