English 104

“To understand and present other cultures, you will need to practice the crafts of engaged reading, listening, speaking, and researching – and the art of writing about your findings in clear and engaging prose” (Fieldworking xiii).

Our fieldworking experiences this semester will help you become a better reader, listener, researcher, speaker and writer. During your fieldwork over the semester, you will observe closely the place itself, the people there, and the language they use. You will interview participants or leaders of your group and in addition to your research in the field, you will use traditional library sources for background on the activities you are observing. Another skill you will learn in this course is how to pull together various parts of your research into a paper that is longer than most papers you write; therefore, your fieldwork project will aid your development as a researcher and writer. All of the above mentioned skills will help you in your future career fields. Most fields require you to observe, interview, and write about what you learn in one way or another.

You may pick your own culture to engage with throughout the semester. The only requirement is that the culture must be, in one way or another, connected to the university. (We will discuss this more in class.) Since each of you will be picking a different culture, you will be teaching the class about your culture throughout the semester. We will be doing a lot of writing and rewriting in and out of class, as well as sharing our writing to help others learn and grow in their skills.

Let’s get started!

Blog site: http://eng104fieldworking.blogspot.com/

If you have any questions throughout the semester, please get a hold of me :

nicaswell@bsu.edu
Office: RB 265
Office Phone: 285-0033
Office Hours: TBA