Topic:
Introduction: Americans & "Foreign" News Instructor: Jack
Lule On this page are the assignments for Monday of Week One. DEADLINES: As noted on the Schedule, each week I will post reading and writing assignments by Monday, 7 p.m. and Thursday, 7 p.m. Each week, you should have the assignments that are posted Monday completed by Thursday, 7 p.m. You should have the assignments posted Thursday completed by Monday, 7 p.m. No doubt this is a good deal of reading and writing. But by establishing a good, regular online work routine, you should be able to complete the assignments -- and come to grips with important, interesting material. WEEK ONE, MONDAY: In a summer seminar, my first goal for the first day is to go through the syllabus, introduce myself, have the students introduce themselves, and discuss how the class will be organized and conducted. Those goals are particularly important for the first day online so I'd like to follow that format. READ SYLLABUS: First, if you haven't read through the various syllabus topics on the class home page, please do that and see if you have any questions. Make sure you understand the proper way to register for the course; how assignments will be posted; the importance of regular online conference participation; how you'll be graded and evaluated. If you have any questions, just email me at jack.lule@lehigh.edu. Your browser may allow you to send email from the Web. If not, just use your usual email method. REGISTER AT DISCUSSION SITE: Next, I would like you to go to our Blackboard/Course Info online discussion area. The URL address is: You will want to bookmark this address if you use one computer regularly. You can also get always get there from the class home page. The discussion site is easy and fun, once you get to know it. You will first have to register with Blackboard, if you haven't done so already. You should use your 4-digit Lehigh id as your username (such as jlb5 or bgt6) and also your Lehigh password. Once you log in, Blackboard will show the Lehigh courses for which you are registered. Click on our course. Although Blackboard has the capability of hosting syllabi, dropping off papers and things like that, I use my own courses pages and email for that. We will only use the Discussion Board. Use the class home page for all schedules and assignments. Send all assignments via email. Go to the Discussion Board. I will post different topics, usually on our Monday-Thursday schedule. You will see them arranged by date as you scroll down. Click on the day's topic. You can read any new messages from me or your classmates. You can "Reply" or keep reading the "Next Message." If you hit "Reply," you will be contributing to that "thread." If you want to create a new thread -- bring up another idea for the day -- you should hit OK at the end of a message and it will bring you back to the Discussion Topic. Then you can click on "Add New Thread." INTRODUCE YOURSELF: Your next assignment for this preliminary first day is simple. Click the Topic that says, "Introductions," I would like you to do just that. Click "Add New Thread" and write to us. Provide the class with a screen or so of introduction. Tell us who you are, where you're from, where you're taking the class from, your major, your class, your likes and dislikes, the name of your dog, and anything else that seems pertinent. I will do the same. RETURN OFTEN OVER THE NEXT THREE DAYS TO READ OTHER POSTINGS: You should provide your introduction as soon as possible and then before Thursday, 7 p.m. return to the conference often to read about your classmates and me. You can respond to classmates (although it's not necessary for Introductions) by hitting Respond. This will put your message under theirs, in the same "thread." Or you can hit OK, go to the Topic area and make a new "thread."
******* 2) For our discussion assignment, I want us to begin thinking about U.S. news coverage of international affairs. Especially since the end of the Cold War, U.S. coverage of international affairs seemed to have dropped dramatically. Newspapers and networks closed foreign bureaus. After September 11, with the U.S. military action in Afghanistan, the second Gulf War, and the subsequent occupation of Iraq, the turn away from international news seems very short-sighted. Are American news media -- and Americans -- rediscovering the world? To understand the issues, you have three tasks: a) I would like you to read a thoughtful article, "Bureau of Missing Bureaus," from the the American Journalism Review. The article discusses the future of foreign news on television, especially in the aftermath of September 11. The link will take you to the article at the American Journalism Review site. In case that site is down, I have put a copy of the article at my site. (I saved this article in Microsoft Explorer and Netscape doesn't "read" it well. If you need to read the copy, open up the Explore browswer and come back to this page.) I also would like you to see a funny, satirical essay: "Americans Annoyed by 'All This International S***' on Internet." Warning: the essay obviously has some profanity. But it is funny. b) Once you have read these articles, I would like you to send me an email message that discusses the main points of the readings. Take a screen or so and tell me what you have learned. c) Once you have thought about these issues, please go to our online discussion area, http://bb.lehigh.edu, select our topic of Americans and international news, and address these questions: What do you think: Are Americans uninterested in international news? Why or why not? Do you think U.S. networks were correct in closing down expensive news bureaus since Americans didn't seem interested in international news? Let's update the articles: Has the war made you and your friends more interested in international news? If you come from another nation or have spent time in another country, definitely compare U.S. citizens with your own experience. Just write a screen or so. Tell us what you think and why. Make reference to the readings if you can. GRADES AND DISCUSSION BOARD To get a solid B grade for your conference discussion, you should post three times. You should write once early, in the next day or so, responding to the assignment and making reference to the readings. Then during Wednesday and Thursday, you should post twice more, commenting on one or more of your classmates' postings. If you do less than that, your grade ultimately will suffer. To get an A, you should be contributing and commenting more frequently. You should be reading and responding regularly to classmates. Some people write 5-10 comments per assignment. This is an online seminar. An ongoing, thoughtful dialogue is our main goal. You should know: The bulletin board software keeps track of how many times you come to the bulletin board, when you visit the site, how many postings you read and how much time you spend reading and writing so you will always get credit for your work. If you do this well, we will have an in-depth, wide-ranging discussion of the issues. Indeed, I have found written conference discussions to be much more thoughtful and thorough than similar "in-class" talks. And with that, your first few days of online class will be complete. Congratulations! I think you'll find online learning to be interesting and fun. See you in cyberspace. Remember: we never close. return to J/IR 246 International Communication |
