Bill Wolff, PhD

Associate Professor, Communication, Film, and Journalism, Saint Joseph's University, Philadelphia, PA

core2s14 course schedule

About the Schedule

All readings are to be completed before class. The schedule is subject to change; please make sure you are checking it regularly. Some assignments are due between class meetings to allow time for students to read drafts and to facilitate assessment.

January

Week 1: 1/21
Assignment for the first meeting
Introductions, syllabus, on creative research, set up research blogs
Hand out Research Blog and Twitter Live-Tweeting and #c2mondays assignments
Assignment for 1/28

Week 2: 1/28
Junod; Nutt; Ross; Siebert; and Wallace, “Shipping Out”; Nelson (emailed)
On Twitter: Atwood, Johnson, and Silver. Added: Learning Record links

February

Week 3: 2/4
pages (updated 1/29) 2 – 33, 40 -56, 62 – 76, 107 – 114, 121 – 188 from 2014 Writer’s Market and Writer’s Market in your project area, full Query Letter book; Ann Patchett excerpt from her new book, This is the Story of a Happy Marriage
Hand out Semester-long Research Project and Research Proposal Assignments
Friday 2/7: Research Proposals or Query Letters due on research blog by 11:00pm

Friday 2/7: Order free business cards no later than this day so they can arrive in time for field research.

Week 4: 2/11
More on Twitter; Readings on Qualitative Research and Research Ethics: Creswell, Christians; IRB and CITI Certification discussion; IRB Sample (.pdf)
Learning Record Parts A1 and A2, 4 Observations due

Week 5: 2/18
Gubrium, PostModern Interviewing: Intro, Chapters 2, 4, and 7; article on internet research: “Ethical decision-making and Internet research 2.0: Recommendations from the AOIR ethics working committee” (.pdf); Discuss Research Topics
Hand out Leveraging Twitter for Research
CITI Ethics course completed by class time

Week 6: 2/25 — Meet in James Hall 2110
Gubrium, PostModern Interviewing: Chapters 9, 10, 12, 13
Library databases and Zotero
Hand out Drilling Down Through the Sources assignment
CITI Ethics course completed by class time

March

Week 7: 3/4
Meet Rowan Boulevard Barnes & Noble for fieldnotes practice
Emerson, Fretz, and Shaw, Writing Ethnographic Fieldnotes: Chapters 1 and 2; Horowitz pages 1 – 138 (it’s a quick read)
barnes-and-noble-fieldnotes.pdf
Hand Out Midterm Learning Record assignment

Week 8: 3/11
Emerson, Fretz, and Shaw, Writing Ethnographic Fieldnotes: Chapters 3, 4, and 5; Pink, “Photography in Ethnographic Research”; Horowitz, pages 185 – 210, 241 – 265
Debrief fieldnotes experience; discuss source types
Bring student center fieldnotes to class
Hand out Fieldnotes, Interviews, Lookings, and Reflections assignment
Interview Areas, Interviewees, and Interview Schedule due on Research Blog

Friday, 3/14 Sunday, 3/16: Midterm Learning Record Due

Week 9: Spring Break March 17 – 21

Week 10: 3/25
Discuss project status as a group
Interview Areas, Interviewees, and Interview Schedule due on Research Blog

April

Week 11: 4/1 — Class Canceled for Research Conferences

Week 12: 4/8 — Class Canceled for Research Conferences

Week 13: 4/15
Discuss project status; revisit initial feature readings

Monday, 4 /21: Rough Drafts of final project and query letter due via Dropbox by 3:00pm

Week 14: 4/22 — Class meets in the classroom
Workshop drafts in class
Hand out Final Learning Record guidelines
Research analysis and final submission guidelines

Week 15: 4/29
Last day of class; class party; evaluations
Reflecting on creative research and composing
Final Project Due

Week 16: Tuesday, 5/6
Final Learning Record
due via Dropbox by 11:00pm
Evidence of project submission to publication due