Reading and Writing Culture:
A Course for Study Abroad Returnees
Instructor: Jennifer Hirsch, Ph.D.
Lecturer for the Northwestern University Department of Anthropology and Director of the Chicago Field Studies Program
I. Course Description
This course is designed for students who have studied abroad during college and wish to continue learning about their host country and reflecting on their experience. Students will share their insights and experiences with each other through class discussion as well as through various personal and analytical writing assignments. They will also read and discuss articles related to the theory and practice of cultural analysis. Course readings will come primarily from anthropology and will revolve loosely around the theme of “cross-cultural encounters.”
Through these exercises, students will develop the intellectual tools for thinking about their study abroad experience and cultural issues in general from deeper and multiple perspectives. They also will gain a broader understanding of a variety of cultural and social phenomena in different regions of the world. In addition, students will explore a few particular issues about their study abroad countries in depth. Finally, since the course focuses on writing as the medium for reflection and analysis, students will also develop and strengthen their writing skills, through varied writing assignments that will involve extensive instructor feedback, peer review, and re-writes.
Most of the assignments in this class will involve researching particular phenomena related to students’ study abroad countries. Students will be encouraged to examine topics that they would like to pursue further, through a senior thesis, independent study, fellowship, or postgraduate studies.
II. Course Goals
Through reading, writing, discussion, and library workshops, this course aims to help you do the following:
- • reflect personally and intellectually on your study abroad experience
• use your personal experiences to think more deeply about your study abroad country
• examine your study abroad country in relation to other countries and regions of the world—particularly the U.S.
•- continue to learn about your study abroad country through cultural analysis and research.
III. Readings
For this class, you should purchase either Tonderai or Learning to Bow; the class coursepack from Quartet Copies; and The Craft of Research, 2nd Edition.
IV. Assignments, Instructor Meetings, and Presentations
The course is divided into three units, each of which involves written assignments and presentations. Assignments are as follows—with graded assignments in bold:
Unit 1: Reflecting on Study Abroad
In this unit, you will write two Reflection Papers of 3-5 pages each. The papers will be written as creative non-fiction and will use the readings for the day as a basis for reflecting upon meaningful aspects of your study abroad experience. In this unit, you will have one required meeting with Jennifer, after writing your first paper but before writing the second one.
Unit 2: Studying Culture: Globalization and Cross-Cultural Flows
In this unit, you will write a Cultural Analysis Paper of 5-7 pages that focuses on a cultural phenomenon of your choice related to a particular aspect of globalization in your study abroad country. In this analytical paper, you will draw on personal experience and minimal library research. You will write a draft and a final paper. The draft will not be graded, but you will receive feedback on it from your classmates in a small group writing workshop held in class. Group members will read each others’ drafts in advance and complete Peer Review Forms (ungraded). You will have one required meeting with Jennifer to discuss your draft. During the unit, you will also complete a few other assignments (ungraded) that will help you choose a topic and focus for your Cultural Analysis Paper.
Unit 1 & 2 Presentations (ungraded)
You will be responsible for presenting your assignment and facilitating class discussion one time during Unit 1 or Unit 2 (not both). Students who present during Unit 1 will read their Reflection Paper for that day to the class and then facilitate class discussion. Students who present during Unit 2 will prepare a presentation with their co-presenter. They will choose a reading related to the day’s topic to assign to the class and then facilitate a discussion using key concepts from the day’s readings (including both the one they assigned and the readings assigned by Jennifer) to think in new ways about their and their classmates’ study abroad experiences. Students are encouraged to be creative!
Unit 3: Researching Culture in Comparative Perspective
In this unit, you will work in small groups to research particular issues related to your study abroad countries. Each group will be assigned one issue, and the issues will be determined together in class. Your group will lead a Class Discussion during this unit, based on 2-3 articles related to your topic that you choose. At the end of the unit, your group will do a Group Presentation exploring your issue cross-culturally, within and between your study abroad countries. You will also write an individual Research Paper of 7-15 pages plus an Annotated Bibliography focusing on a narrower question related to your group’s issue, as it relates to your study abroad country. During the unit, you will write a draft of your Annotated Bibliography and a draft of your paper. Drafts will not be graded, but you will receive feedback on them from your classmates in small group writing workshops held in class. Group members will read each others’ drafts in advance and complete Peer Review Forms (ungraded). In this unit, your small group will have one required meeting with Jennifer to discuss your Group Presentation and your ideas for your Research Papers. You are also encouraged to submit a second draft of your Research Paper to Jennifer to discuss in an individual meeting.
Personal Reflection
At the end of the quarter, you will write a Personal Reflection of 3-4 pages reflecting on the relationship between your study abroad experience and what you have learned since returning home.
UNIT 1: Reflecting on Your Study Abroad Experience
Topic/Activity |
Read for Class |
Assignments & Notes |
Introduction to Course and |
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Discussion 2 Presenters |
Student Essays 1st 1/3 of Tonderai or Learning to Bow |
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2 Presenters |
2nd 1/3 of Tonderai or Learning to Bow |
1st Reflection Paper due in class and by email to me |
6 Presenters-Small Group Workshops |
Complete Tonderai or Learning to Bow |
1st Reflection Paper due in class and by email to me |
Discussion: Identity, Home, Belonging 2 Presenters Wrap-Up |
For Library Workshop: “Writing a Research Proposal or Paper-Sections A. & C.” (coursepack); The Craft of Research, Ch. 6 |
2nd Reflection Paper due in class and by email to me
|
UNIT 2: Studying Culture: Globalization and Cross-Cultural Flows
Topic |
Read for Class |
Assignments & Notes |
Unit 2 Introduction: Globalization Theories |
Inda & Rosaldo (theory), Piot (Togo), Bellier & Wilson (EU) |
Cultural Mixing Assignment due in class (ungraded) and by email to me |
Popular Culture 2 Presenters |
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Popular Culture Assignment due in class (ungraded) and by email to me |
Immigration, (National) Identity 2 Presenters |
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Immigration/Identity Assignment due in class (ungraded) and by email to me |
Interlude…Preparing for Unit 3
Unit 3: Research Paper—Topics and Research/ Writing Process |
The Craft of Research, Ch. 3-5 |
Reflect on your study abroad experience, your host country, and the last two units. Jot down notes on 2-3 issues you would be interested in researching in this unit. We will determine the issues in class today. |
Unit 2 Conclusion
Small Group Workshops |
Read for your paper |
UNIT 3:Researching Culture in Comparative Perspective
Topic |
Read for Class |
Assignments & Notes |
Group-Led Discussions: 1-Politics & 2-Education |
Group-Led Class Discussions: 40 min. each No articles; send email to everyone 1 day before with questions to think about in advance |
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Group-Led Discussions: 3-Race/Immigration & 4-Religion |
Group-Led Class Discussions: 40 min. each No articles; send email to everyone 1 day before with questions to think about in advance |
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OPTIONAL: Field Trip to Polish community in Chicago |
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Formal Group Presentations: 1-Politics & 4-Religion |
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Formal Group Presentations: 2-Education & 3-Race/Immigration |
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Small Group Workshops: Drafts |
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Wrap-Up/International Potluck Lunch |
Student Essays |
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Reflection Papers for Unit 1
You must write two Reflection Papers assigned in Unit 1. Each paper should be 3-5 double-spaced pages. For weeks that you do not write a Reflection, you should still think about the assignment in relation to the readings and be prepared to share your thoughts in class.
Formatting guidelines for all papers in this class:
- • Title your paper
• Number the pages
- • Staple pages together
- • Proofread! Grammar and spelling count.
For your first Reflection Paper: choose a topic from these choices
- • Relate a meaningful moment from the book to a meaningful moment from your experience.
• Discuss an object that was meaningful to you abroad (either an object from your host country or from somewhere else—as long as it relates to your study abroad experience).
• Discuss a place that was meaningful to you abroad (either a place in your host country or somewhere else—as long as it relates to your study abroad experience).
• Discuss a meaningful interaction that you had with a local person.
• Discuss a meaningful article/book/movie related to your host country and why it is meaningful.
• Focus on a topic inspired by a classmate’s essay that you read or listened to in class. State the topic at the beginning of your paper.
This Reflection Paper should relate to a single passage or section of Tonderai or Learning to Bow; reference it at the beginning of the paper or within it. Also, at the top of each paper under your name, write the topic that you chose.
For your second Reflection Paper: choose a topic from these choices
-
• Discuss a time when you felt “foreign,” or a time when you felt like a “local,” or a time when you felt both.
• Discuss a time/place/experience that made you think of home and explore the connections.
This Reflection Paper should relate to a single passage or section from the readings for January 17; reference it at the beginning of the paper or within it. Also, at the top of each paper under your name, write the topic that you chose.
Presenting Your Paper in Class
If you are scheduled to present your paper in class—either to the entire group or to a small group—jot down notes in advance on the following questions:
- • How did you decide to write on this particular experience?
• Were there other sections of the readings or parts of your experience that you originally considered writing about?
• What was most enjoyable about writing this Reflection Paper?
• What was most challenging?
• What aspect of this paper do you find is not yet resolved? In other words, what do you think needs improvement?
The students listening will then take a few minutes to jot down notes on the following questions:
- • What was your favorite part of the paper and why?
• What do you want to know more about?
• What does this paper make you reflect on regarding your experience abroad or your study abroad country?
We will then discuss the paper as a group. You will begin discussion by talking about what it was like to write the paper and how you feel about it now—using your answers to the first set of questions above as guidelines. The goal of the discussion will be twofold: 1) to give the reader feedback on her writing, and 2) to discuss issues and feelings arising from the paper, as they relate both to the reader’s and listeners’ experiences and study abroad countries.
Guidelines for Reflection Papers:
The purpose of this assignment is for you to discover and demonstrate the depth of your experience by exploring the minutiae of your everyday life abroad. Meaning will be found by paying attention to details and nuances—you want to show the reader what your experiences abroad were like rather than “preaching” about them. For example, if you want to explain how you felt uncomfortable with your host family when you first moved in but then came to feel like part of the family by the end, you don’t want to just say this—you want to show it by writing in depth about one or two of the experiences that you had with the family that demonstrate distance and then closeness.
So…focus on the details of the experiences you write about. Try to describe how people, places, or things looked, smelled, sounded, etc. Look back at your photographs, emails, and journal entries, and talk to your friends who were abroad with you to try and reconstruct scenes. When applicable, try to incorporate dialogue to make scenes come alive on the page; think back to conversations and try to reconstruct them.
It is these details that I will be looking for when I read and grade your papers, in addition to your writing style (does it flow smoothly, does it have a particular style—e.g., analytical or poetic/emotional, is the grammar correct). Re-read some of the student essays that we read at the beginning of Unit 1 for examples of A-level writing.
Here are a few more things to pay attention to when writing your Reflection Papers:
• Good creative non-fiction draws the reader in right from the beginning. Try to think of opening dialogue or quick anecdotes or stories that will make the reader want to keep reading—scenarios that raise some kind of interesting question.
• Your paper should have a theme; it should not just be a series of semi-related reflective thoughts. Relatedly, your paper should include some analysis—of the situations you describe, of your own feelings, etc. This is what “reflecting” means—not just telling a story, but trying to figure out some deeper meanings within it.
• Part of the assignment is to ground your paper in a single passage or section from the reading. Don’t forget to do this! This will help you incorporate analysis (see bullet point above).