ENGL 1030: Literary Studies Abroad
3 credit hours

Course Description:

In Literary Studies Abroad, students explore the literary and cultural legacy of selected foreign destinations (which change yearly) through reading, discussion, research, and writing. Students will explore the fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and film associated with the foreign destinations, as well as the societal, cultural, philosophical, and historical forces that influenced their development. 

Although the course may complement the annual literary study abroad tour available to all students each summer (a tour with destinations paralleling the unique course content specific to that semester, respectively), the course is designed to stand alone as an enjoyable exploration of storied landscapes for the armchair traveler, as well.

As can be observed from the layout of the modules, topics, and their respective assignments, the course is itself designed as a kind of journey through our featured destination—intended both to inspire the armchair traveler and to prepare the physical traveler who will eventually visit that region or culture. 

Course Objectives:
As a result of class instruction, students will . . .

§         Engage not only in the exploration of a destination’s literary legacy, as represented in text and film, but come to regard travel as an apt metaphor for the joy of exploring literature itself.

§         Develop an understanding and appreciation for the cultural venues and points of interest unique to the particular destination/region.

§         Understand the society’s literary contributions as they are reflected in its culture.

§         Use critical thinking skills to analyze, interpret, and discuss selected literary and film selections associated with a particular country, region, or culture.

§         Analyze, interpret, and discuss how the societal, cultural, philosophical, and historical contexts of the particular destinations influenced the development of the literary and film selections.

§         Use online collaborative activities to interact within a community of learners, actively engaging and fostering others in their analysis and appreciation of literature and the power of place.

Prerequisites and Corequisites:

Students must have completed English 1010 before enrolling in this course, as interaction through critical writing and research comprise a large portion of this course's content.  Students will have the option of joining the instructor on the Literary Studies Abroad tour to the foreign destinations paralleled by the unique literary and film selections specific to that region (which will have been studied in that specific semester).  However, travel to the foreign destination is not required for the completion (or the enjoyment) of this course.

Course Topics:

Specific Course Requirements:

To complete this course successfully, students should have mastery of the college-level reading, writing, and research skills taught and developed in ENGL1010.

Required Textbooks:

Craig, Patricia, ed. The Oxford Book of Travel Stories.  New York: Oxford University Press, 2002. (This text will be used each time the course is taught, regardless of destination/focus.)

Fussell, Paul, ed.  The Norton Book of Travel. New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 2000. (This text will be used each time the course is taught, regardless of destination/focus.)

Eyewitness Travel Guide to ________ (Destination for that year).  Dorling Kindersley Publishing. (This series will be used each time the course is taught, although the specific volume/destination will change each year according to the destination/focus.)

Please visit the Virtual Bookstore to obtain textbook information for this course:
http://rodp.bkstr.com

Hardware Requirements:

There are no special hardware requirements for this course other than those of the Regents Online Degree Program. The minimum requirements can be found at http://www.rodp.org/students/hardware_software.htm.

Software Requirements:

In addition to the minimum requirements listed at the following web site (http://www.tn.regentsdegrees.org/students/hardware_software.htm), students will need to download the free versions of Real Player and Acrobat Reader. Students must use a word processing system that will allow them to save files in Rich Text Format (RTF).  Microsoft Word 97 or higher versions, for example, will allow this. 

In addition, students must provide the instructor with an additional email address that exists outside of the WebCT email that is used inside of the RODP course.  This additional email is merely a backup to be used in case the WebCT email is temporarily down.  Students can sign up for free email accounts by visiting such sites as www.yahoo.com or www.hotmail.com.

Instructor Information

Since different instructors may be teaching different sections of this course, please see the separate page inside the course to find the instructor’s contact information, as well as a statement of virtual office hours and other communication information.

Grading Procedure:

Grading Scale:

900 - 1000 pts = A
800 -  899 pts = B
700 -  799 pts = C
650 -  699 pts = D
Less than 649 pts = F

Assignments and Projects:

Travelogues – 250 points

Students will develop and participate in two “travelogues” throughout the course of the semester.  Variously defined in our culture as everything from a simple log of sites visited to an individual’s record of the encounters, events, and impressions he or she experiences during a journey, our “travelogues” will involve both individual and collaborative elements.   

As you may have observed from the layout of the modules, topics, and their respective assignments, our course is set up as a journey itself through the literary landscapes of our featured destination—intended both to inspire the armchair traveler and to prepare the physical traveler who will eventually visit that region or culture. 

In keeping with this conceptual framework of a journey, the travelogue will provide students with the opportunity to interact closely with the texts of writing and film, to synthesize their impressions, to express their discoveries, and to research the cultural dimensions of the featured destination—for the benefit of themselves and others (as these travelogues will be shared). 

Elements of the travelogues may also provide material for further development into the “Story of a Place” Project which will represent the culminating assignment of the course. Although many more specifics will be given as the course progresses, know that each travelogue is worth 125 points for a total of 250 points.

Reading Quizzes – 150 points

Students will have three online reading quizzes early in the semester over the weekly reading selections from The Oxford Book of Travel Stories and The Norton Book of Travel (these readings are not specific to the literary region which the course will focus on that semester, but they rather prepare students for the destination-specific material they will read later in the course). Each quiz will be composed a combination of multiple choice, matching, true-false, and short answer questions.  Each quiz is worth 50 points for a total of 150 points. 

Class Discussions – 400 points

Students will respond to ten discussions throughout the course of the semester.  Although the purpose, scope, and “personality” of discussions vary from course to course, please know that discussions form a critical and central component of this course—hence the weight they are given in the grading scheme. Participating in the class discussions is vital not only in earning full credit per discussion, but also because interacting with others helps students maintain a strong learning community—an element especially crucial to success in an online course such as this. 

Furthermore, the exploratory nature of this course and its potential for creativity will make the discussions one of the most enjoyable and rewarding aspects of the class for involved “post-ers” and readers! To receive full credit for each discussion, students must provide accurate, thoughtful, well-supported, in-depth responses to the original posting.    Each discussion is worth 40 points for a total of 400 points. 

“The Story of a Place” Project – 200 points

This creative research project/student presentation will give students the opportunity to synthesize their discoveries, cultural research, and personal interaction with various written and visual texts into the culminating achievement of their “journey.”  Although many more specifics will be given as the course progresses, know that the cumulative components of “The Story of a Place” Project are worth, in total, 200 points.

Class Participation:

To be successful, students must take an active role in all interactive aspects of this course.  The discussions, travelogues, reading quizzes, and other components of the course have been specifically designed to encourage frequent interaction both with the instructor and with other members of the online learning community.  Not only is class participation vital in earning full credit, but interacting with others helps students maintain a strong learning community and foster an environment that is more rewarding and enjoyable for all!

Punctuality:

Although the online learning environment allows students to be self-directed and independent learners, the course framework and deadlines are designed to ensure that students maintain weekly contact with their instructors and fellow learners, as well as be prepared at each step along the way.

Because this course provides many opportunities for collaboration, punctuality is essential in maintaining a vital community.  Thus, late assignments are neither excused nor accepted (except under extreme circumstances for which formal documentation can be provided).  As every assignment is described fully within the first week of the semester, and as every module is open and available for an entire week, at minimum, students have every opportunity to submit work on time—both for the benefit of themselves and others.

Guidelines for Communications

Email:

• Always include a subject line.
• Remember without facial expressions some comments may be taken the wrong way. Be careful in wording your emails. Use of emoticons might be helpful in some cases.
• Use standard fonts.
• Do not send large attachments without permission.
• Special formatting such as centering, audio messages, tables, html, etc. should be avoided unless necessary to complete an assignment or other communication.
• Respect the privacy of other class members

Discussion Groups:

• Review the discussion threads thoroughly before entering the discussion. Be a lurker then a discussant.
• Try to maintain threads by using the "Reply" button rather starting a new topic.
• Do not make insulting or inflammatory statements to other members of the discussion group. Be respectful of others' ideas.
• Be patient and read the comments of other group members thoroughly before entering your remarks.
• Be cooperative with group leaders in completing assigned tasks.
• Be positive and constructive in group discussions.
• Respond in a thoughtful and timely manner.

Chat:

• Introduce yourself to the other learners in the chat session.
• Be polite. Choose your words carefully. Do not use derogatory statements.
• Be concise in responding to others in the chat session.
• Be prepared to open the chat session at the scheduled time.
• Be constructive in your comments and suggestion

Web Resources:

• Columbia Guide to Online Style by Janice R. Walker and Todd Taylor
• Citation Styles Online http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/online/cite6.html

The Tennessee Virtual Library is available to all students enrolled in the Regents Degree Program. Links to library materials (such as electronic journals, databases, interlibrary loans, digital reserves, dictionaries, encyclopedias, maps, and librarian support) and Internet resources needed by learners to complete online assignments and as background reading must be included in all courses.

Qualified students with disabilities will be provided reasonable and necessary academic accommodations if determined eligible by the appropriate disability services staff at their home institution. Prior to granting disability accommodations in this course, the instructor must receive written verification of a student's eligibility for specific accommodations from the disability services staff at the home institution. It is the student's responsibility to initiate contact with their home institution's disability services staff and to follow the established procedures for having the accommodation notice sent to the instructor.

The instructor reserves the right to make changes as necessary to this syllabus. If changes are necessitated during the term of the course, the instructor will immediately notify students of such changes both by individual email communication and posting both notification and nature of change(s) on the course bulletin board.

Telephone Support:

If you are having problems logging into your course, timing out of your course, using your course web site tools, or other technical problems, please contact the AskRODP Help Desk by calling 1-866-550-7637 (toll free) or go to the AskRODP website at: http://help.rodp.org