Read the first four definitions from Williams's Keywords (art, common, communication, creative) and the two chapters from Carey (both excerpts are in the packet). In reading through the definitions (which are dense, maybe a little dry), pay attention to how the words intersect in meaning. Also pay attention to the ways in which these words, as concepts, have changed in meaning over the years/centuries.
[Note that you want to read, before class, everything that's listed for a given week.]
Bring your assignment (2 pages) to class to hand in. I might ask some of you to share your questions with the rest of us.
Remember to pick your first three choices for the week of your group presentation. On the day of your presentation, you and your fellow team members will briefly present each of the readings and ask a few questions to get us going. You will also bring to class some relevant examples (artifacts, instances, reports) that intersect with the readings in some way. For example, you and your group may go to a spoken word poetry reading and come to class with some stories and analysis. Or you may scour campus for advertising slogans or other "signage" and then report on these as examples of "performative" language. Or you may present a website that deals with social issues addressed in a reading.
The basic idea behind the presentation assignment is to come to class prepared to lead (or at least help lead) class discussion and to bring examples "from the wild" that you think are relevant to the course theme and to communication studies in general. This should be a fun and relatively painless activity, so let me know if you have any questions, concerns, or misgivings and we'll work them out.
Looking forward to class this week!
