New Course Proposal

 1.  Department:   WRPR

 2.  Cross-list in Department(s):

 3.  Course Location:   Haverford  

 4.  Course Number:   115A

 5.  Full Course Title:
My Blog, Myself

 6.  18-character Title (abbreviated for transcripts):  
blogwriting

7.  Instructor(s):

ddavis

 8.  Semester:   Fall

 9.  Year:   2004

10.  Division:   Social Sciences

11.  Brief description in Catalog style. (Generally an introductory phrase, followed by several complete sentences.)
A review of self-expression on the Internet, with special attention to weblogs produced in adolescence and adulthood. Students and the instructor will form a friends group using LiveJournal or similar software to construct mutually-linked individual weblogs and will use these to share personal experiences, to annotate and discuss course readings, and to practice more and less structured writing about the psychology of such biographical discourse. Discussions will focus on existing biographical materials available on the Net, on discussions of these by psychologists, and on our own experience of reflecting on each other's writing.

12.  Prerequisites:
None

13.  Publish this course in the Haverford Catalog?   Yes

Expanded Information for the Online Course Information System

14.  Main Readings:
Davis, D. (2003). Milennial Teaching. Academe. McNeill. (2002). Teaching an Old Genre New Tricks. Biography. Turkle, Sherry. (1995). Life on the Screen: Identity in the Age of the Internet. New York: Simon and Schuster. Zuern. (2002). Online Lives. Biography.

15.  Course Requirements:
Freshman eligible for standard writing seminar.

16.  Who should take (or might benefit from) this course?
Students with some experience of and interest in blogging and computer-mediated communication will be most interested in this course.

17.  Further information for online course information (optional):

18.  (If available) Web address of self-maintained course web page where students will be able to find a full syllabus. (EPC would be pleased to see a draft of your syllabus, if you have one. In that case, please put it in the EPC folder on Storage):
http://d2blog.typepad.com/psych_311/ (eventually)

19.  URL of instructor's web page (if available):
http://www.haverford.edu/psych/ddavis/d2vita.html

Additional Information for EPC

20.  Is there a recommended enrollment limit?  Yes

21.  If so, what is the proposed limit:  15

22.  Is the proposed limit determined by pedagogy, seating space, or some other constraint?
pedagogy

23.  Please explain how the limit fits within a departmental plan that maintains sufficient access for students to departmental courses.
Standard for freshman writing seminars.

24.  If the course is to be limited, please state your priorities for assignment using data that are available to the registrar (e.g. by class, major, or declared concentration):

25.  Is permanent or temporary approval requested?
  Temporary

26.  How often will the course be taught?
Once

27.  How will the course be staffed?
Professor, laptop, Web

28.  Are any courses being dropped or taught less frequently?
I will not teach my advanced theory course in Personality Psychology (P311A) next year.

29.  Can this course be taken to satisfy the Social Justice requirement (see catalog description)?   No

30.  If so, indicate clearly how the course is designed to address either or both of these concerns.

31.  Is this course to be offered as Writing Intensive?  Yes

32.  If so, indicate clearly how these criteria will be met.
See above

33.  Will the course satisfy the Quantitative Reasoning requirement (see catalog)?  No

34.  If so, indicate how quantitative reasoning will be a focus of the course.

35.  What are the implications of this course for cooperation with Bryn Mawr? Your reply should include the results of consultation with the counterpart program or department, if appropriate. Does this course augment the bi-college curriculum? Is there some justifiable duplication?
None.

36.  How does this course fit into the curricula of related departments or programs at Haverford or Bryn Mawr? What consultation with chairs or coordinators of these programs has occurred?
This change in my teaching for next year has been discussed with and approved by the Haverford Department of Psychology.

37.  Additional notes (optional): “Erotic Computing,” a column for Webster’s Weekly, Brian Knatz ’90, ed.