English 85055 :: Fall 2009

Course Objectives:
Course explores the relationship between academic and non-academic literacy, focusing on relationships between academic and nonacademic literacy, focusing particularly on those relationships that pertain most centrally to transitions that undergraduate and graduate students make from post-secondary institutions to workplaces.  Also examined are the ways in which the academic-nonacademic distinction mirrors, reproduces, and complicates larger cultural assumptions about literate practices and how people "learn" those practices.  More specifically, the course examines--as a way of complicating specific transitions-- "sites" in which the academic-nonacademic distinction is or can be problematized: home environments;  practices found inside and outside universities; [other non-academic] contexts of literate practice (including religious, civic, and corporate contexts); discourses of crisis and their implications for the conduct of post-secondary educational institutions; assessment practices and the assumptions those practices imply; how critical theory and critical ethnography might illuminate the nature of hidden curricula, gender bias, racism, and ideology.

For Fall 2009, this seminar begins with an exploration of the current "literacy" or "core" crises and the discourse of crises. We will then read extensively to create a taxonomy of the research and public (research versus public?) conceptualizations of literacy in the classroom, in the workplace (and other sites), and finally, we will turn to "new literacies" to locate the residue of the academic/nonacademic debates, particularly for implications for post-secondary literacy curricula.

Learning Objectives: Seminar participants will 1) become familiar with the history of literacy as it pertains to the emerging distinctions between academic literacy (schooling) and nonacademic literacy, particularly after the "social turn" in literacy studies; 2) become familiar with the concepts, discourses, key arguments surrounding literacy in a broader social context as well as in the specific context of school-to-work transitions; 3) prepare to do research in school-to-work, community/schooling, or "new literacies" in the schools sites.

Texts:
Cook-Gumperz, J. (2006.) The Social Construction of Literacy. 978-0521525671
Cushman, Ellen, et al. (2001.) Literacy: A Critical Sourcebook. 978-031225042-3
Heath, Shirley Brice. (1983, paper 2006.) Ways With Words. 978-0521273190
Lankshear, Coling and Michele Knobel. (2006.) New Literacies: Everyday Practices & Classroom Learning. 0-335-22010-X
Russell, David. (2002.) Writing in the Academic Disciplines: A Curricular History. (2nd ed.) 978-0809324675
Selber, Stuart. (2004.) Multiliteracies for a Digital Age. 978-0-809-325511
Tyner, Kathleen. (1998.) Literacy in a Digital World: Teaching and Learning in the Age of Information. 978-0805822267

Background & Supplementary Texts:

Duin, A.H. & C. Hansen. (1996.) Nonacademic Writing: Social Theory and Technology. 978-0805816280
Albright, J. & A. Luke. (2008.) Pierre Bourdieu and Literacy Education. 978-0805856870
Goodman, S., et al. (2003.) Language, Literacy and Education: A Reader. 1-858562880
Street, B. (1993.) Cross-cultural Approaches to Literacy. 978-521401678
Jones, Turner, Street (1999.) Students Writing in the University. 1-556193866
Collins & Blot. (2003.) Literacy and Literacies: Texts, Power, and Identity. 0-521593565
Geisler, C. (199x.) Academic Literacy and the Nature of Expertise: Reading, Writing, and Knowing in Academic Philosophy. 978-0805810677
de Castell, Luke, and Egan. (1986.) Literacy, Society, and Schooling. 0-521308445

Requirements:
As this is a pre-dissertation seminar, participants will conduct seminar sessions, present critical summaries, critiques, as required at each seminar meeting. Student-produced Critical Summaries of additional materials will be posted in Web Vista; students will be asked to participate in threaded discussions in Web Vista as well. Each participant will complete one substantial research paper, which may be based in the participant’s current research if a portion of it is relevant to the seminar topic. Various tasks and percentages are posted in our Blackboard site.

Policies:
We will discuss the expected graduate student behavior, but suffice it to summarize briefly here: professional demeanor and habits, academic integrity, a passion for the work.

University policy 3342-3-18 requires that students with disabilities be provided reasonable accommodations to ensure their equal access to course content. If you have a documented disability and require accommodations, please contact the instructor at the beginning of the semester to make arrangements for necessary classroom adjustments. Please note, you must first verify your eligibility for these through Student Disability Services (contact 330-672-3391 or visit www.kent.edu/sds for more information on registration procedures).

Other University policies regarding registration and academic honesty are posted in the seminar Blackboard site. Please read them.

Office & Hours:
I will meet students before class for consultations, from 3.00 pm to 4.00. I will also be available by appointment at other times in my office (113b; see the Contact page on this site for the list of hours; Ms. Lashua can make appointments for me as well). I respond to simple or substantive queries and requests for appointments via email: raymond.craig@kent.edu. Phone messages may be left at 2-1741.