Keep a record of ALL YOUR OWN WORK in your
journal. The journal will become a clear record of your reading in the library,
surfing through SAC [ID], and studying other course materials
and completing exercises defined in week-by-week listings in the course ACADEMIC
CALENDAR. The journal is of distinct importance and use to you because = YOU WILL BE ALLOWED TO CONSULT YOUR JOURNAL AT EXAM TIMES The journal will contain the following four types of entries = (1) notes on journal-worthy course exercises The Journal serves as the most important gauge of your work. Table of Contents of this Explanatory Page =
Thoughts about
"Reading" in the Academic Setting [Hop to new page then return] --- Do not record lectures in your journal. Put lecture notes
in the separate lecture notebook. Lectures are MY WORK. Do feel free to record
in your journal all work that is follow-up from lectures. You should use lecture
notes to guide further SAC or library reading which you may then
record as YOUR WORK in your journal. --- Some course exercises will be completed within one week, some will stretch
through the whole term. Some of the exercises (like number one, "purchase the
journal") obviously require no entry in the journal. Others (like the MAP ROOM
tour) do call for a written record. Be smart
about what is most journal-worthy in the exercises, and use your nine hours of
work outside class wisely. The week-by-week readings in SAC and the
library do require constant attention, and should be entered in the journal from
the early days to the end of the term. The Academic Calendar in the course webpage
syllabus suggests readings
for each week, but you will want to combine these broad or comprehensive readings with titles
you come across in SAC [ID]. The journal provides an opportunity for
thoughtful and careful reading of primary documentation [ID]
as well as quick reference to secondary monographs and certain general reference
works (including a textbook or two on reserve). Here are
five paragraphs from the SAC instruction page
that explain the presentation of primary and secondary sources in SAC entries. How much should you read and write? There's enough suggested in the syllabus and
in SAC to occupy a lifetime. So, the answer is this = limit yourself to nine
hours of course work outside of class time. Not everyone will read the same things, but everyone has
a chance to become closely acquainted with the general topics raised in the
syllabus and to explore individual interests as well. Put in the time, and
you'll be happy with the results. I guarantee it. Take guidance from lectures, and follow your own interests and instincts. Branch
out on occasion to these suggested readings embedded in SAC entries, especially
when you come across them as you follow LOOPS
suggested in the course webpage syllabus. Here we touch on one of the most difficult
but useful skills this course will ask you -- and the journal will allow you --
to cultivate. Work constantly to familiarize yourself with the central issues of the course, as
defined by me, by the syllabus, and in SAC. But at the same time, develop your
own interests, guided still by me, by the syllabus, and in SAC. Follow my lead
without losing your own identity. You could describe this skill as an ability to
adjust to your environment but also to thrive individually. Table of Contents and
Bibliography Work on the the journal-worthy exercises
should be entered in the order you do them. For example, you may take
up one exercise on a sequence of journal pages, interrupt it with work on
another, recorded on the next sequence of journal pages, then take up the
original exercise again on a third sequence of journal pages. This works for you
and for your reader (me) because your Table of Contents, kept as a register of
your work in the first several pages of the journal, will provide guidance to
work on any given exercise, even when it is distributed over several different
sections of your journal. Typically, the Table of Contents will list exercises,
weekly topics (as indicated in the course ACADEMIC CALENDAR) and/or titles of
the readings you have done, listed in the order in which you do them. You may integrate your list of readings (your
"bibliography") with the table of contents or keep a separate list. In either
case you may use SAC abbreviations or codes [see Glossary]
or devise your own. These abbreviations or codes make it easier to indicate
sources while you write journal entries, draft essays or exams. Organize your reading and
writing as you wish, but you need not expand your time commitment. The
standard 9 hours/week can be distributed over any number of different reading
and writing schedules,
but if you deviate much from the broad outline in the syllabus, be sure to come
see me, so I can help you alter your reading/writing plan, and so I can make a
note in your journal to remind me of your particular variation on our general
syllabus. I will read your journal and the results of
your work on exercises at least three times. The course syllabus
specifies those "due-dates" or deadlines. I will not expect all exercises to be complete
as of first or second submission, but I will expect to find the results of your
progress in that direction, guided by your excellent table of contents. Notice "at least three times"
above. I am very happy to look at
journals more often on a simple advisory basis. I invite you to come see me with
your journal during office hours or by appointment, as often as you like. I do
know that this library, internet and journal based course is very different from
what you might be familiar with. I'm confident you can do it, but I also know
that I can help you to get untracked and adjusted, especially in these early weeks. Come see
me! You know or
will soon learn how to pace yourself. Steady work is good, about 9 hours per
week, but sometimes you will have reason to give more time one week than the
next, etc. --- You will have some spare change this term because you are not purchasing a high-price textbook. Buy a
photocopy card at the library and use it regularly. You might consider placing photocopies or electronic cut-and-paste versions
of important texts and maps in your lecture
notebook or in a third packet of photocopy course materials. Under no circumstances may you bring "cut-and-paste" word-processing or
photocopy print-text taken from printed sources into the exam
room. Feel free to put photocopy outline maps in
your journal. You may fill these outline maps with as much hand-written
information as you wish. An
outline map filled in by you can be called YOUR WORK and belongs in the journal.
[Here's
an example of a good outline relief map of Eurasia.] I recommend that you learn to sketch
outline maps yourself, and that you do so occasionally in your journal. This is a good way
to consolidate your grasp of relevant geography. In turn, grasp of geography seriously
expands your ability to remember the events that take place on the geo-physical
"stage". Remember that your outline or hand drawn maps can include dates and other key words. DO NOT INSERT IN YOUR JOURNAL MAPS WITH LABELS OR
NARRATIVE PHOTOCOPIED FROM OTHER SOURCES. --- It is wise to photocopy your journal to create a
"backup" copy. A good time to photocopy your journal would be just before
submitting it to me. At the time of the second submission to me, copy the pages
since the last copy was made. Etc. If for some reason the original is lost, you have a copy to
fall back on. --- A central concept here is this: When you
"process" information from a source through your eye and onto the blank page by
hand, while in the process of analysis and synthesis of the information, you
will remember it better, you will "make it your own". And your journal will
preserve a record of that work, for me to see, but for you to see and use for
years to come, perhaps. And that's what I want you to do with the history before us in this course =
MAKE IT YOUR OWN. The Golden Rule of the journal is
this: Record everything in it that you think you might find useful when
you write midterm and final exams. Record everything you
need in order to compose draft essays.
Record your work on each journal-worthy enumerated assignment in
the course syllabus.
YOU WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO CONSULT YOUR LECTURE NOTEBOOK AT EXAM TIME
(2) notes on readings [ID]
(3) draft-essays [ID]
(4) Exams [ID]
Your Journal and Your Lecture Notebook are Different
What Should
You Enter in the Journal, and How Much?
The Journal's table of contents and bibliography
When is the journal due?
Start Your Own Library of Copied Material
Become Map Savvy
Make a Backup Copy of Your Journal
Final Words on the Concept of the Journal
Your journal and your Lecture Notebook are different
What Should You Enter in the
Journal, and How Much?
Start Your Own Library
Photocopy or "cut-and-paste" into word-processing text, as you will.
But Don't Put These in the Journal.
Remember = The Journal is a Record of Your Own Work
Make a Backup Copy of the Journal
Final Words on the Concept of the Journal
