[Linganth] Registration: Online Language & Social Justice Syllabus Workshop (June 23, 1:00-3:00p.m. U.S Eastern Standard Time)

Tue Jun 22 15:43:08 UTC 2021

Hi all, forwarding this in response to Karen Pennesi's question!

Jena

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: 'Kathryn Mara' via AAA Task Group on Language and Social Justice <
aaa-task-group-on-language-and-social-justice at googlegroups.com>
Date: Sat, Jun 19, 2021, 09:17
Subject: Registration: Online Language & Social Justice Syllabus Workshop
(June 23, 1:00-3:00p.m. U.S Eastern Standard Time)
To: lang and social justice <
aaa-task-group-on-language-and-social-justice at googlegroups.com>, Kathryn
Mara <kmmara at wisc.edu>

Hello, all:

Please find below the registration to the Language & Social Justice
Syllabus Workshop advertised previously:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdf_-VUrOX46YuG4zIhbksJvRVsmvNbgBNsM3DrtF5ti4iidg/viewform?usp=sf_link

As a reminder, the workshop will take place on June 23rd from 1:00 to
3:00pm US Eastern time (10:00-12:00 Pacific), and we will discuss best
practices and concrete ideas for syllabi, discuss the real syllabi we use,
and connect with colleagues who will provide helpful, constructive
criticism. ASL interpreters will be provided, as well as automated
captions. Meanwhile, we invite you to prepare for the workshop as follows:

First, review page 8 of the LSJ report (text is copied below) with
guidelines on syllabus design. What is your response to these principles?
Do you have anything to add, emphasize, or modify? What are your thoughts
on concrete and actionable practices for classes? These might include
assignments and research projects; readings and other assigned materials;
and class logistics such as practices of accessibility and inclusivity.

Second, bring your own syllabus (related to language and culture) to share
and discuss with a small group. On June 23rd, be prepared to introduce it
BRIEFLY (3-5 minutes) to a group who will commit to providing thorough,
good-faith, mutual, constructive criticism. Also be ready to provide that
constructive criticism to your group members within 1~2 weeks after the
webinar.

*Start carefully*: the beginning of the course frames the rest of it. Start
with the tone and approach we need; we can work backward toward older
scholarship if necessary.

*Relevance and stakes for students:* begin with and emphasize contemporary
issues close to the concerns of our students (especially for
undergraduates). This means different topics for different populations of
students.

*Adapt to the setting*: for example, contrast regional news reports along
with sociolinguistic work on regional dialect (in the region where we’re
teaching). And incorporate recent news.

*Reorganize (again)*: chronologically earlier parts of our theoretical
canon include a lot of dead white men. We are urged to rethink the
organization of (especially graduate) introductory courses so that they do
not present only dead white men until the very end of the term. To
decolonize our syllabi, we need to craft a historical narrative that is
more inclusive and complex. We are faced here with the task of tracing
those voices from the past which impacted the canon, or which could help us
reformulate a canon.

*Recategorize*: we should consider alternative ways to structure syllabi
other than topics of ‘race,’ ‘gender,’ etc as is common in textbooks.
Alternative categories like ‘identities,’ or even particular places, might
allow us to weave these threads together without artificially dismembering
intersectional realities. And, consider linking ideas together somewhat
independently of their chronological order in history.

*Be critical*: students annotating their readings signals that critique of
canon is welcome. We can also assign critiques rather than (or in addition
to) original works, to further invite students’ critiques.

*Community responsibility*: land acknowledgment is a good thing to include
in a syllabus. And, we can bring in community activists and non-academic
experts into our classrooms (and conversations) and compensate them
appropriately.

*Students’ needs*: being attentive to COVID concerns and the well-being of
students is a matter of social justice. Furthermore, to address needs for
inclusivity and respectful treatment, we should make it clear that all
students are expected to provide their preferred name, name pronunciation,
and pronouns – this should not be optional or extra.

*Cover more authors*: we can consider including more (but shorter) works by
a wider range of authors to ensure that a syllabus does not represent,
e.g., overwhelmingly men.

------------------------------
*From:* 'Kathryn Mara' via AAA Task Group on Language and Social Justice <
aaa-task-group-on-language-and-social-justice at googlegroups.com>
*Sent:* Wednesday, June 2, 2021 3:43 PM
*To:* lang and social justice <
aaa-task-group-on-language-and-social-justice at googlegroups.com>
*Subject:* Online Language & Social Justice Syllabus Workshop (June 23,
1:00-3:00p.m. U.S Eastern Standard Time)

Dear colleagues,

You are invited to an online Language & Social Justice Syllabus Workshop on
June 23rd from 1:00 to 3:00pm US Eastern time (10:00-12:00 Pacific), in
which we discuss best practices and concrete ideas for syllabi, discuss the
real syllabi we use, and connect with colleagues who will provide helpful,
constructive criticism. The Language and Social Justice core committee
members are currently working on making the webinar accessible, including
interpreting and captioning options. We’ll have more details on that when
we send the registration link. Meanwhile, we invite you to prepare for the
workshop as follows:

First, review page 8 of the attached LSJ report (text is copied below) with
guidelines on syllabus design. What is your response to these principles?
Do you have anything to add, emphasize, or modify? What are your thoughts
on concrete and actionable practices for classes? These might include
assignments and research projects; readings and other assigned materials;
and class logistics such as practices of accessibility and inclusivity.

Second, bring your own syllabus (related to language and culture) to share
and discuss with a small group. On June 23rd, be prepared to introduce it
BRIEFLY (3-5 minutes) to a group who will commit to providing thorough,
good-faith, mutual, constructive criticism. Also be ready to provide that
constructive criticism to your group members within 1~2 weeks after the
webinar.

A meeting registration link will be sent in the week of June 7-11.