CSUS Announcement
2011-2012 American Studies Undergraduate Discussion Group: “How I Read”
This online discussion group is part of larger conversations about critical reading in the humanities and social sciences. There is no single way to perform critical reading. For many practitioners in American Studies, this means reading the same text multiple times in several different ways. In this regard, "reading" is really just a broad term for a whole set of different techniques and methods. A skilled reader has a diverse set of critical reading methods they use to help make different types of information noticeable, and aid in generating new ideas and new lines of research. Consequently, the purpose of this group is to provide American Studies students with a forum to discuss their own experiments with critical reading methods. Such experiments might include new ways of “mining” a text, or the making of personal reading “systems” that concentrate the act of reading around a specific goal, object, or task. Over the course of the year, students will begin to develop a versatile set of critical reading methods that will help them to adapt to any
reading situation.
Our discussion will be guided by two animating questions:
(1) Can the act of “reading” be updated, re-designed, or innovated?
(2) How do different reading practices produce different cognitive effects in the mind of the reader?
As part of tackling those two questions, this studentorganized initiative aims to be a lively and playful site of undergraduate research, exchange, and dialogue. All current UofT American Studies students and recent graduates are welcome to join at any point during the year.
If you would like to join or have any questions, please contact the Coordinator, Lauren Kilgour, email: lauren.kilgour@utoronto.ca.
COURSES
Undergraduate Program in American Studies
Uniquely positioned to study the United States from a cross-border perspective, and drawing on the expertise of the more than 75 faculty at the University of Toronto with an interest in the United States, the American Studies undergraduate major and minor program is designed to provide students with a broad, yet deep, education about the United States. To ensure breadth, students are required to take an interdisciplinary core course that ranges widely both with respect to the themes covered and disciplinary perspectives applied. As well, the program offers a wide selection of courses from participating departments and programs in the Faculty, giving students broad exposure to fundamental themes of American life. The American Studies Program relies heavily on upper-level courses.
The courses for 2011-12 are now on-line!
See the above link to 'core courses'.
