Saturday, November 24, 2012

Hola from Spanish Mentor Emily Affolter

I have a deep love of Latin America, spending a great deal of my adult life following my passion for Latino/a cultures both geographically and intellectually.  I studied Spanish and Humanities at Scripps College, in Claremont California, pursuing an undergraduate thesis in Post-Revolutionary Feminism in Nicaragua, and went on to work in Nicaragua, Peru, and Mexico in different non-profit capacities. I spent the last four years of my life teaching Spanish (and related cultures) to youth in Seattle, WA, in various school settings.  I traveled as a Fulbright scholar in Mexico and Colombia this past summer, focusing on curriculum development regarding Latino Diasporas. In fall 2012, I have had the privilege of working as a Spanish mentor for several students at Prescott College. I find it a uniquely special opportunity to work intimately with students and help facilitate their language learning process so that it’s personalized and relevant to their lives.

Siempre he amado América Latina, pasando la mayoría de mi vida adulta siguiendo mi pasión para culturas Latinas geográficamente y intelectualmente también.  Estudiaba Español y Humidades en Scripps College, en Claremont California, investigando un tesis en Las perspectivas de mujeres en Nicaragua después de la revolución Sandinista.  Luego, trabajaba en Nicaragua, Perú, y  México para diferentes organizaciones no gubernamentales, en trabajos distintos. Enseñaba español (el idioma y culturas relacionadas) para cuatro años en Seattle, WA con adolescentes antes de venir a Prescott College.  También tuve la oportunidad de ir en una beca Fulbright el verano pasado a México y Colombia para estudiar y desarrollar currícula sobre diásporas latinas. Este otoño 2012, tuve el privilegio de trabajar como mentora de español con algunos estudiantes en Prescott College. Ser mentora aquí ofrece oportunidades únicas de trabajar íntimamente con estudiantes y ayudar a facilitar su proceso de aprender en una manera personalizada y pertinente a sus vidas.

To find out if Emily is available as a mentor for your IS in Spanish, please contact the Learning Commons Coordinator.

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Recipe for a New Language: World Languages I

Way down near the end of the On-Campus Course Schedule sits a description of a course that could change your life. Sure, you enrolled at Prescott College expecting epic adventures and fresh perspectives and by those standards a course titled World Languages I seems a bit tame. Until you start thinking about how much impact learning a new language can have on your life during and after college. 

World Languages I is offered every semester so that you can create an Independent Study course in any of the world's 6,000 languages that you deem necessary to your global citizenship. The ingredients for a successful IS that aims at conversational proficiency in a language other than English are these:
§  Your motivation and commitment to learning a new language. We hear all the time "I've always wanted to learn to speak ____," whether it's a matter of family heritage or simply a desire to connect across cultures. Once you have the drive to really communicate with people in a new language, you're a good candidate for World Languages I.
§  A set of multi-media learning materials and a clear study plan.  Because you won't be in a traditional class led by a teacher, your learning resources and objectives will have to be identified in advance of the IS. The Learning Commons Coordinator helps you put together the best available resources and plan. Her role as instructor of World Languages I is to co-create the IS study contract with you.
§  A fluent speaker of the language you want to study (known as the 'target language'). This speaker may or may not act as the mentor for your IS. The important thing is that we identify a speaker who can meet with you in-person or remotely for at least three hours per week during the semester to converse with you in the target language. The Learning Commons can offer a qualified speaker a small stipend (comparable to a mentor's stipend) even if s/he is not the official mentor for the IS. 
To register for World Languages I in any semester requires the signature of the course instructor. That's because typically each student enrolled in World Languages I has a unique goal and study plan. We have to determine in advance if we have the right ingredients for success in each case. When multiple students want to study the same language at the same level, we put together a small group IS, if appropriate.

World Languages I is offered for lower division credit because it focuses on beginning-level language study only. Students who want to study at the intermediate or advanced levels or who want to do intensive language study abroad should also contact the Learning Commons Coordinator for help. To date we have arranged successful IS courses in Spanish, Russian, Japanese, and French. Which language have you always wanted to learn? 

Sunday, November 4, 2012

How to Write an Outline by Audrey Clark, former PC Writing Coach

Why Outline?
An outline is an ordered list of the main points of your essay.  Outlining helps you define and organize your topic and subtopics so that you bring the reader on a logical journey from your thesis, through your supporting evidence, to your conclusion.  Many writers use outlines to better visualize their ideas and to have a way to share them with others in the planning stage of their writing process.

Before You Outline
  • Define the purpose of your essay.  Why did the teacher assign this paper?  What do you want to learn from this?  What do you want your reader to understand?
  • Define the audience of your essay.  Knowing your audience allows you to focus your paper.
  • Write your thesis statement once you have read the primary materials on your topic. This will take several drafts until you get it just right. To develop a working thesis statement ask yourself: 
What gaps are there in the literature on this subject?
What is controversial or unresolved?
What changes in methods, analysis, or data have occurred that might shed light on a previously studied topic?
What applications are there to another topic that others may not have considered?
What social, economic, or other impact has previous research had in this area?
What unanswered questions do I have now that I have researched the topic?
Why should anyone care about the literature I am reading for this paper?

Once you have a consequential thesis statement, write it at the top of your outline-to-be.

Steps in Outlining
  • Brainstorm all of the ideas you want to include in your paper.
  • Group related ideas.
  • Sequence the ideas in a logical order.
  • Label your ideas with headings and subheadings.  The labels should be precise enough that they help you develop a topic sentence for each section of the outline.  An effective outline is not a list of topics, but rather a framework for a set of ideas.
  • ­Write your outline.
Characteristics of Outlines

Crafting your outline with these four characteristics will help you write more clearly.
  • Parallelism.  That is, the headings should match in form.
  • Coordination.  The headings should all have the same level of significance.  Same goes for the subheadings, which should be less significant than the headings.
  • Subordination.  The headings should be more general than the subheadings.
  • Division.  Each heading should be subdivided into at least two subheadings.
 Level of Detail
Outlines can be simple or detailed, depending on your needs.  A simpler outline might be appropriate if you just need an organization guide and are ready to write.  On the other hand, a more detailed outline can show you gaps in your logic or knowledge.  Probably, the most helpful outline details the main idea of each paragraph, without going overboard.  The trick is to capture the essence of the paper; too much detail as well as too little detail can limit the usefulness of your outline.

Outline Structure
Thesis statement: _________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
1.  Introduction
            a. What is the controversy? Who? What? Why? When? Where?
            b. What analytical tool(s) will be used to analyze it?
            c. What claim(s) will be defended?
2.  Body
            a. Evidence from science/methodology → conclusion
            b. Evidence from the theoretical literature→ conclusion
            c. Evidence from parallel fields → conclusion
            d. Relevance to the analytical model → conclusion
            e. Problems or weakness in the evidence or model
3.  Conclusion
            a. Review and synthesis of the evidence
            b. Appropriateness of the approach to the research question
            c. Call for additional research in specific areas
            d. Restatement of the thesis and its significance
Sample Outline
Thesis statement: The conduct and outcome of the O.J. Simpson murder trial reveals the status of race relations in the United States at the end of the 20th century.
1.  Introduction
            a. What is the O.J. Simpson murder trial? When? Where? Why?
            b. What analytical tool will I use to analyze it?
            c. What claim will I defend?
2.  Body
            a. Evidence from trial transcripts à conclusion
            b. Evidence from media reports à conclusion
            c. Evidence from jurors à conclusion
            d. Relevance to the analytical model à conclusion
            e. Problems or weakness in the evidence or model
3. Conclusion
            a. Review and synthesize evidence and conclusions
            b. Was my approach to understanding the trial appropriate?
            c. What else do we need to know in order to accept my thesis?
            d. Why should we accept my thesis anyway?  Why is the trial significant?

Adapted in part from the Purdue OWL webpages on “Developing an Outline” as follows:
Tardiff, E., & Brizee, A. (2010). Four main components for effective outlines. Retrieved March 25, 2010  
Tardiff, E., & Brizee, A. (2010). Why and how to create a useful outline. Retrieved March 25, 2010
Tardiff, E., & Brizee, A. (2010). Types of outlines and samples. Retrieved March 25, 2010