SPE 386P:
Language, Culture, and Communication
COURSE SYLLABUS
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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Description
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Instructor
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Required readings
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Requirements
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Grading policy
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Ethical standards
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Additional information
Description
Unique number: 06065.
Days: Mondays.
Time: 3:00-6:00.
Goals:This course is designed so that students will study some
key theoretical texts in language, culture, and communication. Particular
attention is paid to exploring the relation between theories of language
and theories of social interaction.
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Instructor
Name: Madeline M. Maxwell, Ph.D.
Office: CMA 7.120. Jesse H. Jones Communication Center
Office hours: Mondays and Wednesdays 2:00-3:00, Thursdays 1:30
- 3:30, and by appointment. E-mail seems to work well for messages and
arranging appointments. Or leave a message on the bulletin board on my
office door, on my telephone voice mail or in my department mailbox in
CMA 7.114 and I will call you back. Please come by and see me often during
the semester
Phone & voice mail: 471 1954.
mmaxwell@utxvms.cc.utexas.edu
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Required reading
Books:
Pierre Bourdieu, Outline of a theory of practice. 1977.
Jerome Bruner, Acts of meaning. 1990.
Kenneth Gergen, The Saturated Self. 1992.
Erving Goffman, Frame Analysis. 1986.
William Hanks, Language and communicative practices. 1996.
George Lakoff and Mark Johnson, Metaphors we live by. 1983.
Other articles and chapters will be assigned, according to student interests.
And there will be a number of websites associated with the different authors.
Check back here for the links:
Metaphor in Scientific
Thinking
Center for the Cognitive
Science of Metaphor Online
George Lakoff, Metaphor
and War
February 28:
Kenneth Gergen, The Saturated Self
George Herbert Mead, The
problem of societies: how we become selves
March 3:
George Herbert Mead, The
Genesis of the Self and Social Control
The
Mechanism of Social Consciousness
The Bakhtin
Circle
March 27:
John Gumperz, Language
and the communication of social identity
Erving Goffman, Presentation of Self in Everyday life excerpts:
pp.
208-212
pp.
22-30, 70-76
Some ideas about Activity Theory
What
is Activity Theory?
Activity
Theory - An Introduction
Activity Theory and
Cultural Psychology
April 24:
Dell Hymes, The ethnography of speaking
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Requirements
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Paper. A paper about some theoretical ideas in the course.
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Homework. Two or three one-week homework assignments.
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Attendance. Regular attendance and active participation at all class
meetings.
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Responsibility. A seminar that includes the class assignment and
some background reading done independently. The presention should include
questions and comments that concern theory, assumptions, examples, logic,
and conclusions.
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Grading policy
An "A" is awarded to outstanding, unusually fine work. Outstanding work
means that the student not only masters the material, knows the details
of assigned reading and of class presentations, but goes beyond the bounds
of memorization to integrate, apply, critique and reflect on the facts
and ideas presented. A grade of "B" is awarded to above average, strong
work that reveals these same qualities but is perhaps less consistent or
less thorough.. A "C" is awarded to work that meets the requirements, with
some ambiguity about its adequacy. A "D" is awarded to work that is sub-standard
but has some merit. An "F" is awarded when work is not completed and when
work is inadequate. The University of Texas at Austin is one of the outstanding
universities in the country. Students succeeding at UT should expect to
stretch themselves to achieve at the standard expected of a great university.
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Ethical Standards
Students at the University of Texas at Austin are expected to demonstrate
the highest ethical standards about their intellectual work and their scholarly
participation. Scholastic dishonesty will not be tolerated and will be
prosecuted
to the fullest extent. All students are expected to have read and understood
the current issue of General Information Catalog, published by the
Registrar's Office, for information about procedures and about what constitutes
scholastic dishonesty.
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Additional Information
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There will be no class on March 13 for spring vacation.
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You should attend the lectures by 6 guest speakers who are expected to
visit the department: Eusebio Alvaro, Monique Mitchell, Virginia Gill,
Rajiv Ramal, Patricia Covarrubias, and one other.
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Anyone who hears of lectures, find a good web site, or see a magazine or
newspaper story related to our class topics is asked to share it with us.
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Spring 2000
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24 December 2000
The College of Communication
The Department of Speech
Communication
University of Texas at Austin
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Travel Texas Tours.
Send comments or inquiries
to Madeline Maxwell