First, a few housekeeping details:
Course announcements
- ASSIGNMENTS UPDATE: I’ve dropped the 2nd written assignment. Instead, the points for that will go to either the 1st assignment or final exam: whichever one is your highest grade.
- Additional discussion board post: read/comment on this post on one of the essays in chapter 11 (critical thinking) by May 24 for credit!
- Scroll down this page for final exam logistics
- Zoom office hours on Monday 5/17 from 6-8 PM. Drop in using the link here.
Study break/Events
- Event: Malcolm X birthday commemoration. Livestream of the ceremony @ the gravesite from 11 AM-2 PM. Watch the stream here
- Event: Black Power march on 125th St for Malcolm’s birthday. Rally @ 12 noon; march along 125th St. from 1-4 PM. Details at the December 12 Movement’s website.
Need another fall course?
- Contemporary Urban Writers (ENG 229) meets synchronously online Tu/Th 3:30-4:45 PM. It’s a writing intensive survey of Puerto Rican, Dominican, and Black writers and their views of the city. Details and fuller description at the course website.
- African American History (AAS/HIS 245) meets synchronously online Wednesdays from 6-8:40 PM. Details and fuller description at the course website.
- US Latin@ Literature (ENG/AAS 339) meets synchronously online Thursdays from 6-8:40 PM. Details and fuller description at the course website.
Quick highlights from Week 15 (5/12)’s class:
- Covered chapter 8 (Black Economics) in Maulana Karenga’s Introduction to Black Studies.
- Lecture notes in the usual spot. This includes some exam prep info.
- Zoom wait music: KRS-One and Boogie Down Production’s “Love’s Gonna Get’cha (Material Love).” On Youtube
- Break music: Pharaoh Sanders’s “Balance” from Izipho Zam. On Youtube.
Final Exam Info:
- The final exam will be posted on the Final Exam page and the format will be a single essay question. You’ll have a choice of topics.
- The exam will be visible starting on Sunday morning May 16th
- There is no time limit
- Format will be a single essay question. You’ll have a choice of questions
- You can complete and return it anytime between Sunday May 16 and 11:59 PM Wednesday May 19
- Submission will be via a Dropbox upload link on the Submissions Page, like we’ve used for papers all semester
- Topics will be limited to what we’ve covered in chapters 6, 7, 8, and 10
Read my guide to final exams, “Zen and the Art of Finals” (PDF), which will help you begin to prepare for our final (and hopefully others as well). It summarizes much of what is usually in my prep sessions.
Remember the materials to help you review on this website:
- Scroll through the weekly posts for a quick overview of the entire semester’s work (and reading questions)
- My own Lecture Notes
- Your own weekly discussion board posts
Help/ questions: I’ll be prioritizing exam-related emails this week. Please use the subject line “Final Exam Help” for finals-related questions only. I’ll respond within a couple of hours during the daytime and almost immediately between 6-8 PM Monday and Wednesday evenings. Simple questions will be quickest to answer: I might ask you to call me on Zoom if it’s too much to sort out.
Office hours Zoom: No more Zoom class meets (obviously), but I’ll have Zoom office hours on Monday 5/17 from 6-8 PM. Drop in using the link here.
Read my guide to final exams, “Zen and the Art of Finals” (PDF), which will help you begin to prepare for our final (and hopefully others as well). It summarizes much of what is usually in my prep sessions.
See my final exam presentation from the last Zoom session–posted on the Lecture Notes page. (It summarizes what’s in the “Zen and the Art of Finals” PDF file.)
Remember the materials to help you review on this website:
- Scroll through the weekly Course Updates posts for a quick overview of the entire semester’s work (and reading questions)
- My own Lecture Notes
Comments on posts:
Scroll all the way to the bottom of the post for the “Leave a Comment” button below. Here’s how it works: you can use this to discuss points raised here. A few points:
- Your first comment will have to be approved by me: after that, you can comment without approval
- Comments section will only be open to enrolled students
- You have to leave your name (enter as first name and last initial only) so a) I can make sure only people in the class are commenting and b) you get credit for the comment
- Remember to be respectful, especially when responding to classmates
- The comments section closes 14 days after a post goes live
To ‘participate’ in the class, I’d like to see everyone 1) post a substantive comment of their own based on either the reading or my lecture using some of the questions raised or conversation prompts, and 2) to respond thoughtfully to someone else’s comment—not just agree/disagree, but add on evidence or ask a follow-up question. You can also ask a question–for me or others–but that doesn’t count toward your comment and reply needed for the grade. It’s fine with me if conversation continues in a thread as long as it does, but two responses showing a clear engagement with the reading will count for being ‘present.’ Does that make sense? You have two weeks to write those two comments for credit.
End of semester freestyle: We’ve made it (almost) all the way to the end of another semester. It’s honestly been hard for me to concentrate and keep up with everything and I’ve tried very hard, but wish I’d done more/ been more on point / fill in the blank. You’ve all been incredibly patient with me the whole semester and the engagement with my lectures and the discussion boards has really been impressive. I’m trying to return the favor. Right now we’re all learning much bigger stuff than anything I could’ve planned to teach and we’re sorting it out in real time as we learn new ways of being with/ among/ part of each other in New York City. Which I guess really is the point of the class, after all. But I’ll shut up now before this becomes a book. Anyway, thank all of you for being you … and for just being. Sometimesit’s good to think about nostalgic, carefree versions of life as we thought it once was and hope it might be again. Before he became a leading man, Will Smith was half of the duo Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince. Their ode to a carefree, simpler summer resides below. In the words of the late Amiri Baraka, may we “all, all , all, ALL, survive. I wish you … good luck.”