Spring Courses @ The Library - Seats Open!

Seats are still available in NDL 201 - Reading Workshop, a .25 credit pass/fail course offered by library faculty that meets half a semester on Wednesday afternoons, from 2:30 - 3:50. Students read and discuss a book together, read a book of the student's choice, write a review of their chosen book to share, and reflect on their personal reading tastes. The purpose of this course is to enjoy reading and to prepare students to choose their own reading material after college as part of lifelong learning and personal identity.

Barbara Fister will teach a section of this course in the first half of the semester. The book we'll read together is Zeitoun by Dave Eggers, a book about a man living in New Orleans who stayed behind when Katrina hit. It's a compelling story about his experiences in the flooded city, his eventual arrest and detention, and how his family tried to discover what had happened. It offers a lot to talk about, including how we as a people respond to disasters, both natural and man-made, how Arab-Americans are viewed in post-9/11 America, what is just, and what it means for an individual to do the right thing. We'll also talk about how to tell true stories in a way that does justice to the complexity of truth.

In the second half of the semester during the same time slot, Anna Hulseberg will teach another section of NDL 201, with Amy Chua's Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother as the common reading. This book about "extreme parenting" raises questions about how families interact, what the role of parents should be, and cultural differences that shape family dynamics. It's a funny, sometimes disturbing, tender, and controversial book about "a mother, two daughters, and two dogs" and "a bitter clash of cultures." It should provide interesting fodder for discussion.

Spring Courses @ The Library

Library faculty are offering four courses this January and spring. Jeff Jenson's January IEX course on genealogy has already filled, but you still have a chance to sign up for these spring courses.

NDL 201 - Reading Workshop is a .25 credit pass/fail course that meets half a semester on Wednesday afternoons, from 2:30 - 3:50. Students read and discuss a book together, read a book of the student's choice, write a review of their chosen book to share, and reflect on their personal reading tastes. The purpose of this course is to enjoy reading and to prepare students to choose their own reading material after college as part of lifelong learning and personal identity.

Barbara Fister will teach a section of this course in the first half of the semester. The book we'll read together is Zeitoun by Dave Eggers, a book about a man living in New Orleans who stayed behind when Katrina hit. It's a compelling story about his experiences in the flooded city, his eventual arrest and detention, and how his family tried to discover what had happened. It offers a lot to talk about, including how we as a people respond to disasters, both natural and man-made, how Arab-Americans are viewed in post-9/11 America, what is just, and what it means for an individual to do the right thing.  We'll also talk about how to tell true stories in a way that does justice to the complexity of truth.

In the second half of the semester during the same time slot, Anna Hulseberg will teach another section of NDL 201, with Amy Chua's Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother as the common reading. This book about "extreme parenting" raises questions about how families interact, what the role of parents should be, and cultural differences that shape family dynamics. It's a funny, sometimes disturbing, tender, and controversial book about "a mother, two daughters, and two dogs" and "a bitter clash of cultures." It should provide interesting fodder for discussion.

Students might also be interested in NDL301: Information Fluency. This .5 credit course, which will meet Tuesdays from 2:30 to 4:20, is designed to give students interested in going to graduate or professional school—or who simply want to know more about research—an immersion in the structure of the literature of their chosen field and exposure to research tools and collections. Students will conduct a literature review on a topic of their choice and will analyze aspects of their discipline’s traditions, compare them to traditions in other fields, and explore the social and ethical dimensions of research. It sounds a bit dry, but it's actually fun. Students who are working on a major research project in another course may find this class helpful.

If you are interested in NDL301 but have a conflict with the Tuesday afternoon meeting time, let the instructor, Barbara Fister know (fister @ gustavus dot edu). We can find a time that works so that you can take the course by arrangement. 

photo courtesy of Alfred Hermida.

Another Spring Course: Information Fluency

As we have done for several years, the library will again offer NDL 301: Information Fluency. (You can get a sense of what the course is about by checking out last spring's blog and course pages.) As it says in the catalog,

This course will give students interested in going to graduate or professional school -- or who simply want to know more about research -- an immersion in the structure of the literature of their chosen field and exposure to research tools and collections. Students will keep a research log and develop an extensive literature review for a research question of their choice. Shorter projects will require students to analyze aspects of their discipline's traditions, to compare them to traditions in other fields, and to explore the social and ethical dimensions of research.

It meets Tuesdays in the library from 2:30 to 4:20. If that time doesn't work, it can be taken by arrangement. Contact Barbara Fister (fister @ gustavus dot edu) for more details.  Generally students have enjoyed this course because it's discussion-based, small, and fits nicely with other courses that require lots of research.

New Spring Course: NDL 201: Reading Workshop

 

We are offering a new course (.25 credits) in which students will read and discuss two or more books, including a contemporary work of fiction or non-fiction announced in advance and a book chosen by the student. The book being discussed this spring is The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. It has been praised in many quarters and raises important questions about science, race, and the progress of medicine. (It's also a corking good read.)

In addition to reading and discussing this book, students will publish reviews of the books they choose to read individually to a book-related social network, will reflect on their own reading histories and practices, and will explore the place of books and literacy in contemporary culture. The course will be taught by Barbara Fister and will meet Wednesday afternoons in SSC 202 from 2:30 to 3:50 for the first half of the semester.

Can't fit it in? Keep an eye out for future Reading Workshops. If it's a success, we hope to offer it regularly.

Spring Course Offered

Once again, the library will offer a .5 credit course, NDL 301: Information Fluency, in the spring semester. This course is focused on how information is produced, how it is handled by libraries, and how different disciplines use it. It is intended for students planning on graduate school, or who are simply interested in honing their research skills. Last year's syllabus information can be found in the links on the right-hand side of this class blog:
http://infofluency.wordpress.com/

It meets Mondays from 2:30 to 4:30, but can also be taken by arrangement if that time doesn't work. For more information, contact Barbara Fister (x7552 or fister@gac.edu).