HIST 104 News

You likely have noticed that there are two graduate teaching assistants listed at upper left of the home page of this course, HIST 104. Here's the deal as to duties and responsibilities.

Jeff Armstrong, you already have observed, has been filling the job of wingman--attending all class sessions, handling the projection, taking care of logistics. He also has substantial grading responsibilities. He picks up your written assignments from the lists and reports grades on them back to you. In addition, he will be one of the main graders for major exams.

The other is the guy you don't usually see in class, Jim Sele. His primary responsibility is to keep the class register and report grades. So, when you have questions about grades and standing, see or write him. Sele also will join in to do substantial grading on exams.

Me, I'm mainly the content guy, while Armstrong and Sele handle course adminsitration, but my biggest grading task is reviewing the email transactions and evaluating everyone's participation.

Including some repeat announcements. . . .

3pm Friday 25 January, Hultz 104
Jenny Thorson, NDSU, "Effect of Maternal Nutrition on Foaling Parameters"
(I list this as an example of the many department colloquia going on across campus, any of which could be used for the CC assignment. In this case, a good example of the sort of practical science TQ envisioned in a democracy.)

7:30pm Tuesday 29 January, Beckwith Recital Hall
Keith Bear, American Indian flute player

6pm Friday 9 February, Shepperd Arena
Little Internationalist Agriculturalist Show

Coming up late February - Little Country Theater production of Pterodactyls - stay tuned!

I'm crossposting this from an email I received.--TI

"Love and Law: Interracial Relationships in U.S. History."
January 22 at 12:30 PM - Arikara room of the Union
A presentation by Larry Peterson

This week's Anti-Racism Tuesday event will be January 22 at 12:30 PM in the Arikara room of the Union. Larry Peterson, Dept. of History, will present "Love and Law: Interracial Relationships in U.S. History." This presentation will provide an overview of the tangled legal and social history of how laws and society tried to regulate interracial relationships in America. It will begin by examining colonial laws and conclude with cases such as Loving v. Virginia (1967) in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled anti-miscegenation laws in sixteen states were unconstitutional and Lawrence v. Texas (2003) in which the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the sodomy conviction of an interracial same-sex couple.

Matthew Pullen, of our class, was kind enough to draw my attention to an online source of sound files of chapters of Tocqueville, here--

http://librivox.org/democracy-in-america-vol-i-by-alexis-de-tocqueville/

This is nifty. You may find these useful to make your own podcasts. I'm going to download, adapt, and use the files with credit myself, eventually producing something a little more streamlined for class support. Thanks, Pullen!

Noon Wednesday 13 Feb, MU Room of Nations
"Analyzing the Influence of the 'N' Word"
Multicultural Student Services staff

Noon Monday 10 Mar, MU Arikara Room
"Ideal Leadership: Minority Women in Higher Education"
Panel of four faculty & staff

Noon Wed 12 Mar, MU Arikara Room
"Defining Ideal by Getting Real"
Dr. Ellen Chaffee, President Valley City State University

By now, all of you should be enrolled in a listerv discussion group for Alexis de Tocqueville's Democracy in America. If not, email me asap. You should also have read TQ's introduction and Ch. 20, but please begin the discussion with a brief introduction of your own to your fellow group members. Participation in your group will be evaluated on an individual and collective basis and will constitute a major part of your grade for the course. To keep up with class and discussion schedules, consult the calendar at: http://www.ndsu.edu/instruct/isern/104/calendar104.htm on the webpage. I am available before and after class, by email, or by arranged meeting to discuss any problems or questions you might have with the class.

Jeff Armstrong,
Graduate Assistant

Now and then I post here notices of upcoming events that would be good ones for filling the "Cultural Currents of the University" assignment. Here's one. 7pm Monday 28 January, Keith Bear, Mandan-Hidatsa storyteller and flute player, in Beckwith Recital Hall.

Whoops! A couple of people have notified me that the calendar is not up to date. Then I noticed that some other pages as posted are not properly revised, either. My mistake; I did the revisions while traveling and forgot I hadn't posted them. I'll sort it out tonight and get the current pages posted. Thanks for your patience. In the meantime, go ahead and look around, as the pages are substantially correct, they just need updating here and there.