Welcome to the April 2004 issue of the IU News. The lead story
this month reports on the final session of a four-part professional development
workshop conducted during the 2003/2004 academic year as part of the continuing
partnership between the IU and the Oakland Unified Schools. This series, led
by UCB Professor Alex Saragoza, and conducted under the aegis of Oakland's Urban
Dreams Project, has been reported on throughout the current academic year. Find
links to those earlier stories at the bottom of this month's story, or search
for "Saragoza" in the search-box on the IU main page. Other stories for April
include: a reminder about Cal Day on the Berkeley campus on April 17, a feature
article about Professor Ruth Tringham--principal investigator for IU's Archaeological
Research Facility Project (ARF)--that first appeared in the Berkeleyan, more
stories about the Internet and educational technologies, and our usual list
of upcoming events and opportunities for professional development, both on and
off campus. The lead story is introduced on the IU
Main page and printed in full below. Stories featured in this issue are:
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Urban Dreams: Becoming American
On March 16 in Oakland, OUSD Urban Dreams participants attended a workshop/presentation led by Ethnic Studies Professor Alex Saragoza. This was the fourth and final meeting in a series that began last October, and explored topics related to the assimilation and acculturation process facing Latino immigrants to the United States in the middle decades of the 20th Century.
For the duration of this series, Saragoza and staff from OUSD and the IU have conducted the sessions for a group of about 15 teachers and curriculum specialists, presenting materials and leading discussions focused on political, historical and economic developments taking place in the United States.
With the goal of understanding American cultural shifts and the challenges these presented to immigrants, the series offered teachers varied resources that can be incorporated into high school lessons.
The March 16 session focused on how individuals were able to assess and evaluate the emerging cultural and political definitions of what it meant to be American, as well as what it meant to be other-than-American, during the pivotal period of the 1940s and 1950s. Topics and ideas in the March session stemmed from the earlier presentations in the academic year, and continued to focus on Latino experiences in California.
One of the goals for this session was to introduce the use of practices that might quickly and easily be adapted by teachers for classroom use. Two methods were presented and analyzed: the quick review of short texts to introduce major themes or subjects, and the use of film clips to present a visually and dramatically realized situation or event that acts as a touchstone for further discussion or understanding. These methods were presented in the morning session.
Emily Filloy, Urban Dreams coordinator for English/Language Arts, lead an exercise in a specific method of reading that's designed to help students "hook" into prior knowledge about a subject, while developing a common basis for discussion about a topic. The teachers read an excerpt from a longer work about a farm workers strike in California's Central Valley during 1947-1948. As per Emily's instructions, they gave a close reading to the short passage and marked-up the text--based on what they perceived to be important points, things they agreed or disagreed with, new ideas or words, and on ideas they didn't understand. After the reading and mark-up, Emily was able to conduct a discussion that revealed a group baseline of understanding. In theory, following this method, a teacher quickly arrives at a starting point for further disucssion which may introduce new ideas and concepts that build on the shared base of knowledge.
After a short break, IU's Isaac Mankita introduced some effective strategies for using films for teaching. A discussion followed in which teachers added their own favorite strategies, developing an impressive, annotated, list of possible approaches. OUSD's Ann Kruze then presented and discussed a worksheet to help students better understand film clips. The worksheet emphasized three concepts: 1) the film ought to clearly match the theme/topic discussed in class, connected most effectively through a clear, key question; 2) film clips work significantly better than full films - one or two scenes often provide sufficient material to actively engage students, while full films present difficulties for focusing on a particular topic; and, 3) students can effectively focus on about 4 questions related to the film clip.
Employing the list of strategies, and a sample worksheet, the group watched a clip from "12 Angry Men" - the 1957 Sidney Lumet and Henry Fonda Film about a jury's deliberations in a murder trial. One of the participating teachers, shared his strategy for using a visual organizer to help students figure out who each of the 12 jurors represents, and how Fonda's character begins to chip away at racial, ethnic and class-based preconceptions. The discussion conducted after the clip provided an opportunity to revisit the worksheet, fine-tune its structure, and add important questions to guide students' explorations. Another participating teacher provided the context for the clip from "Salt of the Earth" (1953). The film is the story of a strike by Local 890 of the Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers Union against the New Jersey Zinc Company in Bayard, New Mexico. The group watched the film clip and Isaac led a discussion about important themes that emerged during the film.
After lunch, Professor Saragoza joined the group and continued the discussion about film clips and the readings, suggesting important themes and providing additional analysis and contextual information about topics covered in the morning. Saragoza called the historical theme for the session - dissidence - how people responded to changing definitions of what it meant to be American and, for Latinos in particular, what this meant in relationship to their heritage and culture. This ensuing discussion was lively. In "12 Angry Men," for example, individuals and groups sought to work within institutional/legalistic frameworks to effect change, while "Salt of the Earth" represented worker actions that demonstrated a bottom-up strategy for dissent that definied issues around justice and fairness.
The March 16 session brought this year's IU/Urban Dreams professional development series with Professor Saragoza to a close. But the IU remains interested in supporting continued exploration of these, and similar, themes. In addition to looking for opportunities to use this model again with other UC Berkeley academics and more K-12 teachers and curriculum specialists. As part of a support structure for this kind of work, IU continues to collaborate with Lynn Jones, Director of the California Heritage Project at UC Berkeley's Teaching Library. Throughout the year, especially as materials become assigned and available, Jones has been developing a resource web site. The site, still under construction, currently includes audio and video tapes of the presentations by Professor Saragoza, as well as a range of materials--including photographs, documents, notes about film clips and readings used to support the presentations, and additional related links to the theme. The web site is expected to be completed by later this Spring. Check back at the IU News for more information when the site goes public.
Previous Latino Cultural Heritage Stories: March 2004, December 2003, October 2003.
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Visit the Berkeley Campus for Cal Day, April 17
UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert Berdahl extends an invitation to the entire community to visit the campus at its annual open house — Cal Day. Berdhal's invitation reads: UC Berkeley is an exciting place every day — a center of new ideas, research discoveries, thrilling sports, dazzling performances. But Cal Day is like no other here on campus. Spend it in Cal’s classrooms and labs, museums and performance halls, libraries and arenas. Take in all that Berkeley has to offer, and see why Cal is the world’s premier public university. Welcome to Cal Day — we’re proud to show you around!
Visit the Cal Day website for directions and tips to make your visit more pleasant. In addition, there is specific information for new and perspective Cal students. Beginning at 2:00 p.m., perspective students can attend a presentation by a representative from the Office of Undergraduate Admissions who will discuss the admission application and personal statement. There will be information on majors and an opportunity for prospective students and their parents to ask questions. Michele Butler Larkrith, Undergraduate Admissions, will lead the presentation, which will take place in Pitzer Auditorium, 120 Latimer Hall. Go here for a map of campus. And please check out the festivities and events on Saturday, April 17, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m..
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New Ideas for Large Enrollment Classes Explore Uses of Internet
For years Berkeley Anthropology Professor Ruth Tringham has been working to radically reshape the way her undergraduate courses are taught — and by extension the way all large undergraduate courses are taught. Tringham has not limited her innovative efforts to the Berkeley campus, in the past she has worked closely with the IU — she served as Principal Investigator for IU's Archaeological Research Facility Project (ARF), where she worked to incorporate multimedia and Internet technologies, with hands-on experience, to teach archaeology to middle school students in Oakland.
In recognition of her interest and success in re-thinking and re-shaping approaches to teaching at all levels, she was appointed to the Presidential Chair in Undergraduate Education in 1998. Part of her work in that capacity included developing multimedia tools that enabled students to build virtual archaeological sites on the web.
Read this article by Wendy Edelstein, in the March 3, 2004 Berkeleyan to find out more about how Tringham's interests and expertise have led her to work on the problem of large class size. The unsatisfactory learning experience that can result from large lecture classes is something that the Berkeley campus is attempting to remedy. Tringham is one faculty member who has spent a lot of time and effort working to find ways to bring the best of human skills and technology to solving the problem.
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University of California Joins Public Library of Science
The Public Library of Science (PLoS) is a non-profit organization of scientists and physicians committed to making the world's scientific and medical literature a freely available public resource. In September 2002, the IU News reported on the plans of two Bay Area biochemists, one at Berkeley and one at Stanford, who wanted to reform the way scientific papers are published. Nicholas Cozzarelli and Pat Brown were part of a reform movement to make new scientific knowledge and research findings freely accessible on the Internet.
In December 2002 the Public Library of Science received a $9 million, five-year startup grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation in San Francisco that allowed it "to launch a non-profit scientific publisher, controlled and operated by scientists for the benefit of science and the public." Last week, the UC Office of the President and the University of California libraries affirmed the importance of alternative publishing models and "demonstrated their commitment to supporting innovations that provide wider dissemination and facilitate easier research access to scholarly publishing, as they announced that the University of California has become an institutional member of the Public Library of Science."
With a mission to make scientific and medical literature a public resource, the Public Library of Science is a non-profit organization founded in 2000 by Harold E. Varmus, and colleagues. Varmus, a Nobel laureate and former National Institutes of Health director, is currently a UC San Francisco faculty member. Read the entire UC Office of the President press release here.
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Digitizing Greek Orthodox Texts
The following article by Sarah Gauch, was originally published March 4, 2004 in the New York Times.
At a Mountain Monastery, Old Texts Gain Digital Life
Inside the sixth-century Monastery of St. Catherine, with its small stone church, its rickety buildings covered in centuries' worth of white paint, where bearded monks wear black robes, the modern world seems terabytes away.
But here at St. Catherine's, in the world's oldest continuously inhabited Christian monastic community, a Greek Orthodox monk from Texas is working with some of the world's highest-resolution digital technology to help preserve the monastery's 3,300 priceless and impressively intact ancient manuscripts.
The monk, the Rev. Justin Sinaites, is well aware of this juxtaposition of old and new. "It's amazing to live in such an ancient institution and at the same time to be doing something so modern," said Father Justin, as he calls himself. In a remote setting with unreliable electricity and substandard communications, Father Justin, 54, works with an impressive assemblage of equipment including a digital camera that can create 75-megapixel images. (Typical consumer digitals capture around four megapixels.)
Read the rest of the article here.
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Article Sees Limited Political Impact for Internet in Repressive Countries
"World leaders, journalists, and political scientists who tout the Internet as a powerful force for political change are just as wrong as the dot-com enthusiasts who not so long ago believed the Web would completely transform business. While it's true that the Internet has proved itself able to disseminate pop culture in authoritarian nations--not only Laos, but China, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, and elsewhere--to date, its political impact has been decidedly limited. It has yet to topple--or even seriously undermine--its first tyrannical regime. In fact, in some repressive countries the spread of the Internet actually may be helping dictatorships remain in power."
This assertion is at the core of a March 25, 2004 article in the New Repbulic by Joshua Kurlantzick. Kurlantzick writes that despite a surge in Internet access and use worldwide, there is little empirical evidence to suggest that this broader use, especially in repressive and authoritarian countries, has had the anticipated effect on political discourse or action. He cites a number of reasons for why he believes this: the Internet is, at base, a passive disseminator of information; access is more easily controlled and monitored than access to older communications media such as television and radio, and Internet use requires a level of literacy that these older two do not; the Internet lends itself to individual and anarchic pursuits rather than communal. Read Kurlantsick's entire article here.
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IU Takes to the Road in April
In April IU team members will be travelling to make presentations in Alexandria, Virginia and New Orleans. The first stop will be April 15-16 in Virginia, at the Spring 2004 Task Force Meeting of the Coalition for Networked Information. IU Director David Greenbaum will be part of a panel on Digital Library Repositories and Instructional Support Systems, and will be joined by Dale Flecker, Harvard University, and Leslie Johnston, University of Virginia. On the following day's agenda, Greenbaum will again appear, this time with IU's Technology Architect, Raymond Yee, and the California Digital Library's Peter Brantley; the three will talk about The Scholar's Box: A Tool for Gathering, Creating, and Sharing Reusable Digital Learning and Research Content.
On April 19, Greenbaum will be in New Orleans at the Spring Forum of the Digital Library Federation. At DLF, Greenbaum will again team up with Leslie Johnston for an April 21 presentation entitled: Digital Repository Interoperability with Learning Systems.
A preview of that talk states: To make the most effective use of digital content in teaching, learning applications need to be able to easily interoperate with digital repositories so that teachers and students can discover, access, view, quote, adapt, and evaluate appropriate learning material. Unfortunately, many data sources have not been designed to interoperate with other repositories or with learning applications. A working group, supported by the Mellon Foundation and DLF, has developed a set of use-case scenarios and a report that present a checklist and discussion of digital repository services that are needed to make digital content usable by learning applications. An overview of the use-case scenarios and checklist of interoperability guidelines will be presented in this session.
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Upcoming Events
This coming summer, the Bay Area Writing Project's (BAWP) Youth Writing Camps will offer students, elementary through high school, the time and opportunity to explore their writing interests, discover their strengths and learn more about the craft of writing. The camps provide in-depth writing instruction, structured writing workshop time, flexibility in writing assignments, and daily opportunities to share writing with peers.
Through the camps, students discover the conditions and habits needed to write their best and grow in their confidence and skill. Students are encouraged to continue as writers independently and apply these skills and habits to carve out time to write in and out of school.
This sumer program offers a unique opportunity for students entering grades 4 to 8 to develop their writing talents. Under the guidance of experienced UC Berkeley/Bay Area Writing Project (BAWP) Teacher Consultants, students will have a chance to grow as writers. In an atmosphere that is optimal for young writers, students will become better writers in the process of practicing their craft.
For more information and to get a registration form, click here.
On May 1, the Center for Latin American Studies will host a day long Teachers' Seminar, "Fitting Cinco de Mayo into Your Classroom."
The CLAS flyer announcing the event states: Celebration of Cinco de Mayo is growing every year in the United States, yet few people know the history behind the holiday. Come learn more at this free workshop for teachers! The seminar will feature content-rich presentations by UC Berkeley professors as well as hands-on ideas for using technology to incorporate Mexican history into the curriculum by local teacher Jeff Reed, author of the book and CD Viva el Cinco de Mayo! The day will culminate in a guided visit to La Peña, which is currently exhibiting a collection of engravings showing the land and people of Mexico during the French Intervention.
This event takes place from 8:30 to 4:00 on Saturday, May 1. Registration is required. Visit the CLAS site for details and a registration form.
The Office of Resources for International and Area Studies (ORIAS) now has summer offerings listed at its website. These include:
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