I want you to read these in the order listed, the Kovacic essay first.  I’d like to have you see if the materials you read give you some insight into the purpose of the larger project of which they’re a part.  For example, does reading Kovacic give you an insight into why the editors of the anthology wanted to write an anthology of this nature?

Then, when you have the essay/introduction combos under your belt, see if you can predict the points of view of the authors of the study.  What will they want you to take with you generally, as well as specifically in the course of the essays.   

The quotation with which I began the introduction to this course concludes the essay I’m asking you to read first today.  I want to start here because I want to address class issues on the Roger Williams University Campus.  Who would be the Roger Williams University equivalent of Bogdan Kovacic.  Think about the specific job Mr. Kovacic held.  Think also about similar jobs on this campus.  How do our students interact with our equivalents of Mr. Kovacic?  Do students treat them differently than they treat other employees of the University?  In what ways?  Do those differences signify anything?  If you know of an anecdote or story which would illustrate this, be prepared to share it with the class.

Read the Internet Materials with the idea of compiling a list of reasons why it is important to study social class.  I’d like you to also compile a list of assertions these articles make about the social class system in the United States: myths we believe about the class system, and ways in which reality may differ, to greater or lesser degree, from those myths.  At the top of the index page to the series there are a number of interactive elements, one of which is an interactive graphic survey entitled “Where do you fit in?”  What does it suggest about you? (We’ll also complete our discussion of the film,, assuming we’re not discussed out.)

Start Keeping your Journals.  In them, start recording your reflections and your good questions.

AMST 355  Class and Culture     Michael R. H. Swanson, Ph. D.

M - Th,  3:30 - 5:00             Office: CAS 110

CAS 228          Hours,  T:  9:30 - 11:00

Roger Williams University           MWF:  1:00 - 2:00

Spring Semester. 2009    Phone:  ext 3230

E-Mail:  amst355@gmail.com

Index

Read, in Shipler, The Working Poor,

Introduction, At the Edge of Poverty, pp.  3 - 12

With Shipler, as with our other authors, our first need is to grasp the author’s point of view.  So keep this in mind.  Why did Shipler choose this particular topic.  What does he tell you about his methodology.  In other words, what kind of research techniques inform the project.  Did his method have any effect on him personally?  If so, what?  (As you think about this–can you generalize on it into a more universal principle or theory?)

IN Addition.

I’ve prepared a list of all the readings in the Anthology.  You'll find it lurking behind the Anthology Survey Button to the left.  You’ll notice that the readings are divided into four sections. Here’s what I want you to do:

1.Download the list

2.Read the Introductions to each Section:

a.Bread, Land, and Station, Work and Class17-18

b.Clothes Make the Woman: Ths Social Dimensions of

  Class   179-80

c.“Between the Workers and the Owners”: Class Conflict

469-70

d.Classic or Classy: Art and Class     593 - 94

3.Browse the list and leaf through book, sampling the readings therein

4.Chose the six from each section, mark these on the list, and

  turn the list in. 

I will use this survey to help decide which of the readings to assign.

In Preparation for Class, Monday, February 22nd Class Meeting

Read, in Literature, Class, and Culture,

Proud to Work for the University (Kovacic) 164 - 169

Introduction           1-15

On the Internet:   Class Matters,:

Shadowy Lines that Still Divide (Scott and Leonhardt)

Introduction (Keller)

Read*read*read*read*read*read* – – Samaritan – – *dear*dear*dear*dear*dear*deaR

Target date for completing it, you’ll remember: February 20

In Preparation for Class, Thursday, February 5         3rd  Class Meeting

Some of you may have missed David Shipler's visit to our campus.  If you did, watch his presentation at my Alma Mater, Case-Western Reserve University, where The Working Poor was also the common reading.  Even if you did here him, he's worth another listen.

Read*read*read*read*read*read* – – Samaritan – – *dear*dear*dear*dear*dear*deaR

Target date for completing it, you’ll remember: February 20