So you want to participate
A quick how-to guide if you’re opting in for a B or an A in #NUcults
You can participate in our class discussions in a lot of ways! You can respond to the prompts at the top of each “lecture,” or just ask about parts of the lecture itself. You can also ask me anything about the assigned resources or the topic itself.
Seriously, there’s a pandemic on. Give me anything that shows you’ve done some thinking about the assignment and we’ll call it participation.
On responding to lectures
A few guidelines on responding to posts:
refer to the readings/podcasts/videos
You want to demonstrate that you’ve read and understood not only the post, but the materials we’re reading for each topic. The best responses will reference the assigned sources, preferably paraphrasing them in your own words.
avoid rhetorical questions
It’s great to raise points, but don’t leave them hanging. If you’re asking a question, you also need to answer it.
don’t shout into the void
This is the closest thing we get to a class discussion this semester. It’s great to offer your own analysis, but try to engage your classmates’ interpretations as well.
remember the big picture
Ultimately this is a class about race and religion. The guiding question every time you start a new reading/podcast/video should be: how does this help us understand the relationship between race and religion in what’s now the United States?
Use (and cite!!) the assigned sources to answer that question and you can’t go wrong.
Here’s a quick guide to participating via Medium:
Using Medium
- You can annotate any Medium page
- you can highlight and respond or just respond at the bottom of the post
- you can highlight and tweet (remember to use the class hashtag: #NUcults)
- you can also leave a private note about the post — I’ll see it, but no one else will
- You’ll need to create an account (it’s free! ignore the paid options) and complete your profile (you don’t have to use your real name or real picture or include any information about yourself you don’t want to!)
