Canadian Studies (CNST) 439-Lecture 01
Approaches to Canadian Heritage
Fall 2008
W: 13:00-15:50 EDC 276

 

Instructor:	Dr. Lorry W. Felske
Office Location:	SS 212
Office Phone:	403-220-5781
E-Mail:	felske@ucalgary.ca
Web Page:	blackboard.ucalgary.ca
Office Hours:	TR 3:15-4:00 PM; W 4-4:30 PM; or by appointment.

Course Description

Heritage preservation, in a variety of forms, has become increasingly popular in Canadian society for a number of reasons.  Some of these include an aging baby boom generation wanting to advance its particular understandings of heritage; previously marginalized groups wanting equal recognition of their contribution to Canadian development; the pressure of professionals in the heritage field; local communities responding to rapid development that threatens heritage understandings and resources; newcomers to Canada wishing to preserve their heritage in the context of Canadian society; or civic, provincial and federal governments with their own particular heritage agendas.  This course allows students to develop an understanding of heritage and to explore ways of supporting heritage projects in their communities.

A Blackboard site will be available for the course.

Objectives of the Course

To introduce students to the depth and breadth of studies on Canada.

To enable students to bring an increased awareness of Canadian experiences and perspectives

to their study of all academic subjects.

To improve the writing and research skills of students.

To introduce students to the concept of interdisciplinary studies.

To make students aware of the cultural contexts in which they think and live.

To introduce students to various understandings of heritage and community.

To give students the opportunity to contribute to community development.

To encourage students to think critically about information and perspectives concerning Canadian identity.

To promote the idea of good citizenship.

Textbooks and Readings:

Readings available in online journals will be assigned for class discussion.

Assignments and Evaluation

Class participation (25%):

This course will operate as a seminar in which discussion is the main class activity.   Regular attendance and participation in these discussions is crucial.

Heritage Interview and Critique (15%):

Student will interview someone concerning an aspect of heritage.  This assignment will help students develop contacts with the community and provide ideas for heritage support projects.  Along with their notes and/or recordings of the interview, students will submit a critique of the interview.  The analysis will be a minimum of three (3) pages (750 words).  Ethical research guidelines and procedures for the completion of this interview will be discussed in class. 

Due Date: Oct. 1^st, 2008.

Heritage Support Project (60%):

Students will develop and complete a heritage support project of interest to them and a part of their local community.  This project will support the current or future preservation, interpretation or commemoration of heritage that is viewed as important by some component of a Canadian community.  Some of the possible projects might be related to the following areas: oral histories/interviews, photographic collection, artifacts, archival collections/assessment, heritage performance activities, mapping, developing heritage education programs for organizations, helping with local history projects, building preservation, the preparation of granting, planning and development documents, assistance with heritage events, interpretative programming, annotated bibliographies, and/or internet sites. 

The course instructor, and the course teaching assistant, will help students to find possible community partners.

To complete this part of the course work students will be required to complete the following tasks related to their heritage support project:

1. Community Contact Sheet (10%):  This document will record times and duration of contacts with community members throughout the term.  It will also include a history of how the project was developed. 

Due Date: Dec. 3^th, 2008. 

2. Project Description/Proposal (10%):  A description of the project is required and this description must have written confirmation from the appropriate community members.  Due Date: Oct. 8^th, 2008.

3. Essay (25%):  An assessment of the heritage significance of the project must be completed.  This paper must have a minimum length of 5 pages (1250 words). 

Due Date: Dec. 3^th, 2008

4. Class Presentation (15%):

All students in the class will participate in a poster presentation session in which community members will be invited to attend.  These presentations will occur in the last weeks of classes.  Presentation dates will be arranged in class. 

All assignments must be completed or a grade of F may be assigned at the discretion of the instructor.

Copies of this document, with assignment descriptions and resources will be available on a Blackboard site (http://blackboard.ucalgary.ca/). You will need to know your Information Technology username and password.

It is the student's responsibility to keep a copy of each submitted assignment.
Note: Please hand in your essays directly to your tutor or instructor if possible. If it is not possible to do so, a daytime drop box is available in SS110; a date stamp is provided for your use. A night drop box is also available for after-hours submission. Assignments will be removed the following morning, stamped with the previous day's date, and placed in the instructor's mailbox.

Registrar-scheduled Final Examination:  NO

Please note: If your class is held in the evening, the Registrar's Office will make every attempt to schedule the final exam during the evening; however, there is NO guarantee that the exam will NOT be scheduled during the day.

Policy for Late Assignments

Assignments submitted after the deadline may be penalized with the loss of a grade (e.g.: A- to B+) for each day late.

Writing Skills Statement

Faculty policy directs that all written assignments (including, although to a lesser extent, written exam responses) will be assessed at least partly on writing skills. For details see www.comcul.ucalgary.ca/info. Writing skills include not only surface correctness (grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, etc) but also general clarity and organization. Research papers must be properly documented.

If you need help with your writing, you may use the Writing Centre.  Visit the website for more details: www.efwr.ucalgary.ca

Grading System

The following grading system is used in the Faculty of Communication and Culture:

(Revised, effective September 2008)

 

	Grading Scale
A+	96-100
A	90-95.99
A -	85-89.99
B+	80-84.99
B	75-79.99
B-	70-74.99
C+	65-69.99
C	60-64.99
C-	55-59.99
D+	53-54.99
D	50-52.99
F	0-49

 

Where a grade on a particular assignment is expressed as a letter grade, it will normally be converted to a number using the midpoint of the scale.  That is, B+ would be converted to 87.5 for calculation purposes.  F will be converted to zero.

Plagiarism

Using any source whatsoever without clearly documenting it is a serious academic offense. Consequences include failure on the assignment, failure in the course and possibly suspension or expulsion from the university.

You must document not only direct quotations but also paraphrases and ideas where they appear in your text. A reference list at the end is insufficient by itself. Readers must be able to tell exactly where your words and ideas end and other people's words and ideas begin. This includes assignments submitted in non-traditional formats such as Web pages or visual media, and material taken from such sources.

Please consult your instructor or the Writing Centre (SS 106, efwr.ucalgary.ca) if you have any questions regarding how to document sources.

Students with Disabilities

If you are a student with a disability who may require academic accommodation, it is your responsibility to register with the Disability Resource Centre (220-8237) and discuss your needs with your instructor no later than fourteen (14) days after the start of the course.

Students' Union

For details about the current Students' Union contacts for the Faculty of Communication and Culture see www.comcul.ucalgary.ca/su

"SAFEWALK" Program -- 220-5333

Campus Security will escort individuals day or night -- call 220-5333 for assistance. Use any campus phone, emergency phone or the yellow phone located at most parking lot booths.

Ethics

Whenever you perform research with human participants (i.e. surveys, interviews, observation) as part of your university studies, you are responsible for following university research ethics guidelines.  Your instructor must review and approve of your research plans and supervise your research.  For more information about your research ethics responsibilities, see

The Faculty of Communication and Culture Research Ethics site: http://www.comcul.ucalgary.ca/ethics

or the University of Calgary Research Ethics site: http://www.ucalgary.ca/research/compliance/ethics/info/undergrad/