Fall2008-IslamMedia&TheWest

Everyone in this class has a blog up by now. In order to manage everyone's links, rather than go through Blackboard, I'm setting up a 'class blog'.

You have all been access to publish/write on this blog - so that if you want to share a link, an event, make a 'public' comment, etc - or simply find the link to your classmates' blogs, you can do so from here.

In case you forget the point of your blog, what you're supposed to get done by when, what your deadlines are, etc.:

Blog/ Public Journal = 40%

• You are required to keep an on-going blog: a writing project of your thought process/progress throughout the semester. In it, you should respond to readings, ideas, media from class and other readings and media that you have come across outside of class. You must provide a clear, coherent analysis / response to the issues, themes, questions, debates. Do not simply describe, reiterate, paraphrase or quote, but explain what is interesting, what is theoretically convincing or questionable, what is pertinent, problematic, exemplary, etc.

• The journal must be on-line and continuously available/accessible (hence, blog). The format is open-ended. There is no formal structure requirements except providing citations and/or links whenever you are referring to materials. You can use this as a stream-of-consciousness journal, a wiki with sub-categories, a web site, or any form of ‘journal’ in whatever style you wish: formal, informal, ‘dear diary’, letters, fake interviews, Q&A’s, etc.

• You are free to post any items you wish, as long as they relate to your entry and are thoroughly explained/analyzed: images, clips, links, music videos, newspaper articles, blogs, etc.

• You should have a minimum of 10 entries and/or 4,000 words. There is no upper-limit (but don’t go nuts!)

• Your blog must be up and running no later than Sept. 22, at which time the links will be posted on Blackboard.

• You must have at least 30% of your blog completed by Nov.3 (between 3 and 4 entries and/or 1,500 words)
o You will be given detailed feedback and a tentative grade on the first installation.
o You may, of course, ask for feedback earlier in the semester.
o You may submit a 2nd installation of your journal no later than Nov.24. This is optional, and strongly recommended if you want feedback before your final submission.

• Your blog must be complete and fully accessible by Dec. 1

• Your blog should additionally include links/posts of your 4 short papers, to be posted no later than each due date, and your classmate feedback due Dec.10 (see below). These are NOT counted as part of the total word-count!

Classmate Feedback = 10%

• You will be given specific instructions.
• You are required to read your classmates’ blog, and post one final entry on your own blog that responds to your classmates collectively.
• 500 – 750 words.
• Due: Dec. 10, to be posted on your blog.

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Reading and Discussion: Israel-Palestine: Beyond the Headllines with Alison Weir Moderated by Brian Drolet

Tuesday, September 30, 2008 7:30 PM
Free and Open to the Public
Sponsored by Deep Dish TV and Arab and Middle Eastern Journalist Association, www.ameja.org.

Alison Weir will address news coverage of Israel-Palestine, a description of her trips as an independent journalist throughout Gaza and the West Bank, and information on meetings with news editors around the world. She will provide a comprehensive analysis of how the media shapes events in the Middle East. She will focus particularly on the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Brian Drolet is the Executive Director of Deep Dish TV

Ms. Weir presents a powerful, well documented view of the Middle East today. She is intelligent, careful, and critical. American policy makers would benefit greatly from hearing her first-hand observations and attempting to answer the questions she poses. This is an intellectual, thought-provoking, and worthwhile presentation."

• Thomas Campbell, Former US Senator (R-CA), Dean of Haas School of Business, University of California

"When the speech ended, Ms. Weir was met with thunderous applause, and across the room there was a widespread sense of satisfaction that someone was saying what needed to be said."
• New York Times

Journalist Alison Weir is the executive director of "If Americans Knew," a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing Americans with information on topics of importance that are misreported or under-reported in the American media. She is also on the board of directors of the Council for the National Interest.

In February and March of 2001 Alison left her position as editor of MarinScope newspaper in Sausalito, California, to travel as a freelance reporter throughout Gaza and the West Bank. Upon her return she founded If Americans Knew. She recently returned from a three-month trip traveling throughout the West Bank.

Her essays and articles have appeared in a number of books and magazines; among them The New Intifada (Verso), Censored 2005 (Seven Stories Press), The Encyclopedia on Israel-Palestine, (upcoming) The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, San Francisco Bay View newspaper, CounterPunch, and The Link.

Weir speaks widely throughout the country, including two briefings on Capitol Hill, presentations at the Center for Policy Analysis on Palestine (one of which was broadcast nationally on C-Span) and at such universities and colleges as Harvard Law School, Columbia, Stanford, Berkeley, the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Vassar, the Naval Postgraduate Institute, and others.

In addition, she has been invited to give papers at international conferences, and recently addressed the Asia Media Summit in Kuala Lumpur for the third straight year.

If Americans Knew has completed seven in-depth statistical studies of US media coverage of Israel-Palestine, releasing reports on the New York Times, the Associated Press, the major primetime news broadcasts, and various other news media, research that is increasingly cited by analysts on Israel-Palestine.

In March of 2004, Weir was inducted into honorary membership of Phi Alpha Literary Society, founded in 1845 at Illinois College. The award cited her as a: "Courageous journalist-lecturer on behalf of human rights. The first woman to receive an honorary membership in Phi Alpha history."

Alwan for the Arts

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