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Eric Lund
Italy-Germany Interim 2007
Journaling counted 45% of the course grade
Writing Assignments
As part of your writing assignments I am asking you to prepare a series of journal-style comments
and 2 informal essays.
Analytical Journal
The purpose of this type of writing is to get you to reflect carefully on what you are seeing and doing day-
to-day. Tell me what you thought was significant and what interesting things you learned from our various
course related activities.
Initial Assignment:
1) Goals
Jot down some thoughts about what you want to get out of this program. Set your own personal agenda for the month.
(I do not need to collect this.)
2) Expectations
What do you expect Italy and Germany to be like? Write up a page of specifics at the very beginning of the program.
At the end, review these and reflect on whether what you experienced was similar to or different from what you
expected. Have your ideas about Italy and Germany changed?
I will ask you to write two kinds of entries: one set involving some observations about the past
(historical) and the other focusing more directly on the present (contemporary life). Here are explanations
of both assignments.
Integrative Entries about History Site – Readings – Class
These entries give you an opportunity to integrate what you are reading, what we are doing in
class and what we encounter on site visits. Show me that you see how they relate together.
Pick six days from the following list and write 2 to 3 pages of comments. You can muse broadly
and cover a wider scope of daily activities, but be sure to include some comments on the prime activity
mentioned here with each date:
January 4 Forum and Colosseum
January 5 S. Sabina, S. Paul and Catacombs
January 6 Epiphany Mass
January 8 Early Churches and Basilicas
January 9 Subiaco, Villa D’Este, Villa Adriano
January 10 Papal Audience (and Scavi)
January 11 Vatican Museum (and/or S. Egidio visit)
January 12 Renaissance/Baroque Church comparison (or focus on 1 church)
January 14-15 Florence
January 16-17 Berlin
January 19-21 Wittenberg churches and overall
January 20 Eisleben and Helfta
January 22 Melancthon Gymnasium
January 23 Erfurt
January 24 Melanchthon house and the Reformation Museum
January 25 Wartburg Castle and/or Buchenwald
Observations about Contemporary Life
These entries should reveal how observant you are about life around you. Add four entries (keep
to a page or two) in which you describe and reflect on some aspect of Italian or German lifestyles. Report
on an encounter with a person, a pattern of behavior you observe, some feature of daily life etc. If you
don’t have a particular incident or encounter from a specific day to report on, you could comment on
broader topics observed over a period of time, such as the following:
The Influence of the Past on the Present (pride or shame?)
Italian or German Lifestyles (like or unlike America?)
Food and Eating as Reflections of Culture
Gender interactions and family relations
Are Italians or Germans religious today?
These entries should give evidence of several types of thought that might be described by the following
mnemonic device: “Do some D-I-E-ing.”
D = Describe - clearly summarize the information gathered from readings, oral comments and
direct observations.
I = Interpret - probe the deeper meaning or significance of the information you gathered, e.g.
suggest what factors may have caused a particular development in human thought or action, probe the
implications of an idea or pattern of behavior, set a specific development in a larger context by comparing
it to something else.
E = Evaluate - indicate your own personal reactions to what you have read or heard or observed.
It is always important to make an effort to understand and appreciate modes of thought and action that are
different from your own. Try to be empathetic or appreciative. Still, you have the right to react positively
or negatively to the way other people have thought or acted.
Italy-Germany Interim 2005
Writing an Analytical Journal
As part of your writing assignments I am asking you to prepare two journal-style essays (each
approximately 5 pages hand-written); one each for Italy and Germany.
The purpose of this type of writing is to get you to reflect carefully on what you are seeing and
doing day-to-day. Tell me what you thought was significant and revealing about our various course related
activities.
The essays also give you an opportunity to integrate what you are reading, what we are doing in
class and what we encounter on site visits. Show me that you see how they relate together (or don’t).
The full experience cannot be adequately summarized in a short essay, so I am proposing the
following two-part format:
First of all, briefly give an overview of the two week period, to show that you were aware of the
sequencing and range of our activities.
Secondly, focus on two particular days or activities of the week, or analyze two "features of life"
you observed, which you found to be particularly illuminating for your understanding of Catholicism and
Protestantism or Italian and German culture. (If you wish you can subdivide each into two shorter weekly
reviews.)
A high quality journal should give evidence of several types of thought that might be described by
the following mnemonic device: “Do some D-I-E-ing.”
D = Describe - clearly summarize the information gathered from readings, oral comments and
direct observations. You should make some generalizations at the start about the scope of our
investigations for the week. Then focus on particular aspect for more detailed comments.
I = Interpret - probe the deeper meaning or significance of the information you gathered, e.g.
suggest what factors may have caused a particular development in human thought or action, probe the
implications of an idea or pattern of behavior, set a specific development in a larger context by comparing
it to something else.
E = Evaluate - indicate your own personal reactions to what you have read or heard or observed.
It is always important to make an effort to understand and appreciate modes of thought and action that are
different from your own. Try to be empathetic or appreciative. Still, you have the right to react positively
or negatively to the way other people have thought or acted.
Informal Essays
In addition to the two “journal entries”, I want you to write three informal essays of about 4
pages each. Pick from the topics below or propose an alternative to me.
South Africa Interim 2006
Journaling was required but was not given a letter grade
Analytical Journal
We encourage you to reflect carefully on the experiences you have and you write down the thoughts you have
on a daily basis. This should enrich your experience while in South Africa and also serve as a valuable memoir of the
trip in future years.
We want to look at 10 of your daily entries. A page or two per entry should be adequate. We will collect
your journals and read some of these entries part way through the program. We would like to read the rest of them at
the end. Since it is not possible for us to transport 25 journals home with our baggage, we will ask you to submit the
journal for a second look on the first day of second semester.
If you complete 10 entries that are carefully written and follow the guidelines given below, you will get an A
for this part of your evaluation. Failure to complete this assignment in a timely manner will result in a lower grade.
When you write your journal entries, try to integrate the information gathered from our class sessions and
readings with the personal impressions you get from what you see and hear during your travels. However, don't simply
be a passive recorder of information given to you by others. Use your mind to put the various pieces of the puzzle
together to create an overall picture of the political, social and religious life in South Africa under the old regime and at
the current time.
Be observant and analytical. Do some D-I-E-ing:
D = Describe - clearly summarize information gathered from readings, oral comments and direct
observations. Pick out what you think were the most important and interesting things you encountered. We
want some evidence that you were attentive to what we did and have a sense of why we did it.
I = Interpret - probe the deeper meaning or significance of the information you gathered, e.g. suggest what
factors may have caused a particular development in human thought or action, probe the implications of an
idea or pattern of behavior, set a specific development in a larger context by comparing it to something else.
Here you add analysis to description.
E = Evaluate – where appropriate, indicate your own personal reactions to what you have read or heard or
observed. It is always important to try to understand and appreciate modes of thought and action that are
different from your own. Try to be empathetic or appreciative. Still, you have the right to react
positively or negatively to the way other people have thought or acted. We want you to be personally
interacting with the subject matter of the course – not just ‘objectively’ reporting this or that about South
Africa. Your writing should be a process of self-exploration as well as an analysis of another culture.
In a few cases we will give you specific directions about what we want you to write about. For other days,
you can feel free to write in your journal about whatever seems memorable to you.
Directed Journal Assignments (required)
Expectations and First Impressions
Before you get to South Africa, maybe during the long hours you are in the airplane, write down some
thoughts about what you expect South Africa to be like?
After your first couple of days in South Africa, describe what you have noticed that especially interests,
perplexes or surprises you. This assignment is designed to make you purposefully aware as we begin to interact with
local society.
At the end, review what you wrote at the very start and indicate how your sense of South Africa has changed
after more extensive exposure to a wider range of experiences.
The WECAT tour of the Urban Townships of Cape Town
We are sure that the weekend you spend experiencing life in the black and Coloured townships under the
guidance of a group known as the Direct Action Centre for Peace and Memory will be one of the most memorable parts
of the program. You will see places where important historical events took place and will learn about what life was and
is like for various groups of people. One major journal entry should reflect on this experience. Indicate what it taught
you about South African political, social, cultural or religious life and how you were affected by the experience.
South Africa Interim 2008
Journals counted 35 % of the grade (Paragraphs 15% Integrative entries 10% each
Writing Assignments
Your writing assignments are of two sorts. You will be asked to prepare some analytical journal entries and
also write a few essays that are related to both the readings in the notebook and the experiential aspects of the program.
The purpose of the journal is to get you to reflect carefully on what you are seeing and doing day-to-day. The essays
give you an opportunity to integrate what you are reading, what we are doing in class, and what we encounter on site
visits.
A: Analytical Journal
Your journal writing will be of two sorts: short focused entries a paragraph in length and a couple of longer
integrative entries.
Ten Focused Daily Paragraphs
We will be on the ground in South Africa for 27 days. On 10 of these days, days of your own choosing, I
want you to write a brief paragraph stating what was the most interesting and important thing you learned about South
Africa on that day. This can be a quite specific topic or some insights that come together for you based on what you
noticed over several days.
Show me that you are attentive and are using the resources you have available to make sense of life in South
Africa, past and present.
Write about significant things. You can choose a very focused topic but I won’t be impressed by comments
about trivialities. (For example, a paragraph on the fact that candy bars are different in South Africa isn’t significant
unless you can show how this also relates to something deeper about South African culture.)
You can analyze something you learned from readings or class or something that came to mind from our
excursions.
If you have trouble focusing your thoughts or selecting from many possibilities, you might want to use the
following list of universal cultural features as a stimulus for your observations:
Dress
Gestures/Body Language – attitudes towards the body
Speech Patterns – modes of conversation
Display of Emotion – personal demeanor
Gender or race relations and attitudes
Food
Commercial Products – what is sold in stores
Tourist items and places – images of South Africa they present
Attitudes toward us (tourists, students, Americans)
Language
Sense of history (personal and political)
Evidence of religious beliefs and practices
Environment (pollution, conservation, heritage preservation)
Climate and physical geography ( influence on people’s lives and
attitudes)
It may happen that your insights get better and better as you accumulate experiences, so you could try to write a
paragraph most days and then tell me at the end which 10 of them to evaluate.)
Two Integrative Journal Entries
I would like you to collect your thoughts at two points during the month and write up a more cumulative
review of what you have observed and learned. Compared to the focused daily paragraphs, this is stepping back to
‘look at the forest instead of the trees’.
Write a journal entry of around 4 to 5 pages on the following:
a. The first two weeks in the Western Cape region ( note that, , if you wish, you can reserve more detailed comments
on the WECAT weekend in the townships of Cape Town for an essay choice – see below.)
b. The last two weeks on the road into southeastern and northeastern South Africa
Use your mind to put the various pieces of the puzzle together to create an overall picture of the political,
social and religious life in South Africa under the old regime and at the current time. Be observant and analytical.
You do not need to itemize everything you did, but start by briefly giving an overview of the two week
period, to show that you were aware of the sequencing and range of our activities, and then pick out a few special
moments or themes or topics to comment on more carefully.
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