I'd like you to use the list for several purposes during the semester:
1) First and foremost, this list is for the discussion of readings. I will
be asking each of you to present one of the readings during the semester: in
our case, "presenting the reading" means reading it ahead of time, mailing
out some questions or provocations at the beginning of the week in which we
are assigned that reading, and following up on those questions in class.
Each week, those not presenting a reading should be responding, at least
once, to the posts by those who are presenting the reading.
2) Next, the list is for coordinating group and class activities. If you
take a book out of the library and it's from the suggested readings, then
please drop a note to the class list. If you want to meet with your group,
you can use the class list to arrange it. And so on.
3) Finally, the list is for support. If you have a question, run into a
problem, figure out a solution to a problem, etc. etc., please post to the list.
NB: the list archive will be arranged by subject/thread by default. The
information that the program uses to group messages is the content of the
"Subject: " line in your mail message. It is very important, therefore,
that the subject line accurately reflect the content of the
message--otherwise, useful stuff will get lost in the archive. SO: don't be
lazy and simply reply to an old email from the list when you actually want
to start a new subject: start a new message with a new subject line. The
rest of us will thank you...
One of the first coordinating activities we need to tackle is the question
of constituting the groups, picking roles, and picking organizations to work
with. If you have a preference as to role (systems engineer, graphic
designer, markup specialist) please register it in email to the list; if you
already have looked at the list of organizations and have an idea of who
you'd like to work with, please register that preference in the same mail
message. And please give me a sense of your level of expertise (roughly,
let's say the levels are none, html or photoshop, perl or C). That way, I
can try to distribute expertise evenly across the groups.
Finally, if you've decided not to continue in the course, please let me
know. And apologies for the server downtime Friday/Saturday. Power was out
in our section of Alderman, to correct a long-standing power supply problem.
John Unsworth
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http://jefferson.village.virginia.edu/~jmu2m/