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October 14, 2004
Film: _The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On_
The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On (Yuki Yikite Shingun, Hara Kazuo, Japan 1987)
(with the Thursday Screeners)(8 pm in Gifford)
Hara Kazuo is one of Japan's leading nonfiction filmmakers, a major artist whose work should be better known
in the West. This film is his profile of Okuzaki Kenzo, a veteran and radical activist who has spent the better part
of his life attempting to expose the evils of the late Emperor Hirohito. (He shot lead pellets at the emperor and
distributed pornographic images of him.) Several members of his WW2 platoon died under mysterious circumstances
at the hands of the Emperor's elite officers, and "Naked Army" is Hara's documentation of Okuzaki's quest for the truth.
The old man is given to fits of violence, irrational ranting, and (at least to viewers not steeped in Japanese history)
a rather bizarre political ideology. The truth, when Hara and Okuzaki discover it, is truly unbelievable.
Posted by mryonker at 09:31 PM | Comments (0)
Film Screening: _The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On_
Oct. 14: The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On (Yuki Yikite Shingun, Hara Kazuo, Japan 1987)
(with the Thursday Screeners)(8 pm in Gifford)
Hara Kazuo is one of Japan's leading nonfiction filmmakers, a major artist whose work should be better known
in the West. This film is his profile of Okuzaki Kenzo, a veteran and radical activist who has spent the better part
of his life attempting to expose the evils of the late Emperor Hirohito. (He shot lead pellets at the emperor and
distributed pornographic images of him.) Several members of his WW2 platoon died under mysterious circumstances
at the hands of the Emperor's elite officers, and "Naked Army" is Hara's documentation of Okuzaki's quest for the truth.
The old man is given to fits of violence, irrational ranting, and (at least to viewers not steeped in Japanese history)
a rather bizarre political ideology. The truth, when Hara and Okuzaki discover it, is truly unbelievable.
Plus: Centers of Influence (Ralph Arlyck), a short documentary about Army recruiting as practiced by a sergeant
in an upstate New York town.
Posted by mryonker at 04:17 PM | Comments (0)
October 07, 2004
Proposal to Form a Partnership between the Syracuse University Writing Program and Levy Middle School
Overview
The Syracuse University Writing Program, with support from the Syracuse University Center for Public and Community Service and the Syracuse University Chancellor's Fund for Diversity, proposes establishing a link between our department and Levy Middle School. We imagine working with Levy teachers and administrators to develop both curricular and extra-curricular literacy-based programs that support the work that Levy teachers and students do in their classes. We imagine Syracuse University Writing students working with Levy students in programs that support reading, writing, mentoring, and digital literacies.
Goals:
Long-term: To establish a sustainable, long-term relationship between the Syracuse University Writing Program and Levy Middle Schools. Writing Program and Levy teachers would collaborate to develop the programs and the training materials, and Syracuse University writing students would work with Levy students.
Short-term: To establish a pilot in the 2004-05 school year. Ideally, we would like to begin with one class of Syracuse University Writing Program students in the fall semester, and continue with one and possibly two class in the spring term.
Benefits of a Partnership of Levy Middle School and Syracuse University Writing Program:
A partnership between Levy Middle School and the Syracuse University Writing Program would provide benefits to both, with particular benefits for students at both levels.
Levy Middle School: A partnership with the Syracuse University Writing Program would address the requirements the State Education Department has developed for meeting the "Seven Essential Elements of standards-focused middle –level school program. " Among the many emphases of these "essential elements," there is a focus in each one on "connecting schools with the larger community." In addition, many recommend actions that encourage students to pursue "personal interests" by participating in "school and community activities" and "develop[ing] useful, interpersonal, and life skills needed to live a full and productive life, and nurture a 'love of learning.'"
Syracuse University: A partnership with Levy Middle School would address the challenge Syracuse University has set to be a strong participant in the community. Levy Middle School 's location, near the University, makes it a logical choice, not only for logistical issues (including transportation), but because we would like to make a commitment to the neighborhood in which the University and its students exist.
By focusing on literacy issues, the partnership provides Syracuse Writing Program teachers, researchers and students a site to apply and study the literacy theories they develop in class. Because we are committed to a long-term partnership, teachers and students from both places will establish relationships that enhance the lives and work of all involved.
Students: Finally, we hope the program becomes a space to imagine the possibilities for education. Levy students, for example, might begin to see themselves finding a place on a university campus. Syracuse University students will be asked to consider not just the challenges of urban public schools but the complexities of their own position as SU students working in an urban site with students whose backgrounds may differ vastly from their own. Watching learners succeed, gain confidence, make progress, as well as observing how difficult this process is, is a powerful process that helps our students learn about learning. And because we learn best through teaching, Syracuse University students will become more proficient in their own literacy skills as they work with Levy students.
The Partnership Over Time
The Levy/Writing Program partnership would be a long-term, sustained, reciprocal relationship. We envision a partnership that exists over time, but which would change and adapt as the partnership develops and in response to the changing needs and pressures of the school.
Writing Program and Levy teachers and administrators would collaborate to develop programs and training materials, and to train Syracuse University writing students in the pedagogical, curricular and developmental issues involved in working with middle-school students. Meetings would take place both during the school year and in the summer, and at least initially, modest honoraria would be available to support the work.
By working together, Levy and Writing Program students will develop relationships that will enhance the learning of members of both groups. We imagine the work that Writing program students do with Levy students will be interactive and collaborative.
For most of the programs we can imagine in this partnership, it seems expedient that Syracuse University students go to Levy. However, Levy students will be regularly invited to come Syracuse University as well. There are many ways that these campus visits can develop as the partnership grows, but initially we plan an annual reception on the Syracuse University campus for the Levy students who have participated in partnership programs, as well as their parents and teachers.
Pilot Year
Ideally we would like to launch the pilot program in this partnership in the Fall 2004 semester. We realize there may be practical considerations involved that may make this launch date difficult, so we will leave this open to discussion. However, we think that by recognizing the potential difficulties of starting in the fall, we may be able to address them as we collaboratively develop a program.
For a Fall 2004 launch, we would link one section of WRT 109, a first-year honors writing course, with a program be developed by Levy and Writing Program teachers and administrators. The program would be developed collaboratively and would be interactive and meaningful for both Levy and Syracuse University Students.
In the Spring Semester, one or two classes of Writing 205, a second-year course, could be linked, depending on the needs of the school, the programs that have been collaboratively developed and the success of the fall program.
Possible Programs
Based on research and discussion among ourselves, we have developed a list of potential programs. We regard these only as springboards for discussion with Levy teachers and administrators, as we work together to develop sustainable programs that support the curriculum and the work that Levy teachers and students do in their classes.
• Book clubs, in which students would choose among several choices of books and meet with a Writing Program student to discuss them and engage in other literacy activities related to the book.
• Writing groups, in which Writing Program and school students engage in joint writing activities. The project could be a co-investigation of a topic of interest or concern in the school and could be published in multiple formats.
• A writing center, possibly set up during the lunch time. Writing Program students could both work with school students on their papers and develop a peer-reader program
• Test preparation and test-taking skills workshops and working groups, to help students prepare for the year of 8th grade tests in English Language Arts, Science, Social Studies, and Math.
• A student newspaper
• Literary magazines and contests or awards programs
• A student web site
• A creative writing club. Another possibility involves Writing Program and school students communicating electronically, as pen pals or creating collaborative stories.
• Workshops and on-going seminars in test-taking, note-taking and general-study skills and reading strategies.
• Technology workshops on software (presentation software, using word processing programs effectively for editing and collaborative writing, web design programs) and on internet research skills.
• Writing Program students could develop resource materials for school teachers on citation formats appropriate for their fields, internet plagiarism issues, the writing process, and genres (for example, writing letters of complaint).
Reading Groups:
This section details a more fully developed plan for a Levy-Writing Program partnership. We offer it as a starting point for discussing a pilot program for the fall 04 term, as well as to show how any of the programs listed in the previous section might be developed.
We acknowledge this plan's shortcomings, most significantly that it has not yet had input from Levy teachers and administrators.
But we also see a couple of strengths in developing this as our pilot program in the partnership. First, it is consistent with New York State curricular guidelines, which recommend that students read 25 books a year and would support the school's efforts to encourage reading. Second, this program has the potential to be adapted to support class work through the choice of books made available to students. For example, reading group selections could reinforce genres, such as autobiography or African-American literature, mandated by the curriculum. Finally, once the program is developed and the SU students trained, this program can operate with as little – or as much – participation from Levy teachers as they desire.
Levy teachers, media specialists and administrators would work with Writing Program teachers to develop a reading list. We could enlist the support of Petit Library in supporting the project by promoting the idea and setting aside shelf space. In the initial stages of the project, we would be able to provide the books to participants of the project.
How Reading Groups might work
Participation would be voluntary, and Levy students would choose from among a selection of books to read in common. Then students will meet in small discussion groups led by one or two Syracuse University Writing Program students. Levy students would be able to participate as little or as a much as they would like in each discussion, as the SU students would be trained to keep the discussion going whatever the level of input from Levy students. Levy students would be encouraged but not required to have finished the books by the date of discussion; the enthusiasm of the SU discussion leaders might provide further encouragement to the Levy students.
The reading groups would be interactive and collaborative. Levy and Syracuse University students will be engaged in the process of collaboratively reading and responding to the books and the issues the books raise for the Levy students.
These groups would be extra-curricular and could meet before or after school, or during lunch periods. They could meet every two weeks, or more often on a round-robin rotation.
As a pilot program, this could begin simply but could easily be expanded according to the desires and needs of the school and its teachers. For example, technology could be utilized to allow students to research the authors of their books, to create e-collages, or to communicate through e-mail with the SU-student discussion leaders. Furthermore, the choice of books could reinforce coursework, in English or another content area, as discussions could incorporate not just reader response, but issues related to the theme of the book, the author's life, etc.
At the on-campus Spring reception, Levy student participants would be invited to share the work they've done, discuss their favorite books or characters, and participate in the creation of a "readers' mural" that could be displayed both on the SU campus and at Levy Middle School. In addition, as the program is developed collaboratively between Levy and the Syracuse University Writing Program, further opportunities for Syracuse University campus visits could be investigated.
We have attempted here to outline a representative program that we believe has much potential and may be a good starting point for a Levy-Writing Program partnership. However, the success of any program for both Levy and Writing Program students depends on collaborative development. We remain open to working with Levy teachers and administrators to develop a program – reading groups or something else – that will provide dynamic interaction between the students and that supports the work that Levy teachers and administrators are engaged in daily.
Who we are
Margaret Himley, Director of Undergraduate Studies, Writing Program
Dana Harrington, Assistant Professor Rhetoric and Writing
Maureen Fitzsimmons, Writing Program Faculty and Service Learning Coordinator
Molly Voorheis, Writing Program Faculty
Michael Lasley, Doctoral Student, Composition and Cultural Rhetoric
Pamela K. Heintz, Director of the Center for Public and Community Service,
Elizabeth Occhino, Assistant Director of Service Learning, Center for Public and Community Service
Support
In the first two years of the project, we will have a small pool of funds from the Chancellor's Fund for Diversity. We plan to use this money to pay honoraria to participating Levy Middle School teachers; to provide food at meetings, as well as student supplies and publication materials; and to fund the on-campus reception
We also plan to immediately investigate and seek further funding through University, community, government and corporate grants.
Issues
Some of the issues that we anticipate may arise and that we will have to deal with, in the context of teaching our course(s) in the Writing Program or in developing the program with Levy include:
• Challenges for university students working with middle-school-age students
• Training and the development of training materials
• The numbers of students, both Writing Program and Levy, that can be effectively managed.
• Scheduling and space issues at Levy Middle School
• The potential role of the Onondaga County Public Library in the project
• Content of the Writing Program course to ensure it conforms to our curriculum while adequately preparing students for their work in the school and giving them the opportunity to make sense of their experiences.
Posted by mryonker at 04:37 PM | Comments (0)