1 - 10 of 232 results for: PWR

2012-2013 Summer

• PWR 1D | 3 units | Class # 26940 | Section 01 | Grading: Letter or Credit/No Credit | SEM
  06/24/2013 - 08/15/2013 Mon, Wed 10:00 AM - 11:50 AM at 160-127 with Ellis, E. (PI)
  Instructors: Ellis, E. (PI)
  Notes: Ka-Ching!: The Science of Shopping \n\nWhy do some retail environments draw you in like a magnet and make you want to linger, while others make you want to bolt? What is it, exactly, about the design of an Apple store that appeals to many contemporary shoppers? Why do women tend to like shopping more than men? Why are many parents turned off by Abercrombie & Fitch? What makes a commercial space look and feel right or wrong for a particular audience? These are the kinds of questions you¿ll explore and write about in this course.
  
  \n\n\nTo ground our work, we¿ll investigate the field of retail anthropology, the study of how and why consumers shop as they do. We¿ll read Malcolm Gladwell¿s ¿The Science of Shopping,¿ Jack Hitt¿s ¿The Theory of Supermarkets,¿ and excerpts from Paco Underhill¿s insightful and entertaining books Why We Buy, Call of the Mall, and What Women Want.
  
  \n\n\nFor your first essay in the course, you¿ll conduct an in-depth rhetorical analysis of a local commercial space of your choice. After determining its purpose and audience, you¿ll evaluate how effectively it tries to persuade people through its use of design, layout, architecture, music, colors, mood, etc. You¿ll map the space, try to feel what it¿s like to participate in or ¿experience¿ it, study how others interact with it, and take field notes to record your observations. What rhetorical strategies does the space use? How well does it achieve its purpose(s)? What evidence from Underhill can you add to your essay to further support your claims?
  
  \n\n\nFor your second essay, you¿ll pursue a topic of your choice related to the science of shopping and write a persuasive essay about it. You¿ll continue to study relevant retail environments firsthand but will also hit the books, and the online databases, to gather useful sources related to your topic. Possible topics include the relationship between shopping and race/class/gender, the ethical implications of video surveillance and consumer tracking, the psychological function of music, and the cultural significance of commercial spaces as sites of social interaction.
  
  \n\n\nCourse activities may include a field trip to the Tresidder Memorial Union or Stanford Shopping Center to conduct participant-observation research.
• PWR 1D | 3 units | Class # 26942 | Section 02 | Grading: Letter or Credit/No Credit | SEM
  06/24/2013 - 08/15/2013 Tue, Thu 10:00 AM - 11:50 AM at 200-202 with Heredia, A. (PI)
  Instructors: Heredia, A. (PI)
  Notes: Writing About Race and Ethnicity. With recent films like ¿The Man with the Iron Fists¿ and ¿End of Watch,¿ why does Hollywood continue portraying Asians as violent kung fu fighters or sinister dragon ladies and Latinos as urban gangbangers? Beyond stereotypes, how does race and ethnicity influence one's sense of personal identity? How do biracial people choose their ethnic affiliations? How do immigrants become American? What is it like to be bilingual and bicultural? These are all very important questions, and students in this class will have an opportunity to explore them to get a deeper sense of how race and ethnicity matter today in American Society.
  
  \n\nThe variety of readings, videos, and writing assignments we will cover in this class are all designed to train students as critical thinkers and effective writers. The first assignment will be a rhetorical analysis of personal narratives to compare how authors think about their own ethnic identity. For example, we will read how contemporary writers Meri Danquah and Helie Lee experienced a clash of values as they assimilated into American society. Later, students will learn how to write a short research based argument on a topic of their choice. In the past, students have written research essays on a wide variety of topics such as inter-racial dating, images of Native Americans in Hollywood films, Asian parenting, the model minority myth, and Chicano, Latino, African American, and immigrant identities. There will be many in-class activities including oral reports, and students will have a chance to revise their essays after peer editing sessions. Towards the end of the class, students will also learn how to put together and deliver a PowerPoint presentation based on their research, the same way professionals do. This will also be an opportunity for students to learn from each other's research and to celebrate everybody¿s creativity and work. Overall, the reading, writing, and presentation skills covered in this class will prepare students to be successful in university level classes. Attendance is required at the first two sessions to keep place. No final exam for any section.
• PWR 1D | 3 units | Class # 26944 | Section 03 | Grading: Letter or Credit/No Credit | SEM
  06/24/2013 - 08/15/2013 Mon, Wed 10:00 AM - 11:50 AM at 160-123 with Gerben, C. (PI)
  Instructors: Gerben, C. (PI)
  Notes: The Language of Relationships in Popular and Social Media\n\nFrom friending to hooking-up, there are seemingly limitless ways to describe the relationships we form with family, friends, love interests, and even strangers. The language we use to describe our attractions and interactions with one another are also mirrored and/or influenced by popular and social media that both represent and facilitate our relationships. This class will explore the language of relationships by analyzing the media that portrays those words and relationships. Readings will include both popular and scholarly sources on topics such as social networks, romantic comedy movies and shows, break-up songs, and how these examples affect us in emotional, psychological, and sociological ways. In addition to interactive, in-class activities, this class will also feature assignments that allow students to critically analyze their online media profiles, and conduct original research to construct a written argument on the language of relationships. Though nearly any topic related to the language of relationships is fair game, students may consider exploring examples such as how intimately they know their ¿friends¿ on Facebook, how gender is portrayed in romance novels, or why people counter-intuitively listen to sad music when they¿re feeling lonely. This class will help students find their own interests, and writing voice, by supporting student to student, and student to instructor, interactions both in and out of the classroom.
• PWR 1D | 3 units | Class # 26946 | Section 04 | Grading: Letter or Credit/No Credit | SEM
  06/24/2013 - 08/15/2013 Tue, Thu 10:00 AM - 11:50 AM at 160-123 with Peterson, J. (PI)
  Instructors: Peterson, J. (PI)
  Notes: Writing About Popular Culture. We might think of popular culture merely in terms of entertainment, but it also has become a subject of serious academic research and debate. The media industry drives the ways we discuss politics and manipulates what we buy. Some argue that popular culture elements such as Disney programming and merchandise influence young people¿s behavior. In short, pop culture shapes our lives. How can we critically analyze movies, music, online social networks, advertising, and sports media much in the ways we analyze a novel, a speech, or even a business marketing report? By studying popular culture closely, writing about it, and reading what critics say about mass media and communications, we can learn about sociology, psychology, literature, economics, biology and history. While learning to ¿read¿ popular culture, we will also practice research and writing skills crucial to college. We will look at a range of examples and read discussions from mass media scholars such as Arthur Asa Berger and Henry Giroux. The first assignment will be a rhetorical analysis of a discussion of popular culture. Later, you will write a research-based argument about a topic of your choice, in which you get to learn about some element of popular culture that has always fascinated you. As a celebration of our research, each member of the class will get to engage classmates in a conversation about their topics. This class is designed for you to bring your own interests into our workshop, and for you to collaborate with others as you practice the art of exploring the everyday world all around us. Attendance is required at the first two sessions to keep place. No final exam for any section.
• PWR 1D | 3 units | Class # 27000 | Section 05 | Grading: Letter or Credit/No Credit | SEM
  06/24/2013 - 08/15/2013 Tue, Thu 10:00 AM - 11:50 AM at Meyer 183 with Wyle, S. (PI)
  06/24/2013 - 08/15/2013 Mon 10:00 AM - 11:50 AM at Meyer 183
  Instructors: Wyle, S. (PI)
  Notes: Stanford and the American West: Illusion, Reality, and Myths Where You Live. This class is designed as a five week intensive writing class to prepare Stanford athletes only ( closed to other students) for their PWR 1 experience in the fall. Using materials based on Stanford lore and history, including sports, architecture, religion, scandals of Stanford, family lore, and many other topics, students will write a rhetorical analysis, a short research proposal, and a 10 page research paper on a topic of their choosing related to the class. We will focus on developing both writing and researching skills which will be directly relevant to the upcoming PWR course ( Note : this class does not count as PWR1 credit) . Students will visit the library , Hoover Archives, and Special Collections, and will work to develop a clear , focused argument with multiple sources as evidence. Attendance is required at the first two sessions to keep place. No final exam for any section.