Detailed Schedule | English Conversation and Discussion

*Asterisks in front of an item indicates audio clips for listening exercises in the course packet

Week 1	Dec. 13	Unit 1 Secret Fears Reading *This American Life: Fear of Sleep (2008; audio clip, 8:00 min.) Carlos H. Schenck, "A Tour of Sleep," Sleep: A Groundbreaking Guide to the Mysteries, the Problems, and the Solutions (2008) World Science Festival: Carlos H. Schenck Chris Bury,"Parasomnias: The Science of Unsound Sleep" (2007)
Week 1	Dec. 15	Unit 1 Secret Fears Reading Alexis Madrigal, "Freaky Sleep Paralysis: Being Awake in Your Nightmares," Wired (2009) Chris French, "The Waking Nightmare of Sleep Paralysis," The Guardian (2009) Sleep Paralysis
Week 2	Dec. 19	Unit 2 Fashion Passion Reading Alex Cohen, "Reconstructing Fashion," NPR (2009) *Alex Cohen, "Turning Prison T-Shirts into High Fashion," NPR (2009; audio clip, 6:50 min.) Raquel Allegra (official site) Interview with Raquel Allegra - Fashion Designer Series (video clip, 4:50 min.) J. B. Jones, "On the Verge of a Seamless Destruction" (interview with Allegra) Raquel Allegra: Re-used Shredded T-Shirt Couture (2009) Carpal tunnel syndrome The September Issue (2009 film) Debates Intelligence Squared: Fashion maketh woman. (2010; video clip: trailer) Fashion Is Bad for Us Intelligence Squared: The Catholic church is a force for good in the world. (2009; video clips: part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5) PETA: Is Eating Animals Ethical? (2009; video clips: part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11) Fashion Presentations: For Thursday, December 22, in groups of 3 students, you will have designed a fashion item out of a cheap T-shirt (just as in the listening) and make a presentation to your classmates explaining the idea behind your fashion. You can modify the T-shirt however you like, but the T-shirt is the fashion, not just the base upon which you throw a thousand accessories or print patterns. Each group will have five minutes for the presentation (explain your concept, creative process, reasons people would like the item, showcase your product, etc.) in which everyone should have comparable speaking parts. Following the presentation will be a three-minute question and answer session.
Week 2	Dec. 22	Unit 2 Fashion Passion Reading Fashion Week in New York City ("behind the scenes at the style industry") *"Fashion Week: Twinkle's First Big Show," NPR (2003; audio clip, 6:59 min.) Twinkle Twinkle (official page) Label Overview Twinkle by Wenlan (spring 2011 ready to wear collection) Lucy McRae: How can technology transform the human body? (video clip, 4 min.) What Is Fashion? Designers Shikisai: Products Recycle Runway Michelle Hiskey, "Wearable Art Plucked from Trash," CNN (2011) Designer Turns Garbage into Green Couture Garments (2011) LaMont Jones, "Trash Fashion," Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (2008) Nancy Judd : The Art of Green Couture Francisco Costa David Colman, "Francisco Costa," Interview Magazine Suzy Menkes, "Francisco Costa: A Minimalist Approach," The New York Times (2011) Sarah Bailey, "Costa's Calvin Klein," Harper's Bazaar (2008) The Life Ball, Vienna (2010; video clip) Stan Herman Joyce Walder, "PUBLIC LIVES; Designer Looks Back With Pain and Pride," The New York Times (1998) Fashion Presentations: In groups of 3 students, design a fashion item out of a cheap T-shirt (just as in the listening) and then make a presentation to your classmates explaining the idea behind your fashion. You can modify the T-shirt however you like, but the T-shirt is the fashion, not just the base upon which you throw a thousand accessories or print patterns. Each group will have five minutes for the presentation (explain your concept, creative process, reasons people would like the item, showcase your product, etc.) in which everyone should have comparable speaking roles. Following the presentation will be a three-minute question and answer session.
Week 3	Dec. 26	Unit 3 Love and Marriage Reading *Christie Nicholson, "Why Dating Doesn't Predict Marital Success," Scientific American (2009; audio clip, 1:30 min.) Top Three Determinants of Attraction, University of California, Berkeley Maggie Wittlin, "Beauty Is in the Processing-Time of the Beholder," Seed (2006) "Psychological Study Reveals That Red Enhances Men's Attraction to Women," University of Rochester (2008) Helen E. Fisher, "The Biology of Attraction," Psychology Today (1993) Christie Nicholson, "Why Dating Doesn't Predict Marital Success," Scientific American (2009) Charles Feng, "Looking Good: The Psychology and Biology of Beauty," Journal of Young Investigators (2002) The Science Show: Perception of Beauty, Australian Broadcasting Corporation (2007; with downloadable audio clip, story starts from 38:08 min.) Rachel Mahan, "More Sex for Women?," Scientific American (2008) Attraction and Relationships, North Central College Interactive Lonely Hearts Ad ("Make your lonely hearts advert to reveal the hidden message of attraction.") The Big Personality Test ("Discover your unique personality fingerprint"; requires registration)
Week 3	Dec. 29	Unit 3 Love and Marriage Reading Pheromones "Pheromone Follies," Discover Magazine (1999) Eric Wolff, "Funky Pheromones," Discover Magazine (2009) *Christie Nicholson, "The Scent of Sexual Sweat," Scientific American (2009; audio clip, 1:30 min.) Allison Bond, "Can Pheromone Body Wash Make You More Desirable?," Discover Magazine (2009) Charles J. Wysocki and George Preti, "Human Pheromones: What's Purported, What's Supported" (pdf file)
Week 4	Jan. 3	No Class (New Year's Day observed)
Week 4	Jan. 5	No Class
Week 5	Jan. 10	Unit 4 Move It! Move It! Reading Physical Activity Definitions Physical Activity (definition, fact sheets, multimedia, etc.) Benefits Physical Activity for Everyone: The Benefits of Physical Activity Physical Activity (benefits, what to do) Getting Active Gina Kolata, "Does Exercise Really Keep Us Healthy?," The New York Times (2008) Policies Health and Fitness 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans Implementation *Allison Aubrey, "Deskercise: Staying Jazzed And Focused At School," NPR (2009; audio clip, 4:11 min.) Patti Neighmond, "Expert: 10-Minute Workouts Can Have Big Payoff," NPR (2009; audio clip, 4:44 min.) Patti Neighmond, "Sitting All Day: Worse For You Than You Might Think," NPR (2011; audio clip, 4:17 min.) Couch to 5K Let's Move!: America's Move to Raise a Healthier Generation of Kids Connection with Academic Performance "Academic performance at school linked to exercise," BBC (2012) Jeannine Stein, "Physical activity and school performance: A closer look," Los Angeles Times (2012) Charles Hillman, "Run for Your Life!," TED^xUniversity of Illinois (2010) (video clip, 18:18 min.; "Professor Charles Hillman talks about the surprising links between exercise, intelligence and aging -- and how a fit child is a smarter one.") David Wright, "Bikes, Balls in Class: How Phys Ed Transformed One School," ABC (2010) "Study Suggests Schools Lacking in Exercise Programs for Children," National Institutes of Health (2003) Campaign Media โฆษณา ชุดของ สสส. (Thailand; three different ads; video clip, 1:36 min.) Get Active (European Commission; video clip, 0:30 min.) Exercise Your Way (Singapore; video clip, 2:24 min.) Let's Move! "Move Your Body" Music Video with Beyoncé - NABEF (video clip, 4:18 min.) Let's Move! PSA: Park Day (30 Seconds) (USA; video clip, 0:32 min.) Lets Move with Tennis Stars - August South Lawn Series (USA; video clip, 1:34 min.) ออก กำลังกาย (video clip, 1:32 min.) แค่ ออกกำลังกายอะไรๆก็ดี (video clip, 1:00 min.) ขยับ เท่ากับออกกำลังกาย สสส. (video clip, 2:21 min.) 30-second ad (video clip, 0:31 min.) Group Exercise: Over the New Year break you will have developed a two-minute exercise routine that will help us firm or tone some part of our body, sweat or have fun. In-class each student will become an exercise group leader and lead us, your students, through your designed movement or series of movements.
Week 5	Jan. 12	Unit 4 Move It! Move It! Reading Antronette Yancey Christine Breese, "Amazing Grace: Antronette Yancey," UCLA Magazine (2006; interview) Neil Paik, "UCLA health services professor Antronette Yancey created Instant Recess program for 10-minute exercise breaks," Daily Bruin (2011) "A workout at work?," The Washington Post (2011) "Exercising at work - who's it good for?," University of Bristol (2008) Dean Ornish, "Dean Ornish on the world's killer diet," TED Conference (2006; video clip, 3:22 min.; use the interactive transcript function to the right of the embedded video to navigate parts of the talk and listen to them again) Leading Discussion:
Week 6	Jan. 17	Unit 5 Television Reading Vidders and Vidding Vidding Jesse Walker, "Remixing Television," Reason (2008; interview with Francesca Coppa) Logan Hill, "The Vidder," New York (2007) Neda Ulaby, "Vidders Talk Back To Their Pop-Culture Muses," NPR (2009; audio clip, 5:47 min.) "Us" (video clip, 3:55 min.) Organization for Transformative Works Michael Wesch, "An Anthropological Introduction to YouTube," Library of Congress (2008; video clip, 55:34 min.) Steven Johnson, "Watching TV Makes You Smarter," The New York Times (2005) Elizabeth Blair, "Sex On The Tube: Sitcoms Test Boundaries," NPR (2008; audio clip 4:24 min.) Lauren Zalaznick, "The Conscience of Television," TED Women (2011; video clip, 13:12 min.; use the interactive transcript function to the right of the embedded video to navigate parts of the talk and listen to them again) Todd Haselton, "9% of U.S. consumers have canceled cable TV, study says" (2012) Test 1: (in class) The test is designed to assess your knowledge of material covered in the course, your listening skills, and target vocabulary. *Rebecca Sheir, "The Changing Face Of America's Chinatowns," NPR (2011; audio clip, 6:37 min.)
Week 6	Jan. 19	Unit 5 Television Reading Richard Lawler, "The Engadget Interview: Google TV Product Manager Rishi Chandra at CES 2012" (2010; with video clip of interview., 14:29 min.) TV Innovation Awards 2012 Rebecca Coffey, "20 Things You Didn't Know About...Television," Discover (2009) Douglas Rushkoff, "Peer Review: Too Clear for Comfort," Discover (2006) The Pokemon Case of 1997 "Japanese cartoon triggers fits in children," BBC (1997) "Flashing Japan Cartoon Makes Children Sick," Los Angeles Times (1997) Pokemon Case Study, Salem State University Ben Radford, "The Pokémon Panic of 1997" (2001) Subliminal Advertising Subliminal Advertising Links to articles for Nisagorn and Patcharachula's discussion: The Effects of TV on the Brain How TV Affects Your Child Leading Discussion: Nisagorn and Patcharachuta
Week 7	Jan. 24	Unit 6 Blending Languages Reading *Patrick Cox, "The World in Words 33: Does being bilingual give you a split personality? And skirt-and-blouse politics in Ghana," The World (2008; audio clip, mp3) François Grosjean, "Bilingual Infants," Psychology Today (2010) "Does The Personality Of Bilingual People Change When The Language Does?" (2008) Patrick Cox, "The Road to Hyperpolyglottery with Michael Erard," The World in Words (2012) Regional Dialect Meme (2011) If These Knishes Could Talk: The Story of the New York Accent (video clip, 3:11 min.) Do You Speak American?, PBS (2005) US Language Attitudes (video clip, 4:16 min.) The Story of English, BBC (1986) Episode 7: The Muvver Tongue Part 1 (video clip, 7:53 min.) Part 2 (video clip, 7:20 min.) Part 3 (video clip, 8:13 min.) Part 4 (video clip, 9:40 min.) Part 5 (video clip, 9:47 min.) Part 6 (video clip, 7:19 min.) SNL Makes Fun of British Gangster Films (link to video clip, ~2 min.)
Week 7	Jan. 26	Unit 6 Blending Languages Reading *Patrick Cox, "The World in Words 58: Linguists trash English word count, speaking Uighur in Bermuda, and steady lah! The delights of Singlish," The World (2009; audio clip, mp3) Links to articles on Korean Pop Culture for Chakrit and Thanyalak's discussion: Patrick Winn, "Warning: This Fad May Kill You" (2010) Lucy Williamson, "The Dark Side of South Korean Pop Music," BBC (2011) Leading Discussion: Chakrit and Thanyalak
Week 8	Jan. 31	No class (Midterm week: January 30–February 3, 2012)
Week 8	Feb. 2	Midterm Presentations In groups of no more than 3 students 7 minutes oral presentation per group Use PowerPoint as part of your presentation (make compatible with 2003 version) Ten Commandments for PowerPoint Don McMillan, "Life After Death by PowerPoint" (video clip, 4:25 min.) Do's and Don'ts, University of Nebraska, Lincoln Kathleen Bauer, "Effective Presentations" (pdf) Jason B. Jones, "Improving PowerPoint-Style Presentations" (2011) Choose your own topic but have it approved by me on or before Monday, January 23, 2012 Tentative Schedule 1:00–1:07 p.m., "Premarital Sex on Valentine's Day," Natyada, Pukpitchaya, and Ratchakan 1:10–1:17 p.m., "Love Market in China," Chairat and Porapat 1:20–1:27 p.m., "The Changes of Chula's Uniforms," Natthaya, Pimpan and Por 1:30–1:37 p.m., "Hot 'Dogs' vs. Pork Chops: What Is the Difference?," Patcharachuta, Pornwara, and Nisagorn 1:40–1:47 p.m., "Business Advertisements: Fake, Fraud, or False?," Thanyalak, Chakrit, and Pattarin
Week 9	Feb. 7	Unit 7 Fitness Facts Reading Allison Aubrey, "Interval Training: Good Exercise For All Ages," NPR (2009; audio clip, 4:09 min.) Karen Hopkin, "Different Exercise Affects Appetite Differently," Scientific American (2008; audio clip, 1:17 min.) Stephen H. Boutcher, "High-Intensity Intermittent Exercise and Fat Loss," Journal of Obesity (2011) Gretchen Reynolds, "Exercise as Housecleaning for the Body," The New York Times (2012) "Exercise Suppresses Appetite By Affecting Appetite Hormones," Science Daily (2008) Tara Parker-Pope, "Eating to Fuel Exercise," The New York Times (2009) Robert W. Lash, "Further Proof: Exercising Is More Important Than Dieting," Discover (2008) Human Power ("Why is the bicycle the most efficient way to travel? How do your muscles work?") Lifespan Calculator
Week 9	Feb. 9	Unit 7 Fitness Facts Reading Jane E. Brody, "Communities Learn the Good Life Can Be a Killer," The New York Times (2012) Links to articles on "The Phenomenon of 21st Century Social Networking" for Pattharin and Natthaya's discussion: Are social networking sites good for our society? Laurie McCabe, "What is Social Networking, and Why Should You Care?" (2009) Leading Discussion: Pattharin and Natthaya
Week 10	Feb. 14	Unit 8 Art Reading Robert Frank Liz Jobey, "Photographer Robert Frank: holding a mirror up to America," The Guardian (2009) Inside Photographer Robert Frank's The Americans (2010; video clip, 5:19 min.) Anthony Lane, "Road Show: The Journey of Robert Frank's The Americans," The New Yorker (2009) *Tom Cole, "'Americans': The Book That Changed Photography," NPR (2009; audio clip, 8:02 min.) Charlie LeDuff, "Robert Frank’s Unsentimental Journey," Vanity Fair (2008) The Americans, Lens Culture (2008; images) Robert Frank: Storylines, Tate Modern (2004–2005) Lee Friedlander Lee Friedlander: Stick and Stones and At Work, Museum of Contemporary Photographer Links to articles for Chairat and Porapat's discussion: Zoe Kleinman, "How the Internet Is Changing Language," BBC (2010) Glenn Roberts Jr., "Internet Users Breed A Strange New Language" (2002) Christopher Mandall, "The Evolving World Of Emoticons" (2011) Leading Discussion: Chairat and Porapat (note date change)
Week 10	Feb. 16	Unit 8 Art Reading Spider Silk Textile Christopher Joyce, "Spider Wranglers Weave One-Of-A-Kind Tapestry," NPR (2009; transcript, audio clip, 3:08 min.) Randy Kennedy, "Gossamer Silk, From Spiders Spun," The New York Times (2009) Spider Silk, American Museum of Natural History "The Gown of Gold Spun By A Million Spiders That Revives a Lost Tradition" (2012) Hadley Leggett, "1 Million Spiders Make Golden Silk for Rare Cloth," Wired (2009) "Rare spider silk textile to come to V&A," The Telegraph (2011) A Golden Spider-Silk Textile, The Art Institute of Chicago American Photography: A Century of Images European Masters E. H. Gombrich, The Story of Art (1950) Test 2: in class (note date change; Test 2 covers material in units 5–8, that is, Television, Blending Languages, Fitness Facts, and Art) Joyce Hackel, "Iranian Officials Arrest ‘Funny in Farsi’ Translator," The World (2012; audio clip, 6:00 min.)
Week 11	Feb. 21	Unit 9 Texting Controversy Reading Sexting, Oxford Dictionaries *"'Sexting': Racy Teen Messaging Could Be Illegal," NPR (2009; audio clip, 6:42 min., with transcript) Dahlia Lithwick, "Textual Misconduct," Slate (2009) "What They’re Saying About Sexting," The New York Times (2011) 2011 Legislation Related to "Sexting," National Conference of State Legislatures (2012) Penny Marshall, "Generation sexting: What teenage girls really get up to on the internet should chill every parent," Daily Mail (2009) Annalisa Barbieri, "You don't know what sexting is?," The Guardian (2009) Gigi Stone, "'Sexting' Teens Can Go Too Far," ABC News (2009) Mike Celizic, "Her teen committed suicide over ‘sexting,'" MSNBC (2009) Debate Practice Topic: Facebook Parenting Father is right: 21^st-century teens need tough love. A: Porapat, Pimpan, Ratchakan, and Chairat B: Pukpitchaya, Thanyalak, Patcharachuta, and Chakrit Topic: People who think the internet is dangerous are paranoid. C: Por, Nisagorn, and Pattharin D: Natyada, Pornwara, and Natthaya
Week 11	Feb. 23	Unit 9 Texting Controversy Reading Kimberly J. Mitchel, et al., "Prevalence and Characteristics of Youth Sexting: A National Study," Pediatrics (2011) Raychelle Cassada Lohmann, "Sexting Teens," Psychology Today (2011) Angela Watercutter, "Oxford Dictionary Defines Sexting, Cyberbullying," Wired (2011) Cooper Smith, "'Sexting,' 'Retweet,' 'Cyberbullying' Added to Concise Oxford English Dictionary," The Huffington Post (2011) Matthew Holehouse, "Woot! Retweet and sexting enter the dictionary," The Telegraph (2011) Janis Wolak and David Finkelhor, "Sexting: A Typology" (2011; pdf file) Links to articles for Pornwara and Ratchakan's discussion: Tiffany Maleshefski, "Is it better to shop online this holiday season?" (2010) "Materialistic People Liked Less by Peers Than 'Experiential' People" (2010) Leading Discussion: Pornwara and Ratchakan
Week 12	Feb. 28	Unit 10 We Love Nippon!! Reading Otaka Champloo, "Learning Japanese through Manga" (2008) Neal Conan, "Manga, Anime and Japanese Culture in America," NPR (2005; audio clip) Robot suits from Japan: HAL Techno-Frontiers: Power Suits, NHK World (2009; video clip, 5:05 min.) HAL (Hybrid Assistive Limb) from Cyberdyne (2009; video clip, 5:39 min.)
Week 12	Mar. 1	Unit 10 We Love Nippon!! Reading Haruki Murakami Patrick Cox, "Haruki Murakami’s fans, confessions of a kanji-holic, and kwassa kwassa," The World (2009) Ben Dooley, "Haruki Murakami in Berkeley," The Millions (2008) Link to article for Por and Pimpan's discussion: "เลิก จัดงานบอลจุฬาฯ-ธรรมศาสตร์ "ดีมั้ย?...." ตำน้ำพริกละลายเงิน..ไม่โปร่งใส..เพื่อใคร ?," Matichon Online (2012) Oxford and Cambridge Sports Tradition The Xchanging Boat Race (1829) Overview History The Varsity Match: History: Then and Now (1872) Harvard-Yale Game (1875) Harvard-Yale Football Gallery: History: 1875-The First Game Laurelin Kruse, "126 Years of the Harvard-Yale Game" (2009; video clip, 3:01 min.) Robert S. Samuels, "A History of Harvard-Yale," The Harvard Crimson (2011) Thomas Kaplan, "Fatal Accident at Yale Bowl Highlights Tailgating Debate," The New York Times (2011) Leading Discussion: Por and Pimpan
Week 13	Mar. 6	Unit 11 Best Friends Forever Reading *Allison Aubrey, "Becoming Close: The Geography Of Friendship," NPR (2009; audio clip, 3:52 min., with transcript)
Week 13	Mar. 8	Unit 11 Best Friends Forever Reading "Study shows what makes college buddies lifelong friends," Purdue University (2007) Links to articles for Pukpitchaya and Natyada's discussion on "True Love": Harriet Sun, "What Is True Love?" True Love Leading Discussion: Pukpitchaya and Natyada
Week 14	Mar. 13	Unit 12 Get Happy! Reading Adam Hinterthuer, "Happiness Is Contagious," Scientific American (2008; audio clip, 1:18 min., with transcript) Alison Aubrey, "Happiness: It Really Is Contagious," NPR (2008; audio clip, 3:43 min., with transcript) Pam Belluck, "Strangers May Cheer You Up, Study Says," The New York Times (2008) Rob Stein, "Happiness Can Spread Among People Like a Contagion, Study Indicates," The Washington Post (2008) Justin Wolfers, "Is Happiness Contagious?" (2008) Economist Debates: Happiness: This house believes that new measures of economic and social progress are needed for the 21st-century economy. (2011)
Week 14	Mar. 15	Unit 12 Get Happy! Reading Gretchen Rubin, The Happiness Project Martin Seligman, Authentic Happiness The Happiness Formula, BBC (2008) Debate Practice Topic: The death sentence is sensible. Timekeeper: Pimpan Proposition (Patcharachuta, Natyada, Nisagorn, Porapat) Opposition (Chairat, Thanyalak, Chakrit, Natthaya) Topic: Censorship is not a good thing. Timekeeper: Chairat Proposition (Por, Pimpan, Ratchakan) Opposition (Pukpitchaya, Pattharin, Pornwara)
Week 15	Mar. 20	Debates Schedule Topic: Abortion should be legalized. Timekeeper: Ratchakan Proposition: Patcharachuta, Natyada, Nisagorn, Porapat Opposition: Chairat, Thanyalak, Chakrit, Natthaya Topic: Beauty pageants should be abolished. Timekeeper: Natthaya Proposition: Por, Pimpan, Ratchakan Opposition: Pukpitchaya, Pattharin, Pornwara
Week 15	Mar. 22	Test Test 3: in class
Week 16	Mar. 27	Final Conversations You will choose a conversation partner beforehand and sign up for a time slot with him/her. Please plan to arrive about half an hour before your designated time at the room indicated on the sign-up sheet. You will draw a topic just before you begin and talk with your partner on that topic for 3–5 minutes. The instructor (who may not be your section's) evaluates your listening and speaking skills. This is not like debate, where you must stay focused on the motion, so it's okay to allow your conversation to flow organically. Sign-up sheets will be posted on acharn Andru Matthews's office door (BRK 1115) on Thursday, March 22.
Week 16	Mar. 29	No Class (Good luck with finals, happy Songkran, and have a good summer!)