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requirements

From Campus to Cafés: Writing the Middle East for Your Daily Read

registration

Registration in Campus Management (or if applicable via your dedicated Office for Academic Affairs) is required in order to attend the course.

attendance and participation

Technically and administratively, there is no regular attendance requirement this semester for this course – act on your own responsibility. Regular attendance is recommended; active participation in the discussions and contributions to the respective assignments are expected. Being “active” means paying attention and participating within your own capabilities, not being “talkative.”

Given that there is no attendance requirement, you also don’t have to apologize for an absence from a meeting in advance or after.

contributions

The following contributions present opportunities for students to actively engage in developing writing skills and providing meaningful feedback. While optional, these activities are strongly encouraged to fully benefit from the course:

  • Enrich class discussions by sharing reflections, questions, and insights verbally during sessions.
  • Post thoughtful comments on the course blog:
    • Before sessions, raise questions or discussion points about the upcoming topic.
    • After sessions, summarize key takeaways and lingering questions.
  • Share draft introductions and passages on the blog to enable rich peer feedback.
  • Provide written peer feedback as blog posts focused on strengthening persuasive impact, flow, value for readers.
  • Articulate strategies for disseminating papers to wider readers beyond academia, also as blog comments.
  • posting end-of-course reflections on key learnings, growth as a writer, and future applications of skills developed on the blog

In addition, completing the course tasks outlined in the syllabus, such as drafting introductions, providing peer feedback, revising based on feedback, and so on, represent important contributions that enable skill development in persuasive, reader-centered writing. While specific tasks are not required weekly, students are highly encouraged to fully engage with the tasks and blog contributions to get the most value from the course.

forms of blog contributions

This blog serves as a platform for sharing thoughts and opinions on the topics discussed. You are welcome to share your insights, reflections and views on the content discussed in the blog. Posts may be made anonymously or by name and should be concise, with a recommended length of approximately 200–500 words to promote focused discussion. Please keep in mind that posts should be critical and questioning to allow for a diverse discussion of the topics.

Weekly contributions are to be submitted in the form of comments on the respective blog posts. The comment feature allows you to share your ideas, respond to other posts, and add depth to discussions. Reading and questioning the thoughts and viewpoints of fellow students and engaging in respectful dialogue is encouraged. Blog discussions help to gather diverse perspectives and insights, and to broaden shared understanding of the issues being addressed.

Thank you for your active participation and I look forward to following your posts and discussions here.

module examination

Written assignement of 5000 words. First deadline for the final paper: 5.2.2024. Second deadline: 12.2.2024. No extensions beyond the deadline unless for reasons of indisposition, see the framework study and examination regulations of Freie Universität Berlin.

Format: PDF to my @fu-berlin.de mail address from your @fu-berlin.de (or @zedat) mail address. No special requirements for citations, footnotes, font, list of sources etc. – use a CONSISTENT style throughout your paper.

The module examination is evaluated on a pass/fail basis. Upon request, I will share dedicated feedback (using my assessment sheet) also informing about the differentiated grade to give students an idea of how their paper would have been graded.

Evaluations will be documented directly in the campus management by the end of February 2024.

Late submissions need to be scheduled until die end of March 2024 (the actual submission date may be later). After that, I will only again accept term papers as examination of this module in the winter semester 2024/2025.