Course Syllabus

UNCS 2245.15 Freshman Topic Seminar
Loaded Language: The History of English and How to Do Things with Words
Fall 2017

Monday 3:00-4:15
Stokes 141N
Prof. Robert Stanton (stantoro@bc.edu)
Office Hours: Monday 11:30-12:30, Friday 1-2  or by appointment

The Big Idea:
The main goal of the Freshman Topic Seminars is to provide a focused inquiry into a specific topic in an intellectually rigorous but academically low-stress environment. It is also a way to get good academic advisement and meet some fellow first-year students. The course is pass/fail, ends before the Thanksgiving break, and requires minimal reading. We meet once a week for 75 minutes, and weekly attendance is required. The course is based on forming a community of freshmen and discussing our topics, and if you do not attend, neither of these things will happen. Each week, we will have a discussion about BC, school generally, and whatever else comes up, we will discuss the week's topic, and two people will do a short report.

The seminar will help you to understand and use language more effectively by examining the hidden history behind the words we use. English words come from many languages: Primitive Germanic, Latin, Old Norse, French, Italian, Spanish, Irish, Yiddish, and many others. The force and effectiveness of every word we speak or write depends on where it came from and how it has been used in the past. Furthermore, a lot of English words and expressions are metaphors, which express one concept in terms of another.

Structure:
1. Each week, one or two students will each present a piece of English text such as a newspaper editorial, a presidential speech, a standup comedian’s monologue, or an influential website, and discuss it on the level of its words and how they work. I will model this activity during our first class.
2. In addition, one or two students (depending on time) will discuss one common, well-known word that can nevertheless surprise us with its history, the way it's changed, and the way it's used now. The primary resource here is the classic book Keywords by Raymond Williams (2nd ed., 1983). Here is a list of words from Keywords that are suitable for reports. Or, choose your own word and trace its development, starting with its earliest usages and going up to the present. Here are the abbreviations used by Williams.
3. We will also discuss, in a relatively informal setting, the experience of being a first-year student at BC, college more generally, and everything else that relates.

Optional readings are available, from Metaphors We Live By by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson (1980). This book starts with the premise that metaphors fundamentally structure language and thought, and interrogates the way they are used, in general and specific terms, to shape politics and culture. You'll find links to individual chapters next to the relevant class date on the schedule below.

Resources:
When you are looking up individual words, here are some good resources. It's often fun, and always informative, to look up the same word in different places to compare how it's treated:

Oxford English Dictionary
This is the premier historical dictionary of the English language. Note that the meanings under each word are arranged from earliest meaning (which might now be obsolete) to most recent meaning. Here are lists of abbreviations and symbols used in the dictionary.
Oxford Dictionaries
This is not the OED, but rather an excellent free online dictionary. Includes links to sound files for pronunciation, and synonyms.
Merriam Webster
A big dictionary site, with a separate tab for "Thesaurus" (for finding synonyms and equivalents)
Dictionary.com Another big fun site, with language trivia, hints on common errors, a crossword, and more!
Wiktionary.com
Definitely check this out - a wiki dictionary definitely gives another perspective on language.
Urban Dictionary
A chaotic but useful collection of slang, buzzwords, joke words, and individuals' interpretations of well-known words. Many things exist here that exist nowhere else!
Google
Last but absolutely not least! Definitely Google your word, see if you can figure out how it's been used online, and whether it's changed in the last few years, months, or weeks! You might check out the Google N-Gram Viewer for a bit of historical perspective.

Important BC dates (check the academic calendar for more):

Schedule (subject to change)
First off, check out these possible outings!