Los Angeles History

Hi everyone,

Here are the instructions for your mini-presentations (due Wednesday):

Pick 5 events from your section of the timeline. For each event, explain:

- what happened (a brief summary of the events)

- why this event was important or interesting to your group

- how this event is related to present-day Los Angeles

Let me know if you have any questions. Remember, you will have just 10 minutes at the beginning of class on Wednesday to prepare with your group. You may need to spend some time outside of class getting your presentation ready.

Good luck!

The Great Timeline Experiment

Hi everyone,

It's time for your first blog assignment! Before class on Friday (Sept. 2), please post your answers to the following questions. You may discuss answers and ideas with your classmates, but you need to make sure you respond individually.

Phase II students: answer all three questions (100 words minimum per question, 300 words total minimum).

Phase I students: answer question #2 only (150 words minimum).

1. When you first visited or moved to L.A., what were some of your earliest impressions? Did you know much about L.A. history before completing the timeline exercise? If so, what?

2. What were two of the most surprising things you read or learned about in the timeline? Be sure to use your own words, and to mention at least one new thing (something that the people who posted before you did not mention).

3. How have your ideas about L.A. history and/or culture changed since completing the timeline exercise? What do you know (or think) about the city that you didn't know (or think) before?

Thanks, everyone. Let me know if you have any questions!

Welcome! & Blogger.com

Dear Phase I & Phase II Students,

Welcome, everyone, to the American Culture Fall 2011 Class Blog!

I will use this site to post important information, announcements, and fun things related to our classes.

You will use this site to post homework assignments, continue class discussions, reflect on the movies we watch, and comment on information your classmates have posted. Together we will make this site a collection of our thoughts, feelings, questions, comments, musings, reflections, and rants about anything and everything related to American culture.

Please remember to check this blog regularly (at least once a day), and to stay tuned for important announcements in class about some of your first homework assignments.

This semester, in order to complete some of your course assignments, you will need to create a Blogger.com account. More details are included in the syllabus and will be announced in class, but for now please make sure you have signed up for this account no later than the SECOND day of class (Monday, August 29, 2011).

How to create a Blogger.com account:

1. Go to http://www.blogger.com
2. Sign in using your Google account username and password

-- OR --
3. If you don’t have a Google account:
a. Click the “Get started” button (under the Don’t have a Google Account? heading in the middle of the screen)
b. Enter your email address (it does not have to be a Gmail address)
c. Enter your email address again
d. Choose and enter a password (you will be asked to enter it twice)
e. Choose and enter a display name (this name will appear attached to every blog post and comment that you create)
f. Enter your date of birth
g. Copy the letters next to the “Word Verification” heading into the space provided
h. Click the “Acceptance of Terms” box
i. Click the orange arrow marked “Continue”