Pre-welcome message
This was sent out at the end of semester 1, right before the winter break.
Pre-welcome to Morphology 2023-24
Hi folks,
This is a quick message in anticipation of next semester’s Morphology course, which I’m really looking forward to.
The Learn site for the course is now open, with very little to explore at this point; we’ll go through everything together once we meet in mid-January. There’s no textbook, since most of the course will consist of class discussion, though there will be plenty of background reading for those who want it. So get ready to roll up your sleeves and dig into some data! But first, of course, make good use of the break and get some rest. You’ve all earned it one way or another, and we all need it.
Happy Chrismukkah, Kwanzaa, Epiphany, Ōmisoka, or whatever else you happen to be celebrating this time of the year (let me know what I missed)! Itamar
Welcome message
Welcome to Morphology 2023-24
Hi everyone,
Happy New Year and welcome to Semester 2 of the 2023-24 academic year! As promised, I’m writing with some more details about our Hons/MSc Morphology course which starts next week.
The most important thing to keep in mind about this course is that it is not a traditional lecture but a flexible, collaborative seminar. These might sound like buzzwords but you’ll see soon enough that it’s really meant to be centred around you, so bring along your most inquisitive selves!
Practicalities: we meet Tue/Wed/Thu, all in DSB (the Dugald Stewart Buildling), room 3.10/3.11 (on the third floor):
- Tue 13:10-14:00, DSB 3.10/3.11
- Wed 14:10-15:00, DSB 3.10/3.1
- Thu 13:10-14:00, DSB 3.10/3.11
Material: we will build up a deep, practical understanding of morphology and its place in language, based on primary data and class discussion. There is no textbook - we will develop ideas in class together using handouts, slides and structured discussion.
Assessment and portfolio: the focus in this course is on learning, exploring and hypothesizing. To help facilitate our learning environment, we will all be compiling portfolios along the way (me too!). I’ll show you how this works once we get started: after each session, we’ll all write short self-reflections, and there will also be occasional problem sets to work on. In the meantime, you’ll find a Learn Journal on the course site. This is a place for you to reflect on each session, in which I can also respond and give feedback. This should be completely private between you and me, so go ahead and try it out already if you feel like it! I will likewise maintain a portfolio for self-reflection which you can all comment on. This welcome message will appear there too.
Marking: a substantial body of work in the pedagogical literature indicates that marks are detrimental to exploring and hypothesizing. I want you to get creative and take intellectual risks, so I won’t be giving you marks. Instead, I want us to decide on a mark together at the end of the semester, based on the portfolio you will have put together throughout the semester. Don’t worry, this won’t happen all at once - we’ll build up to this gradually and I’ll guide you along the way. We’ll discuss this together early on in Week 2! But if you want to learn more, I’ve put up some materials on the Learn page, including a recording from an event on this sort of thing from last year (my talk is the first one in the event, but only after considerable faffing about with the technology): https://media.ed.ac.uk/media/t/1_zydssy92
Let me know if there’s anything else. Otherwise, see you Tuesday at 1pm!
Itamar