Using the Class Listserv

The class listserv takes the place of journal entries. Everything you post (i.e., e-mail to the listserv address) will be sent to every member of the class.

You will begin your experience with the class listserv by posting the required responses to readings and class discussion. These two weekly posts are due by the following class period. In most cases, your instructor will give you a question or prompt to spark your response. But you are encouraged not to stop with considering that question. As you prepare to write your posting, think about the following questions:

¨ What did I learn in class or in the reading that I didn’t know before?

¨ What challenged me?

¨ What made me think?

¨ What don’t I understand about the readings and discussions? Can I work through it by writing about it?

¨ What questions do I have about the readings or topics?

But this is just the beginning of your interaction on the listserv. Read your fellow students’ postings. Do they have questions you can answer? Do their ideas spark further comments or questions from you? Hit “reply” on your e-mail program and write a response that will be read not only by the original poster, but by everyone. This is how discussion threads get started, and those out-of-class, electronic conversations are the real value of the listserv.

Mechanics of posting and replying

• Check your e-mail daily.
• You will soon get a welcome message from the listserv owner (that’s me). Save it; if you forget how to post or change your options, it will remind you.
• To post, send an e-mail to usandthem@l2.uca.edu. (That’s an L before the 2.)
• Please make your subject line descriptive of your post. Rather than: “Thursday’s class,” “Today’s reading” or “Journal 8/24,” use: “Attitudes toward native Americans,” “The French have got it all backwards,” or “Immigration schmimmigration.”
• To reply to any listserv e-mail, just hit “reply” in your e-mail program. Your reply will go to the list (i.e., every member of the class), not just the writer of the original post.
• So that we can all follow what’s going on, quote from the original post in your reply. (In your e-mail program choose the “include original message” option to make this automatic.) But don’t include the entire original post – just quote a section, then make your comments, then quote another section, etc. Including the entire original post wastes bandwidth and the readers’ time.
• Follow good “netiquette” – be as courteous and careful of what you post as you would of what you say in class. Read this short chapter from the book Writing Online for very important pointers. Your instructor or your fellow students may point you to this document if you repeatedly flout the rules, either out of ignorance or willful spite.
• The welcome e-mail also points you to the listserv website, http://l2.uca.edu/mailman/listinfo/usandthem. Here you can change some of your options (like getting an acknowledgement when your post is received, or not getting copies of your own posts), and see the message archives (where you can read messages by thread or by author). You’ll need the password sent to you in the welcome message to make these changes – and you can also change that password at the website.
• If you start getting messages saying that your post has been “held for approval,” it’s because you are trying to post from an e-mail address other than the one you put down on the signup sheet. Don’t worry – your instructor will approve the post and it will appear as usual. But if you are not going to read and post from the address you signed up with, you need to let your instructor know so that your e-mail address can be changed on the subscription list.

My role and your role

Your friendly instructors will rarely be together in the classroom this semester. In order for both of us to stay involved in the class, the one who is not actively involved in class discussions will probably post occasionally on the listserv, but as a member of the class, not as an authority figure.

That means that you are responsible for correcting any misperceptions, answering any questions, disciplining any misbehavior, and carrying on any conversations that get started here. No one is going to step down from on high to steer you to the right path. Everyone is equally responsible for making this work – for not leaving questions or falsehoods or provocative comments hanging.

Just doing the minimum required on the listserv – posting weekly – is “B” work. Participating in ongoing conversations and helping your fellow students is “A” work. If your required posts aren’t long or detailed enough, we’ll let you know to give you a chance to correct it. A good length to shoot at would be 300-500 words – that’s three to five paragraphs, in normal usage.

This is your conversation – keep it going.