Course:WMST307 KeyWord Assignment

A Keyword Map for popular culture In his book Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society, Raymond Williams described “keywords” as important elements in a living vocabulary (see examples). There have followed other keyword projects (see liberty/freedom). Keywords invite research and reflection because debates about technology, culture, and society can be enhanced by an increased understanding of the multiple genealogies of their structuring terms and the diverse conflicts and disagreements embedded in differing uses of those terms. This assignments asks you to construct a keyword entry of around 300 words, based on a term or word/s from one (or more) of the required readings that bears on the day’s focus, for 1 of the readings. Your objective in this assignment is to briefly trace and describe, with citations from the readings, how one or more authors utilize this keyword, and then, and importantly, to articulate what thoughtful, inquiry-oriented questions emerge from your readings relative to this keyword and its significance in a scholarly discussion. Your Keyword entry should pay close attention to how an author articulates an argument through your efforts to trace the author’s use of that particular use of that keyword. You can also introduce the history and etymology of the word by consulting and citing the Oxford English Dictionary (available online through the library), while considering it a model for using citations to back its meanings. The 307 Keyword wiki will offer a guide to how various key terms are used in the readings, by presenters, in curriculum documents or the popular press, by providing short citations (with linked references). As such, its entries are not "opinion pieces" nor summaries, but well-documented reflections on how the word is used, accompanied by ongoing questions raised by the term. On the first morning, students will be introduced to Keyword wiki and how to construct entries. (10% of course grade). Each student will contribute one word(300wrds plus citation) and add to at least one other word.

Instructions Add your keyword to the Index, alphabetically e.g., Agency Create a New Page for that word. Add your keyword entry text to that new page. Link the Keyword in the Index to the page you just created for that keyword e.g., Agency.