Syllabus: Experiential Learning II

Class code

EXLII-UF 9301

Instructor
Details

Lovisa Ericson le21@nyu.edu

By appointment and on Thursdays before and after the Seminar

Class
Details

Experiential Learning II
Biweekly seminar on Thursdays 1:45-3:15 pm, starting on February 13, 2014.
Classroom: ICAPA Gardel

Prerequisite
s

The EL II course is mandatory for LS-students

Class
Description

This course is designed as a biweekly seminar and combines classroom meetings,

individual tutoring with the instructor, and internship placement in organizations and
companies in Argentina. The internship experience together with the seminar part is
meant to serve the students academic and professional development. The focus is
primarily on the internship placement. The community placement, which the student
actively participates in securing with guidance from the relevant site or professional
personnel, falls within the area defined by the students GLS concentration and, as
much as possible, relate to their individual academic interests.

Desired
Outcomes

By the end of the semester, students in EL I will have:

Sought out, secured, and completed an experiential learning project(s) (an
internship or volunteer opportunity) in a professional setting
Built a personal network of resources and contacts to support their junior year
Experiential Learning projects
Used language to engage in study and experiential learning and reflected on
the manner in which language reflects social and cultural practices and
assumptions
Understood that formal classroom and informal learning are part of a continuum

Assessment
Components

The course evaluation is a 2 credit Pass/Fail grade.

Failure to submit or fulfill any required course component results in failure of the class.
The Assessment is based on the following assignments:

Page 1 of 8

Attending the Internship

Writing 4 graded informal writings/assignments:
o Assignment 1: Reflection on Internship, includes 2 tasks:
Writing a 1-2 page letter to the course instructor including
reflection on this semesters internship and the Fall 2013
internship.
Writing a formal plan for the Internship tasks and activities during
the semester.
o Assignment 2: Participant observation at the Internship Organization
o Assignment 3: discussion questions for session on Workplace Culture(s)
in Argentina
o Assignment 4: A thick description of a place in Buenos Aires
Each of the students will do one individual written and oral presentation in

Exams and
Submission
of work

class on their research topic, related to their internship experience and their
final project and senior thesis.
By the end of the semester students present a Final Essay of 5-7 pages and a
10-minute oral presentation of their Internship placement.
Students also continue writing their internship journal from next semester.
Handing-in internship video (Only valid for students that hadnt the possibility
to film their internship during the Fall 2013 semester).

Final Exam dates cannot be changed under any circumstance.

Written work due in class must be submitted during the class time to the professor.
Final essays must be submitted to the professor in print and electronic copy.
If the student is not in Buenos Aires, he / she must send a printed copy via express
postal mail (i.e. FeDEX, DHL, UPS, etc) to the NYU Center in Buenos Aires Anchorena
1314 - (C1425ELF) Argentina. This copy must arrive before or on the date of
established deadline.

fAttendance
Policy

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NYU Buenos Aires has a strict policy about course attendance.

Students should contact their class teachers to catch up on missed work but
should NOT approach them for excused absences.
Absences due to illness must be discussed with the Assistant Director for
Academics Affairs, Mara Pirovano Pea within one week of your return to
class.
A doctor note excusing your absence is mandatory.
The date on the doctors note must be the date of the missed class or
exam
Absence requests for non-illness purposes must be discussed with the Assistant
Director for Academics Affairs, Mara Pirovano Pea prior to the date(s) in
question.
If students have more than two unexcused absences they will be penalized by
deducting 50 % of the class participation grade. Please be aware that in most of
the courses the class participation grade is 20% of the final grade. So the 50%
of the class participation grade would mean 10 % of the final grade.
If students have more than four unexcused absences they will fail the course.
Intensive Languages Courses: students who have more than three unexcused
absences will be penalized by deducting 50% of the class participation grade.
Please be aware that in most of the courses the class participation grade is 20%
of the final grade. So the 50% of the class participation grade would mean 10 %
of the final grade. Those students who have more than five unexcused
absences will fail the course.
Each class has a duration of one hour and half or two hours. Missing one class
represents one absence.
For those courses that meet once a week
(three hours block), missing one class represents two absences.
Students are responsible for making up any work missed due to absence.
NYU BA also expects students to arrive to class promptly (both at the beginning
and after any breaks) and to remain for the duration of the class. Three late
arrivals or earlier departures (10 minutes after the starting time or before the
ending time) will be considered one absence.
Please note that for classes involving a field trip or other external visit,
transportation difficulties are never grounds for an excused absence. It is the
students responsibility to arrive at an agreed meeting point in a punctual and
timely fashion.
Holidays make up classes are mandatory as regular scheduled classes.

Late
Submission
of Work

Plagiarism
Policy

Late work should be submitted in person to the Assistant Director for Academics
Affairs during office hours (Mon Fri, 9.30 am to 5 pm), who will write on the essay
or other work the date and time of submission, in the presence of the student. Another
member of the administrative staff can accept the work, in person, in the absence of
the Assistant Director for Academics Affairs and will write the date and time of
submission on the work, as above.
Work submitted within 5 weekdays after the submission time without an agreed
extension receives a penalty of 10 points on the 100 point scale.
Written work submitted after 5 weekdays after the submission date without an agreed
extension fails and is given a zero.
Please note end of semester essays must be submitted on time
The presentation of another persons words, ideas, judgment, images or data as
though they were your own, whether intentionally or unintentionally, constitutes an act
of plagiarism.
All your written work must be submitted as a hard copy AND in electronic form to the
instructor.
It is expected that the student follows the rules on academic honesty and intellectual
integrity established by NYU University.

Required
Text(s)

Any common readings focus on issues of workplace culture and the best means for
defining an academic project that grows out of a workplace or volunteer experience.
Instructors assign students individual readings based on their placements and the
projects they develop in conjunction with the placement.

Supplement
al Texts(s)

The instructor will provide specific readings on your Internship placement.

Internet
Research
Guidelines

Students are encouraged to read daily newspapers and look at how the media is
covering the topics the internship organization is working with. Readings from Englishspeaking newspapers in Argentina are also recommended, Buenos Aires Herald and
Argentina Independent, The Bubble, The Buenos Aires Review.

Additional
Required
Equipment

Internship journal (students chose the format: blog, note pad, google doc.), recorder
for interviews (mobile phone, I-phone, or interview recorder).

Week 1

Session 1: Introduction to Experiential Learning II and Instructions on

Internship Placements Spring 2014

February 13

During the first session students will be introduced to the course requirements and
dynamic. During the semester each student will hand-in graded informal writings (4
Assignments), and one individual written and oral presentation in class on
their research topic, related to their internship experience and their final project and
senior thesis. By the end of the semester students also present a Final Essay of 5-7
pages and a 10-minute oral presentation of their Internship placement. Continuation of
the internship journal from next semester. Students will be introduced to ethnographic
methodology for participant observation at their internship organizations.
Instructions to students:

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Students receive instructions for Assignment 1 which includes two tasks:

o Writing a 1-2 page letter to the course instructor including reflection on

this semesters internship, and the Fall 2013 internship.

Writing a formal plan for the Internship tasks and activities during the
semester (a specific format will be handed out in class)

Co-curricular activities: Students meet with their Internship organization and set a
schedule and preliminary work plan for the semester.
Week 2
February 1721

Instructor available for individual tutoring (by appointment) During the weeks
without EL II class, students can meet individually with the course instructor to discuss
internship tasks and activities for the Spring 2014 semester.
Instructions to students:

Sending and handing in Assignment 1 (important to send the assignment this

week since it will be discussed in class Session 2)

Co-curricular activities: Students meet with their Internship organization, start their
internships and set schedule for the semester.
Week 3
February 27

Session 2: Ethnographic Observation as a tool to reflect on your Internship

Experience
Students will acquire knowledge on how ethnographic observation can be used as a tool to
reflect on an internship experience. The Instructor will give a general feedback of the
Assignment 1.
Readings:
Hennink, Monique, Hutter, Inge & Bailey, Ajay (2011) Qualitative Research Methods,
Chapter 8. Observation, Sage Publications. Pp. 169-200
Instructions to students:

Student presentations: 2 students present reflections on readings from their

placement readings/literature.
Assignment 2: Students receive instructions for an ethnographic observation
at their Internship placements.
Students receive instructions for discussion questions to prepare for Session 3:
Workplace Culture(s) in Argentina (Assignment 3)

Week 4

Instructor available for individual tutoring (by appointment)

March 3-7

Instructions to students:

Assignment 2: Students make an ethnographic observation at their internship

organization.

Week 5

Session 3: Workplace Culture(s) in Argentina

March 13

During this class students are invited to reflect on their experiences on Argentine
workplace culture. We will discuss issues such as gender relations, working in
multicultural environments, using a foreign language as a work language, and how to
build networks. We will compare students experiences from Internship and
volunteering experiences in Buenos Aires. Is interning the same as volunteering? We

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will also explore the concepts of machismo and paternalism vs. equality.
Readings:
Pamela Lirio, Terri R. Lituchy, Silvia Ines Monserrat, Miguel R. Olivas-Lujan, Jo Ann Duffy,
Suzy Fox, Ann Gregory, B.J. Punnett, Neusa Santos, 2007, Exploring career-life success
and family social support of successful women in Canada, Argentina and Mexico, in:
Career Development International, Vol. 12, No. 1, 2007
Butcher, Jacqueline, A Humanistic Perspective on the Volunteer-Recipient Relationship,
in: Dekker, Paul and Halman, Loek (editors), The Values of Volunteering: Cross-Cultural
Perspectives, Springer Science, Business Media, New York
Instructions to students:

Week 6

Student presentations: 2 students present reflections on readings from their

placement readings/literature
Assignment 2: Students hand in ethnographic observation from Internship.
Assignment 3: Students bring discussion questions to Workplace Culture(s) in
Argentina

Instructor available for individual tutoring (by appointment)

March 17-21
Week 7

Session 4: Documenting your internship experience with audio and video

March 27

During this session we will work with the 1-minute film students filmed during the Fall
2013 semester. Students will improve this documentary experience and be able to
discuss techniques with an Argentine Filmmaker. The Instructor gives feed-back to the
participant observation (Assignment 2) at the Internship organizations.
Guest speaker: Gregorio Cramer, Filmmaker and NYU Alumni (Please observe that the
date of this session will be confirmed at the beginning of the semester)
Instructions to students:

Week 8

Bring your video to class and/or bring a draft for your video on your Internship
experience.

Instructor available for individual tutoring (by appointment)

March 31April 4

Week 9

Session 5: The City of Buenos Aires ways of representing the city

April 10

During this session we will review the article by Nico Larco (2010) discussed last
semester on the notions of place and space in Buenos Aires and contrast it to the
idea of placement (your internship). Students receive instructions for doing a thick
description of a place in Buenos Aires (Assignment 4). The instructor gives feedback
to the Assignment 2 (ethnographic observation).

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Readings:
Larco, Nico, 2010, Both/And: Merging Global and Local Identity through Design. A Case
Study of Puerto Madero, Buenos Aires, in: Journal of Urban Design, Vol. 15. No. 2, 195
210, May 2010 (Review your reading from last semester)
Shmidt, Claudia, Argentinas Cuestin Capital Founding a Modern Nation, in Latin
American Modern Architectures: Ambigous Territories, Taylor and Francis, (ebook at
NYU Ebrary)
Instructions to students:

Week 10

Students hand in their short documentary on their Internship experience

(This instruction is valid only for the students that didnt film their documentary
during the Fall 2013 semester).
Student presentations: 2 students present reflections on readings from their
placement readings/literature
Assignment 4: Students receive instruction to do a thick description of a place
in Buenos Aires

SPRING BREAK

April 14-18
Week 10

Session 6: Youth Cultures in Buenos Aires

April 24

During this session students will reflect on the youth cultures in Argentina and
particularly on some sub-urban youth cultures in Buenos Aires. The guest-speaker will
speak about issues regarding youth and activism in Argentina. Students are
encouraged to bring photos and other documented material on their experiences of
youth cultures in Buenos Aires.
Guest speaker: Leticia Lopresti, sociologist and NGO activist
Readings:
Alarcn, Christian, 2003, Cuando me muera quiero que me toquen cumbia Vidas de
pibes chorros, Verticales del Bolsillo, Buenos Aires (selection of pages)
Instructions to students:
Student presentations: 2 students present readings from their placement
readings/literature

Week 12

Instructor available for individual tutoring (by appointment)

April 28 - 30

Instructions to students:

Week 13

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Assignment 4: Students visit a site/place in Buenos Aires and write a thick

description and send in by email and hand-in assignment to the course
instructor.

Session 7: Buenos Aires seen through Graphic Design

May 8

How is the porteo-culture expressed through Graphic Design? During this session we
will reflect on the use of graphic design with two Argentine graphic designers. The
Instructor gives feed-back on the informal writing Assignment 4 (thick description of
place in Buenos Aires)
Guest speaker: Julieta Ulanovsky and/or Valeria Dulitzky from ZKYSKY Design (tbc)
Readings:
Dudley, Esther and Mealing, Stuart, 2000, Becoming Designers Education and
Influence, Intellect, Exeter England, Portland OR, USA (selection of pages)
Sontag, Susan, 2001, On Photography, Picador USA, Farar, Straus and Giroux, New York
(selection of pages)
Instructions to students:

Students hand-in a short (1 page) proposal for the final essay

Week 14

Instructor available for individual tutoring (by appointment)

May 12-16

Co-curricular activities: Students attend their Internship placements for the last time.
Instructions to students:

Students meet individually with the course Instructor to discuss their final
written project proposals.

Week 15

Session 8: Final Exam and Course Evaluation

May 22

Oral Presentation: Students make a 10 minutes oral presentation in class on their

internship experience.
Handing in Final written project: A final project of 5-7 pages (1500-2000 words or
the equivalent in another medium, when appropriate) that involves some use of
secondary sources. The final project builds directly on the community placement and
acts as a capstone to the students year-long process of place-based experiential
learning.

Classroom
Etiquette

The use of Blackberrys, I-phones and IPods in class are forbidden

Required
Cocurricular
Activities

Minimum 8 and a maximum of 18 hours per week at the placement site.

1 Community Excursions
o Community excursion for thick description (individually)

Suggested
Cocurricular
Activities

Participation at NYU BA Lecture and Outings Seminars and Community

Excursions organized by NYU BA.

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Your Instructor
Lovisa Ericson, PhD candidate at the Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales (FLACSO)
Argentina, holds a Master in Public Administration from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden
(2005) and a Diplme dtudes Politiques (2003) from the Institut dtudes Politiques (IEP) Paris,
France. Her research is on international development cooperation. She works as a consultant in
international development cooperation and education. She has worked in multilateral and bilateral
organizations as programme officer and consultant.

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