Blog guidelines

Guidelines and Expectations for Class Blog

This class blog is a forum where we may present and begin to discuss current events concerning American culture's relationship to the environment. You are expected to check the blog regularly and skim all of the posts, while thoroughly reading at least two linked articles and two place posts each week. Conversations begun on the blog may occasionally continue in the class, if the post and/or comments on it are particularly relevant to the current class topics.

1. Blog posts have two forms.
   -One form is a news post, which consists of a headline, image, and/or blurb/paragraph with link to an online news article or video/audio clip produced within the week prior to your post, dealing with the U.S. environment or the U.S.'s involvement in an international environmental issue. Accompany your post with a brief (roughly 2-3 sentences) introduction to the piece, consisting of reflections or questions on the news article to get the conversation in the comment section going. You may post Op-Eds or opinion essays from major newspapers or magazines, but you will want to note that status in your brief introduction to the piece. Including photos from the piece or related to it are great, but always cite the source in the photo's caption.
   -The other form of blog post is a place post, in which you post a write-up (min. 350 words) that is your interpretation of “ the American environment” in a place you visit during the course. This should be a place that you have not spent substantial time in before (so not your home, most places on campus, your workplace, etc.). The extent of a place is defined by what you can see from a vantage point you pick. Including photos you took while at the place is encouraged; if you use photos from another source, please cite the source in your post.
2. You should generate a new post three times during the semester. Two of these will be news posts; one will be a place post. Two of your posts (any two—could be a place and a news or both news) will occur before the midterm, and one after. The two posts before the midterm must occur on different days.
3. If more than one person posts the same news article, the first person who did so, as defined by the order of posts on the blog, will receive credit; later posters need to find a different article. Multiple people may post articles on the same topic, if they take a significantly different approach (e.g. one is a news article, one is an op-ed) or cover difference perspectives or developments.
4. Each person needs to post about a different place. There is already an entry on the blog entitled “State Your Place.” Leave a comment with the name of the place you are visiting if you think others might also go there, and be very specific. Don't just say “Zilker Park,” as the whole park is too big for a post, and multiple people could write about multiple parts of the park; instead say “Zilker Zephyr boarding area” or “Zilker Hillside Theater.”
5. You must make a substantial comment on blog posts or other people's comments at least three different days before the first midterm, and two different days after the midterm. Of these five total comments, a maximum of two may be on place posts; the rest should be on news posts.
6. Final due dates for posts are listed on the course schedule.
7. You will not be asked specific questions about blog posts on the midterm or final; HOWEVER, you will likely find that incorporating things you read in the blog into your essay answers will improve and enrich them.

Good potential sources for blog material: major newspaper websites (Texas-based papers included); major news magazine websites (e.g. Time and Newsweek); CNN site; NPR site; Discovery News; ScienceDaily.

Grist (grist.org) and the Environmental News Network (enn.com) are environmentally-focused news sites, but many things posted there are blurb versions or reposts of articles that appeared elsewhere. Avoid posting such blurbs/links directly from Grist and ENN, but if you see something on there that interests you, follow its links/references/suggested reads to the source material. Original content generated by staff of Grist or ENN is fine for blog posts.