UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY

 

 

Discovery Seminar Program

1571 Patterson Office Tower

University of Kentucky

Lexington, KY 40506-0027

http://www.uky.edu/Discovery/

859-257-6894 phone & fax

August 12, 2007

 

 

Dear ,

 

            Welcome to the University of Kentucky.  I am pleased that you have chosen to enroll in my section of the first-year Discovery Seminar Program.  I encourage you to show and discuss this letter with your parents to be sure you are clear on the contents.  I am quite excited about our course and I am looking forward to our seminar and to meeting you.  I am contacting you now to tell you a bit about what to expect in the courses and to let you know what I want you to do to prepare for the semester.  There are so many things I want to write in this letter that I’ve decided to number them so that I won’t confuse you.

 

            1.  Our seminar course is DSP 110-001, which meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11:00 to 12:15 in CB 211 (Classroom Building, Room 211).   The title of our seminar is “Can Money Buy Happiness?: Exploring Social Inequality and Social Justice.”  

 

            Our seminar will explore issues of poverty among families in Kentucky.  This topic could not be more timely – several national reports have just been released that again demonstrate that Kentucky, especially rural Kentucky, remains persistently poor.  We will also explore national and as time permits global issues.  Local, state and federal leaders continue to discuss how to assist persons in poverty, and, as I’m sure you know, the United States continues to debate how we view public assistance or welfare, and currently these issues loom large for immigrants.

 

            As part of my research, I interviewed more than 100 families in Kentucky who are experiencing great difficulties in keeping their homes and finding jobs that cover their basic needs, such as food and clothing for their children.  I plan to share my research findings with you and together we will be able to reflect upon the issues and suggest ideas that might help families, especially children.

 

            In this seminar, we will not just study poverty in the abstract, but we will talk with individuals and hopefully visit areas that will help us to understand situations as they really are.  Before we meet, I would like each of you to think about what the issues related to poverty are in your community, or, more broadly, in our society. 

  

 

            2.  Our seminar requires that you are also registered for UK 101-065, which meets on Wednesdays from 11:00 -11:50 in CB 211.  You do not have to do anything about registering for the UK 101 course because you have been automatically enrolled.  You must come to CB 211 on August 22nd at 11 a.m. for the first meeting of UK 101.

 

DSP 110-001 and UK101-065 are separate courses:  DSP 110 is our seminar on poverty; UK101 is a course to assist you in transitioning to college and life-long learning.   UK is, as you may know, a “Research I” University, and you will learn what that means for your education. The reason why you are also registered for UK101 is to help you to understand your role in the learning process — you must take responsibility for completing the required readings on time, for conducting your own research on assigned projects, for completing all course exercises, and for actively participating in the course.  When you have completed this seminar and the UK 101 class, I want you to have a better idea of the satisfaction to be gained from a UK education and what you must do to realize that satisfaction.

 

3.  We are also going to have an Undergraduate Instructional Assistant working with us.  Her name is Alecia Fields, and you should find a letter from Alecia enclosed here.  Alecia will be your assistant in the seminar and she will be the co-instructor for UK101.  She will also organize several other activities that we will be doing. 

 

4.  For this seminar there will be at least two but maybe more REQUIRED activities that will be done outside of the classroom.  I will give you the details when we meet at the beginning of the semester.  One required activity will involve a trip to Eastern KY in September when we will assist families in need.  This one trip will be a full day (a Friday) and if possible we will stay over and spend some enjoyment time on Saturday.  Please do not worry if you have classes on Friday, we will work something out.

 

5.  Before we meet, I would like each of you to think about what interests you in this seminar course, and about which topics you would like to discuss and/or find out more information. Please bring to class at least one illustration of what you see as important for the group to consider.  For example, you might bring a copy of a brief newspaper article, a song, an item, or some other example that we can all examine (no videos). If you bring a song for us to listen to, please bring it on a flash drive or a CD and also give us a copy of the words.    Please also note down why you think this example is important for us to examine, and whether you think it is an accurate portrayal of the situation.  We will be discussing your examples throughout the semester, and I will collect examples on the first day.

 

           

            6.  At our first meeting of the semester, we will spend some time getting to know each other and going over what I expect of you in each of the courses.  Remember that UK101 meets first on Wednesday, August 22nd, and DSP110 meets on Thursday.  I will provide you with a syllabus, which is a detailed description of our planned readings, activities, information, and expectations for grading, etc.  We will be using a variety of materials in these courses, some of which I will provide to you, and other which will be available on line.  You should purchase the books, Nicked and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich, and The Invisible Safety Net by Janet Currie. Both books are available in paperback and can be purchased at the campus bookstores or on-line at your choice of book venders.

 

            7.  One thing that you need to do in preparation for the first class meeting is to get your UK email account.   You can open your account on-line at any of the student computing laboratories on campus.  Please note that we will ONLY use your UK email address for this course, even though I pretty sure you have other email accounts lurking out there! 

 

            8.  Attached to this letter is a brief questionnaire of introduction to help me get to know you before the semester begins.  Please email me your answers AND a digital picture of yourself (a head and shoulders picture but please not your graduation picture – I know how great it is but I’ve come to realize that no one every looks like their graduation picture when they arrive on campus!) to: jmb@uky.edu.  As soon as you have your account, please send me a brief e-mail to: jmb@email.uky.edu.  When you write to me, you should send a copy to the peer instructor for our class, Alecia Fields at Alicia.Fields@uky.edu.

 

I hope that you have a great summer and come to class prepared for a rewarding semester.  If you have any questions, please contact me, either by email or phone.   I can be reached by telephone:  859-257-4335.  When you get to campus, please feel free to drop by and introduce yourself to me.  (Parents are always invited too.) I can usually be found in my faculty office: 1501 Patterson Office Tower.  As you may know, I am the Director of the Discovery Seminar Program; therefore I have the tremendous benefit of having Lynn Hiler as my staff assistant.  Ms. Hiler generally knows how to contact me and can set up a meeting for you.  Her telephone number is 257-6894.

 

            I look forward to meeting each of you on Wednesday, August 22nd.  Once again, the class will meet in CB211 at 11 a.m.

 

            Best wishes in your move to Lexington and into your living space!

 

Sincerely,

 

 

 

Joanna M. Badagliacco, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Sociology

Director, Discovery Seminar Program

 


Discovery Seminar DSP110-001 -- Can Money Buy Happiness?

Dr. Joanna M. Badagliacco

 

Please return this brief informational questionnaire via email to: jmb@uky.edu

Please return as a Microsoft Word document.  You are welcome to make your answers as long as you would like.  Thanks!

 

1.       Your name:

2.       Your nickname or the name you would like others to use:

 

3.       Local phone:

 

4.       Local address:

 

5.       Email address:  (List here your UK email as well other email addresses if you have one.)

6.       What are your thoughts about poverty n the U.S.? 

 

7.       What are your interests?  (personal, academic, whatever)

8.       Tell me about you: (here’s your chance to write what you would like me to know)

 

9.       Academic major or program of study if you have one: (It is not necessary to choose a major now.)

10.    Why did you come to UK?

 

11.    Why did you take this course?

 

12.    If you currently are working or volunteering, what do you do, and how many hours do you work per week?

 

13.    Tell me about your family.  Feel free to write what you want, if anything. 

 

14.    Is there anything else you would like me to know about you?