20 LUCY SCHILLER – IMMERSION JOURNALISM – FALL 2017
The Art and Craft of Immersion Journalism
Instructor: Lucy Schiller
2-3:15 MW
Fall 2017
About this Class
It’s amazing what doors the phrase “I’m a writer” can open—doors to football locker rooms, morgues, prison cells, backstage, train cars, and the realities of people and places otherwise off-limits, secret, or unwritten. A uniquely rewarding type of nonfiction writing, immersion journalism takes grit, empathy, and the time necessary to research deeply important stories. In this class, you will embed within an Iowa City institution or organization in order to practice the art of keen observation and quality note-taking, ultimately emerging with a riveting piece of immersion journalism. You will negotiate access to observe and document what happens there. Several mini-assignments staggered over the course of the semester will help you hone your resultant writing, as will two workshops of your developing material. Meanwhile, we will read from our immersionist precursors as well as contemporary practitioners of immersion, which, by the way, we’ll try to define as a term.
This class is a kind of immersion boot camp—it is designed to push students who want to write about the world external to them. You will be expected to do a lot of reading and writing, not to mention the actual immersion. I expect you will develop over the course of this semester into a writer with a clear and strong idea of what it might mean for you personally to immerse yourself in, and write about, a slice of reality somewhat external to you.
Reading List
Immersion: A Writer’s Guide to Going Deep by Ted Conover
Joe Gould’s Secret by Joseph Mitchell
Random Family by Adrian Nicole Leblanc
What You’ll Need to Do:
- Note-taking
Keep two notebooks for the duration of this semester: a field notebook and a notebook for class discussions and readings. Each notebook should be dedicated exclusively to this class. Bring both to every class meeting.
Notebook One is your field notebook. So much of writing is tied to seeing, to the active looking and recording that helps you develop your own sensibilities as a writer, recognizing what you alone can perceive and access, and what others might miss. Use your field notebook to record what you see and hear on the scene. Also document your impressions of, reactions to, and reflections on your discoveries during your residency. As soon as possible after every visit to the site of your residency, set a timer and spend at least 15 minutes writing a “debrief.”
Notebook Two is where you will record your responses to our weekly readings and your classmates’ workshop essays, plus class and workshop notes, and any in-class writing exercises. Date all entries and include titles of readings and workshop essays you are responding to. Your responses to readings and workshop essays should be long and detailed enough to convey your thorough engagement, and show how you are focusing your thoughts for a vigorous class discussion. Your in-class notes should show a careful evaluation of your initial thoughts and reflection on points made.
I will collect your field notebooks and class notebooks twice to check you are keeping up — once around midterm, and once more towards the end of the semester. When I collect them, I will grade them for the following things: attention to the subject matter at hand, clarity, relevance, and organization.
- Writing
Each of our minor assignments is intended to help you build the skills necessary to translate your fieldwork into first-class prose, and to allow you to experiment with literary styles, voices, and forms.
There are two major assignments and both will be workshopped in class. Essays are due one week prior to your workshop. Bring to class enough copies of your essay for me and all your classmates.
Essay One is a 5-7 page essay based on your fieldwork. It may take the form of a profile, a reported feature, a travelogue, a personal essay, or something else entirely. In magazine speak, think of it as a “front of book” piece: a shorter, self-contained story that effectively transports the reader into the world of its subject in a limited space.
Essay Two is a 10-12 page essay that represents the culmination of your fieldwork and your learning in this class. Think of this as your piece for the “feature well,” the most coveted real estate in any magazine: the space where the finest, most compelling writing and reporting is given the length it merits.
At our last class meeting you will turn in a letter addressed to me, offering a personal analysis of and reflection on your immersion experience. Tell me what you learned in the field, in the classroom, in the assigned readings, and through the writing process.
- Reading and Discussion
Readings for discussion are due nearly every class (there are some exceptions). I expect you to have read the material closely and with an eye towards what intrigues you, excites you, disturbs you, or makes you question. It can help to mark these parts for yourself so that you can contribute with precision and care during class discussion.
- Quizzes
If at any point I sense that people are coming to class unprepared, I reserve the right to call a quiz. Any quizzes will be “open notebook,” meaning you’re free to refer to your entries in Notebooks One and Two — but you may not look at the reading itself.
- Participation and Attendance
The two are interrelated. You can’t participate if you aren’t present. And you aren’t really present if you’re not participating. Throughout this semester we will be dependent on each other for thoughtful conversations about the readings and to provide meaningful feedback in workshop. I expect you to be present and on time at every class. If you are absent on the day of your own workshop without prior arrangement, you will fail this course.
With your placements, you won’t be able to complete the work required for this class if you’re not spending time there regularly, and if you don’t complete the work, you will receive a failing grade. Plan accordingly so that you can spend sufficient time at your embed each week. I am not responsible for arranging or coordinating your immersion placement. That said, you can always come to me with any concerns you may have about your placement.
If there is an excusable reason you must miss class, such as an illness, religious observance, university-sponsored activity, etc., please alert me — in advance, if it’s a non-emergency situation where advance notice is possible — and provide proper documentation.
Grades
We’ll be using the university’s scale, A to F, with plusses and minuses.
To help give you a better sense of what I will be looking for as I assign your final grades, I’ll define the minimum passing requirements of this class; meeting these will earn a “C”: showing up to class faithfully, participating meaningfully in every discussion and workshop, completing all assignments and readings thoroughly and on time, and demonstrating sufficient invested time on the ground at the placement.
Students who meet the above requirements and who also consistently demonstrate hard work, a commitment to pushing their thinking and their craft throughout the semester, who embrace risk, and who show that they have made a real commitment to their place of residency, in addition to being conscientious readers for their colleagues, will earn a “B.”
An “A” is reserved for those students who show exceptional effort in all these areas.
Students who are perpetually tardy, unprepared, who have multiple unexcused absences, who turn in incomplete or shoddy work, or work that is late, or who do not spend adequate time at their embeds—and any student who plagiarizes, including self-plagiarism— will fail. I will warn you if you are in C territory or below at midterm.
Here’s how your final grade will be determined:
Minor Assignments 20%
Conferences 5%
Notebooks 15%
Essay One 15%
Essay Two 20%
Attendance 10%
Participation 15%
Some Important Information on Format
Unless otherwise noted, all writing you turn in should be double-spaced, in Times New Roman 12 point font, with each page numbered. All essays and multi-page assignments must be stapled.
If maintaining sufficient printing funds becomes a hardship, please speak to me well in advance and I will help you make other arrangements.
Conferences
I’d like to meet with each of you at least twice this semester; once at the beginning of the semester, and once after one of your workshops, preferably the second one. It will be up to you to schedule these meetings and any additional meetings with me that you desire. Post-workshop meetings will be set for forty-five minutes.
This Class Is a Low-to-No-Tech Zone
Please respect your classmates and our class time by turning off all phones and laptops and keeping them out of sight during our class. Your grade will lower immediately if phones/electronics you use your phones or electronics in class without prior approval. It is your responsibility to monitor your @uiowa.edu email accounts regularly.
A Few Words on Privacy, Respect, and Safety
We are obligated by the UI’s non-discrimination policy — and by our common sense of decency and empathy — to treat our classmates equally and without discrimination on the basis of race, national origin, color, creed, religion, sex, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or associational preference.
Not only will discrimination or harassment of any kind not be tolerated within this classroom, I will not tolerate it in your embeds, either. So I can take action to resolve any problematic situation, if anything happens to you in the course of your reporting — if you encounter sexual harassment or racial discrimination while doing fieldwork, for example — please talk to me promptly, in confidence.
In this class we’ll be exploring diverse aspects of the human experience — a task that requires great care because we are talking about real events and real people’s lives. Our discussions might head in sensitive directions and I expect everyone to engage with maturity and an open mind.
In order for our class to be the supportive space it must be for everyone to take artistic risks, we must pledge to each other that what happens in workshop, stays in workshop. This means we will not talk about the content of workshop essays — including any potentially private or sensitive information that they might include — or anything that is stated verbally during workshop, with anyone outside this class. Period.
THE GROUPS (named for places in Iowa):
Spillville: Riley R., Sara H.
Beebeetown: Tiphany P., Mikhail A.
Zwingle: Amanda M., Cooper W.
What Cheer: Sara M., Danielle W.
Elkader: Maddie L., Hannah S.
Crab Town: Kate B., Julia B.
Hard Scratch: Jo J., Mark Z.
Le Mars: Evelyn C., Quincey S.
Tentative Schedule of Readings, Workshops, and Assignments
Subject to change, with warning
N.B.: Assignments + readings are due on the dates listed below unless otherwise noted
PART ONE: READING
Week 1
Monday, August 21
Introductions to ourselves and our potential projects
Syllabus
Read: Annie Dillard, “Total Eclipse”
Wednesday, August 23
Observing Character
Read: Conover, “Choosing a Subject” [posted on Canvas in case you don’t yet have the book], Studs Terkel, Working [Canvas], Susan Orlean, “The American Male, Age Ten” [Canvas], Taffy Brodesser-Ackner, “Tom Hiddleston on Taylor Swift, Heartbreak, and Great Bolognese” [Canvas]
Assignment One: Pitch. Research and write a compelling pitch or explanation for your chosen immersion project, answering why this project is important/relevant right now, what you can achieve there, and how you plan to do it. Revisiting Ted Conover (“Choosing a Subject”) will be helpful. Max 4-5 paragraphs, single-spaced. Due 8 PM, Sunday, August 27, via email.
Week 2
Monday, August 28
Observing Scene/Birdwatching
Read: J.A. Baker, “The Peregrine” [Canvas], Richard Preston, “Flight of the Dragonflies” [Canvas]
Wednesday, August 30
Ethics, Violence, the Contemporary Moment
Read: Bill Buford, “Turin” (from Among the Thugs) [Canvas], Jeff Sharlet, “Being Gay in Putin’s Russia” [Canvas]
Assignment Two: Interview. Interview a source on tape/phone for a minimum of 30 minutes; transcribe the interview in full. Hand in the transcription, the audio recording, and a reflection on your interview skills. No page limit for transcription; max one page, single-spaced, for reflection. Due 8 PM, Sunday, September 3, via email.
Week 3
Monday, September 4: No class
Wednesday, September 6
Read: David Foster Wallace, “Shipping Out” [Canvas]
Class Conference: Trials, Tribulations, and Progress Reports from the Field. Guest appearance?
PART TWO: 25/25/25, OR ONE-THIRD READING, TWO-THIRDS WORKSHOP
Week 4: BEGIN WORKSHOPPING ESSAY 1
Monday, September 11
Read: Barbara Ehrenreich, “Scrubbing in Maine” (from Nickel and Dimed) [Canvas]
Workshop: Beebeetown
Wednesday, September 13
Read: Adrien Nicole LeBlanc, Random Family, 3-102
Workshop: Spillville
Week 5
Monday, September 18
Read: Adrien Nicole Leblanc, Random Family, 103-305
Workshop: Zwingle
Wednesday, September 20
Read: Adrien Nicole Leblanc, Random Family, 306-406
Workshop: What Cheer
Week 6
The Historical Roots of Immersion Journalism
Monday, September 25
Read: Djuna Barnes, “On Being Forcibly Fed,” Nellie Bly, “Ten Days in a Mad House” [Canvas]
Workshop: Elkader
Wednesday, September 27
Read: James Agee, Let Us Now Praise Famous Men [Canvas]
Workshop: Crab Town
Week 7
Particularly Personal Immersion (Or, You Can’t Spell “Immersion” without an “I”…?), Part 1
Monday, October 2
Read: David Foster Wallace, “The View from Mrs. Thompson’s” [Canvas]
Workshop: Hard Scratch
Wednesday, October 4
Read: John Jeremiah Sullivan, “Upon This Rock” [Canvas]
Workshop: Le Mars
PART THREE: BACK TO READING
Week 8
Monday, October 9
Particularly Personal Immersion (Or, You Can’t Spell “Immersion” without an “I”…?), Part 2
Read: Joseph Mitchell, Joe Gould’s Secret (entire book)
Wednesday, October 11
Read: JoAnn Beard, “Fourth State of Matter” [Canvas]
Assignment Three: Character Study. Introduce a character, making use of quotes from and/or about the person, scenic detail, biographical information, physical description, information from your research, etc. Consider tone, voice, and pace. This literary portrait may not have a narrative arc, but it needs a sense of the stakes. Everything about your writing must suggest why your audience should care about this person. Max two pages, double-spaced. Due Sunday, October 15, by 8 PM via email.
Week 9
Particularly Personal Immersion (Or, You Can’t Spell “Immersion” without an “I”…?), Part 3
Monday, October 16
Read: Gay Talese, “The Voyeur’s Motel,” [Canvas]
Read, if you have time: Isaac Chotiner, “Gay Talese’s Unethical New Yorker Article on Gerald Foos,” Dwight Garner, “Making a Case for ‘The Voyeur’s Motel’ by Gay Talese” [Canvas]
PART FOUR: 15/30/30, OR A LITTLE READING AND WRITING, LOTS OF WORKSHOPPING
Wednesday, October 18: BEGIN WORKSHOPPING ESSAY 2
Writing Exercise 1
Workshop: Spillville
Week 10
Monday, October 23
Read: Lillian Ross, “The Yellow Bus”
Workshop: Beebeetown
Wednesday, October 25
Writing Exercise 2
Workshop: Zwingle
Week 11
Monday, October 30
Read: Joan Didion, “Some Dreamers of a Golden Dream”
Workshop: What Cheer
Wednesday, November 1
Writing Exercise 3
Workshop: Elkader
Week 12
Monday, November 6: No Class
Wednesday, November 8
Read: John McPhee, Oranges [Canvas]
Workshop: Crab Town
Week 13
Monday, November 13
Read: John McPhee, “The Pine Barrens” [Canvas]
Workshop: Hard Scratch
Wednesday, November 15
Writing Exercise 4
Workshop: Le Mars
Turn in: The writing exercise of which you are proudest.
Week 14
No class: Thanksgiving
PART FIVE: READING AGAIN
Week 15
Place-Oriented Immersion
Monday, November 27
Sharifa Rhodes-Pitts, Harlem is Nowhere [Canvas], Joseph Mitchell, “Up in the Old Hotel” [Canvas]
Wednesday, November 29
Matthew Power, “Mississippi Drift,” “Immersion Journalism” [Canvas], John McPhee, “Atchafalaya” [Canvas]
Week 16
Monday, December 4
Gathering Voices
Read: Luis Alberto Urrea, The Devil’s Highway [Canvas], Svetlana Alexievich, Voices from Chernobyl [Canvas]
Wednesday, December 6
Reflection, Discussion, Soirée: Where do we take immersion from here?
Thursday, December 7: Public reading from our work with Writers Gone Public at Prairie Lights
Week 17
Final exams: No class