REPOST from FOLK 201: First class

Oooh, the first day of classes for me is kind of like my first day at a new school: will they like me, will there be any bullies, am I wearing the right thing, etc. Except, instead of simply trying to assimilate and blend in (and I leave it to you whether that phrase is redundant) imagine having to spend your first day of junior high justifying to a group of strangers why they should be 'paying you' several hundred dollars each to talk at them for a few hours a week.

So it went reasonably well: as is my usual stance, I blathered on for far too long, but not because I am inherently a blatherer, but because people kept asking good questions, and I kind of like answering questions. This is how the semester progresses: that can be a threat or a welcome, depending on your sensibilities.

If you flip through these back pages looking for the syllabus, you can get the syllabus here.

Read Bascom for Friday.

And, remember, if you only take one thing from today's class: context defines how we interpret the story. Context is key.