Advice on how to best read the material for this class
1. give yourself time to read. Here is some math that can help to motivate you:
It is common to say that for every one hour of class time, you should spend two hours of preparation time. In Political Science, classes meet a total of 2,5 hours per week. Add to this 5 hours of prep time, and you have the course taking 7,5 hours a week. This is however for a semester that lasts 15 weeks. In the online summer courses, we cover 3 credits in just 10 weeks. So, 7,5 hours times 15 weeks is 112,5 hours total per class per semester. In ten weeks, this is 11,25 hours per week. So, even with plenty of time to read everything on this website and on Laulima, and to write your reactions and responses, and do your assignments, there is a lot of time for you to read here, also because you don't have to spend time commuting to campus or sitting in class, or putting on your makeup. So get comfortable, sit or lie somewhere nice, bring out the snacks, and give yourself time to read. This is also where getting some books in a hard copy, or printing them out, or putting them on an e-reader, is nice, because it is much more comfortable to read for several hours at a time that way.
2. Adjust your reading speed to the text. Reading one page of statistical calculations is very different from one page in a novel and consequently, it takes a lot longer to read 100 pages of the statistics. The readings for this class should be read more like novels, even though some have more theoretical and philosophical depth than others. What I'm trying to say is, don't read all books as if they were math formulas. Read faster than that. Which is to say, you don't have to understand every single detail, every single name, concept, date, person mentioned or referred to, and so on. Sometimes, just read on, the most important part is to grasp the main ideas and concepts. Don't worry about the details as you read, and don't spend time re-reading (small) passages you don't understand. If something makes you curious and you feel it is essentail to understanding the book, by all means, look it up on wikipedia. For example "hm, I wonder who this King Leopold guy is?" Look it up. If you don't care who King Leopold is at that moment, read on. It's okay. As long as you get the main drift of the book. A sign that you are getting the main drift of the book is that it makes you think. Or that it surprises you, or outrages you, or something like that. That means you are understanding the gist of it and are engaging with it. And that is essentially what I want you to do: Engage with the text.
3. You don't have to read everything in one go. The good old advice that the way to eat an elephant is to do it one bite at a time works here too. Divide the reading into chunks and set a goal for the day.
4. Mark the text and take notes. Its smart to somehow mark the places you find central or especially interesting in the text. It is also smart to take brief notes as you read, so you can collect your thoughts and ideas about the reading as they pop up. But, don't get caught up in too many highlights and notes. Don't let it break your flow of reading too much. If you are deep into the reading but have to stop all the time to mark things, you disrupt your flow. It's a balance. Take notes and do highlights, but limit the amount of both.
All of this can hopefully help you to get into a reading flow, where you're not checking how many pages you now have left every time you turn a new page, but where you get caught up in the book and suddenly realize you're done for the day, or done with the book.
It is common to say that for every one hour of class time, you should spend two hours of preparation time. In Political Science, classes meet a total of 2,5 hours per week. Add to this 5 hours of prep time, and you have the course taking 7,5 hours a week. This is however for a semester that lasts 15 weeks. In the online summer courses, we cover 3 credits in just 10 weeks. So, 7,5 hours times 15 weeks is 112,5 hours total per class per semester. In ten weeks, this is 11,25 hours per week. So, even with plenty of time to read everything on this website and on Laulima, and to write your reactions and responses, and do your assignments, there is a lot of time for you to read here, also because you don't have to spend time commuting to campus or sitting in class, or putting on your makeup. So get comfortable, sit or lie somewhere nice, bring out the snacks, and give yourself time to read. This is also where getting some books in a hard copy, or printing them out, or putting them on an e-reader, is nice, because it is much more comfortable to read for several hours at a time that way.
2. Adjust your reading speed to the text. Reading one page of statistical calculations is very different from one page in a novel and consequently, it takes a lot longer to read 100 pages of the statistics. The readings for this class should be read more like novels, even though some have more theoretical and philosophical depth than others. What I'm trying to say is, don't read all books as if they were math formulas. Read faster than that. Which is to say, you don't have to understand every single detail, every single name, concept, date, person mentioned or referred to, and so on. Sometimes, just read on, the most important part is to grasp the main ideas and concepts. Don't worry about the details as you read, and don't spend time re-reading (small) passages you don't understand. If something makes you curious and you feel it is essentail to understanding the book, by all means, look it up on wikipedia. For example "hm, I wonder who this King Leopold guy is?" Look it up. If you don't care who King Leopold is at that moment, read on. It's okay. As long as you get the main drift of the book. A sign that you are getting the main drift of the book is that it makes you think. Or that it surprises you, or outrages you, or something like that. That means you are understanding the gist of it and are engaging with it. And that is essentially what I want you to do: Engage with the text.
3. You don't have to read everything in one go. The good old advice that the way to eat an elephant is to do it one bite at a time works here too. Divide the reading into chunks and set a goal for the day.
4. Mark the text and take notes. Its smart to somehow mark the places you find central or especially interesting in the text. It is also smart to take brief notes as you read, so you can collect your thoughts and ideas about the reading as they pop up. But, don't get caught up in too many highlights and notes. Don't let it break your flow of reading too much. If you are deep into the reading but have to stop all the time to mark things, you disrupt your flow. It's a balance. Take notes and do highlights, but limit the amount of both.
All of this can hopefully help you to get into a reading flow, where you're not checking how many pages you now have left every time you turn a new page, but where you get caught up in the book and suddenly realize you're done for the day, or done with the book.