The Problem Presenting some background should help in properly situating the problem/opportunity: The Intercultural Communication course (400 level, mixed/cross-listed undergraduate and graduate class--typically approximately 20 undergrads; 5-8 grads) presents teacher/scholars with invaluable opportunities and challenges in addressing complicated, intriguing, and pressing ways everyday communicators live as cultural participants. Course materials include more basic level goals, such as working to understand culture and intercultural communication, and the rituals and traditions that constitute this discourse, and discerning more complicated and sometimes contentious topics, including ideas about oppression stemming from sexism, racism, homophobia, and other processes that disrupt the pursuit of social justice. At the core, all students of Intercultural Communication find ourselves creatively and open-mindedly examining issues of similarity and difference and how these variables influence communicators' relating among/between each other. My courses almost always are discussion based, grounded in considerations of students' experience, and deep, conscientious analysis. I emphasize critical thinking, a view of communication as more complex than we might typically imagine, and our need to work at increasing self-awareness. Asking students to perform in these ways has prompted me to serve as a model/leader of sorts, which, in turn, has entailed: feeling comfortable in discussing my being a gay male in the classroom in open and honest ways to help illustrate positive and sometimes very distressing realities related to this and other possibly marginal identities; describing issues of privilege and how I only recently began to examine my own possible privilege in being a Caucasian male; and consistently demonstrating through ongoing self-disclosure that vulnerability, circumspection, and, in a sense, gentle self-confrontation are necessary and fruitful in the process of learning. And now, the problem more explicitly. I've noticed in teaching intercultural communication several times at UW-S that, alongside encouraging growth, a readily apparent and rather concerning lack of class participation tends to thrive in this discussion-based course. Attempts to achieve substantive input from students have included my posing questions about class topics during in-class discussions and as part of prompts for reflection papers, and presenting open-ended questions in the online discussion forum associated with Learn@UW-Superior. Responses have suggested a decreased level of self-disclosure as well as a reliance on superficial reflection. In fact, some students who have successfully completed several previous courses with me often have fallen silent in class. Holistically, there appears to be a sort of hesitancy or unwillingness for some students to go there, or, for others, to contribute in more comprehensive ways, in spite of ongoing work that seeks to ensure an open and safer climate. I am utilizing my much appreciated role as Wisconsin Teaching Fellow to further reflect on this distressing absence. Guiding research questions that would drive this investigation currently are: How are students of Intercutlural Communication experiencing the task of contributing to class participation and, more particularly, self-disclosure, and how does this essential process shape the subjectivities of these persons? An adjoining question: How might these discoveries enable me to be a better teacher who helps students in more comfortably exploring their dis-ease in this process? Pursuing these questions further would allow me to consider how our being deeply implicated in social issues might/does impact learning. It would also enable me to learn more about the best practice of critical thinking communities and how building their presence in the classroom might increase comfort levels, the quality of discussion, and, overall, learning.

Methodologies & Types of Evidence of Student Learning Gathered Ethnography is a descriptive, interpretive qualitative research method that investigates how human beings negotiate (i.e., initiate and maintain) culture. Culture, using ethnographer of communication Gerald Philipsen's (1992) conceptualization, is a socially constructed, historically transmitted pattern of symbols, meanings, rules, and premises. This locates culture as a process and accomplishment, rather than a genetic or biological phenomenon. Culture is also defined by Raymonde Carolle (xxxx) as human beings' logic for exploring our worlds. Ethnographers studying Communication foreground the ways cultural discourse enables community members (such as class participants, teachers and students) to constitute cultural understanding--i.e., the discernment of social order and ourselves as cultural beings. Autoethnography is a recently advancing tradition of ethnography that explores the self within cultural experiences. Researchers transcend the distance so often proposed between "subjects" and "objects" (historically personified in social scientific, objectivist ethnography, and research in general). Autoethnographers excavate lived experience (often our own), which typically takes the form of previously unvoiced experiences in schlarship, to emotionally convey (hopefully) vivid, compelling cultural accounts. Autoethnography can, but does not have to, include ethnographic interviews, often relevant in ethnographic circles. As is common in qualiative research and specifically ethnographic traditions, interviewers commonly use open-ended questions to gather and make sense of cultural participants' understandings of culture. During the Fall 2007 semester of Intercultural Communication at UW-S (this time around, comprised solely of 14 undergraduate students, which should work to be pivotal in the project's outcomes), my fellowship research includes an ethnographic analysis of how students (and I, as co-researcher) constitute the experience of class participation on issues of culture. Throughout the year, I'll draw on multiple approaches mentioned above; the project now is driven autoethnographically, as the course proceeds. The "discourse" (purposefully passing on the term "data") I examine consists of the contributions and lack there of, during class sessions. "Class," in this sense, is understood broadly and includes inside and outside class time. I gather discourse to be examined in this project by noting interactional moments that stand out to me as relevant to the research question, described in the problem section of this snapshot. Additional, just as important, insight will be gleaned from the final, 300pt. writing project, which is a reflective essay concerning students' cultural roots, their traditions and biases, and more, as inspired by Simone's "Journey" tool sent by email during the summer. Ongoing References... Philipsen, G (1992). Speaking Culturally... (to be completed) Carolle, Raymonde (xxxx) Cultural Misunderstandings....(to be completed)

Project Summary Summarize your project for multiple audiences (future WTF/WTS, UWS administrators, legislators, colleagues in other disciplines, SoTLers in your discipline looking for disciplinary projects, et al). This paragraph will probably come together most clearly late in the project, but do your best to begin a draft. Think of it as an "elevator speech": a concise overview as if explained to someone in a short elevator ride.

Annotated List of Helpful Resources & References Include as much bibliographical information as you can, and very briefly describe the purpose of each resource within your project. If you can provide links to these resources, great!

Preliminary Findings, Results, Conclusions, & Implications Briefly describe some of your findings or conclusions. Briefly describe the implications of these findings for others relevant to your project. What can they learn from your work? Spring 2008

Career Relevance & Impact As you work through the WTF or WTS Program, note any observations about the relevance and impact of the Program on your career (conducting your SoTL project, participating in specific WTF/WTS activities, working with UWS colleagues, etc.). This section is part of OPID's collection of testimonials about its signature faculty development Programs. Ongoing