Seeking topics for SCA 201

[jducoeur]

As part of Carolingia's upcoming Novice Schola, I'm planning on teaching a new class called "SCA 201". We've had "SCA 101" for a while -- that's an introduction to the Society, aimed primarily at the true novice, giving useful information for getting up and running. This is a little different. The target audience here is people who have been around for a year or three and have their feet under them. It is intended to get into a bit more detail about life in the SCA, and how to survive and thrive within it.

To that end, I'm seeking ideas for topics. Any and all ideas will be considered, but I'm especially looking for ideas from the people who *have* been in for 1-5 years. What questions have you had in the back of your mind for a while? What would have been useful for you to know about, that you learned only through painful experience? This class has a very broad remit -- the primary constraint is that it about SCA culture, *not* about history. Don't be shy about tossing ideas into the pot, and don't be afraid of "me, too" in this case -- if a bunch of people think a topic would be useful, that will bump it up the priority list. (Just bear in mind that I only have an hour, so I can't cover everything.)

Comments

[metahacker.livejournal.com]

the subject is very large

I always think of this sort of class as a list of pointers to information, or pointers to pointers... more kind of raising the questions people should ask than answering them. Merely *knowing* there are different kinds of fealty, and issues with each, and that sort of thing, is a worthy piece of information to pass on; then, if people are interested, there could be a class on the topic itself as you mention.

[dreda.livejournal.com]

What he said - I would suspect that if the class aims to cover much stuff in the depth that it genuinely deserves, then you've got space for about two topics, max. Particularly if discussion gets going - I would recommend deciding at the outside if this is a lecture or a seminar, and particularly if this is meant to be a salon. These folks will ostensibly have enough of a clue to have opinions, and we all know that leads to six-hour classes. ;)

[jducoeur]

a list of pointers to information

It's a good point, although tricky in this particular case. Fealty in the SCA is something of a black art, and I've never seen a really *good* printed discussion of it. Which probably indicates that such a thing should be written, but I don't have time right now.

Merely *knowing* there are different kinds of fealty, and issues with each, and that sort of thing, is a worthy piece of information to pass on

Hmm -- yes, that's probably a good approach. Get people asking the right questions, anyway...