Cultural Experience Field Report #2
Note:
This assignment has been adapted to adhere to the current guidance from
the CDC for social distancing because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
For
this assignment, you will choose a virtual cultural venue from the
instructions below to visit online and write a short 500-800 word report
about your visit.
Purpose The purpose of this assignment is
to introduce you to the process of engaging with the cultural venues and
communities. This will inform you personally of the Humanities and
groups that support it.
Skills This assignment will help you
practice the following skills that will be useful to you in your
professional and personal life beyond school.
- Identify cultural venues and inform you with deeper knowledge about the cultural form chosen.
- Organize reflections about engaging with a cultural experience and community
- Use concepts and skills learned in class to describe and interpret cultural experiences and communities
- Use appropriate and proper grammar, organization, and academic-style formatting in order to communicate
Knowledge This assignment will help you become familiar with the following important content knowledge in the Humanities.
- Available virtual cultural venues and communities
- Methods of interpretation within the Humanities
Instructions For
your report, choose one virtual venue from this pre-approved list that
most interests you, or contact your professor for approval of your own
online choice. If your choice below has both a website and a video, make
sure you examine both. If you need special accommodations to complete
this assignment, please inform your instructor and contact the Accessibility Accommodations office for guidance.
Please watch the entire performance or thoroughly explore the venue you choose.
THEATER PLAY
Shakespeare
The Importance of being Earnest by Oscar Wilde https://youtu.be/6naZxb2KwTE
NEW MA by Dora Dee Hunter https://youtu.be/tT5-Ra6filk
Watch a full performance of one of the plays on this list of full length plays available on Youtube. https://
Watch
a full performance of a Broadway musical that is available for
streaming on various paid services. A list is available here: https://
Also Hamilton on Disney+ would count, but if you have already seen it, watch it again during the semester.
POETRY OR BOOK READING, AUTHOR EVENT, OR SPOKEN WORD PERFORMANCE
Author interviews
Poetry Readings
Poetry Festivals, Slams and Spoken Word
FILM COMMENTARY BY A DIRECTOR OR CINEMA EXPERT
Watch
an entire DVD/Blue Ray film with the “audio commentary” special feature
as long as the commentary is by or includes the director or a film
historian/expert, not just the actors/actresses or commercial film
critics.
Examples of a few films on DVD/Blue Ray with director’s commentary:
- Get Out, commentary by Jordan Peele
- Lord of the Rings films, commentary by Peter Jackson
- Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, GoodFellas, commentary by Martin Scorsese
- Pan’s Labyrinth, commentary by Guillermo Del Toro
- Das Boot, commentary by Stephen Spielberg
- National Treasure: Book of Secrets, commentary by Jon Turteltaub
A
list of older films with DVD/Audio commentary is available here, just
make sure you are listening to directors and film experts: http://
Listen to a director’s commentary on a film on this podcast: Watching With…..by NetFlix: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1464225558
RELIGIOUS SERVICE, CEREMONY OR RITUAL
Your
choice should be different from one’s own religion, if practiced.
Please view all videos under the ritual, service, or ceremony you
choose.
JUDAISM
Passover Seder Meal
Yom Kippur
CHRISTIANITY
Baptism rituals
Rituals of the Eucharist
ISLAM
Ramadan
Hajj
HINDUISM
Upanayana Ceremony
Puja
BUDDHISM
Heart Sutra Ritual
Ordination Rite
Restrictions:
The experience should be viewed during the current semester. If this is
impossible, contact the instructor to arrange for alternatives. You may
not report on a cultural experience viewed prior to this class.
Write a report after you have explored or viewed the online resource.
Your
report should include the following information. Include photos or
links that help convey the information. As always, be sure to document
all sources you consult in preparing your work. This includes any
learning resources from the class, or information from the websites that
informed you about the particular item you explored.
- Name
and location of event or name and director of the film, writer’s name
etc. If there is on-line information about what you viewed, be sure to
include a link to it within the text of your essay in an appropriate
place.
- Type of event. For example is it a film, ritual,
service, ceremony, poetry reading, festival, author interview etc. Make
sure to include the name of the authors, directors, producers, speakers,
author of your favorite poem (if poetry festival or event).
- Briefly
describe the general setting by talking a bit about the location (you
can research the location online) and the general overall “vibe” of the
place or places viewed.
- Describe at least one aspect of what
you viewed that you found especially interesting. For example, you might
write about the different ways the same ritual is conducted by
different groups, a poem you really liked from the reading or poetry
festival, something an author or direct said that really struck you.
Explain what impressed or affected you, and why. Your reaction can be
positive or negative, as long as you offer an explanation.
- Identify
and use at least two tools, concepts or methods that you have learned
about in this class in the Learning Resources to talk about your
viewing. For example, if you view a director’s commentary, you might
point out what the director says about lighting or the set, or if you
view to a ritual, talk about the myth the ritual is based on, or if you
watch a spoken word or poetry reading, you can talk about specific
literary language or imagery. Make sure you are explicit in identifying
the tools/concept/methods you are using and the specific learning
resources they come from. Be sure to inform the reader about the
tool/concept/method through a quote or paraphrase from the learning
resource. Then, make sure to tell the reader how you interpret and/or
analyze some elements of what you experience with the tools.
- Be sure to cite the learning resources you have used in MLA format. Please see http://sites.umgc.edu/library/libhow/mla_examples.cfm
- Reflect
on the relevance–if any–of your viewing to your everyday life. How
did the experience engage your feelings or emotions, if at all? What
does this tell you about human culture, and/or about yourself?
STOP: Before you hand in your assignment, ask yourself the following questions:
- Have
I clearly provided identifying information about what I viewed in terms
of who was involved and where it took place and provided the URL, if
applicable? Have I done what I could to describe the setting and/or
vibe?
- Have I identified and explained an especially interesting
aspect of the experience and used examples to illustrate reflections
and to explain why this aspect was interesting?
- Have I
identified and applied two tools, concepts or methods of interpretation
from learning resources to concrete and specific examples from visit?
- Have
I used examples to clearly explain the relevance of my visit to at
least one of the following: 1) emotion 2) human culture 3) self-identity
4) cultural identity?
- Have I used Learning Resources from the
class and provided a list of resources, and do all of my citations
conform to MLA 8th edition guidelines?
- Have I proofread this
assignment for grammatical, structural, and spelling errors that might
impede someone from understanding what I am trying to say?
This assignment is due by the end of the seventh week of class on TUESDAY by 11:30PM ET.
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