Our play is starting to get really good! We finished the script yesterday, and we have the blocking and transitions pretty well worked out after class today. We just need to practice both of those elements more tomorrow in the lab, and then finish memorizing lines. I have my two down!
I think we just have to work on projection a little bit more. Ms. Rose was extremely helpful today in making our play better and more cohesive.
My autoethnography is also coming along really well. I have most of my writing done, I just need to cite one more source in my paper. I also need to write a conclusion, and add a few transitions. I'm at least halfway done, with most of the writing out of the way, so that's exciting!
I can't believe that Multicultural Education is coming to an end. I have loved the class so much! I'm glad though that the final projects give us an opportunity to get creative while showing what we have learned at the same time. It's a great way to end the class, if there could be such a thing.
Monday, June 21, 2010
Technology Update 5
I am super proud of our technology group! We are doing so well.
We're nearly finished with the Project Ouline, Nisha just has to finish her part. We're done with advertisements after fixing a few to make them better with the constructful help of Ms. Cornelius. And our presentation is coming under way too. The letter is finished as well. I have full confidence that we will be able to finish in the computer lab tomorrow, and be well prepared by Wednesday. All that we may have to do is go over what we want to say in our presentation in a little more detail before Wednesday rolls around.
I finished my evaluations today, completed the letter and a few parts of the project outline. What a great day! I am excited to finish off our work tomorrow.
We're nearly finished with the Project Ouline, Nisha just has to finish her part. We're done with advertisements after fixing a few to make them better with the constructful help of Ms. Cornelius. And our presentation is coming under way too. The letter is finished as well. I have full confidence that we will be able to finish in the computer lab tomorrow, and be well prepared by Wednesday. All that we may have to do is go over what we want to say in our presentation in a little more detail before Wednesday rolls around.
I finished my evaluations today, completed the letter and a few parts of the project outline. What a great day! I am excited to finish off our work tomorrow.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Houston!
Houston was incredibly fun! I loved the art that we saw, and I definitely want to go back to the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston (CAMH) next Saturday to get a free clay flower. The Hand + Made exhibit was like nothing I have ever seen before.
Here's one that we saw!
There were amazing pieces. I was so excited to see Nick Cave soundsuits in person! They were incredibly vibrant, playful and many expected them to come to life at any moment. I loved seeing all of their details and imagining what they would sound like if worn. There were other innovative pieces, like an entire band set made out of wood and gold pieces for random parts of the face accompanied by large pictures. I loved the exhibit, and it showed me that there are so many amazing things I can make with my own hands. Art can be so much more than a statue or a painting, and this exhibit showed that art has a much wider range. For me, creative pieces like these were much more enjoyable and innovative than a lot of other artworks. They were inspiring in that way.
I also liked the Cruz Ortiz exhibit, featuring works like the one above, because it combined Spanish and English to reflect his personality. I loved that, and I thought it was much more fun to see the meaning behind words in different languages with the combined cultures. He also had interesting work, taking broken down garbage and turning it into pieces with painting on them. I liked his prints, painting, and tents with strobe lights, even if I may not have understood it all.
The student artwork on exhibit was also good. They put a lot of work into it, and there were many different styles there. I liked the layout of the building and seeing that average people who love art and put a lot of effort into it can create beautiful pieces.
The play was phenomenal. Intelligence Slave was about a prisoner of war held captive by Nazis, forced to invent a calculator in order to survive. It was a personal and captivating look at a different side of the Holocaust. I loved how it was performed in a theater in the round. I felt so close to the actors, and it was more interactive with the audience that way. It was a great play that definitely got me thinking.
Dinner at the Hardrock Cafe was the perfect way to end they day. The food was delicious, and sitting in a cozy booth with some of the great friends I've made here was an amazingly good time. It felt like we all were older and having dinner together somewhere. I laughed so much, and felt at home so much that it felt like a trick.
The field trip was fantastic, and I greatly enjoyed it!
Here's one that we saw!
There were amazing pieces. I was so excited to see Nick Cave soundsuits in person! They were incredibly vibrant, playful and many expected them to come to life at any moment. I loved seeing all of their details and imagining what they would sound like if worn. There were other innovative pieces, like an entire band set made out of wood and gold pieces for random parts of the face accompanied by large pictures. I loved the exhibit, and it showed me that there are so many amazing things I can make with my own hands. Art can be so much more than a statue or a painting, and this exhibit showed that art has a much wider range. For me, creative pieces like these were much more enjoyable and innovative than a lot of other artworks. They were inspiring in that way.
I also liked the Cruz Ortiz exhibit, featuring works like the one above, because it combined Spanish and English to reflect his personality. I loved that, and I thought it was much more fun to see the meaning behind words in different languages with the combined cultures. He also had interesting work, taking broken down garbage and turning it into pieces with painting on them. I liked his prints, painting, and tents with strobe lights, even if I may not have understood it all.
The student artwork on exhibit was also good. They put a lot of work into it, and there were many different styles there. I liked the layout of the building and seeing that average people who love art and put a lot of effort into it can create beautiful pieces.
The play was phenomenal. Intelligence Slave was about a prisoner of war held captive by Nazis, forced to invent a calculator in order to survive. It was a personal and captivating look at a different side of the Holocaust. I loved how it was performed in a theater in the round. I felt so close to the actors, and it was more interactive with the audience that way. It was a great play that definitely got me thinking.
Dinner at the Hardrock Cafe was the perfect way to end they day. The food was delicious, and sitting in a cozy booth with some of the great friends I've made here was an amazingly good time. It felt like we all were older and having dinner together somewhere. I laughed so much, and felt at home so much that it felt like a trick.
The field trip was fantastic, and I greatly enjoyed it!
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Ethics
Ethics has definitely challenged me to think about my opinions on what is right and wrong, and why I think so. I do greatly wish that the course involved ideology and focused more on where different views on ethics came from on a societal level (since I think that most of them came about through ideology, which is used to keep societal principles in place). Even so, I still think every time I am in that classroom, and I question why myself and others determine what is ethical the way we do.
I love learning about different types of ethics that people use, since most of the time I do not consider how each person's different views on ethics can be categorized. Subjectivism, supernaturalism and cultural relativism were all incredibly interesting to consider, and when finding their many flaws, I couldn't help but wonder why they are so widely used by many people. That made me think that more people should take a course like this, to find what they really think about ethics, and hear arguments against their logic so that they can back their beliefs up. This is definitely what I am doing. I agree with a lot of subjectivism, which is defined as what the self likes is considered good and ethical. While I don't think that someone considers everything they like to be good, their morals and ideals for what they really want in life determine what they view as good. This is one of the only concepts that make sense for each person being able to have their own unique view on right and wrong, while still being able to relate and be similar to the views of so many.
Food Inc. was also great. I had seen the movie before, and I definitely questioned the ethics of many practices in the food corporation when I did. This time I was able to take visual notes, and I brainstormed artistic ideas that reflected my feelings, deep moral hurt, at the industry in a different manner. These are definitely ideas that I would like to use later on in my life, maybe to help combat the many ethical issues with the food corporation that I still found shocking upon a second filming of the movie.
I also liked the case studies, as they brought up great class discussion and thoughts on morals and ethics. I hope that we do more scenarios where we choose how ethically right / wrong something is and defend our position, because this was a great way to see what our intuitive beliefs on ethics are when brought out by a situation.
I believe that this is one of my most thoughtful classes, and I'm greatly enjoying it.
I love learning about different types of ethics that people use, since most of the time I do not consider how each person's different views on ethics can be categorized. Subjectivism, supernaturalism and cultural relativism were all incredibly interesting to consider, and when finding their many flaws, I couldn't help but wonder why they are so widely used by many people. That made me think that more people should take a course like this, to find what they really think about ethics, and hear arguments against their logic so that they can back their beliefs up. This is definitely what I am doing. I agree with a lot of subjectivism, which is defined as what the self likes is considered good and ethical. While I don't think that someone considers everything they like to be good, their morals and ideals for what they really want in life determine what they view as good. This is one of the only concepts that make sense for each person being able to have their own unique view on right and wrong, while still being able to relate and be similar to the views of so many.
Food Inc. was also great. I had seen the movie before, and I definitely questioned the ethics of many practices in the food corporation when I did. This time I was able to take visual notes, and I brainstormed artistic ideas that reflected my feelings, deep moral hurt, at the industry in a different manner. These are definitely ideas that I would like to use later on in my life, maybe to help combat the many ethical issues with the food corporation that I still found shocking upon a second filming of the movie.
I also liked the case studies, as they brought up great class discussion and thoughts on morals and ethics. I hope that we do more scenarios where we choose how ethically right / wrong something is and defend our position, because this was a great way to see what our intuitive beliefs on ethics are when brought out by a situation.
I believe that this is one of my most thoughtful classes, and I'm greatly enjoying it.
I love me some Austin!
The trip to Austin was awesome. I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would, although it did make me a little homesick. It felt weird not to go home after it. I loved seeing my family and my hometown though! The trip definitely revived my love for Austin.
I liked seeing the Blanton again. There were new pieces in that I hadn't seen before, like a white painting with small details in replace of a black one, a painting where a wall of graffiti turned into a girl's hair, and the largest charcoal drawing I have ever seen done of pigs. These pieces were great, and I highly enjoyed the unique pieces of artwork and the way that they spoke to me. I also think that How to Build a Cathedral is an incredibly calming piece that makes me think deeply every time I see it. The only drawback was little time in the museum, and a mean painting moderator who bluntly told me that I "was told wrong" about being able to take video in the museum.
And if the museum was good, the musical performances at Threadgill's were even more incredible. I love seeing music in Austin, the live music capital of the world, especially smaller, local indie artists. We got to see many types of music, my favorite of them Betty Soo's calming melodies and a song that chanted Do I have to put my handcuffs on your mama? by another artist that we all greatly enjoyed singing along with. The performances made me want to get out and listen to more local music, since I am so greatly blessed with living in a city so full to the brim of it. Keep Austin Weird!
I liked seeing the Blanton again. There were new pieces in that I hadn't seen before, like a white painting with small details in replace of a black one, a painting where a wall of graffiti turned into a girl's hair, and the largest charcoal drawing I have ever seen done of pigs. These pieces were great, and I highly enjoyed the unique pieces of artwork and the way that they spoke to me. I also think that How to Build a Cathedral is an incredibly calming piece that makes me think deeply every time I see it. The only drawback was little time in the museum, and a mean painting moderator who bluntly told me that I "was told wrong" about being able to take video in the museum.
And if the museum was good, the musical performances at Threadgill's were even more incredible. I love seeing music in Austin, the live music capital of the world, especially smaller, local indie artists. We got to see many types of music, my favorite of them Betty Soo's calming melodies and a song that chanted Do I have to put my handcuffs on your mama? by another artist that we all greatly enjoyed singing along with. The performances made me want to get out and listen to more local music, since I am so greatly blessed with living in a city so full to the brim of it. Keep Austin Weird!
Reflection Log 4 - Multicultural Education
After Dr. Webb-Hasan's speech, I am very excited to write my autoethnography. I know that I want to take on the cheating problem at my school. The top students of my class and at least the one above ours are infamous for their cheating, as well as many students in the top ten percent. At such an academically competitive school, such behavior cannot be permitted, as it is only detrimental for those students and the student body as a whole. Those students do not become prepared for college or receive a valuable education, and many students in the class feel put down or pressured to cheat with an already stressful school workload. The main problem is that students feel like cheating is necessary to get into the top ten percent, and students who are academically honest feel slighted. This has created a rift and the highest source of tensions for students at my school.
I want to use what I have learned in the past to make large quilts or chains of papers that each student can decorate saying something like "My education is more than a GPA or class rank" on it. I'm still figuring out exactly what I want it to say, as I think there's probably something that can get my message across better. I hope that in doing a project like this, students will realize that there are other methods to cope with stress, and that LASA needs a supportive environment that values education and doesn't pressure students to "achieve" by cheating.
I am really excited to work on this, and to use what I have learned both in the Governor's School and as a person to make a greater change in my school.
I am also excited to work on my group's play, which focuses on classism and discrimination. Our script is coming along well, and we are going to work on and finish it tomorrow. I think we're sending a strong message, hopefully without being too cheesy. Since we're performing on Wednesday, we are going to finalize our play and music selections by Sunday. I really like the tableau and music aspects to the play as well, as I think they allow for more areas for creativity and different means to work against classism and discrimination.
I want to use what I have learned in the past to make large quilts or chains of papers that each student can decorate saying something like "My education is more than a GPA or class rank" on it. I'm still figuring out exactly what I want it to say, as I think there's probably something that can get my message across better. I hope that in doing a project like this, students will realize that there are other methods to cope with stress, and that LASA needs a supportive environment that values education and doesn't pressure students to "achieve" by cheating.
I am really excited to work on this, and to use what I have learned both in the Governor's School and as a person to make a greater change in my school.
I am also excited to work on my group's play, which focuses on classism and discrimination. Our script is coming along well, and we are going to work on and finish it tomorrow. I think we're sending a strong message, hopefully without being too cheesy. Since we're performing on Wednesday, we are going to finalize our play and music selections by Sunday. I really like the tableau and music aspects to the play as well, as I think they allow for more areas for creativity and different means to work against classism and discrimination.
Visual Culture
I have really enjoyed the visual culture class, as I feel it has definitely broadened my perspectives on art. Watching the Art 21 series has done this by far through showing what artists of many different styles try and accomplish with their art. Their messages have been powerful, and their artistic styles varied by far. I think differently about the possibilities that artwork has now, such as sending a strong message easily like Xico Gonzales or Banksy. And never before did I imagine artwork through mediums like Second Life (Cao Fei), silhouettes (Kara Walker), an ice rink (Maya Linn) or pivoting, revitalized houses (Mel Chin). I have so many more ideas now, and there is so much more that I want to do artistically to get my points on society across.
Scene from Pepon Osorio's No Crying Allowed in the Barbershop
Scene from Pepon Osorio's No Crying Allowed in the Barbershop
There are many more mediums for art possible, like suits and collages on houses, than I thought. I don't have to master painting to make powerful artwork. I also loved how strong of social activists each of the artists have been that we looked at. Tyree Guyton's Heidelburg Project is incredible, an eclectic challenge to the senses that replaces burned downed houses. The new houses' reflections of society - chaotic, sometimes disturbing, hopeful and bright - are incredible. I want to do artistic projects that involve and strengthen the community. I have learned that artwork really can be a medium for social change, and it's something that I'm definitely interested in using and focusing more on in the future.
I have also really enjoyed the theater projects, as they have shown us another powerful medium through which to portray feelings on society and change that is needed. When we did the tableau activity, our messages were really powerful without having to say anything (and when we did add one word, that made the messages even stronger). Using the body and portraying change needed in that manner really speaks to an audience, and I think it showed everyone in the class how effective theater can be to convey need for change. I look forward to using theater in upcoming, cultivating projects for the Governor's School.
I have also really enjoyed the theater projects, as they have shown us another powerful medium through which to portray feelings on society and change that is needed. When we did the tableau activity, our messages were really powerful without having to say anything (and when we did add one word, that made the messages even stronger). Using the body and portraying change needed in that manner really speaks to an audience, and I think it showed everyone in the class how effective theater can be to convey need for change. I look forward to using theater in upcoming, cultivating projects for the Governor's School.
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