When I visited the Art Education program at UT-Austin earlier this year, the faculty had just returned from a 3-day workshop with The Center for Digital Storytelling (CDS). They said it was one of the most rewarding, exciting and challenging things they had ever done. I'd like to share this valuable educational resource with you.
Since this is your last blog assignment, I'm going to ask a minimum of questions, with the expectation that you will stretch out (if you haven't already) as a writer responding to the very rich possibilities of Digital Storytelling. If you truly desire to become a teacher, this material should be of great interest you.
Question #1:
First, go to the "About" drop-down menu and select "What we Do" section of the CDS website. What are the main tenets of the organization's philosophy?
Question #2:
Why is listening hard? Draw from your own personal experience.
Question #3:
What kinds of workshops does the CDS offer?
Question #4:
Watch a Digital Story on the CDS Youtube channel and answer the following questions:
a. Who is the storyteller? (name, approximate age, profession (if known), ethnicity, nationality).
c. What story is told?
d. What did the storyteller learn from the experience their story describes and relates?
e. What did you learn from the story?
Thank you and have a fantastic summer!!!!
Alice Yu, 2010 River of Words art contest winner
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Human Rights Watch: Children's Drawings from Darfur
This week we will return to a theme that has come up several times in the course of our semester together: art, trauma and the impact on children. We will start by visiting the Human Rights Watch website (a major humanitarian organization documenting and monitoring instances of human rights abuse throughout the world)and an amazing exhibition of children's drawings from Darfur, Africa (Darfur is an independent sultanate or state within the nation of Sudan)during the 2003-2010 conflict with the Sudanese military and related militia groups, widely considered a genocide.The drawings were solicited by Human Rights Watch researchers in 2005 while visiting refugee camps in the neighboring country of Chad.The project was overseen by Dr. Annie Sparrow, a U.S.-based pediatrician.
I'd like you to just look at the pictures in the gallery section of the website. If you are interested in children, this work will trouble and amaze you. We've talked in class about children's resilience.
Question: Do you think these children will recover from what they have seen?
Question: Women and girls received "special" treatment by enemy soldiers. You may or may not know that this is common in warfare in all parts of the world. It was even part of the domination strategy used against African Americans during slavery. Here I'd like you to put on your "critical thinking caps" and venture a guess as to why this is so widespread. Think strategically: what purpose does it serve in the larger effort of one group to oppress, dominate and terrorize another group?
Now I'd like you to visit a website that isn't on our list of links:
http://www.internationalarttherapy.org/trauma.html
This is the International Art Therapy Organization. Art therapy professionals work with children and adults in a variety of situations. For example, on the first page you will see a "slideshare" by art therapist Gretchen Miller about children exposed to domestic violence.
Question:The slideshare begins with a quote from The Art Therapy Alliance. Read this quote. How likely is it that in your future career as a teacher, you will have students who could benefit from art therapy? How likely is it that at some point in your life, YOU might benefit from art therapy?
Question:What is an "art intervention" and what does it seek to accomplish?
Question:Going now to the colorful link titled "GlassBook Project," explain what this is and the particular areas of mental health it has focused on thus far. Please look at the gallery of pictures from the GlassBook Project. The work is very beautiful and emotionally touching.How likely is it that at some point in your future, you might be able to use your knowledge of this project (and others like it) to assist and give hope to parents of a troubled child?
I'd like you to just look at the pictures in the gallery section of the website. If you are interested in children, this work will trouble and amaze you. We've talked in class about children's resilience.
Question: Do you think these children will recover from what they have seen?
Question: Women and girls received "special" treatment by enemy soldiers. You may or may not know that this is common in warfare in all parts of the world. It was even part of the domination strategy used against African Americans during slavery. Here I'd like you to put on your "critical thinking caps" and venture a guess as to why this is so widespread. Think strategically: what purpose does it serve in the larger effort of one group to oppress, dominate and terrorize another group?
Now I'd like you to visit a website that isn't on our list of links:
http://www.internationalarttherapy.org/trauma.html
This is the International Art Therapy Organization. Art therapy professionals work with children and adults in a variety of situations. For example, on the first page you will see a "slideshare" by art therapist Gretchen Miller about children exposed to domestic violence.
Question:The slideshare begins with a quote from The Art Therapy Alliance. Read this quote. How likely is it that in your future career as a teacher, you will have students who could benefit from art therapy? How likely is it that at some point in your life, YOU might benefit from art therapy?
Question:What is an "art intervention" and what does it seek to accomplish?
Question:Going now to the colorful link titled "GlassBook Project," explain what this is and the particular areas of mental health it has focused on thus far. Please look at the gallery of pictures from the GlassBook Project. The work is very beautiful and emotionally touching.How likely is it that at some point in your future, you might be able to use your knowledge of this project (and others like it) to assist and give hope to parents of a troubled child?
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
The Beehive Collective
The Community Arts Network website is gone, so we're going to move on to the next group on our list: The Beehive Collective. I will tell you all about this group when we meet for class, which might be more effective than me writing about it here. The Beehive Collective was the topic of my doctoral research and dissertation, so I know quite a bit about it. For now, I'd like you to go to their website and explore. You'll soon see what a phenomenal group of artists they are.
The Beehive's art is very complex, so for this assignment I'd like you to focus only on their latest graphics campaign: "The True Cost of Coal." This doesn't mean that you can't look at their other work, which is listed under the drop-down menu, "Graphics Campaigns." The group has been active for over 12 years, and so they have generated quite a lot of material. Again, the extreme complexity of their illustrations cannot be overstated. You must look and look at every detail, for in their work even tiny details are integral to the larger story being told. The Beehive Collective specializes in raising public awareness of real issues by educating viewers through pictures which function as visual metaphors. In this way, their work transcends any particular language.
Using the "Graphics Campaign" drop-down menu, selection "The True Cost of Coal." Scroll down the length of the page so you see everything. You'll notice the campaign is made up of three primary parts: a poster, a narrative booklet, and educational events known as picture-lectures delivered in person by members of the collective (who are constantly touring North, Central and South America).
The Poster
First look at the full poster by clicking on the link, "Click Here to view the Web Viewing sized poster." To get an idea of what it looks like "in person," imagine this image printed on a very large swath of fabric - a banner. The Beehive Collective uses these banners in picture-lectures and other public events. The image is also available on paper and can be ordered from the website.
Use the little magnifying glass icon to zoom in on sections of the banner. You will see lots of animals who are all doing things. Each animal represents something. To understand what the animals are doing, who they represent, and what all this has to do with mountain top coal removal in Appalachia, you must read the narrative booklet.
The Narrative
Download the pdf booklet, "The True Cost of Coal: Mountaintop Removal & The Fight For Our Future," read it, and answer the following questions:
1. A lot of research went into the creating of this graphic. Who are some of the organizations that helped the Beehive Collective, and what do they do?
2. Who makes up the "cast of characters" in this poster? Why were they selected?
3. Briefly (4-5 sentences min.) state the historical background of today's mountain top coal removal situation in Appalachia.
4. What is "mountain top removal"and why are people against it?
5. How does the Beehive's graphic (poster) visually represent the full death cycle of coal?
6. In your own words, characterize the political viewpoint of the Beehive Collective artists.
Please make time to give this your full attention and thoughtfully respond to these questions.
Thank you!
The Beehive's art is very complex, so for this assignment I'd like you to focus only on their latest graphics campaign: "The True Cost of Coal." This doesn't mean that you can't look at their other work, which is listed under the drop-down menu, "Graphics Campaigns." The group has been active for over 12 years, and so they have generated quite a lot of material. Again, the extreme complexity of their illustrations cannot be overstated. You must look and look at every detail, for in their work even tiny details are integral to the larger story being told. The Beehive Collective specializes in raising public awareness of real issues by educating viewers through pictures which function as visual metaphors. In this way, their work transcends any particular language.
Using the "Graphics Campaign" drop-down menu, selection "The True Cost of Coal." Scroll down the length of the page so you see everything. You'll notice the campaign is made up of three primary parts: a poster, a narrative booklet, and educational events known as picture-lectures delivered in person by members of the collective (who are constantly touring North, Central and South America).
The Poster
First look at the full poster by clicking on the link, "Click Here to view the Web Viewing sized poster." To get an idea of what it looks like "in person," imagine this image printed on a very large swath of fabric - a banner. The Beehive Collective uses these banners in picture-lectures and other public events. The image is also available on paper and can be ordered from the website.
Use the little magnifying glass icon to zoom in on sections of the banner. You will see lots of animals who are all doing things. Each animal represents something. To understand what the animals are doing, who they represent, and what all this has to do with mountain top coal removal in Appalachia, you must read the narrative booklet.
The Narrative
Download the pdf booklet, "The True Cost of Coal: Mountaintop Removal & The Fight For Our Future," read it, and answer the following questions:
1. A lot of research went into the creating of this graphic. Who are some of the organizations that helped the Beehive Collective, and what do they do?
2. Who makes up the "cast of characters" in this poster? Why were they selected?
3. Briefly (4-5 sentences min.) state the historical background of today's mountain top coal removal situation in Appalachia.
4. What is "mountain top removal"and why are people against it?
5. How does the Beehive's graphic (poster) visually represent the full death cycle of coal?
6. In your own words, characterize the political viewpoint of the Beehive Collective artists.
Please make time to give this your full attention and thoughtfully respond to these questions.
Thank you!
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
The Arts & Healing Network and Zakira: The Child Refugee Photographers
The Arts & Healing Network website and the article, "The Child Refugee Photographers" (2011), by V. Noah Gimbel show how the arts are being used to promote individual and community healing. You will find many parallels between the arts projects in this week's reading and the work of Lily Yeh. I hope that in your future teaching, you will find ways to implement these principles of healing and learning through creative expression.
The Arts & Healing Network
1. Explore the entire website. Notice the many educational resources: films, teacher's guides, books and more. Then, go to the Projects drop-down menu and select AHN Awards. Select any AHN Award winner from the last 3 years (2009-2011) that interests you. Tell us: (a) the artist's name, (b) the name of his/her project/s, (c) the purpose of the project/s, and (d) what makes this art project extraordinary and worthy of recognition.
The Refugee Child Photographers
Read the whole article before responding to these questions!
2. Who started this project, for whom, and why?
3. Describe one photo from the Lahza project exhibition and provide as much background information as you can. As with all art, full appreciation comes with learning about the artist and the context in which art is made.
For more pictures, go to Zakira's Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/zakiratheimagefestivalassociation
The Arts & Healing Network
1. Explore the entire website. Notice the many educational resources: films, teacher's guides, books and more. Then, go to the Projects drop-down menu and select AHN Awards. Select any AHN Award winner from the last 3 years (2009-2011) that interests you. Tell us: (a) the artist's name, (b) the name of his/her project/s, (c) the purpose of the project/s, and (d) what makes this art project extraordinary and worthy of recognition.
The Refugee Child Photographers
Read the whole article before responding to these questions!
2. Who started this project, for whom, and why?
3. Describe one photo from the Lahza project exhibition and provide as much background information as you can. As with all art, full appreciation comes with learning about the artist and the context in which art is made.
For more pictures, go to Zakira's Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/zakiratheimagefestivalassociation
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
How the Dandelion School Blossomed
This week's reading is an article written by Lily Yeh, published by Yes! magazine in 2011. It recounts her work in a community school on the outskirts of Beijing. There is a photo essay, which I hope you will visit, and a written essay that details some of her experiences as a resident artist at the Dandelion School. The complete story is documented in Yeh's wonderful book, Awakening Creativity: Dandelion School Blossoms, published in 2011 by New Village Press.
Based on your reading of Yeh's article, I'd like you to think, reflect, and respond thoughtfully to the questions below:
1. Yeh's work at the Dandelion School is set within a particular cultural, economic and historical context. The children who attended the school were/are caught in this larger situation. Explain what is going on in China right now and how it is impacting the lives of children.
2. You may never teach in China, but how likely is it that at some point in your future you will teach children who are dealing with some of the same issues as Yeh's students at the Dandelion School?
3. In China, teachers visit the homes of their students. How did the home visit experience change Yeh's understanding of the students she was working with? In your future career as a teacher, do you think you will have students who live in similar conditions?
4. Each cultural situation is unique. At the same time, different cultural situations share many things in common. In the U.S., what groups are most likely to be struggling with challenges very similar to the rural migrants in China? If you plan to teach in the state of Texas, which of these groups are you most likely to come in contact with?
Remember: it is always good to make your comments specific by anchoring them in direct quotes from the text and using description details. Enjoy this week's reading, and good luck!
Based on your reading of Yeh's article, I'd like you to think, reflect, and respond thoughtfully to the questions below:
1. Yeh's work at the Dandelion School is set within a particular cultural, economic and historical context. The children who attended the school were/are caught in this larger situation. Explain what is going on in China right now and how it is impacting the lives of children.
2. You may never teach in China, but how likely is it that at some point in your future you will teach children who are dealing with some of the same issues as Yeh's students at the Dandelion School?
3. In China, teachers visit the homes of their students. How did the home visit experience change Yeh's understanding of the students she was working with? In your future career as a teacher, do you think you will have students who live in similar conditions?
4. Each cultural situation is unique. At the same time, different cultural situations share many things in common. In the U.S., what groups are most likely to be struggling with challenges very similar to the rural migrants in China? If you plan to teach in the state of Texas, which of these groups are you most likely to come in contact with?
Remember: it is always good to make your comments specific by anchoring them in direct quotes from the text and using description details. Enjoy this week's reading, and good luck!
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Mid-Term Grades
All,
Mid-term grading has begun. I would like to assign each of you a grade, but before doing so it is important that you know the following things:
1) If you have missed more than 3 classes (including Monday blog assignments), this will impact your grade.
2) If you owe me work, such as a few rows of crochet or a 5-page paper (using 5-6 sources) on the history of crochet, but have not turned it in yet, this will impact your grade.
3) If your blog comments have been brief, vague, incomplete or too general, and have not improved over the weeks, this will impact your grade.
Expect to receive an "A" for mid-term ONLY if your attendance has been regular, you have kept up on the blogs, your blog comments have shown engagement with/comprehension of the assigned material, and you have done your art projects.
If you have questions, please post them here or email me.
carolyn
Mid-term grading has begun. I would like to assign each of you a grade, but before doing so it is important that you know the following things:
1) If you have missed more than 3 classes (including Monday blog assignments), this will impact your grade.
2) If you owe me work, such as a few rows of crochet or a 5-page paper (using 5-6 sources) on the history of crochet, but have not turned it in yet, this will impact your grade.
3) If your blog comments have been brief, vague, incomplete or too general, and have not improved over the weeks, this will impact your grade.
Expect to receive an "A" for mid-term ONLY if your attendance has been regular, you have kept up on the blogs, your blog comments have shown engagement with/comprehension of the assigned material, and you have done your art projects.
If you have questions, please post them here or email me.
carolyn
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Lily Yeh, Bioneers Convention Speech pts. 1 - 2
Lily Yeh is one of the most outstanding educators of our time. Please listen to her carefully, for you can learn a lot from her. As a community organizer, artist and teacher, she has much wisdom to impart. This week's questions are designed to help you focus on different aspects of her speech at the 2009 Bioneers Convention.
Question #1:
Describe Yeh's first large-scale community arts project, the Village of Arts and Humanity. A minimal response to this question would describe who participated, where it is located, how it was done and how long it took. A better-than-minimal response would include your favorite quotes from her discussion of this piece.
Question #2:
How does Lily Yeh describe community involvement? What is her attitude toward teaching?
Question #3:
What is Barefoot Artists? Where did it take place? What is the art project, specifically?
Question #4:
What does she mean by "genocide...is happening in everybody's heart"?
Question #5:
How does Yeh communicate with people without knowing their language?
Enjoy the videos!
Question #1:
Describe Yeh's first large-scale community arts project, the Village of Arts and Humanity. A minimal response to this question would describe who participated, where it is located, how it was done and how long it took. A better-than-minimal response would include your favorite quotes from her discussion of this piece.
Question #2:
How does Lily Yeh describe community involvement? What is her attitude toward teaching?
Question #3:
What is Barefoot Artists? Where did it take place? What is the art project, specifically?
Question #4:
What does she mean by "genocide...is happening in everybody's heart"?
Question #5:
How does Yeh communicate with people without knowing their language?
Enjoy the videos!
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