projects

identity project (350 points)

This assignment asks you to explore how you negotiate the spaces between personal choice and larger cultural forces, both of which help shape our identities. Your project will examine the assumptions about identity we discussed earlier in class: 1) Identity is what we’re born with. 2) Identity is shaped by culture. 3) Identity is shaped by personal choices. How you address these assumptions and what you have to say about them is up to you. You will explore the various ways you convey your identity(ies) through digital and multimedia means. There are numerous ways to examine the assumptions about identity for this project. It will be up to you how you approach the tasks at hand.

photo essay/visual narrative (400 points)

This is a semester long project in which you will build a narrative from photographs you take. The project combines visual and textual materials to tell a story or series of stories. You should begin this project immediately. Begin a visual archive of what you see in the world and build on this archive each week. At first, all you have to do is take photographs. Don’t plan the narrative ahead of time; instead allow the story to emerge organically. The important thing to do now is begin seeing the world in new ways. Think about the kinds of images that interest you and why because there will be checkpoints throughout the semester in which you bring a selection of your photographs to class and talk about them. Remember that if you are using a digital camera you can upload photos directly to a computer. If you are using a non-digital camera you will need to develop the film and be very organized about the process.

podcast (200 points)

Because new media technologies allow us to easily, create, edit, add images, sound and video consumers of these technologies become what Alvin Toffler called “prosumers,” meaning the role of the producer and consumer of the technology is merged. For this project we will be prosumers as we explore our individual creativity, interests and topics. A podcast consists of two major processes: 1)creating the podcast and 2)publishing the podcast. Typically podcasts are digital audio files created from mixing multiple digital audio tracks containing voice and audio (a portion of a sound recording). Your project must consist of at least three audio samples, two of which you should collect from television, video, DVD, CD or the Internet. Presumably, the other would be your voice. You can choose any topic, any tone, any approach to this project. I am purposefully leaving the requirements vague so that you can truly be a creative and thoughtful prosumer. The podcast should be 4-6 minutes and in a publishable format, preferably mp3.

if on a winter’s night, a traveler collaborative project (450 points)

In small groups (3-4 members) you will create an exploration of Italo Calvino’s if on a winter’s night, a traveler and create a book cover for the text. This project is not intended to be a review nor an interpretation of Calvino’s text but rather an exploration, a sharing of your process of discovery. The main purpose of the project is to imagine the possibilities of Calvino’s work and how you would convey these possibilities to a reading public. Your group will submit a short proposal, present mock-ups of your ideas and finally, present your work to the class.