Due: 10/12/10
Length: 1500 words, plus supporting media examples/illustrations (provide links or other locational info; examples should be part of group presentation!)
NOTE: Assignment guidelines indicate that the essay can either be posted to a student learning portfolio and then syndicated to our course site, or emailed to an instructor (in this case, John). Please do contact one of us for clarification on either option.
Prompt:
In our class discussion as well as through comments on the course site and links posted to our Diigo group, we have examined a handful of many forms participation takes within arts-based contexts (broadly defined). From physical spaces to online processes, participatory practice is often transmedia in nature—the multiple ways of experiencing, understanding, or engaging art manifests across media of communication (writing, video, talking, etc) as narratives about art and society.
In your essay, address the above ideas by outlining specific ways that we, as arts and culture sector workers, can operationalize participation through programming. In order to focus your discussion, draw on a particular example of an art form, event, or experience; you may choose from those explored in class, links posted to our course Diigo group, or generate one collaboratively within the group. Given the brevity of this assignment, your essay should clearly:
A. Cogently describe the example at hand by providing a brief ‘bio’ of the event, art form, or experience.
B. Identify or define at least two kinds of ‘participation’ re: your example; be specific and to the point.
C. Briefly describe how these forms of participation would be encouraged through programming/management; without going into great detail, discuss the participatory structure of your example.
D. Pose potential approaches to assessing or evaluating participation in a qualitative way; focus on such questions as: how will you know if your programming worked? how will you know how audiences/attendees/collaborators valued participation? what has participation contributed to this programming effort? how is participation beneficial to those involved?
Be sure to draw on writings and other resources we have examined in class in order to contextualize and illustrate your comments. There is no set number of sources we want you to reference, and since this is an essay it should demonstrate a logical argument toward a goal that represents your group’s collective thinking; it needn’t be laden with outside citations, but should address relevant ones as needed.
Group Presentation:
Each group will lead a 30-minute presentation & discussion about their essay in class on 10/13/10. Successful and engaging presentations will be more than basic outlining and explanation of your essay’s argument, and will ideally involve an element of interactivity. Be creative, have fun, and try to enact a flavor for the participation you discuss in the essay (to the extent possible!); do not feel pressured to have a ‘hi-tech’ presentation or activity. Feel free to run any ideas by us, and let us know what sort of media/tech you might be using as we will help coordinate that.
