Due: 10/27/15, via email or posted to a learning portfolio (send me a link)
Details: 1500 words (or so), with accompanying transmedia materials (see below)
In the essay by Roberto Bedoya that we discussed in class this week (here), he explores the practices and policies of creative placemaking through the conceptionalization of a “politics of belonging.” His essay pushes several crucial questions regarding a wide spectrum of political and social processes, from urban planning to racist exclusion, all the while pointing us toward an ethical and balanced consideration of the space(s) art and culture occupy in our experience. Your group essay(s) will extend Bedoya’s central goals by applying some of his questions (i.e. those he poses in the essay) to a creative placemaking project of your choosing.
Your essay(s) should contain three primary components:
- a description of a creative placemaking project
- a narrated application of several questions from Bedoya’s essay (i.e. state the questions you are attending to; explain why the group choose each one; and offer any illuminations, critiques, understandings, or affirmations that a given question offers when held up to your project of choice), and
- an evaluative conclusion that gives your group’s assessment of the project (did it hold up under scrutiny of Bedoya’s questions? why? did your group see room for improvement or redesign? if so, what elements stood out and what might you offer instead?).
This last section should be more than simply celebratory (“Yes, what a great project!”) or demonizing (“Ugh, this sucks!”), and should convey constructive critique and suggestion—though you certainly do not need to cover all aspects of a given project (whether you find them positive or not). Choosing one should suffice, especially if you have a lot to say…
Use the rubric below to gauge how much space (in terms of word count) you should allocate to each of the three sections of the essay, and do include any links or illustrations of the project so as to assist the reader in getting the full picture. Keep in mind that you are constructing an argument about a specific project in light of a selection of Bedoya’s questions, so you needn’t cover all comoponents of the creative placemaking project nor fully explore all your group responses to it. Feel free to draw on (and cite) other material from Module 2 readings/resources, as well as any other sources group members might bring into the discussion. However, I do not have a formal expectation for how many (if any) external sources you end up using.
The group presentation(s) will be at least 30min, and should provide your classmates with a chance to engage with your ideas rather than simply hear you report these. Be creative and have fun with this component of the assignment!
ESSAY RUBRIC (out of 20pts):
– succinctly describe a creative placemaking project = 3pts
– narrative application of some of Bedoya’s questions = 10pts
– evaluative conclusion, extending Bedoya’s ideas = 5pts
– grammar, spelling, and flow of writing = 2pts
Presenation = 10pts
