Course Dates: June 20 – July 2, 2011
Instructors:
Doug Blandy, Professor, Arts and Administration Program, dblandy@uoregon.edu
John Fenn, Assistant Professor, Arts and Administration Program, jfenn@uoregon.edu
Seminar Description:
This is a required online seminar for participants in AAD 488/688 “Public Culture and Heritage: A Beijing Based Field School.” The purpose of this orientation course will be to assist you in preparing for the field school both in terms of logistics and academics.
Our purpose is to orient you to:
China’s cultural heritage and the ways in which this heritage is being preserved, sustained, and interpreted as facilitated by national and regional planning efforts overseen by government entities
A folkloristic method for cultural research and interpretation.
The use of multimedia techniques for both documentary and interpretive purposes.
ChinaVine.org’s mission and orientation to interpretation.
Shared Responsibilities in a Learning Community:
All members of a learning community (i.e. our seminar) willingly share the responsibilities of gathering, synthesizing and building meaning. As your instructors we are responsible for giving you as much control as possible over your own learning experience within the boundaries of the course purpose and expected outcomes, clarifying expectations and helping you establish quality criteria for your work, and helping you achieve success in this course, demonstrating the value of this course, helping you access quality resources and clarifying concepts, guiding you in the completion of tasks to demonstrate your achievement.
At the same time, we expect you to take responsibility for your own learning by openly sharing your work and asking for feedback, relating concepts and skills to your real world experiences, gathering and synthesizing information from a variety of sources, making us aware of your individual learning needs.
Method of Instruction:
Our method for teaching this online seminar is to encourage the understanding and appreciation of course content by facilitating critical thinking and written/verbal dialogue. Emphasis is placed on thought rather than memorization. Our intent is to encourage the following:
Critical understanding of a topic and the controversies associated with it.
Generation of multiple responses and perspectives on issues of common concern
Consideration of taken-for-granted assumptions in new ways.
Concentration on discovery.
A desire to know more.
Provocative and well argued discussion.
Seminar Requirements:
1. Review all assigned media and readings (download/access here)
2. Assignments: For full assignment details, navigate to the “Assignment guidelines” page. Each assignment will require you to post to the course blog stream, so please read the instructions thoroughly. Due dates are indicated below.
A. China Today (due 6/22/11)
B. Orientation to ChinaVine.org (due 6/26/11)
C. Orientation to Conceptions of Culture (due 6/29/11)
D. Orientation to Field Work (due 7/1/11…but please work on this assignment throughout the two-week orientation!)
Required Media
88MOCCA: Museum of Contemporary Chinese Art on the Web:
Art Speak China.
Baron, R. (2010). Sins of objectification? Agency, mediation, and community cultural self-determination in public folklore and cultural tourism programming. Journal of American Folklore 123 (487), 63-91.
The China Beat.
China Digital Times.
Folklife and fieldwork: A layman’s introduction to field techniques.
Hufford, M. (1995). Context. Journal of American Folklore 108 (430), 528-549.
Kalow, N. (2011). Visual Storytelling: The Digital Video Documentary. The Center for Documentary Studies.
Pocius, G. L. (1995). Art. Journal of American Folklore 108 (430), 413-431.
Wasserstrom, J. (2010). China in the 21st Century: What Everyone Needs to Know.
Welsh, P. H. (2005). Re-configuring museums. Museum Management and Curatorship. 20, 103-130.
Seminar Conduct:
Material presented in this course can be controversial and involve contentious discussion. A variety of opinions and ideas are encouraged and appreciated.
Participation in this seminar assumes that:
The dignity and essential worth of all participants is respected
The privacy, property, and freedom of participants will be respected
Bigotry, discrimination, or intimidation will not be tolerated
Personal and academic integrity is expected.
Documented Disabilities:
If you have a documented disability and anticipate needing accommodations in this course, please make an appointment with me during the first week of the term. Please request that the Counselor for Students with Disabilities sends a letter verifying your disability. The current counselor is Molly Sirois at 346-1073.