Tuesday, February 19

Today is Tuesday of Week 6. Here is a link to the Week 6 assignments. It's another week of stories from the Middle East and India in Myth-Folklore, while it is the first week of the Mahabharata in Indian Epics. I hope you will enjoy the new reading!

Class Procedures and Reminders

Week 6 progress. Now that we are in Week 6, it means the semester is one-third over. So, if you have not done so recently, you might want to check on your progress so far. If you are not where you want to be in terms of points, you can start doing some extra credit to fill the gap.

Project Stack. As always at the start of the week, the stack is gigantic. If you turned in something on Friday, you should have comments back from me now, and you can check the stack to make sure I received your email. I'll start working on the Saturday items in the stack today.

The following items are for fun and exploration:

Blog Stream. Hannah did the Tech Tip for learning how to make memes with Cheezburger; I'm guessing everybody can relate to this one:

Free Book Online. Today's free book is Wigwam Evenings - Sioux Folk Tales by Charles Eastman and Elaine Eastman. For more about the remarkable life of Charles Eastman, see below.

Free Audiobook. Today's free audiobook is Twenty-Two Goblins, Arthur Ryder's translation of the Sanskrit Vetālapañcaviṃśati. This is one of the reading options in Myth-Folklore this week, and it's a reading option in Indian Epics later on in the semester.

Featured Storybook. This is an Indian Epics Storybook from last year: Through the Page: One Girl's Journey. Much to little Anaya's surprise, she receives a visit from a goddess, Saraswati, and it's urgent: the goddess brings Anaya to meet a "damsel petrified," which turns out to be only the first of the missions that Anaya must complete with the goddess's help.

India Video. Here is a video about the goddess Saraswati: Saraswati's Secret.

Myth Video. And here's a video about the male side of the equation: Archetypal Gods: Male Divinity.

Myth Item. This is another English word from mythology: COLOSSAL, from Greek kolossos, meaning a gigantic statue, like the Colossus of Rhodes.

Writing. And here's a sneaky English word-pair: COMPLEMENT and COMPLIMENT.

Growth Mindset Cats. It's good to know why you want to grow: Look at the big picture and remember your why.

And this is a graphic to inspire your reading and writing this week: Room for a Story.

This is a talk by two OU students about empathy and storytelling: Understanding mental illness through empathic storytelling (Jake was a student in Myth-Folklore several years ago!).

Event on Campus. There will be an opening reception in the Lightwell Gallery at 5PM today for  Tammy Nguyen's new exhibit about Chinese refugee migration: The Ship Named Atlast (details).

Find out more about this and other events at the Campus Calendar online.

February 19: Ohíyesa. Today is the birthday of Charles Eastman, known also by his Dakota name, Ohíyesa; he was born in 1858. Eastman was the first Native American to receive a medical degree, and in his work as a doctor he treated the victims of the Wounded Knee Massacre in 1890; You can find out more about Eastman at Wikipedia; this photograph shows Eastman in 1897:

Adam Beach played the role of Ohíyesa in the film Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (trailer below). 

Check out the Twitter stream for information and fun stuff during the day, or click here for past announcements.