Showing posts with label week03. Show all posts
Showing posts with label week03. Show all posts

WEEK 3 WEEKEND: February 13-14

HAPPY WEEKEND, and I hope you are staying warm in this intense winter weather! If you have some assignments from the current week to finish up, here is a link to Week 3, and here is a link to Week 4 if you are ready to move on ahead to those assignments. (Working ahead is always a good strategy, especially at the start of the semester.)

Class Procedures and Reminders

Extra credit Tech Tips. Now that you are looking at other people's blogs when you do comments, you might get some ideas for features you want to add to your blog, and there are extra credit Tech Tips to help you with blog design experiments, along with all kinds of other tech possibilities also.

Project Stack. There were just a few items left in the stack on Friday, and those will be at the top of the stack when I get back to work on Monday. As people turn in assignments, I'll update the stack periodically so you can check the stack to make sure I got yours. Then on Monday I'll start replying to the assignments in the stack based on the order in which they were turned in. That means if you turn it in sooner, you will get comments back sooner. :-)

The following items are for fun and exploration:

Blog stream. Since this is for both Saturday and Sunday, I've included two items from the blog stream this time. I'll start with this adorable picture of a quokka. What's a quokka? You can find out in Deepa's story: The Quokka and the Tourists.


And here is a great image from Luda's Storybook research post on Indian goddesses and the Coronavirus. Find out more at Luda's blog post.


Here's a Conversation video that goes with it:


Twitter stream. Sunday is Valentine's Day, which is one of the most folkloric days of the year, so I'm going to fill up this blog post with items that were shared in this week's #FolkloreThursday Twitter fest which focused on folklore and folktales about love in honor of Valentine's Day.




February 13. Lupercalia. Saturday is the Ides of February in the Roman calendar, which means it is the first day of the festival of the Lupercalia. Lupercus was the god of shepherds and his festival was intended to insure fertility in the coming spring. The Luperci priests would run through the streets, dressed in goatskins, and lash the women of the city with the thongs. You can read more about Lupercalia in this Wikipedia article and at NPR.


Valentine's Day: Green M-and-M Legend. In honor of Valentine's Day, here is a Valentine's Day Legend from Snopes.com. Back in 2008, the Mars Candy Company promoted the distribution of packages of all-green M-and-M candies because the green candies are supposedly an aphrodisiac — true or false??? Well, Snopes.com tells us that is true that Mars promoted the green candies for Valentine's Day, but as to whether the green M-and-Ms really are an aphrodisiac, Snopes.com is not saying!


Meanwhile, that word "aphrodisiac" is from the Greek name of the goddess of love, mighty Aphrodite... and here's a lovely vase painting with Aphrodite riding on a swan:



Check out the Twitter stream for information and fun stuff during the day, or click here for past announcements.
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Friday, February 12

HAPPY FRIDAY! Today is Friday of Week 3. Here is a link to Week 3, and if you're ready to get a head start, Week 4 is available too.

Class Procedures and Reminders

Other people's stories. For the Week 3 blog comments, you will be reading people's stories. You'll see stories from Week 2 and Week 3, plus some stories from Week 4 (because people are working ahead), and also some microfictions too. If you are curious and want to read more stories, you can always do the extra credit commenting option that's available each week. Reading other people's stories can be a great way to ignite your own creativity!

Project Stack. Yesterday I read all the Week 2 projects that were in the stack. Today I'll be working on the Week 3-4-5-etc. projects. As always, you can check the stack to make sure I received your assignment.

The following items are for fun and exploration:

Blog stream. Here's some more gorgeous art from a blog post; this is the Cyclops image that Cady found to use with her story. You can find the story here: Odysseus and Polyphemus.



I know there are some Alice-in-Wonderland fans in the class too, so I wanted to make sure to share this from the Victoria and Albert Museum and their Alice exhibition: Curiouser and Curiouser.


You are probably not going to want to go dance in the snow... but Gurdeep never stops dancing in the Yukon:


Here's a fun owl-mood chart for the end of the week (and there's a cat-mood chart in the extra credit Check-In and Connect too).


Here's something from the OU Twitter stream... and Canvas pronouns are included in the Canvas Tech Tips for this class too!


Here's a fun cartoon from Fowl Comics about the hard work that it takes to develop your art:


For more inspiration, here is a wonderful StoryCorps video about astronaut Ron McNair (and maybe we even have some McNair Scholars in class this semester; it is one of my favorite programs at OU!):


Finally, some punctuation humor: The Demicolon.


February 12. It's Chinese New Year's today, and so begins the Year of the Ox! You can find out more at Wikipedia. In addition to the famous cycle of animals, there is also a cycle of elements, so this is a metal year: the Year of the Metal-Ox. Happy New Year!


A video with more about the ox:



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


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Thursday, February 11

Today is Thursday of Week 3. For a lot of people in class, that means it is Storytelling Day, and I hope you have fun with your new story this week! Here is a link to Week 3.

Class Procedures and Reminders

Project Stack. I've replied to all the projects in the stack turned in before 9PM on Sunday, and I'll finish up the Sunday assignments today and then move on to the projects from Monday. You can always check the stack to make sure I received your form.

Look for stories everywhere. Here's a tip: you can find storytelling ideas wherever you look! Everyday household objects, things you see walking around campus, foods you eat, snatches of other people's conversations: there are story ideas lurking everywhere, and the more you use your imagination to dream up stories, the easier it will be to write stories for this class every week. So, keep an eye and ear open for stories around you, and see what you find!

The following items are for fun and exploration:

Blog stream. I always enjoy seeing the art that people include in their posts, and I noticed this amazing Ramayana panel in Rishikaa's reading notes post. Then I followed the link to the British Museum and found a close-up view that shows Ravana in his flying chariot... and everybody in Indian Epics knows about Ravana and that flying chariot now! Details at the British Museum.


Twitter stream. I'm sure everybody has seen the cat-lawyer video, so I wanted to share Legonium's Latin version: Feles non sum; I am not a cat.


I thought this was a brilliant cartoon from Liniers: Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere. That's not exactly what Einstein said, but it is pretty close; here's what Einstein said: Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world. (larger view)


Some of you in Indian Epics class have been looking at the Amar Chitra Katha comic books on Reserve in Bizzell; here's a quote from Amar Chitra Katha founder, Anant Pai, known in India as Uncle Pai:


And here's another tweet from Amar Chitra Katha about the storytelling tradition of the Indian Puranas: What Are The Puranas?


For those of you who are writing stories today, here's something from Debbie Ridpath-Ohi: it's the endless up-and-down of writing. :-)


And if you're feeling stuck with writing, or with anything else, here's some advice from Grant Snider:


From Open Culture, I learned about this very cool video: The Animation That Changed Cinema.


And for another video, here's a lovely one from Maati Baani: Jao Priya.


February 11: Frank Herbert. Today marks the anniversary of the death of the science fiction writer Frank Herbert in 1986 (he was born in 1920). His novel, Dune, published in 1965, is one of the most popular science fiction novels ever written. Below is a cover for a paperback edition of Dune, showing one of the mighty sandworms.


And here's an interview with Frank Hebert in 1982, a few years before his death:



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

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Wednesday, February 10

Today is Wednesday of Week 3. Here is a link to Week 3. I hope you are enjoying this week's reading! The second reading assignment is due today, with the storytelling assignment coming on Thursday. Then, as people write their stories this week, I'll be adding those to the randomizer for commenting so you can comment on stories along with introductions this week: there will be lots of stories in the randomizer now!
 
Class Procedures and Reminders

Campus closure. Since this is an online class, the winter weather doesn't affect this class directly, but if you run into power outages and related problems like during the ice storm last semester, don't worry; there is lots of flexibility to manage things in this class, so just let me know what your situation is, and I'm sure we can find a good solution to whatever comes up.

Reading like a writer. Each week your reading notes are meant to help you when you tell your own story. So, make sure you read all the pages of each reading assignment, but don't try to take notes on everything. Instead, focus your notes on the specific story/episode(s) that you would like to tell in your own way. More tips here. As you get more practice writing stories, you'll be able to see just what kinds of notes you find most helpful for your approach to your writing stories.

Project Stack. I've replied to all the assignments turned in on Saturday, and I'll be working on the Sunday items today. While you are waiting on comments back from me, you can check the stack to make sure I received your project.

The following items are for fun and exploration:

Blog stream. The weeks all seem very long in these pandemic semesters, especially when the weather is conspiring against us, so I thought maybe for Hump-Day today, you might enjoy this feel-good graphic from Amy's blog:


Twitter stream. In the spirit of the winter weather, some art from snowy Kashmir:


And more Bhangra in the Yukon, with the unstoppable Gurdeep!




And something less chilly: a beautiful work of ancient Egyptian glassware:


And a mask of Apollo, now safely returned to Rome:



National Geographic: India is one of my favorite Twitter feeds, and here is a story about an animal preserver in Arunachal Pradesh: Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary.


Awkward Yeti has a new one about heart, brain, and learning:


And back before there were browser tabs, there were devices like this to help people with their reading and research: 


February 10: James Mooney. Today marks the birthday of the anthropologist and folklorist James Mooney who was born on this day in 1861. You can read about his life and career at Wikipedia, and his monumental collection of Cherokee legends is available for you to read free online: Myths of the Cherokee.

Check out the Twitter stream for information and fun stuff during the day, or click here for past announcements.
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Tuesday, February 9

Today is Tuesday of Week 3. Here is a link to Week 3, and if you have not started the Week 3 reading yet, today is the day to do that. I hope you will enjoy this week's reading!

Class Procedures and Reminders

Week 3 Reading. In Myth-Folklore you will be choosing from Biblical or Classical stories, and in Indian Epics you will be starting the Ramayana. With your notes, carry on like you did last week, trying to "read like a writer" so that your notes will be able to help you tell your own version of a story later this week, based on this week's reading.

Project stack. Yesterday I replied to the projects people turned in on Friday of last week, and today I'll be working on the projects people turned in on Saturday. You can check the stack at any time to make sure I got your assignment, and I'll keep you posted on my progress each day here in the announcements. My goal is always to get through the stack by the end of the week, but it usually does take me all week to do that.

The following items are for fun and exploration:

Blog stream. I love seeing the art people find and share in their blog posts, like this amazing naga-and-nagini sculpture from Connor's topic brainstorm. 


And yes, that is where Nagini in the Harry Potter books gets her name; for more about that, see Rob's Storybook, which he has already finished (!), as he started the class early: Voldemort's Nagini.


Twitter stream. And more beautiful Indian art at Twitter; this is Radha and Krishna:


Plus some music via the master of Indian slide guitar, Joel Veena:

And these African mongooses with a hornbill bird cracked me up:


Some of you may have already encountered Devdutt Pattanaik in your reader and research for the India class, so I wanted to share his thoughts here on white appropriations of Indian traditions: Mythology of White Hindus. In particular, he argues that white scholarship tries to standardize the creative multiplicity of Indian traditions, something he also talks about in this TED video: India is not chaotic.


This question of cultural appropriation is very relevant to both of these classes, so as you do your reading and writing for these classes, I hope you will think about cultural appropriation, and also about what it means to engage in respectful and responsible ways with different cultures. You can learn more about that here: Cultural Appropriation for the Worried Writer by Jeannette Ng. This PBS video has some thought-provoking ideas too: What is Cultural Appropriation?


In order to provide you with free reading materials for these classes, I have often relied on public domain materials published before 1923, and that means they reflect deeply racist practices. For example, many of the 19th-century collectors of mythology and folklore did not even credit their sources; the white writers put their own names on the books that they published, and the names of the real artists, the true storytellers, were forever lost. Here's a video with some powerful thoughts from Grace Lin about what it means to both accept and reject these racist books from the past: What to do when you realize classic books from your childhood are racist.


So, I hope you will take some time now and throughout the semester to think about some of these important issues, and also to ponder the question of racism and white supremacy in the Gen. Ed. curriculum here at OU which continues to divide the world up into "Western" and "Other" — a division I find very unhelpful and dangerous. Meanwhile, I'm glad to be teaching courses on both sides of that artificial divide so that I can keep learning new things about the world's many storytelling traditions as a result.

February 9: Paul Laurence Dunbar. Today marks the death in the year 1906 of the great African-American poet Paul Laurence Dunbar. Dunbar was born a free man in Ohio in the year 1872; both of his parents had been slaves. You can read more about his life at Wikipedia, and you can find his poetry at the Lit2Go. I've also included a short video from the Paul Laurence Dunbar House, which is now a historic site in Dayton, Ohio.




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