Pop Goes The World

Welcome, Fall 2014

This is the class weblog for GEOG 327 Popular Culture in Global Perspective in Fall 2014 at Western Oregon University.

• Learn more about the course.
• Learn more about the blogging requirement and other uses of the blog for Assignments and Class Participation.

Changes in thinking

Here is another question I have adapted from the Reading Preparations: on which of our topics has you thinking changed the most and in what way?

Advertising vs. graffiti & street art

This question is adapted from the Reading Preparation assignments this week: what do you think of the way that many writers and artists compare what they do to advertising as "visual pollution" or "noise"? Do you think that this is a fair point of comparison? Is one inherently "better" than the other in terms of the visual language and landscape of cities?

Alternate topics

Based on the Learning Assessments and Reading Preparations this week, some additional discussion of alternate topics for next time I teach this course seems like it would be useful.

• Which topic did you get the most out of?
• The least?
• Which topic would you recommend replacing?
• With what?

Open thread

Post on other matters related to the week or the term here.

Fourth Essay Topic

Topic (everyone is expected to write on this topic).

Write an essay that could effectively explain what you learned in this course to another student at WOU, one who did not take the course, but who has also taken a few courses in geography, the humanities or social sciences. Your essay should draw connections between our topics and highlight what you learned from reading the tesxts.

Requirements & expectations

• Essays should demonstrate a careful reading of the texts and of the related material and class presentations and discussions.
• Your essay should also incorporate at least one observation from the Field Explorations. Your field observations should make a substantive contribution to your argument.
• Articulate a coherent argument. The prompts or hints given in the topic description are meant to provoke your own ideas and thinking, not serve as a checklist.
• Essays should be carefully composed and edited, double-spaced, with reasonably-sized fonts and margins.
• There are no page limits, but four to seven seems like a reasonable guide.
• When referencing assigned reading, a simple parenthetical reference with the author’s last name and page number will suffice. Films should be initially referenced with the full title and date. Subsequent references can be shortened and do not require the date. Outside reading should be cited following these guidelines.

Assessment

• Essays will be first assessed according to how clearly they demonstrate a careful reading and comparison of the texts and main topics for the course
• Secondary consideration will be given to formatting and editorial expectations.
• This essay is worth twenty-five (25) points.

Due date & extensions

• Essays should be submitted electronically following these guidelines by the end of the day on W 12/10. The assignment name should be “FourthEssay.”
• You also have until that day and time to request an extension for full credit.
• Additional details about Finals Week TBA.

Finals Week

• We will not meet as a class.
• I will have new office hours for Finals Week. Please check my homepage for details. I will have the days and times posted by the end of this week.
• Consult individual assignment instructions for deadlines. The Fourth Essay is due during Finals Week and there is a writing assignment related to the Field Notes and Explorations also due.
• Blogging for week 10 continues through T 12/9.
• To count towards your grade in Fall 2014, work must be in by 5:00 pm on F 12/12.

Field Notes and Explorations Week 10

By the end of the day (11:59 pm) on M 12/8:

• Submit a concise, no longer than one single-spaced page, reflection on your Field Notes and Explorations. What did you get out of this assignment?
• Submit your assignment electronically. The assignment name should be "FieldReflection."
• If you need more time, you will have until the deadline on Monday to request an extension for full credit.

Details about Field Notes and Explorations are available  on Assignments.

Art & context

After reading about and looking at street artists working both in and off of the streets, what difference do you that context makes to how the art is done, how it is seen, and what it means? Why do you think drives artists to work in the street even when they don't "need" to? How important do you think working in the streets is to the artistic practice of artists like Swoon, Ron English, Os Gemeos and Zevs?

Conclusions to Solnit and Borden

We finished up our formal discussion of skateboarding and walking this week and finished with Solnit and Borden. What do you take away from these books?

Open thread

Post on other matters related to the week here.