WEEKLY SCHEDULE: SPRING 2021 (ABOVE) & FALL 2020 (BELOW)

WEEK 13/14: (April 8 & 15):

Below is the list for the final presentations the next two Thursdays as per the schedule.  We will be using our class time on the 22nd to discuss how to do an outward-facing event that moves at a good clip.

4/8:       FINAL CAPSTONE PRESENTATIONS GROUP I

              Isabel Carmona

              Afrah Syed

              Alondra Obispo

              Bill Gyimah

              Muhammad Shafqat

              Claudis Dawson

              Dylan MacEwen

4/15:     FINAL CAPSTONE PRESENTATIONS GROUP II

              Ari Gaitan

              Ashley Chiu

              Melissa Hester

              Lace Burwell

              Maria Ahmed

              Alondra Sepulveda

              Richard Valdez

              Braxton Chassagne

4/29:     PRESENTATION OF IDEAS CAPSTONE WEBSITES

WEEK 12: INDIVIDUAL ADVISING/FEEDBACK STATUS AND WRITING

WEEK 11 (BREAK)

WEEK 10:

Readings/Viewings for March 18

Dylan

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/magazine/2020/03/17/an-artist-quarantined-china-illustrates-what-its-like-live-lockdown/

https://www.tate.org.uk/about-us/projects/transforming-artist-books/summaries/edward-ruscha-twentysix-gasoline-stations-1963

Afrah Syed

https://architizer.com/blog/inspiration/industry/covid19-city-design/

Alondra O

https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/how-improve-working-conditions-developing-world

Lace

http://l-adam-mekler.com/walker_in_search.pdf

Isabel

https://muse-jhu-edu.proxy.cc.uic.edu/article/717132/pdf

https://willwilson.photoshelter.com/index/G0000UJMNlkw2.0g

Richardhttps://magazine.umbc.edu/who-gets-to-be-a-superhero-representation-and-comic-books/

WEEK 8 &9 3/4 & 3/11:

Mid-Term Capstone Presentations:

RUBRIC-Mid-Term-Presentations-and-Written-WorkDownload

WEEK 7 2/25:

Architectures of Place and Health

List of LINKS to readings for February 25

IDEA410 Class  2/25

1) We will begin with a presentation by Maria Ahmed.

2) From Bill Gamiyah: https://whyy.org/articles/how-designers-are-remaking-spaces-for-our-new-socially-distanced-lives/

3) From Ashley Chiu: https://www.cardiovascularbusiness.com/topics/heart-failure/public-access-aeds-growing-so-why-arent-they-being-used

4) From Muhammad Shafqat: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/18/t-magazine/double-diamond-house-design.html

5) From Claudis Dawson: https://www.dragon1.com/blogs/markpaauwe/basic-elements-enterprise-architecture-point-line-plane-volume

6) From Melissa Hester: “Bringing Green Homes Within Reach” (PDF attached)

Bringing-Green-Homes-within-ReachDownload

WEEK 6 2/18:

Race and Critical Ecology

Readings/Viewing for February 18th, 2021

Lise Haller at G400 Eco-Feminist Science Fiction: https://gallery400.uic.edu/exhibitions/

Dan Peterman, Sulfur Cycle @ MCA Chicago: https://mcachicago.org/Exhibitions/2020/Dan-Peterman-Sulfur-Cycle-20

Fred Moten and LaToya Ruby Frazier, Interview, BOMB, 2017

Fred-Moten-and-LaToya-Ruby-Frazier-InterviewDownload

WEEK 3 1/28: Europe/Manhattan/Washington, DC 2021 (A comparison). Please view/listen and be ready to discuss.

Week-Three-Viewings-for-Discussion-1Download
410-IDEA-CAPSTONE-SEMINAR-PRESENTATION-SCHEDULEDownload

WEEK 2 1/21: In Class Presentations of Capstone Spring Planning

(ten minutes — five presentation/five feedback — with target dates aligned to group presentations, including screen sharing and overview of new skill use)

MLK Jr. October 26th, 1967
Capstone-Spring-Planning-2020Download

Week 1 1/14: Introductions to Course and Expectations & Meet the Lab Specialists

WHY-THIS-SUDDEN-AT-HOMENESS-1Download

DUE DATES:

Coursework: (100 points total)

  1. Capstone Spring Planning:                                10 pts (1/21 in class group discussion)

2.   Participation/Attendance/Responses:           20 pts (ongoing and includes reading/viewings/active discussion)

3.   First Phase Presentation: 10 pts (2/4 & 2/11 in class group discussion. Must include uploads by the Monday before you present, demonstrable progress, and one page statement of purpose/introduction).

4.   Mid-Term Capstone Presentation:                  10 pts (3/4 & 3/11 in class group discussion. Must include uploads by the Monday before you present, demonstrable progress, and two page statement of purpose/introduction — expanded from version #1)

5.   Final Capstone Presentation:                          20 pts (4/8 & 4/15 in class group discussion. Must include uploads by the Monday before you present, demonstrable progress, and three page statement of purpose/introduction — expanded from version #1/#2)

6.   Completed Capstone Website:                         30 pts (4/29 in class group discussion by live link. Should include your writing and a short bio.)

week 1 (1/14): Introductions

FALL 2020 BELOW THIS LINE

week 14 (11/24/2020):

NO CLASS—ONE-ON-ONE MEETINGS

Checklist of things to do for this week:

  • Review Week 9: Midterm Review below. Make sure all of your documents are turned in. It is especially important that I have your proposal so that we can review it together and talk about progress during meetings this week.
  • Make an appointment with me on Calendly (https://calendly.com/tfunk4/office-hours-meeting). I just added more hours next week (after 12 on Monday and Wednesday, additional hours on Tuesday), so you should be able to find a time that works for you. If you are still unable to find a time, let me know.
    • Reminder: I NEED TO HAVE ALL OF YOUR DOCUMENTATION (as outlined above) BEFORE WE MEET. I will be going over your websites and documentation with you during the meeting.

Here’s an overview of Important Due Dates:

  • December 1st, Final Progress Presentation
  • December 8th, Deliverables Due:
    • website with all documentation easily accessible, including:
      • proposal
      • bib/lit review
      • timeline
      • methodology
      • recorded 5 minute final progress presentation
      • up-to-date progress journal

Week 13 (11/17/2020):

Social Practice Spotlight

Suzanne Lacy: Interdisciplinary Artist
https://www.suzannelacy.com/

Artist, educator, writer, and civil servant Suzanne Lacy has brought together each of her skill sets into an art practice that examines, exposes and ultimately seeks to rectify urban social issues. (Text from CreativeTime Summit: https://creativetime.org/summit/author/suzanne-lacy/)

The Oakland Projects (1991-2001)

https://www.suzannelacy.com/performance-installation#/the-oakland-projects/

A ten-year series of installations, performances and political activism with youth in Oakland, California.

Oakland, California—with its history of political activism, diversity and culture— was the site of a developing youth culture and politics in the 1990s. Between 1991-2001, Suzanne Lacy worked with scores of youth and adult collaborators to produce lengthy and large-scale public projects that included workshops and classes for youth, media intervention, and institutional program and policy development. The Oakland Projects are one of the most developed explorations of community, youth leadership, and public policy in current visual and public arts practice. The work was distributed on television, through lectures, in galleries, on documentary videos, and in articles and books.

Text from https://www.suzannelacy.com/

The Roof is on Fire (1993-1994)
Suzanne Lacy, Annice Jacoby, and Chris Johnson

The Roof Is On Fire featured 220 public high school students in unscripted and unedited conversations on family, sexuality, drugs, culture, education, and the future as they sat in 100 cars parked on a rooftop garage with over 1000 Oakland residents listening in.

Youth, Cops and Videotape (1995)

Youth involved in The Roof Is On Fire identified conflicts with police as a major concern. In the week leading up to that performance, Oakland youth were in national news as an example of out-of-control rioting in the city. While the situation was much milder than any of the earlier and later anti-racism urban insurrections, it was blown out of proportion by media. Even among officers there was a feeling that police had over-reacted. Lacy proposed a series of workshops that would address the mutual distrust between Oakland youth and officers. https://vimeo.com/39868715

No Blood/No Foul and the Oakland Youth Policy (1995-1996)
Suzanne Lacy, Annie Jacoby, and Chris Johnson

City Councilwoman Sheila Jordan initiated an Oakland youth policy with a planning team that included Lacy and youth/adult collaborators from prior projects. After focus groups and research, No Blood/No Foul was a performance that pitted youth against police officers and engaged the public in the initiative… This yearlong project consisted of a performance, policy interventions, collaboration with city council, a media strategy, video documentary and screening, and direct services to participating youth. https://vimeo.com/100465747

No Blood/No Foul installation in Tokyo (1996)

Lacy installed a basketball court surrounded by graffiti murals and police/youth video interviews translated into Japanese for ATOPIC, an exhibition of conceptual and installation artists from around the world. The installation included a discussion on youth/adult conflicts led by Unique Holland with Japanese youth.

Expectations Summer Project (1997)
Suzanne Lacy, Lisa Finley, Amana Harris, Leslie Becker, Unique Holland, Annice Jacoby, Leukessia Spencer and Maxine Wyman

Expectations covered a spectrum of issues on teen pregnancy, from its personal impacts on the health and education of young women to its role in political stereotyping, law-making, and social policy. It consisted of a six-week summer school art program with high school credit, for 32 pregnant and parenting teenagers. The class focused on different themes each week, including self, relationships, health care, and public policy. The young women had on-site childcare, transportation, lunches, a stipend, and an enriched educational program with professional artists, graphic designers, and architects. All 32 young women graduated in a ceremony that included commendations from Congresswoman Barbara Lee and a speech by Superintendent of Schools Carolyn Getridge. 

Expectations installation at Capp Street Project (1997)

Subsequently 15 young women participated in the development of an installation for Capp Street Galleries and a symposium that included pregnant and parenting youth, health care providers and politicians… A symposium with the installation moderated by Arnold Perkins, Director of Public Health in Alameda County, featured the young mothers who were also interviewed for print and television media. A poster of their writings and drawings, designed by Leslie Becker, was sent to legislators, educators, and health care policy makers across the state. (news footage: https://vimeo.com/39870697)

Code 33: Emergency Clear the Air! (1997-1999)
Suzanne Lacy, Unique Holland, and Julio Morales

Named after the police radio code to clear the radio waves, the three year project explored ways to reduce police hostility toward youth, provide youth with a set of skills to participate in their communities, and to generate a broader understanding of youth needs. Dozens of cars converged on the rooftop of Oakland’s City Center West Garage. In the spotlight of their headlights, small group discussions between 100 police officers and 150 young people confronted urgent issues: crime, authority, power and safety. https://vimeo.com/99381998

Eye 2 Eye at Fremont High (2000)

After the Code 33 performance, students at Fremont High School, an overpopulated public school in the Fruitvale district, approached Lacy to request a similar performance at their school to “clear the air” between students, staff, and teachers.

Week 12 (11/10/2020):

How to Execute That Idea

Completely unrelated image. I added it because it made me laugh so hard this morning I spit coffee all over myself and had to change my shirt.

Discussion Guest: Chris Reeves!

Keeping House:

  1. The remaining weeks of class will be mainly discussion about progress and motivational strategies/advice for continuing with your projects. I’m hoping to continue to have guests roll through to impart some of their thoughts regarding their own work. Please attend and participate.
  2. Keep up with your progress journal! By the end of the semester, you should have at least 10 entries. Remember: this is a resource for you as much as it is a requirement for the course. You can use it to take notes on your research, reflect on your personal progress, and link to helpful and interesting videos/websites you’ve found. Make it useful for you! Please continue to update it during Winter Break!
  3. Make sure you have your Proposal, Bibliography/Lit Review, Timeline, and Methodology accessible on your website. You may have a separate page for each, or add your timeline and methodology statements to your proposal page—that’s fine. Just make sure one can easily access them on your website! (Note: an “About” page is optional, but recommended.)
  4. Important Due Dates:
    1. December 1st, Final Progress Presentation
    2. December 8th, Deliverables Due:
      1. website with all documents—proposal, bib/lit review, timeline, methodology—easily accessible
      2. recorded 5 minute final progress presentation
      3. up-to-date progress journal with reflections on winter break progress)

Week 11 (11/03/2020):

VOTE!

Although we don’t have class today, I think it’s still important we continue thinking through the questions we raised last week: what are our anxieties—technical, conceptual, or existential—surrounding the capstone process?

All artists and designers have the hard job of figuring out how to start and end a creative project. The documentary Beauty is Embarrassing, about artist Wayne White, is a helpful reminder that this whole process can be pretty darn fun, if you let it:

https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1rFwZGVpiLe1dcIec3tSZk-PG6Z7vHewF

Week 10 (10/27/20):

Bumps in the Road: How to Work out Technical, Conceptual, or Existential Problems

What should you do if you encounter blockages in completing your work? How do you deal with anxiety when approaching big projects? Here’s our class exercise in thinking through approaches to (very real) problems that may halt progress in our projects.

Take 10 minutes and write down three big questions or challenges affecting the completion of your capstone. These questions or challenges should be:

  1. Technical (e.g. “Where can I go to get prints of my digital photographs?” or “What software is the best to use for editing my footage?”)
  2. Conceptual (e.g. “Is the scope of my project too large, and should I concentrate on this smaller aspect?” or “Should my interviews include video of my subjects, or should I just include the audio to retain their anonymity? What does that add to/take away from the overall project?”)
  3. Existential (e.g. “What do I do with this project when I’m done?” or “What happens if I fail to complete certain aspects of the project, or if I have to adapt the project?”)

We will use class discussion to talk through how to approach these questions. It’s important to use your classmates, advisors, and professors as resources—they will not only be able to field technical or conceptual questions, but may have some insight into—or can commiserate with!—your anxieties.

  • Side note: often the “existential” questions regarding projects aren’t about whether you fail to complete it, but what happens if you succeed. For example, one may ask, “What if I complete my project, but I’m unhappy with it?” or “How do I use this project to get a job?” These are very real and legitimate questions!

Week 9 (10/20/20):

Midterm Progress Report

So that we’re caught up for midterms, I have made a Google Forms checklist. Even if you’ve already turned in all of these items (because some of you have), please upload each of these onto this Google forms sheet:
https://forms.gle/ZYFM7We99otJjr2j6
You may not have all the items done, but please upload the ones you have completed. There is a section on the checklist that asks for information and timelines for those who have not finished all of the documents.

The items you will need:
1.) Proposal
2.) Bibliography/Lit Review
3.) Timeline
4.) Methodology

AS A REMINDER: As discussed in class, this coming Tuesday you each have a 5-minute presentation on your proposed capstone project. Because it is only 5 minutes, BE SPECIFIC AND STATE RIGHT AT THE TOP WHAT YOU ARE PROPOSING.

Also, YOU CAN MAKE A VIDEO instead of presenting LIVE. (In fact, this may be greatly preferred, depending on your topic!) You have free access to Adobe Creative Cloud, which has Adobe Premiere. Also, iMovie in a pinch works just fine – it has fairly good functionality for a basic video.

Week 7 (10/06/20):

Methodology/Actions: “Best Laid Plans…”

Helpful guide for how to approach methodology:

pc-26-58-seislerDownload

Some tips:

  • Use bullet points for your methodology. Break each into discrete ideas, and be specific. Instead of “Interview neighbors,” detail the actions involved. For example, the above could be broken into “Design questionnaire for interviews, focusing on positive questions about community engagement. There will be twenty questions that go from general to more specific ways in which the interviewee shows civic pride.” The next bullet point could be “Interview neighbors with the questionnaire, and take audio recordings of the interaction. Each interviewee must sign a waiver so that their words can be used in future media.”
  • Use strong “action words,” not passive voice. For example:
    • DO USE: “Film press conferences for second half of documentary.”
    • DO NOT USE: “I was considering filming press conferences,” or “I will have filmed press conferences for my documentary.”
  • The methodology will be no more than a page or two of your proposal.

Week 6 (09/29/20):

List of to-do items to begin your capstone:

  1. Literature review and bibliography:
    1. Find at least 5 resources for your capstone proposal. At least 2 should be books, and 3 should be journal articles. You can also cite a variety of other sources: films and videos, audio/music, art, etc.
    2. The literature review will address 5 of your sources, each with 2 or so sentences describing how they are helpful for your project.
    3. The bibliography needs proper citations, either using MLA or Chicago Style. These are the webpages that detail how to cite your materials:
      1. https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide/citation-guide-1.html
      2. https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_general_format.html
    4. Send the document to me (tfunk4@uic.edu) as a .docx file.
  2. Proposal and Objectives:
    1. Your proposal should be at least two pages, double-spaced. Start the document by clearly stating what you plan to do. Describe the final outcome—this means both the thing you hope to complete by the end of the process, and what you will personally gain. Remember: the goal of the project is not the same as the work you will do. Ask yourself what your project will contribute to human thought, or society. Why is it important?
    2. This is a helpful get-started guide:
      1. Writing a Compelling Proposal in the Arts or Humanities:
        http://curartsandhumanities.org/writing-a-compelling-proposal/
    3. Send the document to me (tfunk4@uic.edu) as a .docx file.
  3. Organize your website:
    1. Create a header menu with the following pages:
      1. Proposal
      2. Literature Review and Bibliography
      3. Progress Journal (this should be the “Posts Page” as labeled in your Dashboard)
      4. You can include an “About” page for yourself if you wish. This may have a resume or cv with a bit about you.
    2. If you have any problems figuring out how to create the menu, please make an office hours appointment with me and we’ll work through it together.
  4. Start your Progress Journal:
    1. There is a default page on your WordPress website called “Blog” that is marked as a “Posts Page” (as mentioned above). You can rename this “Progress Journal” or “Progress Blog” and link it as a menu item.
    2. You should have had a blog post for last week, and one for this week. If you have not yet started, make two new posts.
    3. You will be posting AT LEAST ONE new blog post each week. You can certainly post more!
  5. Make a Timeline:
    1. Your timeline should include important milestones, including Week 15 of Spring Semester (that’s when the capstone deliverables are due), Week 15 of Fall Semester (the midway point), and midterms for each semester (Week 7 of Fall and Spring).
    2. Think of what you want to have accomplished for those weeks. Remember: this timeline is a skeleton and can be adapted, so be ambitious.
    3. Include at least two more milestones and what you will have completed by then. That makes at least 6 milestones total.
    4. Post your timeline on your “Proposal” page, under your Proposal and Objectives.
    5. Send your timeline to me (tfunk4@uic.edu) as a .docx file.

Week 5 (09/21/20):

Progress Journals/Blogs for Creative Projects

Why journal your progress? What does your process tell you about your project?

Progress Journal sample, with instructions on how to make use of the WordPress “blocks” structure: https://idea410.digital.uic.edu/blog/

Confused by WordPress? Here are tutorials to help you get started: https://wordpress.org/support/category/basic-usage/

Some advice on keeping a journal for creative projects: https://medium.com/better-humans/replace-your-to-do-list-with-interstitial-journaling-to-increase-productivity-4e43109d15ef

Week 4 (09/15/20):

Research and Proposals for Creative Projects

EVE (Electronic Visualization Events) gathering, 1973, University of Illinois at Chicago

“First, it’s okay to copy! Believe in the process of copying as much as you can; with all your heart is a good place to start – get into it as straight and honestly as possible. Copying is as good (I think better from this vector-view) as any other way of getting ‘there.’”

– NOTES ON THE AESTHETICS OF ‘copying-an-Image Processor,’ Phil Morton, 1973

WATCH:

ART21, “Chicago”: https://art21.org/watch/art-in-the-twenty-first-century/s8/chicago/

Consider: How do each of these artists approach their work? What is their “research”? What are their methodologies?

READ:

Writing a Compelling Proposal in the Arts or Humanities:
http://curartsandhumanities.org/writing-a-compelling-proposal/

RESEARCH:

Find (at least) 3 articles using the UIC Library database, and (at least) 2 books in the UIC library catalog pertaining to your proposal. Write a literature review, and create a bibliography for your proposal. Create a page for your literature review and bibliography on your website.

Afrose Fatima Ahmed’s “Poem Store”

How to begin research:
https://library.uic.edu/

Use the “collections” page to look up specific topics:
https://library.uic.edu/collections

Look up Academic Journals by category:
https://i-share-uic.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/jsearch?vid=01CARLI_UIC:CARLI_UIC

Use a journal database to delve into specific topics:
https://researchguides.uic.edu/az.php

Example: Use JSTOR, a digital database for scholars, researchers, and students
https://about-jstor-org.proxy.cc.uic.edu/

Week 3 (09/08/20):

Appropriation, Remix, and “COPY-IT-RIGHT”

Phil Morton and Dan Sandin, Distribution Religion/”COPY-IT-RIGHT”
Matt Siber, Untitled #24, 2004
UIC-IDEAS-CAPSTONE-STUDENT-HANDBOOKDownload
Capstone-Proposal-Format-GuideDownload
wk03_remix-2Download
Kim Gordon (Sonic Youth) on Mike Kelley
Mike Kelley, “Day Is Done,” Art21
Kerry James Marshall, “Being an Artist,” Art21
General Motors is one of the best known artworks by Phil Morton, having screened internationally in various Media Art festivals and exhibitions. Phil Morton processes video footage throughout General Motors using the Sandin Analogue Image Processor, an open-sourced modular patch-programable system for computing audio/video that Morton and Sandin worked together on to document and distribute the plans to build copies of. Sandin himself refers to Morton as a virtuoso of the Image Processor. jonCates, founder of the Phil Morton Memorial Research Archive (an archive of over 500 videotapes from Phil Morton’s “personal data bank”), calls General Motors a “a cyberpsychedelic remixological roadtrip across the American imagination”. More of his work can be found at: https://vimeo.com/copyitright.

Week 2 (09/01/20):

Intro to the Digital Humanities

Readings for next class:

Introduction, Chapter 1, and Chapter 2 (pgs. 1-62), Uncreative Writing, Kenneth GoldsmithDownload

What is the Digital Humanities?

https://whatisdigitalhumanities.com/

https://digitalhumanities.uchicago.edu/guides/what_is_dh

Digital Humanities Projects/Topics:

“How do we document life in a pandemic? UChicago Library wants your help” https://news.uchicago.edu/story/how-do-we-document-life-pandemic-uchicago-library-wants-your-help?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=UChicago_News_M08_11_2020

“How an alternate reality game helped build community during the pandemic” https://news.uchicago.edu/story/how-alternate-reality-game-helped-build-community-during-pandemic

“Humanities in a Pandemic: Resources for COVID-19” https://dhi.uic.edu/resources/covid-19-resources/

Detroit Urbex: http://www.detroiturbex.com/index.html

The Sifter: https://thesifter.org/

Digitizing Sleep Culture: https://sleepfictions.digital.uic.edu/sleep/digitizing-sleep-culture/index

Kindred Britain: http://kindred.stanford.edu/#

Xiangtangshan Caves Project: https://xts.uchicago.edu/

South Side Home Movies Project: https://sshmp.uchicago.edu/

Tools:

A huge list: http://dhresourcesforprojectbuilding.pbworks.com/w/page/69244319/Digital%20Humanities%20Tools

Some examples:

  • Twine:

Rebecca Wilson. 2016. Brauron: http://socrates.acadiau.ca/courses/engl/jsaklofske/wilson/Brauron.html.

Rebecca Wilson. 2016. Infinite: http://socrates.acadiau.ca/courses/engl/jsaklofske/INFINITE.html.

Rebecca Wilson. 2016. Ritual Recreation of ‘The Spell of Pnouthis’: http://socrates.acadiau.ca/courses/engl/jsaklofske/wilson/Ritual.html.

Week 1 (08.27.20):

Shia says “DO IT”

I would like an account in order to:

Built a portfolio website for the IDEA 410 capstone course.

Tell us more about how you plan to use the project:

I will use the website to document my capstone project. I will use it to log my progress, and as a presentation tool throughout the semester. (You can add any other information about how you want to use the website here.)

Once you get access to your website, name it something appropriate (using your own last name is usually a good rule of thumb). Remember: once your graduate from UIC, you can register another domain and migrate the website.

  • Following the Digital UIC instructions, download the WordPress Content Management System to create your website. (If you want to use another system because you have experience in its —Omeka, Scalar, etc.—please let me know.)
  • Download the Do It At Home text (in the “resources” section).
  • Read the introduction, and select 3 projects.
  • Present the results of those projects on your new website.
  • Send the link for your website to tfunk4@uic.edu.