Visiting the Museum of Anthropology

Dear All,

I hope you enjoyed your visit to the Museum of Anthropology. Please feel free to tell us about the piece of art that impressed you most and that you spent some time with in close conversation. What did it/he/she tell you? Did you get the chance to listen to his/her/its story? Did you have an interesting - and/or a funny - conversation with him/her/it? If so, please feel free to share all this (or any of it) here. Or, if you prefer, do some research about the piece in question and about the culture it belongs to and tell us about that.

Thank you!
Gudrun

The photo shows Bill Reid's Raven and the First Humans in the Bill Reid Rotunda at the MOA.

Playing with Words and Genres

Hi All,

Please choose 3 of your favourite GENRES (e.g. poem, story, letter, recipe, ad, editorial, text message, email, song, play, essay, movie-script, ...) & any 5 WORDS from the word cloud below.
[Tip: choose words that are NOT obviously related, i.e.: instead of choosing "video" & "computer" & "game" & "iPhone," choose: "computer" & "dragon" & "coffee cup" & "lipstick" & "galaxies"]

Write a text that contains all three of your chosen genres as well as all five words. Please make sure to motivate your switch in genre each time. You can switch back and forth as often as you like.

You can use the 5 words as often as you like - (at least 1x each). If you use them only once or twice, please keep them in the back of your mind as key words for the whole piece.

This exercise is meant as a playful activity and can be done in a group of 5 or more as well: group members can switch around texts after each paragraph and thus produce some "team writing."

I hope you have fun writing this piece!

Gudrun

Introducing Your Research

Dear All,

Believe it or not, doing research can be fun - provided you pick a topic you want to learn something about. If you have identified a topic that really interests you, do NOT go to google to find information about it. Instead, start doing some brainstorming and/or free writing. This will help you narrow down your topic to something manageable as well as to identify a useful research question. Since everybody's brain is unique, thinking about the topic will help you find your own individual associations and ideas. This is the first step on your way to producing truly original research!

If you go straight to the internet, your brain will follow the paths that other people's brains have created. So it'll be harder for you to get off that given track and come up with your own ideas.

Remember: it's easy to come up with great original ideas if you look inside your own mind first :)

For more details about how you can proceed, please check out the following two handouts:

1) Steps in Writing an Academic Essay:

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=sites&srcid=ZGVmYXVsdGRvbWFpbnxndWRydW5kcmVoZXJ8Z3g6NzJkYWIyZDNhMjkxY2UyNg

2) Academic Writing and Research:

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=sites&srcid=ZGVmYXVsdGRvbWFpbnxndWRydW5kcmVoZXJ8Z3g6NTk1ZDcyNzJiODhkMTlkYg

Suggested Topics for Your Own Research:

1. Dreams
2. Mirrors and Masks
3. Creativity
4. Civil Disobedience
5. Vibrations
6. Extraterrestrial Life
7. Colours
8. Atlantis
9. Artificial Intelligence
10. A Shift in Paradigm
11. Alternative Healing
12. Our Responsibility as Humans
13. Metaphors as Doors to the Unknown
14. Animal Rights
15. Individuality
16. Other Dimensions
17. Time
18. The Elements
19. Going Vegan
20. Relationships
21. The Power of Music
22. Crystals
23. Poetry
24. Leadership
25. Sacred Geometry
26. Magic
27. Language
28. In the Beginning
29. Innovations
30. Interconnectedness

Please pick one of these topics and play with it until you have found a good research question. Then start doing some research about it.  Post your research question - and what you have found out about it so far - as a comment! Please feel also free to discuss what you have read about your topic so far - but remember to cite all your sources properly :)

Thank you!

Gudrun

Your Speeches

Dear All,

Public speaking is a skill that anybody can learn. All you need to do is practice a bit. It helps to talk about a topic you are interested in and/or you feel strongly about.

Please find a topic that fits this description - and then start talking. Please either transcribe your speech and attach it as a comment - or, if you feel very daring, record yourself and put your speech up on youtube and post the link as a comment.

Enjoy!

Gudrun

More Topics to Discuss, More Writing to Share :)

Dear All,

This is now really the last post for this term - and your opportunity to add ANYTHING you would like to add to this blog. Feel free to include samples of your own writing that you have not submitted in your portfolio and/or share anything that you find interesting or important.

Have a great summer!

Gudrun

Some More Poems

Dear All,

Here a few more links to some poems that fit into the context of our class but that we haven't had time to read and talk about. Take a break from studying and read and enjoy them! Of course, you can also use them to practice a bit more textual analysis if you feel like it :)

Margaret Atwood

"The Moment"
http://www.panhala.net/Archive/The_Moment.html
audio-version: http://www.margaretatwood.ca/poetry1.php

"This is a Photograph of Me"
http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/16220
audio-version: http://www.margaretatwood.ca/poetry1.php

"Spelling"
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/spelling/

"Siren Song"
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/siren-song/

Langston Hughes

"Dream Deferred"
https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1096775012962624260#editor/target=post;postID=2814306957123428698

"Dream Variations"
http://allpoetry.com/poem/8495493-Dream_Variations-by-Langston_Hughes

"Let America Be America Again"
http://allpoetry.com/poem/8495513-Let_America_Be_America_Again-by-Langston_Hughes

"I Continue to Dream"
http://allpoetry.com/poem/8495475-I_Continue_To_Dream-by-Langston_Hughes

"As I Grew Older"
http://allpoetry.com/poem/8495543-As_I_Grew_Older-by-Langston_Hughes

This was the last post for now! Happy Summer!

Gudrun

Our Animal Relatives....

Today, April 4th, is World Stray Animal Day! I would like you to use this occasion to think about our Animal Relatives - and how poorly so many of them get treated by us humans. 

Please think in particular about the abuse of animals in present-day farming industries, research labs, and entertainment - and about what you can do, personally, to help stop the existing discrimination and violence against animals (e.g. by volunteering for animal shelters, by creating more awareness, by choosing cruelty-free products, by eating more vegan food, by getting politically active, etc).

Share your personal ideas of how you can help (or have helped) to create more happiness for animals. Feel also free to share pictures and/or stories and/or poems of/about your animal friends.

Some Informative Links about the Issues and how to Help:

http://www.peta.org/issues/default.aspx

http://vancouveranimalrightscampaigns.wordpress.com

http://www.vancouverhumanesociety.bc.ca

http://www.humanesociety.com

http://liberationbc.org

http://www.wwf.ca/about_us/#.UV3I1aVhvww

http://www.wspa.ca

http://www.chooseveg.ca/animal-organizations-canada.asp

About April 4th"
http://www.cesarsway.com/dogrescue/spayandneuter/The-Story-of-World-Stray-Animals-Day?utm_source=CMF_FB&utm_medium=Post&utm_campaign=4.3.13
and:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zCioRj3XmE&feature=share

Cruelty-Free Cosmetics and Household Goods:
http://www.peta.org/living/beauty-and-personal-care/companies/default.aspx