Author Archives: Caroline Erb-Medina

Edit Your Profile

Posted on by
Reply

Be sure to edit your profile so that you are easily identifiable on the class site.

Go to the “Dashboard” then select “Users” in the left hand toolbar and “Your Profile”.

Make sure that your first and last name are accurate. Then choose FirstName LastName for the “Display Name Publicly As” option.

Profile 2

Posting Your Assignments

Posted on by
Reply

To post your assignments do the following:

  • After logging in to the class site, select New < Post on the top toolbar.

Edit Post

 

 

  • Use the Visual viewer to compose your assignment.
  • Write any text that you might include in the text box.
  • Insert any photos by selecting Add Media < Upload FIle < Insert into Post.

Add_New_Post_

  • Select the proper category for your assignment.
  • For Blogs, select the correct Blog category (by title). For Photojournals, select the correct category under Photojournal (your name).

Category

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • Select Update on the right hand side of the page when you are ready to publish and submit your work.

Join Site

Posted on by

To participate in this class, you’ll need to join the Macaulay eportfolio network and the site itself.

To join Macaulay eportfolios:

Eportfolios example.png

Once you have joined Eportfolios@Macaulay, return this page, http://eportfolios.macaulay.cuny.edu/healey14/category/tutorials/join-site/, and go to JOIN SITE on the right hand side of the page.

The_Arts_in_New_York_City_CUNY_Macaulay_Honors_College_at_Queens_College_-_2014-09-03_16.40.34.png

If you encounter any problems, email me at cerb@gc.cuny.edu . Please complete all of this by Thursday, September 4, at 10PM.

Photojournal Guidelines

Posted on by

Photojournal Project                                            HNRS125: Arts in NYC

Professor Healey                                                    meghanhealey@hotmail.com

 

Photojournal Project Guidelines and FAQ’s

Your Photojournal project is a semester long project, during which time you will try to tell your story using only images, which you capture or create. This project will be 20% of your final grade in this course, so this needs to be a well thought out endeavor that you devote time to each week.

General Guidelines

  1. The broad theme of the project is to tell your story, or the story of your first semester (give or take) of school through images
  2. You should try to take 1 photo (or more if you like) each day
    1. This photo can be something that you capture spontaneously, or an image that you “create” or stage, or you could do a combination of the two. Examples of this include:
      1. Setting up a specific rule or guideline for yourself, such as taking a photo at the same time each day no matter where you are.
      2. One student decided to take a photo of him sleeping somewhere strange each day, like the quad, or his bathtub, or on a statue. This would be an example of partly staging it (the sleeping) but being spontaneous (taking the photo wherever he was each day). He wanted to show that his spring break was all about getting some sleep.
      3. Creating a theme for your project. You could choose your neighborhood, or green spaces in the city, or some other “theme” that you feel you will be able to develop over the course of the project. Whatever theme you choose should relate to you on a personal level.
    2.  You should also feel free to leave things open, just keeping your eyes peeled for great images that you discover or come across.
  1. I strongly suggest that you try to take at least three pictures every day, so that you can have some choices in putting the pictures into your journal, as you craft your story through the five weeks. But only 5 pictures per week are required.
  2. You need to do this daily, like writing in a journal, in order for the project to really work. It doesn’t work to just go out every Sunday and take a bunch of random photos and upload them to your journal. First, you are missing the point of the project, which is image-based storytelling over time, and second, that is not the assignment. I will be able to tell if that is what you are doing, and your poor grade will reflect the lack of effort in your project.
  3. You also need to balance your weekly photos with an eye for how the project will come together as a whole. Look at your photos together, and ask yourself- do I see a connection?   Is there a story that emerges from this journal?
  4. I will view your photos and send you an email commenting on your progress in random order about once every other week.
  5. You need to be organized and vigilant about uploading your photos at least twice a week. If you have not uploaded your photos when I look at your page, you will be reminded to do so, and miss your opportunity for critique. If the tech fellow and I notice that you are always uploading on the same day once a week, we will have to assume that you are not following the guidelines of the project, and this will be reflected in your grade.
  6. This project is not a scrapbook, or a series of “yearbook photos” of you and your friends. You should approach this as an artistic endeavor, and strive to dig deeper into your ordinary life. You are not just documenting your story, you are also commenting on it, as the other artists whose work you will study this semester would. There is nothing wrong with having some photos of you, or your friends, or you with friends if you feel that a particular moment or image is important to your journal. But a journal that is just you and your significant other partying with friends is not going to make the cut, and you will be asked to change the theme and subject of your portraits. In other words- if your Photojournal starts to look like a wayward Facebook page, you’re in trouble. No #selfies.
  7. Your journal will be really boring if you just take a bunch of pictures of the junk that is sitting on your desk, or your furniture in your dorm room, or the study tables at the library. And for the record- I have seen a lot of photos of pencils “artfully arranged” on a Summit desk and “lonely” notebooks thrown on a dorm bed… You will definitely not impress me that way. Try to seek out original subjects for your photos, or take clichéd subjects and explore them in a new and meaningful way.
  8. Think about how your story fits into our larger theme of New York City through the lens of art. How does your experience here at the college change and shape your view of New York City? How can you capture the New York City of a Queens College Student through images?
  9. You will be graded on the originality, thoughtfulness, and clarity of your project, as well as how you progressed through the project. How well you took your critiques and incorporated suggestions and notes and whether you improve your eye for images are an important part of your grade on this project.
  10. If you are concerned about your project or need to discuss it, you can make an appointment to come and see me during my office hour. If you have issues uploading your photos, please contact our tech fellow at CErb@gc.cuny.edu.

Blog Guidelines

Posted on by

MHC Seminar I: The Arts in New York City                  FALL 2014 Healey

 

Guidelines for Blogging

FAQ’s

 

What is this blog about?

This blog, which you will develop over the course of the semester, will be part a journal of your experiences in class and at the performances you attend, and part critique of the work you are seeing. Each blog as been assigned a particular theme or question, that asks you to both describe your reaction to what you have seen, and examine the place of these works in the community of New York City/the US/The world to the best of your ability.

How long should my Blog be?

Blog writing can seem easier than writing a paper- at first. But, in actuality, writing a good blog is just as difficult as writing a lengthy research paper.

You should think of your blog as being something that would be about page long or less if it were a word document. Because of this, you need to be very concise with your writing, and really organize your thoughts. Often, students try to make their papers longer or pad out a weak or poorly researched idea with “filler” (i.e. long introductory paragraphs and frequent re-statement of the same idea). In Blog writing, it is best to avoid padding, and get straight to the substance of your argument.

That being said, a blog that is only a couple of paragraphs long will tend only to superficial analysis, and won’t give a meaningful answer to the questions being posed. It also usually reflects a lack of effort on your part, so try to balance find a balance between excessive loquacity and a lack of detail.

 

What are some tips for writing a better blog?

Blog writing needs to make a clear point in a short amount of space, with well-defined arguments and a passionate point of view.

You shouldn’t try to write what you think I want you to, or what you think is “correct.” The best blogs will speak about your personal experiences, and how these have influenced your view of the artworks you will view this semester. They use evidence to support your arguments and conclusions, and they avoid making overly broad statements that cannot be supported (things like “Performance art is boring.”)

From a critical point of view, you should think of your blog as a way for you to enter the larger conversations that the art community is having about these works, and these issues. What do you have to add to that conversation? This is the kind of thinking that makes for original ideas and original ideas make for an exciting blog.

One common weakness in student writing is the tendency to make sweeping generalizations about big theoretical ideas without supporting your opinion with facts and evidence. For example, if you did not like a performance, what specific aspects of it failed to connect to you? Why do you think that is? Offer an example of another performance or work that you thought was more successful and state why.

There are several links to well known theater blogs under the heading “External Links” on our home page. These vary in content and style, and you are encouraged to read them both for information and education, as well as for inspiration. Remember that you cannot re-use any content from the blogs without crediting the source material.

Can I use an idea/comment/quote from someone else in my blog?

Yes. But you must cite your sources. Using a quote, an idea, or cutting and pasting something you found on the web into your blog without proper citations is plagiarism. If you are found to be plagiarizing portions of your blog, you will receive a 0 grade for this assignment, and you will face discipline from the university dean, which can include an automatic F in this course, and possible expulsion from CUNY. Plagiarism is a serious offense, so if you are using material you found somewhere else, err on the side of caution and always use quotes or end notes.

Can I respond to something someone else wrote on their blog?

YES. We have set up your blogs so that you can read and comment and keep a lively dialogue with one another. Please remember that the same guidelines of respect and listening that we use in class apply to the blogs. It’s okay to disagree with each other, but you have to back up your arguments with observations and facts- no snide comments and ad hominem attacks. It’s the Internet, but keep it articulate, keep it clean…

If you think a point raised in someone else’s blog is relevant to a blog you are writing, then you can quote them. Please see the guidelines for plagiarism and citation above.

Other guidelines/suggestions:

You can write your blog from the point of view that the reader has already seen or read the artwork/play/film/dance piece that you are commenting on. This means there is not a need to summarize the plot or simply describe the artwork. You should be trying to engage with the piece and comment on it, not just offer a bland synopsis of what you saw.

For plays or films, when writing a review, try to touch upon all of the following elements:

  1. Acting- what performances stood out to you, good or bad? If you thought they were good, what made them so? If you thought someone gave a bad performance, why (specifically) did you feel this way? Give examples of how the performance under discussion affected your view of the narrative.
  2. Directing- what was the concept of the work? Did the story and ideas come across clearly? How original was the idea?
  3. Writing- What did you think of the story? Was the narrative linear, or expressionistic? Did you relate to the characters? To the story in general? How original was the story?
  4. Mise-en-scene- Carefully observe the design elements of the piece, costumes, scenery, lighting, and sound. How are they working to help you understand the story (creating a sense of time, place, mood)? Go deeper than just saying “They’re pretty” Or “I liked it.” Did they support the production’s overall concept? How so?

By examining all of these elements, you are digging deeper into these artworks and trying to understand two key elements- a) what was the artist’s intention with this piece? And b) were they successful in achieving that intention?

While the emphasis of this class is not on proper English grammar, please remember that good writing is clear writing, and blogging is not an excuse for poor spelling, fragments, or incoherent structure. I will be commenting on grammatical errors, especially if they interfere with the overall quality of your blog.

Try to improve the quality of your blogs as the semester progresses. I will be critiquing your blogs in random order every 3-4 weeks throughout the semester, more if you need it. Make sure to read other people’s blogs so you have a strong handle on what others are saying and doing, and also to offer inspiration for how you might improve your own blog.

Your Blog is due Sunday at midnight each week. The subject of each blog is listed under the assignments section of your syllabus in the previous week. Late blogs will not be accepted, and they will be deducted from your overall grade.

Contact our trusty tech fellow Caroline Erb if you are having problems uploading information onto your blog, or if you experience other technical glitches.