Proposal for Class Project
When tourists visit New York City, they tend to focus on attractions such as the Statue of Liberty, Times Square, and the World Trade Center. Sure there are some that are interested in the arts and visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art, or the Brooklyn Museum, but how many visit lesser-known museums? Contrary to being known as the cultural melting pot, most people go to places that do not necessarily exhibit the city’s most prominent characteristic. During the fall semester IDC class, my class went out to many art galleries in Chelsea. There, I noticed that much of the artwork was centered around everyday objects and ordinary people. This made me wonder as to why New York is so focused on art that does not pertain to culture. New York City has over fifty different museums, and after researching, many of them are actually centered around various culture groups.
How many people in our class have been to a cultural museum or institute that is other than that of their background? Culture has and is continuing to play a significant role in shaping New York City, so I think it would be interesting to see how it all began. For the final project, I propose the class be broken up into smaller groups. Each group will be assigned a specific culture and be given the task of visiting that culture’s museums or cultural institutions. Similar to the neighborhood assignment, everyone should write down observations and incorporate Foner’s ideas regarding the immigrant life experience.
Because there is more than one museum dedicated to prominent culture groups, this may be further subdivided into specific aspects of the museums. Everyone can choose to either present the past immigrant experiences and how they have impacted the immigrants of today, or write about the “new” immigrants and how they have reshaped “old” immigrants’ ways. There is much more to New York City than just the Statue of Liberty or the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I think this project would let everyone see that there is more to the city than the typical tourist attractions.
