I just wanted to summarize some of the things we brought up and decided in last night’s discussion on the final project (codename Stories of Making It In New York — SOMINY. Please someone come up with a better codename!).
Stories will be on the past, present, and future of “making it” in the city. That means that you can either research histories of individuals and how they “made it” and retell their story (past); you talk to people about how they are currently “making it” (present); or you can talk to people about how they hope to make a place for themselves, achieve their ambitions, realize their dreams etc. in the years to come (future).
You can understand “making it” in broad terms: making a place for yourself, finding happiness or acceptance, getting the part in a play, etc. It’s about more than just making a living, but achieving a sense of belonging, etc. You can of course also dwell on the ways in which people are barred from making it due to structural injustices, racism, hard knocks, etc.
Stories should be people-driven/people-focused. Even if you write about groups in the past, try to use individual people’s stories to narrate its trajectory.
Everybody will contribute at least one story, though you are free to contribute more.
In terms of the presentation of the story collection, we talked about two different visual organizing principles: a grid (Pinterest-like) vs. a map (guidebook-like). In general, there seemed to be a preference for the map, though we may try to integrate the two. If anybody wants to link to an example or a mockup, please do so in the comments.
Connie brought up Mr Beller’s Neighborhood, a collection of stories about different neighborhoods in NY. This is closer to the guidebook idea. Take a look and see if there’s something we might learn from that site.
Deadlines: Please post story pitch in the appropriate category by Sunday 4/6 at midnight. Between Monday and Wednesday of next week, read your fellow students’ story pitches and comment on them with praise, ideas or possible concerns. We’ll discuss further deadlines next week.
In the meantime, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me with questions and ideas. I’ll also be available by appointment for office hours at CCNY next Monday.
P.S. Sorry, Sabrina, about failing to address you by name. Ugh. I’m learning.
