Global Environment Summer Assignment
1. Make a professional gmail account if you do not have one. Professional means that I should know who I am emailing by just looking at your email. Email me from your new, professional gmail account by Wednesday, June 25 to confirm your place in the class. Include in your email a short introduction about yourself, how you connect to the ideas presented in the class, what you hope to get out of the class, and anything else you would like me know about you.
2. There are a few TED Talks that I would like you to watch that will help prepare you to frame your thinking in a way that is critical and social justice oriented. In no particular order, they are:
3. Find any type of media coverage on any issue that speaks to your definition of environment. Issues can be at the local, national, or global scale and do not have to conform to a traditional disciplined definition of environment. In this course we view environment as the natural, built, and social spaces that surround us in our lives. Choose three media events (these can be documented in magazine and newspaper articles, news clips from the internet or TV, YouTubes or Vimeos, TED talks, blog posts, tweets, etc).
4. For each of your media events, write a 500 word critical reflection. Your reflection should include a summary of the major points and your analysis of the reporting and situation. A critical reflection will answer questions about why you think the situation exists, whose point of view is being represented, whose voice is being heard, whose story is being told. Additionally, who is not being represented and who is silenced. Think about who benefits from the situation that is being discussed, who is harmed, what ideas are being valued, what is not being valued.
5. Choose one of your media and reflections to post on the class blog. You will be invited to edit the blog by weebly once you confirm your placement in the class. Posting to the blog is pretty simple but watch this screencast I made to help you.
6. Read other posts and comment on them. Be prepared to share all of your stories and reflections with the class the first weeks of school.
2. There are a few TED Talks that I would like you to watch that will help prepare you to frame your thinking in a way that is critical and social justice oriented. In no particular order, they are:
- Chimamanda Adichie: The Danger of a Single Story
- Majora Carter: Greening the Ghetto
- Bryan Stevenson: We Need to Talk about an Injustice
- Brandon Stanton: The Good Story
3. Find any type of media coverage on any issue that speaks to your definition of environment. Issues can be at the local, national, or global scale and do not have to conform to a traditional disciplined definition of environment. In this course we view environment as the natural, built, and social spaces that surround us in our lives. Choose three media events (these can be documented in magazine and newspaper articles, news clips from the internet or TV, YouTubes or Vimeos, TED talks, blog posts, tweets, etc).
4. For each of your media events, write a 500 word critical reflection. Your reflection should include a summary of the major points and your analysis of the reporting and situation. A critical reflection will answer questions about why you think the situation exists, whose point of view is being represented, whose voice is being heard, whose story is being told. Additionally, who is not being represented and who is silenced. Think about who benefits from the situation that is being discussed, who is harmed, what ideas are being valued, what is not being valued.
5. Choose one of your media and reflections to post on the class blog. You will be invited to edit the blog by weebly once you confirm your placement in the class. Posting to the blog is pretty simple but watch this screencast I made to help you.
6. Read other posts and comment on them. Be prepared to share all of your stories and reflections with the class the first weeks of school.