Category: Humanities : Humanities

Overview
This week we are studying intent and interpretation, specifically focus

Overview
This week we are studying intent and interpretation, specifically focusing on cultural works. For this assignment, select either the Statue of Liberty, the Crazy Horse Memorial, or the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial. Research the intention of the creator of the monument you selected and how the monument is perceived today. Review the articles related to each monument in the Resources SECTION,
Prompt
Respond to the questions below in a few paragraphs. Specifically, you must address the following rubric criteria:
Describe the monument selected.
Explain the original intentions behind the monument selected and how later interpretations changed the meaning and cultural understandings.
Reflect on what you learned in the Resources section articles and compare your own interpretation or understanding of the monument selected with the intent of authors whose interpretations you chose to evaluate.
What to Submit
Your submission should be a Word document, one to two pages in length, with 12-point Times New Roman font, double spacing, and one-inch margins. Any sources should be cited according to APA style,
RESOURCES
Article: The Awards Show Show: How Critics Affect the Oscars, and How Bias Affects Critics opens in new window
This article from the Shapiro Library covers a discussion of the critics of the various award shows. It ties to an evaluation of the intent of a creator and the interpretation of a cultural work, which is part of the short answer assignment due this week.
Video: Who Decides What Art Means? opens in new window (4:18)
In this video, Hayley Levitt explores the complex web of artistic interpretations, focusing on how much an artist’s intention should affect your interpretation of a work. The video connects to the concept of interpretation, which is part of your short answer assignment.
Monuments
These resources will support your short answer assignment. You do not need to read all of them. Choose a monument and read the two associated articles.
Statue of Liberty
Reading: The Statue of Liberty: A Transatlantic Story opens in new window, Chapter 1
This e-book from the Shapiro Library discusses the ideation and creation of the Statue of Liberty. Read Chapter 1.
Reading: “The New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus opens in new window
This article from the Shapiro Library presents an explication of Emma Lazarus’s poem “The New Colossus” and helps define the purpose of the Statue of Liberty.
Website: Statute of Liberty opens in new window
This website presents the park information for the Statue of Liberty.
Crazy Horse Memorial
Reading: American Sphinx opens in new window
The article from the Shapiro Library discusses the Crazy Horse Memorial in South Dakota.
Website: Crazy Horse Memorial opens in new window
This website presents the Crazy Horse Memorial.
MLK Memorial
Reading: MLK Jr’s New Memorial to Stand Among DC’s Honored opens in new window
This article from the Shapiro Library discusses the artistic considerations in the construction of MLK’s memorial.
Website: Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial opens in new window
This website presents the creation of the MLK statues, views of the park, and other resources related to the statue.
Additional Support (Optional)
Podcast: Poetry, Performance, and Disability Culture: An Interview With Petra Kuppers opens in new window (first 16 minutes)
This podcast covers an interview with Petra Kuppers, professor of English at the University of Michigan, as well as a poet, filmmaker, artist, and disability activist. The interview focuses on the politics of Professor Kuppers’s scholarship and art. It ties to the concept of culture and expression, which is part of your project draft this week.
A transcript is available: Transcript for Poetry, Performance, and Disability Culture: An Interview With Petra Kuppers Word Document.

Prompt
Craft your answer with the considerations below. Specifically, you must a

Prompt
Craft your answer with the considerations below. Specifically, you must address the following rubric criteria:
Choose two cultural works that catch your attention. Identify the name of each cultural work and describe why you chose each one. Share a link for each.
Compare your chosen works. How do you think each cultural work reflects its time period? Point to specific details that you see to relate them to elements of culture, such as what is valuable or meaningful to a group of people or what elements reflect history, beliefs, experiences, or other effects of culture.
Now state a question about key aspects of human culture in relation to one of the cultural works selected. For example, what does a specific urn tell us about the nature of death?
Then, briefly explain how you might go about doing research to find an answer to your question. For example, what keywords might you use in your search, where might you begin your research, or whom might you consult ?
What to Submit
Your submission should be a Word document, one to two pages in length, with 12-point Times New Roman font, double spacing, and one-inch margins. Any sources should be cited according to APA style

When you explore the concept of cultural works, you realize that you use, create

When you explore the concept of cultural works, you realize that you use, create, and observe cultural works in your everyday life without thinking much about it. In this discussion, you will analyze a cultural work from your daily life.
First, choose a modern-day cultural work from one of the following categories, one that is different from the one you selected in the Module Two discussion:
A TV show episode, movie, podcast, or song of your choice (for example: the song “Empire State of Mind” by Jay-Z and Alicia Keys, the movie Get Out, or an episode of the series Game of Thrones)
A painting, photograph, image from a social media post, or another work of art (for example: graffiti by the artist Banksy)
A brand, logo, or mascot (for example: Disney or the Nike “swoosh”)
Include the name of your cultural work in the title of your post):
What universal idea does your cultural work represent?
What does the cultural work say about the culture in which it was created?
Discuss how your own individual assumptions, beliefs, and values might shape your opinions of the cultural work selected

Overview
For this assignment, which supports your final project, remember that y

Overview
For this assignment, which supports your final project, remember that you are assuming the role of a researcher of human cultures, an anthropologist who is looking from the future back into our world today.
In your final project you will analyze a work of human creative expression, describe it, describe its purpose, and assess how creative expression impacts and is impacted by surrounding situations. You will also pose questions about the relationship between culture and expression as well as how values shape and are shaped by expression, and determine how you would go about answering them.
In this assignment you will practice asking the questions and determining how to go about answering them.
Prompt
Given the cultural work you have selected in Module Two, take time to work on the following:
Thinking of the work selected, explore how acts of creative expression impact, and are impacted by, the people and situations surrounding them.
State questions about the relationship between culture and expression.
State questions about your values and how they are shaped by the expression of others.
Determine how you would go about answering the questions posed.
What to Submit
Your submission should be a one- to two-page Word document with 12-point Times New Roman font, double spacing, and one-inch margins. Two sources are required, one of which must be academic. Sources should be cited according to APA style