researching arts and society ii: experimentation€¦ · music, prose poetry, visual arts and...

UtrechtUniversity|MAArtsandSociety|Block2/2017-2018|CourseCodeMCMV17002

ResearchingArtsandSocietyII:Experimentation

InstructorDr.EdwardAkintolaHubbard

[email protected]

OfficeHoursMon13:00-14:30,Muntstraat2A,Rm1.09

ClassesGroup1:Mon09:00-12:45,ParnassosCulturalCentre,Rm2.07*Group2:Wed09:00-12:45,ParnassosCulturalCentre,Rm2.07**PleasenotethatinWeek7therewillbeaguestlectureintheWednesdayslotonly.TherewillbenoGroup1(Monday)classmeetingforWeek7.

InterioroftheMuseodaLínguaPortuguesa,SãoPaulo,Brazil,2013.PhotographbyE.A.Hubbard

UtrechtUniversity|MAArtsandSociety|Block2/2017-2018|CourseCodeMCMV17002|ResearchingArtsandSocietyII:Experimentation

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EntryRestrictionThisisacompulsorycourseinthecurriculumoftheMAinArtsandSociety.Thecourseisclosedtostudentswhoarenotenrolledinthismaster’sprogram.

CourseDescriptionEthnographyisatermusedtodenotebothaspecificformofsocialresearchandthetextthatisproducedfromtheresultsofthisresearch.Followingalongempiricisttradition,theethnographerseekstodeeplyimmerseherselfinthesocialworldshestudies(evenifitisherown),attemptstomakesenseofthatworld,andproducesaninterpretiveaccountofherexperiencethatwouldbeofinteresttopeoplewhoarebothoutsidersandinsiderstothatworld.Usingdifferentmodesofobservation,analysisandrepresentation,theethnographermustdeciphercomplexsocialcodesandunderstandthemyriadcultural,political,economicanddiscursiveprocessesthatcompriseeverydaylife.Howmightethnographicpracticebeenrichedbyartisticpracticeandviceversa?Whatkindsoftextscouldbeproducedfromacombinationofethnographicresearchandartisticexperimentalism?Thislaboratorycoursegivesstudentstheopportunitytodevelopexperimentalmodesofconductingethnographicresearchandproducingethnographicaccountsoftheirfieldexperiences.Studentswillbothengagewiththeoreticalperspectivesonexperimentalethnographywhileconductingfield-basedprojectsthattranscendthetraditionalboundariesofethnographicpractice,usinginnovativemodesofdatagathering,encodingandrepresentation–e.g.,photography,digitalvideo,audiorecording,exposition,music,prosepoetry,visualartsandperformance.Classeswillconsistofreportsontheseevolvingresearch/artprojects,anongoingexchangeofideasabouttheresearchanddiscussionsofselectedreadingsandothermaterials.

ClassesClassesareonMondaysforGroup1andWednesdaysforGroup2,however,therearetwobreaksduringtheteachingblock(Weeks3and6)forthepurposeoffieldwork.InWeek7,therewillbenoMondayclassmeetingbutaguestlectureonWednesday,January10startingat09:30h.Eachclassmeetingisstructuredinthreesections.Thefirstsectionfordiscussionoftheassignedreadings,thesecondsectionforweeklyteampresentationsoftheirfindingsandexperimentalmethods,andathirdbriefsectionforteamplanningandbrainstormingfortheweeksahead.ThecoursewillculminateinfinalpresentationsonJanuary15and17.

AssignmentsandGradingClassattendance Pointdeductionforeachabsence(andforlateness).

Fieldvisits 20%ofthetotalgrade.Iftheblogusedbytheteamdoesnotallowfortimedanddatedposts,alogofeachteam’ssitevisitsshouldbesubmittedattheendoftheblock.


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Bloggedfieldnotes Ungraded.Blogswillbeusedexclusivelyforstudentstoposttheirfieldnoteswhichwillbebasedonweeklyassignments.Thesefieldnoteswillbeusedforthefinalresearchpaper(see“Researchpaper”below).Theblogshouldbeacollectivestoreofnotes,videos,photographsetc.

Reading 10%ofthetotalgrade.Studentswillsubmitonediscussionquestion/positionstatementintheweekpriortoclassbasedontheirreading(s)oftheassignedtexts(maximum100wordsperquestion/statement)–includingfortheguestlecture.Thisshouldreflectthoroughreadingofthetext(s)andshouldhavetopicalrelevance,sufficientintellectualdepth,andargumentativeusefulness.Questions/positionstatementsshouldbesubmittedonBlackboardeachweekby4pmonthedaybeforeclass.Thiswillbeanungradedweeklyassignmentbutwithapointdeductionifitisnotsubmittedorifitispoorlywrittenand/orconceptualized.

Conceptualization Duringclassinweeks2,4and5,eachteamwillspend20minutesdiscussingtheirindividualandcollectivebrainstormingandconceptualizationprocesses,methodsandfindingsusingtheirbloggedfieldnotesastheiraid.

Finalreport 40%ofthetotalgrade.Maximumof1500words(+/-10%).Eachstudentwillsubmitafinalwrittenreportontheirethnographicproject,discussinghowtheydesignedandconductedtheirresearch,specificmethodsemployedandacademicsourcesthatinformedandjustifiedtheirindividualchoicesofmethodorapproachand/orthatcontextualizetheirfindings.DueFriday,January19atmidnight.

Finalpresentation 30%ofthetotalgrade.Onthelastdayofclass(January15and17)eachteamwillgivea45-minutepresentation(+15minutesofQ&A)totheclassoftheirfindingsinwhateverformtheychoose.Thisgradewillbedeterminedbytheentireclass.

ExpectationsAttendanceandpunctualityatallclassesismandatory.Absencewillonlybeexcusedafterappropriatedocumentation(e.g.,doctor’scertificate,doctor’sletter,emailfromauniversityofficial,etc.)issubmitted.Allreadingmustbecompletedpriortotheclassmeetingforwhichitisassigned.

Allethnographicfieldnotes,includingtextandaudio-visualmaterialsmustbepostedontheteam’sblogbythefollowingweeklydeadlines:Group1:beforemidnightonSundaysandGroup2:beforemidnightonTuesdays

Weeklyteamfieldvisitsareexpected.Studentsmaychoosetoremainatthesamefieldsite(s)atwhichtheyconductedresearchduringBlock1ortheymaychooseadifferentfieldsite.Eachsitevisitwillbefollowedbyfieldnotesdocumentingeachstudent’svisit,thoughtsandobservations.


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CourseFeedbackandEvaluationTowardstheendofeachsemesterstudentsorganizeasessiontoevaluateanddiscusstheArtsandSocietycourses.Individualcoursesarealsoevaluatedthroughtheuniversity’sstandardizedonlineevaluationsystem.Ifyouexperienceanyproblemsorhavefeedbackduringthecourse,youmayalsofeelfreetospeakwiththecourseinstructor.

Week1|November13|November15

I:Genealogies

Reading:

§ JeanRouch,“TheCameraandMan”inCiné-Ethnography(ed.andtrans.StevenFeld)(Minneapolis:UniversityofMinnesotaPress,2006),pp.29-46.

Media:

§ NanookoftheNorth(1922),directedbyRobertFlaherty(excerpt)§ ManWithTheMovieCamera(1929),directedbyDzigaVertov(excerpt)§ AselectionofmusicvideosbydirectorsJimDemuth(forDjangoDjango),Sofia

Mattioli/CherisePayne(forJamiexx),andothers.

Week2|November20|November22

II:Intersections

Reading:

§ ArndSchneiderandChristopherWright,ed.,“TheChallengeofPractice,”inContemporaryArtandAnthropology,ed.ArndSchneiderandChristopherWright(NewYork:Berg,2006),pp.1-27.

Media:

§ SleepFuriously(2009),directedbyGideonKoppel(excerpt)§ Leviathan(2012),directedbyLucienCastaing-Taylor(excerpt)§ Somniloquies(2017),directedbyLucienCastaing-Taylor(excerpt)

Week3|November27|November29(noclass)

Thisweekisdedicatedtofieldwork.


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Week4|December4|December6

III:MethodsandApproaches

Readings:

§ TatsuoInagaki,“FieldworkasArtisticPractice,”inBetweenArtandAnthropology:ContemporaryEthnographicPractice,ed.ArndSchneiderandChristopherWright(London:Bloomsbury,2010),pp.75-82.

§ AmiriaSalmondandRosannaRaymond,“ShowandTell:WeavingaBasketofKnowledge,”inBetweenArtandAnthropology:ContemporaryEthnographicPractice,ed.ArndSchneiderandChristopherWright(London:Bloomsbury,2010),pp.95-102.

§ ArndSchneider,“Appropriations,”inContemporaryArtandAnthropology,ed.ArndSchneiderandChristopherWright(NewYork:Berg,2006),pp.29-51.

Media:

§ ChungkingExpress(1994),directedbyWongKar-wai(excerpt)

Week5|December11|December13

IV:Representations

Reading:

§ CatherineRussell,ExperimentalEthnography:TheWorkofFilmintheAgeofVideo(Durham:DukeUniversityPress,1999).Chapter2.

Media:

§ ForestofBliss(2009),directedRobertGardner§ LasHurdes(1933),directedbyLuisBuñuel.§ NightCries(1990),directedbyTraceyMoffatt.

Week6|December18|December20(noclass)

Thisweekisdedicatedtofieldwork.

WinterBreak


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Week7|January10V:GuestlecturerAndreaStultiens.AndreaStultiensteachesattheAcademyMinervainGroningenwhereshewasinvolvedinsettingupandrecentlystartedleadingaresearchgroupthatlooksattheuseofphotographyincross-disciplinaryandcross-culturalartisticpractices.Throughhercollaborativephotographicpractice,Stultiens’researchprojectinvestigatesthehistoricalandculturalaspectsofphotographicdocumentationwithinthegeographicalcontextoftheEastAfricancountryUganda.*Reading/Media:

www.hipuganda.org(particularlytheblogsection)www.facebook.com/hipuganda*www.andreastultiens.nl

Week8|January15|January17IV:FinaleNoreadingassigned.Withtheaidoftheteamblogs,eachteamwillgiveanextensivepresentationinwhateverformtheywish.Maximum45minutes+5minutesofQ&A.

RecommendedReadings§ ArndSchneiderandChristopherWright,ed.,“BetweenArtandAnthropology,”in

BetweenArtandAnthropology:ContemporaryEthnographicPractice,ed.ArndSchneiderandChristopherWright(London:Bloomsbury,2010).

§ MargaretMead,VisualAnthropologyinaDisciplineofWords,”inPrinciplesofVisualAnthropology(3rdedition),ed.PaulHockings(Berlin:MoutondeGruyter,2003).

§ StevenTyler,“PostmodernEthnography:FromDocumentoftheOcculttoOccultDocument,”inWritingCulture:ThePoeticsandPoliticsofEthnography,ed.JamesCliffordandGeorgeE.Marcus(Berkeley:UniversityofCaliforniaPress,1986).

§ E.RichardSorensonandAllisonJablonko,“ResearchFilmingofNaturallyOccurring

Phenomena:BasicStrategies,”inPrinciplesofVisualAnthropology(3rdedition),ed.PaulHockings(Berlin:MoutondeGruyter,2003).

§ MarcAugé,Non-Spaces:AnIntroductiontoSupermodernity(NewYork:Verso,2009).

EspeciallyChapter3(“FromPlacestoNon-Places”),75-115.§ RobertWillim,“OutofHand:ReflectionsonElsewhereness,”inAnthropologyandArt

Practice,ed.ArndSchneiderandChristopherWright(London:Bloomsbury,2013).

researching arts and society ii: experimentation€¦ · music, prose poetry, visual arts and...

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