New Posts from Lily

Check them out!

http://idst234writing.blogspot.com/

NEW POSTS! -kate

http://idst234potp.blogspot.com/

New posts as of 2.27

Hey all,

Here is my FIRST news letter! Let me know what you think and PLEASE tell me what you guys would like to see changed as this is more for your enjoyment.

Thanks,

Anna

p.s. sorry for the image being so huge

Resistance or Opposition: Cultural Resistance

Though the movie and the discussion in class was extremely inciting, I still struggle with the ideas of resistance and opposition.  I know the difference in their definitions, but the idea of creating something new rather than fighting against something is complex.  Resistance can exist in art, literature, religion, etc... It is easy to see that, however what I argue is that in order to resist the individual has to have a knowledge of what they are resisting against (this is the same idea as Havel talks about earlier that in order to know truth, one must have lived the lie, and vice versa).  Otherwise I could create a masterpiece of art and claim it to be my own self identity and culture, but I do not understand how showing my self-identity is resisting other identities unless ofcourse I was living in a communist society where my own identity meant nothing.  Also, it is important to note that those who are in opposition are those who the system claims to be in opposition.  Our acts of reisstance may not seem or intend to be an opposition, but the system may view it in that way.  Since the system views our resistance as opposition does that make resistance and opposition uniquely correalated?  Can we even resist without seeming to be the opposition?  Realistically, who's view actually appears to be more influential, the resisters' or the systems'?

-Zach

Cultures of Resistance

http://www.npr.org/2012/02/19/147113419/enough-is-enough-say-sengalese-rappers?sc=fb&cc=fp

Thought this would go well with our discussion about cultures of resistance

Power of the powerless: Cultures of resistance

"Cultures of Resistance," was a very moving piece of work. At points, I had to turn my head away after learning about genocide, and the hundreds of deaths to innocent children and people. And I totally agree with what Raymond said about how it sheds light on what the rest of the world is like, and how lucky we are to live in the United States. Yes I know that there are controversies and people are still being persecuted, but if you compare a situation to a person in Ghana or someplace in Africa, you almost feel lucky.

Kate's Blog

New posts!

http://idst234potp.blogspot.com/

Zach's new blog

I set up a new blog, I have put my journal entries on there.
http://powerlessispower.tumblr.com/

Cultures of resistance

Thanks to everyone for coming to the film yesterday despite the late notice. I don't know about you, but there was plenty her to resonate (for me) with what we have been talking and reading about in class. There is much more information, and a look at the whole network culture in which this film was born, at the film/network website.

I'd like to see what everyone else thought about the film and how we can connect it (or not) to our readings, writing, and discussion. I've posted some comments on Tumbler. We'll have a look at what everyone has written next Tuesday, and have a talk about it. You may just comment here, or you can post on your own blog and leave us a link.

Contrary to the plan I announced last week, we will return to Havel on Tuesday, and start with Kundera on Thursday. SO: for Tuesday, you should be through section XII in Power of the Powerless. Havel begins this last section with the question, "What is an opposition in the post-totalitarian system?" For Thursday, please have finished Part 3. Thanks!

Lily's Blog

I started my own blog for my writing. Here is the link: http://idst234writing.blogspot.com/

Freshmen Year, Finding The Truth

This post will be a continuous one as I build a short story that I have been brainstorming in class and on my own time. Let me know what you think. I am open to adding characters into the story if anyone has a character in mind. The story will begin with character introduction and scene setting. This piece is fiction with events that have occurred in real life from my life. Enjoy!


     The end of senior year in high school is a huge turning point for most students. For those students who have made it this far in education must choose if they will further their education at a college, university,military, trade school or performing arts school. This choice is vital because time is costly. If the student chooses the wrong path they waste time trying to figure out what path is the path for them. Those who don't choose a path at all either stay at home or work a low paying job because of the lack of experience. So how does the student choose a path? This story will explain one students path, how he decided his path and the effects the path have on his life.

My Blog - Katie Marse

I have a blog that documents my journals from the class. I will be going over readings and class discussions.
I will be updating the blog with new posts every Monday (sometimes in between).
I will post the link to my blog here, and I'll post here every time I update the blog just to remind everyone.

http://idst234potp.blogspot.com/

Assignments for February 16 & 18

Tuesday, we will finish The Miracle Game: you can expect to be called upon to show that you have read carefully right to the end!

Thursday, we will discuss Havel, VIII and IX.

Please keep me informed about the progress of your writing per the plan you submitted last week. I will attempt to respond quickly to your new work.

Sami Siegwald Proposal

        In the past few months, I have been learning a great deal about the role of theatre during the Bosnian war in the early 1990's. I met a woman who played a great role in using theatre as a form of activism and as a way to keep hope alive among those who were repressed. Although the two situations are different, I am planning to research how, and if, art was used in a similar way in Czechoslovakia. I plan on doing research on major directors, producers, and playwrights of the time, and then examing their work more closely so as to see who used their art as a form of dissent. How effective was theatre as a tool of revoloution? What impacts did creating art in the time of war have on the overall development of Czech and Eastern European theatre? These are two major questions that I strive to answer.
As Havel was a playwright himself, I also want to investigate the work he created before he became president, and the subsuqent effect of being an artist, rather than a beaurocrat had on his presidency and influence. I'm hoping that I can find some translations of his plays, and then try to find parallels between them and the way that he acted as a politician. Being an artist, he had such a different view then so many who were governing at the time, and I want  find out how exactly this set him apart.
To create my work, I will write two seperate research essays. The first will focus on theatre during war in general, and the second will focus more on Havel's life as an artist. In a way, I will slightly differ from the conventions of a typical "research paper", because I want to include my own input as well, discussing possible stagings of certain plays and how I see that they relate to mdoern day American drama.
My work will be evaluated based on these two assignments. How well I collect information, the analysis, and the the creation of new questions and ideas are all things that I want to come across, and are things upon which I should be evaluated.
The first paper will be completed by spring break. Certain things may be added later as I am ordering texts from outside libraries. The second paper will be completed by the second tuesday after spring break, allowing time to conduct new research, and find the proper sources.

Katie M's proposal

  For the first half of the course I will be manually writing journal entries focusing on reactions to the readings and incorporating some discussions from class. I prefer to write with a pen and paper, like a personal journal, to explore my reactions and ideas about the readings and class discussions. Each Tuesday and Thursday after class I will write a journal entry. For self-evaluation for these assignments I will write a longer reflection on all of my writings at the end of this half of the semester detailing things that I found to be very significant and any common themes from my writings or from the readings and class discussions. For your evaluation of my work, every Monday night I will edit my journal entries to include any new thoughts and post my writings from the past week (as well as the final reaction, at the end of this half of the semester) on a personal blog and post the link on the Power of the Powerless blog that we have been using. At the end of this half of the semester I will hand in all of my handwritten journals as well as a typed up reflection.

Sarrah's proposal

Sarrah has written a very detailed and ambitious proposal regarding women's sexual identity in communist Czechoslovakia. Look here for an example of the "right way" to do it. She has also started a blog which you should all follow: http://sarrahidst234.blogspot.com/.

Aaron's proposal

The first half of the semester I would like to explore the influence of sports in Czechoslovakia as a means to get by in a communist regime.  It has been portrayed in many films and stories of a sport having the ability to take the minds off of people living in a time of war, or hardship.  I would like to compare how sports have united a community being able to take peoples minds off of challenges at home.  I would set up my paper by identifying what the people of Czechoslovakia did to stay normal and have modern lives when they were under the communist rule through competition.  I would then explore what other sports in history have made a time where people have felt their freedoms restricted, into a time where on the field they feel free.  I would like to show how sports lead to living within the truth.  I want to make connections from Havel to portray the truth in sports.
*By next week 2-16
*I would like to find examples of sports played in Czechoslovakia in the 1900s and find 2-3 other examples of sports as a way to get by a hard time
*Gone through The Miracle Game and highlight any references to sports or activities like chess
*Create comparisons to how sports can bring out truth in a way to unite a community
*By  2-23
*I want to have multiple examples of the sports or games drawn out and put into an outline by using sources outside of The Miracle Game and The Power of the Powerless.  My idea for this project is to put a list of examples of how sports can bring people together in a time where their government is corrupted.  I want to blog about different accounts from history of this happening.  I would also like to tweet about any fictional stories about this happening through sports.

Miguel's proposal

So I really liked the link that you sent me on Blogger about Flickr and I was thinking of doing something like that. Even though it won't be writing necessarily, it will be more reading and comprehending what is on the reading, that will make my images relevant. I'm also thinking about making some letters to some of the characters or expressing my thoughts on how The Miracle Game characters develop over time but also maybe incorporating some of Havel's essay.

When it comes to grading, I think that my images can be graded on the bases of me portraying what is going on in the book or in Havel's book. The reason I think I should be graded on that is because that is what my intent is but obviously art is something different and can also be graded in the sense that is it well done and what the viewer sees in the art. Therefore, maybe a combination of the image and what they depict and how well they are done.

When it comes to the letters I think that they will be more like a conversation between the character and myself so I might have questions that I would like to ask to the character but at the same time not getting an answer and if I find out the answer to my question I will comment on it on the next letter that I write to the character. I also want to make it more like a journal that will help me keep track of what is going on in the stories that we read. I would say maybe a more standard grading can apply to this. So maybe what I write to them should be graded but also since it might have some questions that I'll be asking then I shouldn't be something so harsh. More like how you said in class that shows that I understand what is going on in either The Miracle Game or in Havel but that also represents my "A game." In the letters I might want to do something with Art to if I keep a journal.

Shemira's proposal

Like I mentioned before in my blog,  for the writing assignment I would like to create some form of scrapbook describing the characters of the books we read, conflicts they are faced with and the solutions they come up with to overcome their challenges. I am also thinking about including the important historical events that surround the characters of the books and write a brief description of the actual events. Doing this will help me understand and learn the material we are provided with a lot better.

What I am trying to accomplish in with this scrapbook will require some outside research from my part, so for the first paper/entry that I will write I will use sources like the internet, the books about the history of Czechoslovakia from the library and Havel's book. 

I haven't really finalized whether I will hand write this scrapbook or type it up using one of the digital applications you mention. The main reason why I haven't finalized this is because I want to make this scrapbook unique and enjoyable for myself and others to see. 

I will try to  have my first entry of at least two pages by next Thursday. This will help me get started in this project and will give both you a better idea of what i would like to do for my writing assignment and will show me if it is the right form to approach this assignment. 

For the assessment part of this writing assignment, i would really like if you would grade me based on the effort, creativity and information I provide you with in my papers. If it is not too much to ask I would rather have some type of letter or number grading scale, this is just so I can have a better idea of how i am doing in your class and so I can keep track of my grade.

Thank you in advance and I am really sorry I didn't email this to you yesterday but I was a little confused as to what we were supposed to do.

Ray's Proposal

Ray's proposal, focused on an extremely relevant issue in global politics today, can be found here.

Some additional comments: I think you have a very good plan and an excellent question. I might suggest that you will not find that one of your possibilities is right and one wrong, but that the relationship is complicated. Perhaps one might find the free-market or government-for-the-people arguments more or less compelling and support politicians who share one's views, but to really get to the bottom of "living in the truth" you will have to argue from outside of either ideology. I always find it best to try to understand what those with whom I believe I disagree are seeing that I'm not seeing. To make their best argument, to convince myself that they are right and I am wrong. This has resulted in my coming to take views that many of my colleagues find "offensive." For instance, I've been working on the self-help, kind of libertarian thinking of Justice Clarence Thomas for several years, and have become convinced that in many cases he is right, where before I would have just dismissed him. And even where I don't think he's right, or I just can't go with him, I understand and respect his reasons.

Katie R's proposal

This very interesting and ambitious project can be found here: Proposal

Some additional comments: It looks like your project will be done mostly w/ word processor etc. Perhaps you could find a way to get some peer readers? As it stands now, you propose to compare contemporary students in Beloit with Vixi (and the other girls) as presented in The Miracle Game. That's certainly AOK, but keep in mind that we will be moving on to different texts, so you might or might not have the option of broadening your scope. But you may stay with The Miracle Game also -- which probably has more school-related material than the other two. I also have another novel (fairly short) that we were going to use for the class that has lots of school related material. You might want to look at that.

As for evaluation: let me know after you begin what you think would be best.

Hana's proposal

This is a great proposal, both in terms of conceptual focus and framing, and in terms of planning. You should all read it. Find it here

Ulysses' writing proposal

Self-Assigned Writing for IDST 234

In this course each student is responsible to contribute forms of writing of their choice which total to at least twenty pages. This small proposal is a more formal way to notify the professor about the type of writing I will be doing for the course.

Forms of Writing during the course:

-        Blogging – Posting New Discussions

-        Twitter – Inner thoughts after reading text

-        Journal reflections – summary of what happened in the section read, thoughts and concerns.

o   On all text after the Miracle Game

o   Minimum 1paragraph

Assessment for grading:

-        Writing done for class should be clear and evident that the reader has put effort into all submissions.

-        Blogging at least once a week

-        Tweet at least four times a week

-        Two Journal reflections a week

-        One short story that resembles some of the topics discussed during the semester

At the end of the semester all of the submissions should total to more than 20 pages of text.  

Quinn's Blog URL:

I just set up my blog about art and suppression and posted on it. The url is http://artistsuselies.blogspot.com/ 

Lily's Writing Proposal

As I stated before, I want to write about Havel's idea of ideology and the idea of losing individuality by having to live within the lie. I want to connect it to girls/women in society today, of how social norms and the media end up influencing them to act a certain way. I want to use my all girls high school as an example, as well as the girls I mentor at Aldrich Middle School. I will also cite things from the media, such as tv shows like Gossip Girl, and I will use the blog to write about it so that I can also hopefully find videos online to post to the blog as I write it.
I think it would be best if I wrote about 2-3 "pages" or blog entries a week about the mentioned topic, and to evaluate me I think maybe it would be best to see how I am able to compare Havel's ideology of living within the lie to present day society, and by evaluating me on how many examples I use and how closely I can relate them.

Final writing proposal (Anthony)

For the first half of this course, I am going to write a narrative via Word. I want to base it on how rural life was affected in the Czech Republic during the era we're reading about, and use characters inspired by the Czech part of my family, including the Schánilec's family farm on my mother's side, my eccentric aunt (mother's side) who loves talking about our family's Bohemian/Roma roots, and my great great grandparents on my mother's side, the Bendas.

Journal Entries: Zach

As I stated in my last post, I will be creating a short journal where I will detail the concepts that have been in the readings and discussions.  More specifically, I have so far written a couple entries about the greengrocer concept in relation to ideology and the other ideas it has tangled with.  Also, I have discussed the idea of dissenting and conforming in relation to the Miracle Game.  As for the format of the journal entries.  I am treating them as any normal diary or journal entry: date, personal story, etc...  Hopefully, I will be able to add a couple entries about future readings after we finish the Miracle Game.  This is my idea at least for the first half of the semester.  I may or may not continue this into the next half.  It depends on if I am satisfied with how the journals turn out. Each week I have been and will be entering a new journal entry.
As for the evaluation, I want my work to be judged based on: effort, originalism in terms of my ideas, and the connections made with the readings.

Psychology Today: Czech Edition (from Anna)

As I Psychology Major, I feel obligated to analyze everything through a psychological scope. For my writing assignment, I would like to do something similar to the popular articles written in Psychology Today. I would be analyzing the characters (and their relationships/interactions with others or dilemmas) in the books we will be reading and applying simple concepts of Social Psychology. For this task I would also like to use various visuals like Miguel and Shemira (scrapbook/comic-like).  Here is the website for Psychology Today, of course it won't be as sophisticated as the website but I hope to have a news letter type of format.

What I am writing about (Anthony)

For the writing project I would be interested in, like Zach Bock, of doing a journal for a character, and try to go through their minds, on certain situations just as the history going on, when the Russians enter, and what their life would be like in the 60's, 70's, and 80's. The character that I would likely most do, will be the character of Mr. Kohn or Danny.

Kyle's Writing Project

For the writing project I would be interested in writing about the history of Czechoslovakia and how a lot of it is applied in the book. Not only would I be interested in looking into the history, but culture and important facts about religion and other beliefs. I would do this in different sections, starting with what life was like in the 60's, 70's and 80's. I could break it up into 3 different sections and show how each time period applied to the book and where there were different view points on culture or beliefs between the book The Miracle Game and in actual history. I've always been interested in learning what life was truly like during this time period and how it affected the daily lives of people in Czechoslovakia.

What I'm writing about (Miguel)

I'm thinking of writing letters to some of the characters in response to what I have been reading. I think this will allow me to understand more in depth what I'm reading. I'm also thinking of working in a comic strip of what is going on in the story. The reason why I want to do a comic strip/or a visual is because all these characters have a very animated feel to them. When I read the story and discuss it in class I get a mental image of all the characters. Therefore, I think it will be interesting to see them come to life and maybe write a response as to why I decided to depict them like that. I'm still thinking about what I'm going to do but for the most part I'm leaning towards something like this.

Art in an Era of Suppression (Quinn)

During this semester, I want to focus my writing on art during the period of suppression in Czechoslovakia. Art is meant to be a manifestation of freedom and expression, and I would like to see how artists reacted to the conformist ideologies in their country. I'll likely do this through a blog, and will post research, art pieces, and reactions. The questions I'm currently most interested in are how artists expressed unpopular ideas during this time (Did they only show their work to certain circles of trusted people? Did they create art that appeared to be conformist, but actually had a second meaning?), and how conformist did artists actually become (Despite their passion being defined by free thinking)?

Czech life in Cinema by Yuko

Through films, I will explore how people in Czech have made their living over the history. More specifically, I would like to use films as visual elements which illustrate Czech everyday life and see how they have dealt with totalitarian and post-totalitarian society. I will watch several Czech films produced in contemporary era besides the ones created in and after the communist era to compare how the way that films present Czech society has changed. In writing about Czech life in cinema, I would like to more focus on what cultural norms work at a particular context from anthropological perspective. This writing can be a formal, academic writing, but I intend to include my personal experience and my insights. I visited Prague last winter, but at that time, I did not know anything about Czech history. So I think this is a chance to reflect my trip and reconsider the meanings of what I saw in Prague, or what I experienced.

The Green Grocer vs. Gossip Girl (Lily)

I would like to use this blog to use Havel's description of ideology and the Green Grocer as well as how the characters in The Miracle Game act to compare to different groups in society today which I have observed. For example, I went to an all girls high school and noticed a way which every girl was expected to act no matter how they felt about the way they were acting/dressing/talking/etc. I also want to connect it to the girls I mentor at Aldrich Middle School in Beloit. Mainly I would like to connect it to the media, and how the media influences the way people think they should act, creating a way of life which should be followed if wanting to seem "cool". It may seem like a stretch from Havel's Green Grocer, but there are a lot of groups who feel they need to be followers, and live within the lie. (Thank you Bill for the idea about Gossip Girl!!) 

Exploring My Family's History by Hana

I would like to explore my family’s history in more detail - it is a rich history of countless obstacles (quitting membership in the Communist Party, support of Charter 77 and subsequent emigration, forced collectivization of a family farm, etc.). There are many more things that, unfortunately, still remain a mystery to me or that I do not have a clear account of. Sadly enough, the coverage of historical development of the Czech nation after WWII is not given enough (if any) room in regular history classes (at least in my experience), which gives me another reason to inquire into the history of my own family and try to decipher the country’s development through my own lens. Through direct interaction (personal correspondence, Skype interviews, personal accounts), I would like to create an authentic mosaic of what life was like for people during the communist regime (I assume most of the accounts will cover the 60s, 70s and 80s). If I do receive enough valuable information, I would like to transform the ‘family facts’ into something more literary/artistic, such as a collection of monologues/dialogues that could be potentially performed in public.

Writing, the next frontier (assignment)

Most of you have posted (somewhere) your ideas about writing for this semester. Those who have not ought to do so real soon now, right here!

For next Monday, via email to newb@beloit.edu or by some other clever means, I'd like to see a more detailed proposal for at least the first half of the course. Your proposal -- which will count toward your total writing requirement (so don't skimp on words or thoughts) -- should include a concise statement of your intent, boiled down some from what you first offered; a statement of the media you plan to use (pen, paper, word processor, blog, twitter, email, EverNote, whatever and why you have chosen this medium; a means for self-evaluation and my evaluation of your performance on this assignment; and a schedule that intend to follow. Remember that the general course guidelines call for around ten pages of writing for each half of the course, with some demonstration of editing/reflection/revision. Your writing can take many forms: I encourage you to look at what your classmates have put up as preliminary plans to see if there are opportunities for sharing and/or collaboration.