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- Finalize academic sources
- Visit The American Foreign Service Association
- Write works cited
- Draft the panels
- Complete the panels in pen and ink
- Write 2 page paper
- Maybe write artist's note?
Thursday, October 23, 2014
To-Do List for the artistic paper
To-Do List
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Friday, October 17, 2014
Potential sources and whatnot for my topic
- If there are any organizations (like Kiva, maybe) that have platforms where investments are made
- Small business investment sites
- "give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime."
- teachaamantofish.org.uk
- Explore the social philosophy of Modernism: in what ways it applies/etc.
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modernism
- Places to do Immersion Research:
- Embassies
- statistics, aid to/from
- World Bank
- ask about statistics, geographical data, access to health care and etc
- Eventually, synthesize conclusions using the information, based on situations, and types of aid given. Probably limit to one or two countries or one or two types of situations, in which they get different kinds of aid and compare the effects???
Thursday, October 16, 2014
Wednesday, October 15, 2014
Project 2 generative writing
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I have always loved
using art to express ideas, and found it interesting and sometimes challenging
to express creatively/artistically the same idea that I could in writing. There
are a lot of times in which I find that writing is much more complete in expressing
ideas than art is, simply because art often leaves the audience grasping at
their own conclusions of the piece, especially because since writing can be so
complicated, one cannot fit the literal meaning in one or two of three pieces.
This pushes art in the abstract direction in order to completely say what is
needed, which poses yet another problem: abstract art leaves much to the
imagination. So I suppose my own goal is to make one or a few pieces of art
that expresses the general tone that I want, with a few specifics, in such a
way that the audience can appreciate - or perhaps wonder at the meaning at
first, but which slowly becomes clearer and clearer, ending on an epiphany at
the end.
In class, as the project
was introduced, I knew I wanted to do something artsy - although creating a
piece of music along a topic also seemed super cool...but unfortunately, I'm
pretty awful at improvising and composing music ;__; But as I started thinking
of ideas to work off of, I had a little trouble. See, most art pieces on
international aid are super emotionally charged - whether it's a depressing
image, or an oppositely happy image, there isn't anything besides infographics
that transmits information like writing a semi un-biased paper does - and even
then, both carry hints of potential emotion in them. Along those lines, I can't
possibly avoid expressing something artistically that doesn't somewhat elicit
emotions in the viewer - so perhaps I could incorporate a bit of both.
Eventually I wandered
upon the idea of rising above the need for aid, and bringing people out of
poverty. But unfortunately, not all humanitarian aid helps people further
themselves – look at the 7-Worst-International-Aid-Ideas article for reference –
and even when the intentions and ideas are solid, it won’t be that easy to
solve the problem that so many people are suffering of. It’s like a cliff. And
while we can bring goods and services and funding “down” to them, the cliff to
where relative prosperity exists is almost exponentially high. And how better
to depict this than a figuratively-literal representation of the cliff, the
yearnings, and struggles to raise oneself past poverty? I think I’ll end up
doing a few pieces along these lines, probably in order, and definitely in sort
of a dark and depressing tone. While there are many positive aspects and
results of humanitarian aid, those are not the aspects that need attention to
improve their condition and the world as a whole. I’d love to be able to bring
attention to some of the harsher truth that people ignore or are not aware of, and
show what isn’t effective and what else needs to change in ways that writing can't achieve with such an impact in that short of a timeframe.
Monday, October 13, 2014
Response to Paul Graham: The Age of the Essay
Response to Response to Paul Graham's The Age of the Essay
Sunday, October 12, 2014
Weekend Homework for class 10/13/14
For this weekend's homework, please write a 500-word COMBINED response to the four pieces you chose to review from the Collaborative Annotated Bibliography. You should include at LEAST one specific observation about example about each piece. Please use proper MLA (MLA MLA MLA) citations for this, just to get a little practice in.
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The first line that struck me the most in the TED talk "Which Country does the Most Good for the World?" by Simon Anholt was the one that said: "All of the grand challenges that we face today, like climate change and human rights and demographics and terrorism and pandemics and narco-trafficking and human slavery and species loss, I could go on, we're not making an awful lot of progress against an awful lot of those challenges." (Anholt, 2014). And this brings up a thought. For all the injustices that the US and other developed countries allow and carry out, we as citizens are rather...forgiving - unmotivated, really. I completely agree with what he says about tolerating or electing governments of other countries - we are so small-minded, and so selfish, that really, we are a large part of why none of those problems get solved. And oftentimes, we are so preoccupies about what goes on internationally that we can control for our own benefit, that we don't think about what needs to be done domestically.
In "The House by the Railroad", the lone subject is a beautiful house, right by the railroad - which are depicted almost as an afterthought, as an post-realization sort of thing. This is perhaps to complement the house in solitude, and develop the idea or question of 'why'. In the eighteenth and nineteenth century, railroads were hubs of transportation and economic development - but why this house is alone in all sides brings up the question of what it and its environment actually represents. Is it the rapid industrialization or outdating of the railroad? Or is it just a house that the artist found pretty and wanted to paint?
"Instant Gratification" by Paul Roberts is from the longreads website, and after skimming it through, I found that it didn't directly apply to international aid at all - however, I was able to connect the story and the circumstances to a couple of ideas I had. First of all, I was able to see the perspective from which this was coming from, but I also realized that the overarching idea of materialism and satisfying a person's own "wants" over "needs", especially in a developed country like the US, is a stark representation of the disparity between those who can do this with little consequence, and those who do not have the time or resources to become obsessed with an online game. Similarly but completely differently, The Ocean by Nathaniel Hawthorne carries underlying themes that relate to the negative aspects of poverty and destitution. Honestly, the second stanza relates more solidly - for me, as a bit of a pessimist, I see a relation in how many of the most hardworking people are poor and without resources, and their state of mind when they are struggling on the verge of survival. And sometimes, perhaps the idea of death is their saving grace - to which this poem most relates. "The ocean solitudes are blest / ..... / The earth has guilt, the earth has care / ... / but peaceful sleep is ever there / ...
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Works Cited
The Ocean, by Nathaniel Hawthorne. (Poetry.org)
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. "The Ocean." The Poetry Foundation. n.d. Web. 10 Oct 2014.
The House by the Railroad [Painting] (moma.org)
Hopper, Edward. The House by the Railroad. 1925. MoMa.org. Web. 10 Oct 2014.
Instant Gratification by Paul Roberts (longreads)
Roberts, Paul. "Instant Gratification." The American Scholar. The Daily Scholar. Web. 10 Oct 2014.
Which Country does the Most Good for the World? by Simon Anholt
"Which Country does the Most Good for the World?" TED. 2014. Web. 10 Oct 2014.
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The first line that struck me the most in the TED talk "Which Country does the Most Good for the World?" by Simon Anholt was the one that said: "All of the grand challenges that we face today, like climate change and human rights and demographics and terrorism and pandemics and narco-trafficking and human slavery and species loss, I could go on, we're not making an awful lot of progress against an awful lot of those challenges." (Anholt, 2014). And this brings up a thought. For all the injustices that the US and other developed countries allow and carry out, we as citizens are rather...forgiving - unmotivated, really. I completely agree with what he says about tolerating or electing governments of other countries - we are so small-minded, and so selfish, that really, we are a large part of why none of those problems get solved. And oftentimes, we are so preoccupies about what goes on internationally that we can control for our own benefit, that we don't think about what needs to be done domestically.
In "The House by the Railroad", the lone subject is a beautiful house, right by the railroad - which are depicted almost as an afterthought, as an post-realization sort of thing. This is perhaps to complement the house in solitude, and develop the idea or question of 'why'. In the eighteenth and nineteenth century, railroads were hubs of transportation and economic development - but why this house is alone in all sides brings up the question of what it and its environment actually represents. Is it the rapid industrialization or outdating of the railroad? Or is it just a house that the artist found pretty and wanted to paint?
"Instant Gratification" by Paul Roberts is from the longreads website, and after skimming it through, I found that it didn't directly apply to international aid at all - however, I was able to connect the story and the circumstances to a couple of ideas I had. First of all, I was able to see the perspective from which this was coming from, but I also realized that the overarching idea of materialism and satisfying a person's own "wants" over "needs", especially in a developed country like the US, is a stark representation of the disparity between those who can do this with little consequence, and those who do not have the time or resources to become obsessed with an online game. Similarly but completely differently, The Ocean by Nathaniel Hawthorne carries underlying themes that relate to the negative aspects of poverty and destitution. Honestly, the second stanza relates more solidly - for me, as a bit of a pessimist, I see a relation in how many of the most hardworking people are poor and without resources, and their state of mind when they are struggling on the verge of survival. And sometimes, perhaps the idea of death is their saving grace - to which this poem most relates. "The ocean solitudes are blest / ..... / The earth has guilt, the earth has care / ... / but peaceful sleep is ever there / ...
------------
Works Cited
The Ocean, by Nathaniel Hawthorne. (Poetry.org)
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. "The Ocean." The Poetry Foundation. n.d. Web. 10 Oct 2014.
The House by the Railroad [Painting] (moma.org)
Hopper, Edward. The House by the Railroad. 1925. MoMa.org. Web. 10 Oct 2014.
Instant Gratification by Paul Roberts (longreads)
Roberts, Paul. "Instant Gratification." The American Scholar. The Daily Scholar. Web. 10 Oct 2014.
Which Country does the Most Good for the World? by Simon Anholt
"Which Country does the Most Good for the World?" TED. 2014. Web. 10 Oct 2014.
Friday, October 10, 2014
In-class work 10/10/14
Victoria's picks:
The Ocean, by Nathaniel Hawthorn. (Poetry.org)
The House by the Railroad [Painting] (moma.org)
Instant Gratification by Paul Roberts (longreads)
Which Country does the Most Good for the World? by Simon Anholt
What aspects of the course content are artistic responses able to represent that academic articles and data-based reports cannot? Why do you think this is? If you could use any medium to create an artistic response to the course content, what might it be, and what might you do?
The topic of International Aid and Voluntourism is one that lends itself to three general manners of expression: data, art, and prose. Its aspects that most lends itself to artistic responses are those that involve emotion and sympathetic/empathetic feelings. Many people use artistic manners to convey certain ideas of importance (or what people perceive as important) that otherwise may go ignored in favor of either hard facts, or nothing at all. Art and creative pieces that either tug on the heartstrings or inspire the audience to feel or relate are the most effective. Emotional responses are underestimated in how effective they are - they could possibly be tied to the idea of 'the gut feeling'. In addition, emotions are what people usually end up acting on, and are more powerful in certain circumstances than logical thinking. For me, I would probably use a mix of mediums to create a piece of art that expresses an emotional value - and since expressing the negative aspects is a bit overdone (in my opinion), I'll probably find a snapshot of life or a piece of a scene that elicits a happier mood and illustrate that.
The Ocean, by Nathaniel Hawthorn. (Poetry.org)
The House by the Railroad [Painting] (moma.org)
Instant Gratification by Paul Roberts (longreads)
Which Country does the Most Good for the World? by Simon Anholt
What aspects of the course content are artistic responses able to represent that academic articles and data-based reports cannot? Why do you think this is? If you could use any medium to create an artistic response to the course content, what might it be, and what might you do?
The topic of International Aid and Voluntourism is one that lends itself to three general manners of expression: data, art, and prose. Its aspects that most lends itself to artistic responses are those that involve emotion and sympathetic/empathetic feelings. Many people use artistic manners to convey certain ideas of importance (or what people perceive as important) that otherwise may go ignored in favor of either hard facts, or nothing at all. Art and creative pieces that either tug on the heartstrings or inspire the audience to feel or relate are the most effective. Emotional responses are underestimated in how effective they are - they could possibly be tied to the idea of 'the gut feeling'. In addition, emotions are what people usually end up acting on, and are more powerful in certain circumstances than logical thinking. For me, I would probably use a mix of mediums to create a piece of art that expresses an emotional value - and since expressing the negative aspects is a bit overdone (in my opinion), I'll probably find a snapshot of life or a piece of a scene that elicits a happier mood and illustrate that.
Tuesday, October 7, 2014
4 pieces from four sites - summaries on international aid
Victoria
Herper, M. (2011). With Vaccines, Bill Gates Changes The World Again. Forbes. Retrieved from
http://www.forbes.com/sites/matthewherper/2011/11/02/the-second-coming-of-bill-gates/
Summary: The overarching opinion of the author on the subject seems to be that Bill Gates, an advocate of humanitarian aid efforts and fighting disease, has turned away from the philanthropic ideas to the cost-cutting, monetary language that corporations often use. He mentions that Gates seems to speak only of how far they've gone towards lowering costs of vaccines, which are normally expensive to produce, rather than the humanistic and moral-based duties of himself and his goals. However, the article also follows Gates's involvement and successes in that area.
Commentary: This relates to international aid particularly strongly, due to the Gates's longtime connection with helping others, investments, developing cures, and establishing foundations all in the name of other people and causes. In many areas of the world, vaccinations are very difficult to obtain, for many reasons. Among them are: accessibility, affordability, demand, and impact on rich people - that is, how much sympathy for the sufferers does the disease generate - and thus, how much funding the research/production/distribution gets.
Victoria
Lux, Thomas. (1997). Empty Pitchforks. The Poetry Foundation, Retrieved from: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/178151
Summary: This poem was based on the search term of 'poverty', and the name of this poem itself embodies an aspect of poverty, which accurately represents the emptiness and lack of most things that many people experience. He begins with a simple statement: "There was poverty before money", which implies the idea that it isn't only about how much one makes or the monetary-based society we live in - and it is present everywhere. In nearly each stanza, the author describes a "before" and an "after" aspect of poverty, or a representative piece of imagery that calls to mind a similar idea.
Commentary: The poem encompasses imagery of many of these aspects - ash, sagging, bankruptcy, hunger and debtor's prison. Ultimately, the language don't address the exact circumstances, but the feeling and general mood that comes with it. It relates further to international aid because the poem is representative of those suffering in poverty, no matter their circumstances. And that perhaps the underlying tone implies that no matter what outsiders do for those in poverty and for the poverty problem, it may continue to persist even with assistance. The poem concludes with a poignant final couplet:
Victoria
Smith, Amy. (Speaker). (2006, Feb). Simple Designs to Save a Life. TedTalks. Podcast retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/amy_smith_shares_simple_lifesaving_design
Summary: A lot of humanitarian aid efforts go towards making necessities cheap(er) and accessible for the less privileged, especially in the international world. There are those who donate to contribute mass-produced goods, and then those who invest in businesses or education or everyday lives instead - and then there are those who innovate and produce sustainable, easy, clean ideas to improve general quality of life and etc. Amy Smith is one of these, and she presents on a simple solution to reduce respiratory diseases due to cooking indoors, and its effect on children, especially - tested and implemented in parts of Haiti.
Commentary: These sorts of ideas are often crucial to the survival of the pure charity that is often given without followup or continuation - that is, it is essential to establish infrastructure in which those aided can flourish, rather than crashing and burning as soon as their aid is stopped. This TED talk is particularly important because it serves to educate the general public about the little things that people can do in order to help those far away, things that are not just donating some straight cash to an organization - rather, to participate and perhaps even invent ways to thrive. Those who need humanitarian aid are not always in such a position or do not have the materials or time to do what Amy Smith speaks about - but if her projects are successes, they will end up benefiting many.
Victoria
Subotzky, Mikhael. (2014). "Residents, Vaalkoppies." Retrieved from http://www.moma.org/collection/object.php?object_id=118774
Summary: This photograph illustrates poverty in South Africa - specifically, a group of men and women sifting through a landfill that stretches out to the horizon in hills - rather reminiscent of the opening scene in WALL-E. A picture is difficult to summarize, but these people are hunched over a pile of what most would call "trash".
Commentary: To the humans in the picture, this "trash" ultimately ends up being their livelyhood, and the sea of tossed-away material almost symbolizes the ongoing futility that most in poverty experience. Unfortunately, this is a common scene in many parts of developing countries (and areas), representing the overflow of materialistic tendencies of the upper classes compared to those who must make their lives in these dumps - as well as the all-too prevalent disparities that many are not aware of or do not care about.
Herper, M. (2011). With Vaccines, Bill Gates Changes The World Again. Forbes. Retrieved from
http://www.forbes.com/sites/matthewherper/2011/11/02/the-second-coming-of-bill-gates/
Summary: The overarching opinion of the author on the subject seems to be that Bill Gates, an advocate of humanitarian aid efforts and fighting disease, has turned away from the philanthropic ideas to the cost-cutting, monetary language that corporations often use. He mentions that Gates seems to speak only of how far they've gone towards lowering costs of vaccines, which are normally expensive to produce, rather than the humanistic and moral-based duties of himself and his goals. However, the article also follows Gates's involvement and successes in that area.
Commentary: This relates to international aid particularly strongly, due to the Gates's longtime connection with helping others, investments, developing cures, and establishing foundations all in the name of other people and causes. In many areas of the world, vaccinations are very difficult to obtain, for many reasons. Among them are: accessibility, affordability, demand, and impact on rich people - that is, how much sympathy for the sufferers does the disease generate - and thus, how much funding the research/production/distribution gets.
Victoria
Lux, Thomas. (1997). Empty Pitchforks. The Poetry Foundation, Retrieved from: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/178151
Summary: This poem was based on the search term of 'poverty', and the name of this poem itself embodies an aspect of poverty, which accurately represents the emptiness and lack of most things that many people experience. He begins with a simple statement: "There was poverty before money", which implies the idea that it isn't only about how much one makes or the monetary-based society we live in - and it is present everywhere. In nearly each stanza, the author describes a "before" and an "after" aspect of poverty, or a representative piece of imagery that calls to mind a similar idea.
"sopped in the final drop of gravy
you snatched from your brother’s mouth."
Smith, Amy. (Speaker). (2006, Feb). Simple Designs to Save a Life. TedTalks. Podcast retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/amy_smith_shares_simple_lifesaving_design
Summary: A lot of humanitarian aid efforts go towards making necessities cheap(er) and accessible for the less privileged, especially in the international world. There are those who donate to contribute mass-produced goods, and then those who invest in businesses or education or everyday lives instead - and then there are those who innovate and produce sustainable, easy, clean ideas to improve general quality of life and etc. Amy Smith is one of these, and she presents on a simple solution to reduce respiratory diseases due to cooking indoors, and its effect on children, especially - tested and implemented in parts of Haiti.
Commentary: These sorts of ideas are often crucial to the survival of the pure charity that is often given without followup or continuation - that is, it is essential to establish infrastructure in which those aided can flourish, rather than crashing and burning as soon as their aid is stopped. This TED talk is particularly important because it serves to educate the general public about the little things that people can do in order to help those far away, things that are not just donating some straight cash to an organization - rather, to participate and perhaps even invent ways to thrive. Those who need humanitarian aid are not always in such a position or do not have the materials or time to do what Amy Smith speaks about - but if her projects are successes, they will end up benefiting many.
Victoria
Subotzky, Mikhael. (2014). "Residents, Vaalkoppies." Retrieved from http://www.moma.org/collection/object.php?object_id=118774
Summary: This photograph illustrates poverty in South Africa - specifically, a group of men and women sifting through a landfill that stretches out to the horizon in hills - rather reminiscent of the opening scene in WALL-E. A picture is difficult to summarize, but these people are hunched over a pile of what most would call "trash".
Commentary: To the humans in the picture, this "trash" ultimately ends up being their livelyhood, and the sea of tossed-away material almost symbolizes the ongoing futility that most in poverty experience. Unfortunately, this is a common scene in many parts of developing countries (and areas), representing the overflow of materialistic tendencies of the upper classes compared to those who must make their lives in these dumps - as well as the all-too prevalent disparities that many are not aware of or do not care about.
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