subject in history

I was born Tania Alisa Cox, on March 22, 1990. During my lifetime, many historical events have taken place, the vast majority of which I am unaware. What I do remember, is that as a child, there was a panic going on about the coming of the new millennium. They Y2K craze swept the nation and everyone was anxiously waiting the year 2000 to see if the whole world would plunge into chaos because of computer problems. I was in fourth grade at the time, and people around me were stocking up on all kinds of items to prepare for the end of the world. I learned that hysteria is quite contagious. I also remember the D.C sniper who went around shooting people at random. I have lived in two countries, on two continents.
I was born in Georgetown, Guyana and I lived in a few cities there until I moved to America. I have only lived in the state of Maryland while I have been here in the US. Maryland is known for its crabs, Baltimore, and the DC sniper. Guyana is probably most known for the Jonestown tradgedy where followers of a cult drank poisoned Kool-Aid in a mass murder/suicide. The British ruled Guyana before they received independence and has European influences from England and Portugal. I think the most significant set of events in the current historical moment are the events that are going in the Middle East. The wars and the fighting will have consequences that will affect many people for a very long time. I do not see myself in action in relation to those events. I simply exist at a time of turmoil and instability in the Middle East. I see a lot of problems in the future where the Middle East is concerned, and where America is concerned. I have never worked with others for important change.

Assignement
Date
29-Jan
First day of Class- Attend
31-Jan
Attend Class
5-Feb
Go Visit Museums
7-Feb
Go Visit Museums
12-Feb
Attend Class
Webbing: Art Museums/National Museum of the American Indian
Webbing: Artists/Joy Harjo and Poetic Justice
Look over Freeland, But is it Art? pick one chapter to read carefully
Choose one other class text, look it over and pick one chapter to read carefully
complete info sheet handout & introduce yrself as Subject in History; give TA
14-Feb
Attend Class
Attend Discussion
Assignement 1 Due
19-Feb
Look over Seely, Fight Like a Girl and read carefully Ch. 1 & App. A
Attend Class
21-Feb
Webbing: Art Museums/Hirshhorn
Webbing: Art Activist/SPARC
Goldbard, New Creative Community, Forward, Intro, Notes, Ch. 1 & 2
Attend Class
Attend Discussion
26-Feb
Links: See new Post for Subvertizing Links and explore
Webbing: Art Activist/International Shadows Project Show
Webbing: explore 5 more sites you choose
Attend Class
28-Feb
Attend Class
Attend Discussion
Webbing: Art Museums/National Gallery of Art
Webbing: Art Activist/Art in the Public Interest
Freeland, Ch. 4
Goldbard, Ch. 3 & 4

Event Announcement

Hey everyone! They're showing Amandla!, a really amazing film on the role of music in the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa. It's a really beautiful film with a really stirring soundtrack. If you have time, check it out. :)

Subject: Beyond the Classroom presents the film "Amandla! A Revolution in Four-Part Harmony"

Subject : Beyond the Classroom presents the film "Amandla! A Revolution in Four-Part Harmony"
When : Monday, February 25, 2008 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Where : 1102 South Campus Commons, Building 1
Event Type(s) : Movie/Film/Video

How do you inspire, mobilize and sustain a people power movement for justice over 40 years? This inspiring documentary tells the story of Black South African freedom music and the central role it played against the Apartheid regime. Winner of the 2002 Sundance Film Festival (Documentary Audience Award and Freedom of Expression Award), Amandla! is the first film to specifically consider the music that sustained and galvanized black South Africans for more than 40 years. Under the Apartheid regime, singing, possession, or recording of music was banned by the South African Government. Amandla!'s focus is on the struggle's spiritual dimension as articulated and embodied in song. Named for the Xhosa word for "power," Amandla! lives up to its title, telling an uplifting story of human courage, resolve and triumph in the face of adversity.

Group Project WMST 250 Sec. 0102

sholcom@umd.edu Samantha
astewar7@umd.edu Mandee
jbryan12@umd.edu Jasmin
tcox@umd.edu Tania
gtsand@umd.edu Greg
jesscha@umd.edu Jessica
mbaird89@umd.edu Michael
ataylor@umd.edu Ashley
sorellan@umd.edu Sergio

Assignment 1: Please Post Here

Please be sure to reread the Instructions before you turn in the assignment, this way you can be sure that all of the required components of the assignment have been done. And remember, you are not your assumptions. The goal of the exercise is to shake up your assumptions- to look at them with honest and critical eyes.

Welcome

Peace Y’all. Welcome to our class blog.

Section Focus:

This section is unique – not only because each one of us brings our own intellectual, technological, and creative strengths, but also because it will be team taught by Maren Cummings and Maria Velazquez. So, there is double the fun, and double the creative activities! We are both interested in dance and embodiment- meaning the study of the way particular bodies are understood in and by societies. Thus, a main aspect and focus of the section will be movement activities (so please come to section prepared to move), and activities that ask you to stretch your definitions of knowledge past the page. We encourage everyone to move according to their own ability, but to be open to trying new activities.

We are all coming into this section with knowledge to share and something to learn, and it is up to all of us to make this section a safe space for growing together. While we as TAs have particular roots for our knowledge, so do you. As noted in the Subject in History activity, we have all been formed as subjects in history because of the particular experiences we have had at a particular time, in a particular space, and in a particular body. So, please value your contributions as much as we do.

Here are some basic guidelines for our discussions:

- Knowledge is created by people working together in constructive dialogue, so, when you don’t attend class or come to class not having done the readings, it is not only detrimental to your own knowledge production, but to all of ours.

- Audre Lorde says, “Your silence will not protect you.” In the context of this course, this statement means that we should all feel enabled to vocalize our frustrations, confusion, and dissent, as well as our concrete knowledge.

- “The personal is political”- so living and learning are inseparable. The ideas that we discuss in class have direct bearing on our personal philosophies and our daily lives. And reciprocally, current events inform and update our in –class discussions. So bring in any material you find relevant to the course or the blog, and use the analytical skills you develop in this class wherever you go.

- Don’t be afraid to re-evaluate your values, or express them.

- Notice who is in the course and who is not. What voices are missing from this course, whether in person, text, or performance?

Disembodied Learning: What is the point of the blog?

So, if a main aspect of this section is going to focus on how bodies are read, created, and constructed by society, what does it mean that part of our learning process take place in a space where bodies can’t be seen? Well, it is as important to understand how bodies are understood when they are seen as when they are not seen. The personas you enact on the blog may not necessarily be how you act in the class- a shy person may feel more comfortable contributing on the blog than in section, a person with more internet savy may post videos, pictures, and links. The blog space should complement and add to our discussions. After each class I would like to spend the last few minutes brainstorming “Questions to Go”- meaning concepts that are still unclear to you, a comment that did not get addressed, or a quote from a text/ picture that you would like to explore in the next class. We will choose one and post it on the blog for people to begin answering before the next section. In this sense, we will come into each discussion section with an entry point to build off of.

It is imperative that we all check the blog regularly, because:

1. YOU MUST POST YOUR PAPERS AND ASSIGNMENTS ON THE BLOG. This means that you shouldn’t put anything in your paper that you consider too personal to be made public. Your assignment will not be graded until it has been posted.
2. Knowing how to incorporate technology into learning and learning into technology is a must.
3. It is a space for us to keep our discussions going and post announcements.

CONTACT:
Please feel free to contact Maren at mabcummings@gmail.com or Maria at maria.i.velazquez@gmail.com. We are not holding set office hours, so please contact us to schedule meeting times. One or both of us will be available between the discussion section and the class lecture (between 1:30-1:50pm) as well.

Announcements:

• If you didn’t get enough of the museum madness this past week, keep going! There is an amazing exhibit on Hip Hop at the National Portrait Gallery. Entitled, “Recognize” this exhibit on Hip Hop and contemporary portraiture archives some of the The exhibit runs until October 26, 2008. FREE!
• Our very own David C. Driskell Center for the Study of the Visual Arts and Culture of African Americans (located in the Cole Student Activities Building) is hosting a conference on African American Art history. March 7 & 8, 2008. For more information click here.