Assignment:
For this assignment you will visit an art museum online and select 1-3 cultural artifacts to analyze their cultural and historical context.
The museum you choose to visit VIRTUALLY (online) must be an art museum, not a science museum or a children's museum. It must have Non-Western art. The work reviewed MUST BE Non-Western in origin. It can be ancient to modern, but must relate to a culture that we have studied in this course.
If you have questions on the Museum Website or acceptable nature of the art studied, please ask me.
If you choose to attend a museum or event "in person" (not required), you are assuming all risks and responsibilities associated with attending. You are in no way "required" to go anywhere "in person" for this course for the Cultural Experience Research Essay or for any other reason.
Pre-CV-19 Crisis Suggestions (not required during the current Pandemic)
One suggested location in the St. Petersburg, Florida, area is the Museum of Fine Arts, 255 Beach Dr NE St Petersburg, FL 33701 (https://fine-arts.org/). The MFA has small sections for Native American, Latin American, African, Indian, and Eastern arts.
There are also exhibitions of Asian art on occasions in the Leepa Rattner Museum on the Tarpon Springs Campus LRMA Leppa Ratner Museum on the Tarpon Springs Campus LRMA https://www.leeparattner.org/ Be sure to focus on Non-Western exhibits for this class.
Also check for Non-Western art exhibits at the Tampa Museum of Modern Art https://tampamuseum.org/on_view/. Be sure to focus on Non-Western exhibits for this class.
Respond to the essay questions (prompts) on this worksheet to construct your body paragraphs. Use full sentences and paragraphs for each essay prompt. Then cut and paste your responses to a word document for your essay.
Utilize APA or MLA format. Writing must be in essay format and contain a minimum of three works cited, and in-text citations [Please remember to include the textbook as one of those resources]. The completed essay should be 500 to 600 words total.
Use the following worksheet as a guide to your museum visit and to begin your Essay:
Museum Visit & Essay Checklist
Relevance:
Be sure the museum you select covers cultures covered in this class. Otherwise, it will be considered off-topic.
HUMANITIES= Non-Western Arts and Cultures: (Asia, India, Africa, Native Americas, Oceania)
This Cultural experience assignment allows you to record your experience by following a short checklist to ensure you get all the benefits of your visit. Knowing what is expected will help you plan your visit. After your visit, you will write an essay that includes the following pieces of information:
• In your introduction, provide background information that leads into a thesis statement about your main focus (1-3 objects) Add any background research to the periods and cultures that you may encounter. Be sure to explain how the collection relates to one of the world cultures covered in our course.
• Describe how the museum or the specific exhibit visited was curated (By theme, subject, era, culture, etc.?)
• Choose 1 to 3 cultural artifacts (painting, sculpture, statue, piece of furniture, etc.) that you find most interesting.
• Include an image of your chosen artifact(s). Some museums will not allow photos to be taken inside the building, so you can simply find an image online and include it with your essay. Be sure to cite the website that your image came from.
• Analyze your chosen cultural artifact and offer a description of it. Who created it? Does it have a title? What year was it created? Include research about the object, its period and cultural context.
• Discuss the positioning of your chosen cultural artifact. Where did the curator choose to place it? Do the works around it affect your analysis of it? If your chosen cultural artifact is by itself-maybe in a separate room-why do you think this is?
• In your conclusion, consider the cultural and historical significance of your chosen artifacts. How do they enhance our understanding of the humanities and the human experience?
Checklist for writing the essay
Be sure to address all aspects of the checklist in your essay. Here are the minimum requirements for the essay itself:
• Between 500 to 750 words in length, not including original title and references
• Focus on museum and specific artifacts. Try to avoid 1st person voice.
• Essay structure (Introduction, body paragraphs and conclusion)
• Research before and after cultural experience (cultural, historical contexts)
• Add parenthetical citations within body paragraphs for supporting research
• Be sure to add commentary and interpretation to research in your own words
• Match parenthetical citations with References or Works Cited at bottom of essay