Saturday, July 23, 2011

Art to Look for at the Tate Modern

Tomorrow when you're exploring the Tate Modern, keep an eye out for the following works by post-World War II British artists:

Anish Kapoor, Ishi's Light (2003)

Bridget Riley, Fall (1963)

Francis Bacon, Figure in a Landscape (1945)
These days the Tate Modern is concentrating on telling the story of modern art as a collective and global endeavor. Why do you think the Tate's curators have decided to highlight so few British artists? Why do you think they chose to focus attention on these three artists in particular?

Monday, July 18, 2011

Reflective Research Essay

As part of your final assignment for this program, you will be turning in a three to five page (double-spaced) reflective essay concerning your research experiences in Oxford.

There is no one way to set up this essay. It should, however, offer a narrative that includes: how you chose your topic; how you refined and changed your topic over time; what obstacles you faced, if any, and how you handled them; what sources you found useful (and what ones weren't); what it was like working with others collaboratively (the good, the bad, and the weird); and how you arrived at your final argument and supporting evidence. Throughout, the focus should remain on your /experience/ of the research process, in line with the Honors Program's emphasis on experiential learning. You will have time to share the /outcome/ of your research and your /conclusions/ during the final group presentation.

This essay can be somewhat informal. That is, you can use "I" and use autobiographical anecdotes. You should, however, maintain an appropriately academic tone.

Because of the difficulty of finding a @#$@#$@# printer or copy shop here that charges less than a kidney, you can submit this essay as an electronic file readable on a Windows 7 / MS-Word computer. Preferred file formats: RTF, PDF, DOC, and DOCX. Please e-mail your final version to both Brian (professor.reed@yahoo.com) and Faye (fayec@uw.edu).

Ideally, you should submit your essay by 5pm on Friday 22 July. The ultimate final deadline is the time of your group presentation on the 26th. But believe me you don't want to put the essay off that late: you'll hate trying to write an essay and trying to practice your talk at the same time.