To Do for Class Day 15 (Tuesday 10/11/2016)

photo of a white-haired man in a red shirt
David Byrne

Wow, those were some great presentations on Thursday!

As a reminder, here are the tasks due for class on Tuesday, October 11th. There are two main tasks: reflect on S2 and read selections from David Byrne’s book Bicycle Diaries. The readings are more in-depth than what we’ve looked at so far, so be sure to leave some time for them. It’s no fun to try to read these in a hurry.

Victoria, Ariel, Amanda, and Sam will give their S2 presentations–sorry about the delay!

S2 Reflection

For everyone else, don’t forget to post a reflection on your S2 to your blog.

A basic reflection (in other words, a grade of B) discusses your sense of the strengths and weaknesses of your S2 presentation, and outlines a plan for improving. It includes specific, concrete details and examples to illustrate your points.

A strong reflection (grade of A) does what a B reflection does, but goes further:

  • It includes specific reference to course materials (using the reflection to demonstrate your knowledge of course material)
  • It refers to another student’s work (showing your ability to derive learning from peer work)
  • It includes an appropriate image (showing your ability to communicate in visual as well as verbal forms)
  • it is about 500 words in length

Reading David Byrne

David Byrne is best known as the front man of ’80s band The Talking Heads. YouTube it. Since then, he’s has become known as an artist, urbanist, and social critic.

Read two selections from his book Bicycle Diaries (2009). Start with the one on San Francisco, then read the one on Istanbul.

This link takes you to the reading page.

Reflecting on David Byrne

Post to your blog a response or reaction to David Byrne’s writing. Your response should have two parts and should include and image:

  1. Byrne mentions a lot people, places, and things. Google one of them. It could be Tacqueria Cancún, A Confederacy of Dunces, Topkapi Palace, or Binondo. Oh wait, Binondo is in the “Manila” chapter–you’ll have to get the book if you want to read about that. In your response, explain a little bit about what the person, place, or thing is. Byrne doesn’t really do that.
  2. Respond in whatever way you think is appropriate–but you should try to use Byrne’s thinking as a launching point… use his ideas as a starting place to explore your perspective on the world.