"There are four kinds of people when it comes to being curious about the world and asking questions. The first one walks down the street and notices nothing. The second walks down the street, sees construction happening, exclaims, "Oh! Construction!" and then keeps going. The third person notices things, such as the construction site, and has opinions and judgements about it. The fourth walks down the street, notices things -- construction included -- and is curious: what are they building?, what'll it cost?, what'll happen to this and that after?"
We want our students to be the 4th person!
Introduction
Welcome to the Re-Reading Local Spaces, a Place as Text Virtual faculty Institute sponsored by the National Collegiate Honors Council’s (NCHC) Place-as-Text Committee. This is a professional development opportunity for anyone involved in student learning and interested in approaches to active and place-based learning. Since 1978, the overall strategies involved in City/Place as text have proven to serve a broad range of pedagogical objectives. These approaches begin with helping students and faculty to attend to (i.e., see, hear, smell, taste, touch) the world around them and then to begin to understand that all the aspects of perception involve interpretation. Both are necessary for any attempt at analysis and are prerequisites for understanding.
For you as a participant, this means several things. First, you will be placing yourself in the role of students who are acquiring observational skills even as they are fulfilling course requirements. Like students doing something new, you will sometimes feel excited and energized and other times feel frustrated and confused. Because time in each place is limited, you will be working very hard and expending a lot of energy.
Re-reading the Local imagines PAT in a flexible, hybrid, and even virtual space. Participants will develop their understanding of PAT strategies - Mapping, Observing, Listening, Reflecting - while they design ways to make PAT work regardless of context or setting. A new emphasis on multimedia platforms will be central to the Institute, providing participants with interdisciplinary experiences they may employ to document student learning in a variety of contexts. How has a global pandemic and the present moment pushed us to see the local through different lenses? How are we able to consider our world without technological apparatuses such as Zoom? How does technology influence or change our perceptions of place, specifically the local in the global?
As you move through this exploration of territory that may be familiar to you (the local), you will record your experiences and observations in writing, photographs, and using other multimedia platforms. You will refer to maps that others have created. Please know, however, that what you are undertaking is a Mapping Exercise in the rawest sense: while you may refer to maps that others have created, you should attend to your own perceptions and have your own experiences. Gradually you’ll produce a new map—your own—of its territory. Doing so helps to discern why and how you see/experience what you do; why and how you react to what you do; and to begin to think about the difference(s) your own specific presence makes to any close interaction you witness en route.
To help you with these demands on your sensibilities, we provide you with reflection assignments. Please follow instructions about when to submit these brief writings and multimedia assignments. We have set up a Google Drive folder where you can upload your completed assignment (or a link to the assignment) each day. As a back-up, you may email the assignment to the facilitators. When you are not doing your field explorations, please use your time to write, review your notes, review your readings, and reflect on your changing impressions over time.
Place as Text Faculty Institute: Re-Reading Local Spaces
City-as-Text (CAT) has become a standard part of many honors programs, from “campus as text” orientation sessions to full-semester CAT-based courses. Re-Reading Local Spaces reimagines CAT in a flexible, hybrid, and even virtual space. Participants will develop their understanding of CAT strategies - Mapping, Observing, Listening, Reflecting - while they design ways to make CAT work regardless of context or setting. An emphasis on multimedia platforms will be central to the Institute, providing participants with interdisciplinary experiences they may employ in documenting student learning in a variety of contexts.
Facilitators:
Abby Moore, UNC Charlotte
Kera Coyer, Valencia College
Monday, June 10
1 - 2pm EST (on Zoom):
2-3pm EST:
3-4pm EST:
Tuesday, June 11
On your own anytime before 1PM EST:
1pm - 1:45 EST:
1:45 - 2:45pm EST:
2:45-3:45pm EST:
3:45-4pm EST:
Wednesday, June 12
On your own time before 2pm EST:
Complete Turning Point assignment
2 - 2:45pm EST:
Share out Turning Point assignment
2:45 - 3:45 EST:
Workshop & Consultation - workshop a CAT/PAT experience for the next academic year
3:45 - 4pm EST:
Debrief & Closing
