WEEK 02
CLASS CONTENT
May 8-12.
5 Silk Road artifacts. campus sculpture hunt. Met collection.
For the first two days this week, we are recapping the Silk Road to place it on a map that we will use for the remainder of the term. It will provide a sense of situatedness as our route extends into additional countries and cultures as we transition into the next Unit on Buddhism & Christianity. A focus on "objects" is useful as reminders of the stops we “visited” before on the Silk Road — in the making of our Tunnel Books in art class and in Between the Eagle and the Dragon that we finished last week in English. In doing so, we will also gain skills in research using museum catalogues and collections. This leads us into the second half of the week — to continue with the historical study of Buddhism. It will also focus on objects — one in particular — the iconic seated Buddha sculpture. By looking at its morphing forms (face and body), we can see how different cultures adopted, then adapted, the Buddha’s appearance as a way to track the religion as it spread outward via the Silk Road.
Monday
May 8
Tunnel Books from Art Class: 5 objects exercise.
In preparation for tomorrow's class, we will be practice "object research" to identify the images we used in our tunnel books. Each person will select one page (i.e., one city or region) to focus on.
In-class.
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Select one city/region from your tunnel book.
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Select 5 objects that you drew or collaged on that page.
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I will also provide you with the original PowerPoint from your art class, below.
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Search for background information about that object online. If you don't know the name of it, search for similar objects.
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Compile the image files in a folder on your desktop "My 5 Objects," along with any description you find of it (you can save the page as a PDF - you can see how to do so in the 'Resources: Tuesday' section below.
Homework.
Finish compiling the images of the 5 objects and PDFs of encyclopedia entries.
Tomorrow.
Now that we have practice, we will begin a similar (graded) 'Object Research' assignment tomorrow.
resources.
visual examples.
inspiration maps.
assigned.
to each student.
ASSIGNMENTS (SECTION 1) Charlotte - Petra Isla - Rome Honore - Changan Peter - Mediterranean (Rome) Teddy - The Great Wall Mae - Alexandria Alina - Kucha Zoe - Merv Chloe - Mediterranen (Phoenicians) Major - Alexandria Junis - Palmyra Maria - Rome
ASSIGNMENTS (SECTION 2) Charlotte - Petra Isla - Rome Honore - Changan Peter - Mediterranean (Rome) Teddy - The Great Wall Mae - Alexandria Alina - Kucha Zoe - Merv Chloe - Mediterranen (Phoenicians) Major - Alexandria Junis - Palmyra Maria - Rome
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tunnel book slides from art class.
Tuesday
May 9
The Met Collection: 5 artifacts
Continuing with what we learned yesterday using our Tunnel Book objects as an example, we will now utilize actual artifacts from The Met catalogue. This will be graded and due on Friday.
In-Class.
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Continuing with what we learned yesterday using our Tunnel Book objects for practice, we will now utilize actual artifacts from The Met catalogue.
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Open the GOOGLE SLIDES TEMPLATE (below) which contains specific instructions (see also video tutorial, below).
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To begin create a copy of the presentation in order to create your own version.
Homework.
Finish slides and upload to Blackbaud. It is graded and due Friday.
click to access assignment.
instructions.
video tutorial for assignment.
requirement.
artifact age 2 BC-1450 AD.
Silk Road objects must be between 2 BCE and 1450 CE. The Silk Road was a network of trade routes that connected China with the West, facilitating economic, cultural, political, and religious interactions between the two regions. It was active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. The Silk Road was not a single route, but rather a network of routes used by traders for more than 1,500 years. The term "Silk Road" is a modern name, as traditional authors discussing east-west trade never labeled any route a "silk" one in particular. The Silk Road played a central role in the exchange of goods and ideas between the East and West, including silk, wools, gold, silver, Nestorian Christianity, and Buddhism. [Search result from Perplexity]
Defining BC and BCE BCE (Before the Common Era) and CE (Common Era) are year notations. They are used as religiously neutral terms and are preferred by some academics, style guides, and educational institutions. BCE and CE are equivalent to BC (Before Christ) and AD (Anno Domini), respectively, and represent the time before and after year. [Search result from Perplexity.]
Wednesday
May 10
Overview. Now that we are familiar with ‘object research’ using museum catalogs, we will begin telling historical and creative stories through the lens of these objects — specifically, in the geographic spread of Buddhism and Christianity (our next Unit).
In-class
1. Recap what we did so far this week.
2. Siddhartha provides a literary perspective of Buddhism's evolution out of India. To visualize this, we will focus on the changing appearance of Buddha sculptures as they traveled West.
3. In the second half of class, we will begin our homework assignment — a Sculpture Scavenger Hunt.
Homework
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Scavenger hunt — spot Hindu and Buddhist sculptures on campus and photograph.
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Upload at least one photo you took to Blackbaud by Friday night. Have the photos saved on your desktop for class tomorrow.
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Tomorrow, we will conduct a reverse search your photo in Google Images, so make sure your photograph is clear and head-on.
Hints
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Hindu sculpture on 2nd floor of CWB.
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Hindu sculpture on 1st floor of Senior Thesis Building.
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Seated Buddha sculpture also on 1st floor of Senior Thesis Building (extra credit).
Later, we will 3D scan these sculpture to practice for our 3D printing Maker Space project.
hint.
Example images for the "hunt". (Only skim through the images, we have no need for the text right now!)
We will be returning to this document next week when we learn about "Buddha Symbols".
click for pdf.
Thursday
May 11
Personal Biographies.
Siddhartha.
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Watch this Herman Hesse video (many thought Siddhartha was his self-portrait) to consider our own life — and to brainstorm aspects of life that are personally significant. We will create visual symbols of these for our Buddha sculptures next week.
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In groups, quiz each other with the Quizlet cards you created for the Siddhartha Part Two vocab. Write down missed words and keep score.
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Ensure all decks are all uploaded to Quizlet (they are graded). There will be a quiz on Tuesday.
Due Tomorrow
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Slides: 5 Objects from the Met Catalogue
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Photos: from the Sculpture Scavenger Hunt
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Flashcards: final call to upload Quizlet decks.
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Bring back to class: Tunnel Books!
biography.
Hesse and Siddhartha.
practice.
Siddhartha Part Two vocab (quiz Tuesday).
flashcards we practiced in groups.
Friday
May 12
summary. Today, we will focus on the spread of Buddhism. First, in the visual appearance of Hindu versus Buddhist sculptures we found on campus. For the images that look like a hybrid of the two, we will conduct a Google reverse image search. For homework, we will learn about Ashoka who represents the backstory of this spread.
to begin.
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Identify Buddha in backyard.
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Review Buddha Quiz from last week.
in-class exercise (Fri and Mon).
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Choose one sculpture that you not are able to identify as either Hindu or Buddhist — ideally one that looks like a combination of the two (we can share photos across both sections).
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Consult the images in the "The Met" packet under Wednesday's Resources for example images.
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Complete the two "Sculpture Scavenger Hunt" assignments on Blackbaud.
homework.
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Sculpture Scavenger Hunt assignment(s) on Blackbaud.
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Bring your tunnel books back on Monday (some have not been graded yet).
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Continue studying your Quizlet vocab cards (quiz on Tuesday).