Community & Media (VCC390HS)

Final Project & Presentation:  (35%)

Project Presentation (5%) Due: November 22-November29

Final project Submission (30%) Due: November 25

I understand that deadlines can be tough, so please consult with meat least a week in advance if you will have difficulties submitting within this time frame. Presentations are firm in dates

Submission Instructions: Please submit to Quercus.

Length: Digital Humanities projects with works cited or endnotes are included.

Document Specifications: submit a webpage or a link that combine all digital methods or methodologies discussed in class, photovoice (photography or video),Digital Story Telling (Good well scripted Short Video) Oral History (Good well scripted podcast, audio, interview), Scroll telling, Padlet mapping

Final project description:

By now the class should be able to identify their own self-identity and also their own group member interests, identities, history of immigration and cultures. After this being achieved, helping others means creating and building a community of strangers to belong and feel inclusive is your turn to make it happen!! Ready, Steady, GOOOO!

Project choices

Project Choice 1:

Launch a UTM Community Organization for International Students

Submission Format: Web Link

Project Overview

Your goal is to launch a new UTM community organization that helps international students transition from their liminal space to a more harmonic space. This organization should be inclusive and supportive of all multicultural international students on campus.

Choose an existing UTM student union or campus organization as inspiration for your own group. Create a webpage for this organization, including the following elements:

1.   Homepage

•   An "About" section introducing your VCC390 community group and the founders of this initiative.

•   A "Members" section featuring a diverse selection of students who are new

members. Include goals for an online collection, ranging from digitizing videos to migrating digital files, such as photovoice, podcasts, and digital storytelling edits.

Note: Be considerate when asking students to share their personal histories, narratives, or content as part of a class assignment.

2. Theme

Develop a theme that reflects a commonly shared narrative among members of this innititive.

Write a “Vision” statement on the homepage, with an introduction that provides a historical, political, or social overview, incorporating two class concepts and two readings.

Address questions such as: (Notes will be written in shared documents explained in the startkit)

What is the purpose of this union or organization?

Who benefits from the organization’s digital initiatives?

What are possible future goals to foster solidarity among members?

Reflect on your position -positionality- as an insider vs. outsider and participant vs. objective observer.

Be creative in considering how this project could offer long-term benefits to the organization.

3. Theoretical Framework

Use 1–2 course readings to identify relevant concepts and theoretical frameworks that support your project. Draw from class activities throughout the term to guide your creative process.

Assignment Specifications

•     Word Limit: Discuss with your group to determine an appropriate script. length, e.g., 400 words per photo/video.

•     Citation Style. Follow Chicago citation guidelines.

•     Platform. Use a webpage builder of your choice, such as Wix, WordPress, or Weebly.

Additional Guidelines

• Opening Line: First impressions matter, so craft a compelling opening.

• Members: 4–5 members in total.

• Collaboration: The number of members in the organization should correspond to the

number of students in your group. Each student will produce a digital narrative for one member (e.g., if there are 4 students in the group, the organization should have 4 members).

Method Flexibility

You may mix different storytelling methods (e.g., digital storytelling, scrollytelling, photovoice) as long as they align with the course theme and support the organization’spurpose.

Project Choice 2: Critical Investigation of an Existing Organization

Digital Support for Canadian Immigration Organizations

Overview

Research websites of North American immigration organizations and design 4 digital project that meets their needs. Select a Canadian immigration organization or a campus organization for newcomers that could benefit from digital support. This project will involve observing, analyzing, and creating.

1. Observe

Examine the organization’s vision, mission, and purpose. Consider why it was created, who its members are (e.g., a specific ethnic group or a diverse cultural community), and assess any strengths and areas for improvement.

Reflect on whether your group could assist the organization in better achieving its   goals, particularly if it archives immigrant stories. Note if there are opportunities to enhance the representation and promotion of these stories.

2.   Analyze

Identify potential opportunities to help the organization achieve online collection goals, such as digitizing videos, migrating digital files, creating photovoice projects, producing podcasts, and editing digital storytelling materials.

Be mindful of asking students or participants to share personal histories, narratives, or content within the context of this class assignment.

3. Create

Develop public-facing digital materials that align with the class approach and the organization’sneeds.

Choose a theme for the organization that resonates with commonly expressed student perspectives. On the homepage, write a “vision” statement for the organization that includes a historical, political, or social overview. Integrate two class concepts and two readings in your introduction to answer questions such as:

What is the purpose of this organization?

Who benefits from its digital initiatives?

What are possible future goals to foster solidarity among members?

Assignment Specifications

• Word Limit: Discuss with your group to determine the length needed for each section, e.g., 400–600 words per photo or video.

• Citation Style: Follow Chicago style citation guidelines.

• Platform. Choose a suitable platform. to showcase your project, such as Wix, WordPress, or Weebly.

Additional Guidelines

Each student should contribute 4–5 ideas, with each student responsible for meeting one specific need of the organization.

Possible Themes/concepts- Chosen theme should be a common idea emergedfrom all members invited to the digital organization not random according to your interest always remember who’s benefiting (not you apparently!!)

The Proximity of Stranger Bodies to Campus -Sarah Ahmed

How does multiculturalism reinvent ‘the nation’ over the bodies of strangers?

Typical Canadian and Real Canadian – Sarah Ahmed

The In-Betweens Moving Between Cultures - Where are you from?

Ying’s critical autoethnography tells the story of how she seeks to more fully understand where she is from. She also wonders, as a Chinese woman living in Aotearoa, if there is anywhere, she can call home (Ying Wang, 2023)

By using Ying’s critical ethnography arts-based inquiry framework, develop the members own arts-based journey of exploration into the concept of in-betweenness, as it occurs within the process of moving between roots of culture and adopted culture. (No Illustrations, more of the digital methods mentioned)

New Racism beyond Skin Color (Culture Racism)- Sylvia Ang Bahirand Ghar – Aparna Singh

The outer/inner domain corresponded to the division of the home and the world—ghar and bahir. Whereas the world was the domain of the men who had to imitate the scientific and technological advance of the West and its rational and “modern methods of statecraft,” the home was the truly Indian domain where women preserved the “self-identity of national culture.” Sengupta 2022

Valorization and Invisibilization - Christoph Sohn

Emerging shared regional identities

Q/is it possible to combine concepts

A/ OFFCOURSE YESSSSS

DH Final Project and Presentation startkit

1.   Setup a Shared Folder on Google Docs or Microsoft One Drive. You’ll share this folder with me same as you did for assignment 3

2.   Start a New Document where you’ll keep notes on your meetings for the Project

3.   Begin by establishing who will perform. separate lead roles for the exhibition project. See the roles on the other side of the page. Note that these lead roles will still require that everyone participates; the lead role will simply betaking the initiative to get the task started.

a.   Some will perform. multiple roles, so try to distribute the tasks evenly and fairly. In discussion with your group, you can always change roles later if the distribution becomes unexpectedly uneven.

b.   Be honest about what you can handle, but don’t try to avoid work. Offer suggestions about how you think you can best contribute.

c.   Conversely, be sympathetic and understanding about others’ abilities and schedules. Be encouraging, respectful, and inclusive. Come see me if you need adivce about handling group dynamics.

4.   Take a few minutes to share which choice the group will proceed with.

5.   Decide together what ideas you like best for community organization theme to go in

which digital methodology, methods and platform. will be used.

6. Divide and Allocate Writing Tasks and scenarios

a. Decide who respectively will write the scenarios and take notes of how this project should come together.

b. Decide who will do the research, or everyone will work together to find

members for opt 1 or even will search for organizations in relation for opt 2.

7.   Once you’ve decided on roles, rough out a reasonable set of deadlines or benchmarks for different stages of the project and who will present.

Lead Roles (see step 4 on the other side of the page)

• Meeting notetaker: for every meeting, including this initial meeting, record every topic that is discussed and any decisions that are made about tasks and duties. Hope you’re writing everything down, starting now!

• Meeting/message coordinator: this is the point person for communication. This person will be the one who sends out messages to coordinate meetings or tasks and to ensure that everyone is up to date on what is happening.

o Briefly discuss reasonable guidelines for communication that everyone can work with.

Preferred method of communication: email, WhatsApp, text message, etc.? Make sure that you keep a record of these messages in case I need to see them to assess participation. Assignment 3 was a small scale of working in a group lets see the bigger scale of final project

How quickly should the group expect a response from each member?

o Briefly discuss general availability for Zoom or in-person meetings

Note: Consider setting up a Doodle poll or some other online scheduler to figure out the best time for everyone to meet

• Prof. Liaison: This person will be responsible for reaching out with any questions the

group has or to schedule a meeting with them. Note: as a group you can decide whether to send a single representative to the meeting or whether some or all of you attend.

• Submitter: this person will be responsible for ensuring that every requirement has been

met and will upload the necessary document to Quercus on the group’sbehalf. Note: only ONE person in the group will submit the project.

November 22 and November 29 are the dates for presenting and pitching ideas in front of the class. Agree on who will be presenting, and keep it to a strict 2-minute talk, as the class has 63 students and time is limited- Please take pictures within the process, pictures or screenshot of group working together

Presentation Description:

In a 2-minute pitch, present your own project idea by addressing the following questions in a way that ensures the class understands its essence.

1.   Which project have you chosen and why does it interest you?

2.   What theme emerged and concepts you planned to incorporate to align with the outcomes of this project?

3.   How would the chosen community benefit from this project?

4.   Show pictures of your group working collaboratively

Reflection Paper – 20%

Due Dec 6

Learners individually are required to write a short reflection paper (700-900 words) that addresses the following criteria with reference to the relative scholarly readings:

●   Brief description of your final project

●   How much effort did you put into working with your group? What initiative did you take to get communication going? (Provide examples, such as your contributions to emails, discussions, or scheduling)

●   What you learned from the project and from the course?

●   The outcome of your project. It is pertinent to discuss the value of a success and/or a productive failure

●   Did the mini-assignments and class activities allow you to get different

perceptions of yourself and represent lived experiences as a student and part of a community?

●   Did the project come together in the way that you expected?

●   If not, what did you learn from this experience?

●   What is the contribution of your project to the community?

●   What challenges do you find pertaining to this course? How does this course change your perceptions in life?

●   What would you do differently in the future?

●   What do you wish this course has or to add by next time?