Final Project – due the end of this unit DQ for the week Seminar Welcome to Seminar – Unit 9 Popular Culture and the Humanities

Final Project due at the end of this unit Your Final Project for this course will be a virtual time capsule. A time capsule is a grouping of items for future discovery. For our purposes, we will imagine that our time capsule will be buried at the end of the course and opened 100 years later. The goal of our capsule is to provide an overview of what you believe future generations will need to remember about the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries.

The project can be composed in Microsoft Word or PowerPoint. It can include multimedia if you wish. It should include : the following eight parts 1. A letter of introduction to tell someone in the future about your day- to-day life. What is your daily experience? Tell this person about your habits, your customs, your feelings about our present time, and your dreams for the future. 2. An example of morality and decision-making in current culture in 100 words or more 3. Your definition of happiness in 100 words or more, including how you came to this view

Next, you will also chose an artifact for each of the following areas: 4.A significant literary work (poem, short story, play, or novel) 5.A significant example of art or architecture 6.A significant song or group of songs 7.A significant film 8.A significant item from popular culture (a toy, gadget, fad, etc.)

Next, you will also chose an artifact for each of the areas, 4 thru 8: You will explain the item in one paragraph, giving it context, and describing it. Then spend at least one paragraph justifying its inclusion in the time capsule: Why is this item worth preserving for the future, and what does it communicate about our culture today? Why this object above all the other possibilities? Please feel free to include examples that you discovered in our studies this term. Challenge yourself to choose items that might be valuable for the future, though they might not necessarily be your favorites. Cite sources if you use them. As always, contact your instructor if you have questions.

Your final project must be original work written for this class. This means that you must be the author (turning in a project written by someone else is plagiarism and will not be tolerated) and you must not have turned in your project (or another version of it) for a grade in another class.

DQ : Popular culture is all around us: in fact, it could be argued that this entire course was an exercise in pop culture. We have defined and evaluated the major trends of twentieth century art, music, film, and literature, while we have also explored the figureheads behind theories of freedom, morality, and happiness. All of these contributions have been left behind as artifacts, telling us about the values of the past.

Imagine that someone cut off from mass culture finds an artifact from today’s culture, an item from popular culture. In your discussion, explain what item you would like this person to find, what you would hope it would signify to them, and how you imagine it could also be interpreted.

Seminar: After watching Chapter 2: Emotional Branding from the PBS documentary “The Persuaders,” please answer the following questions. Think back over the course of the last few days. Consider where you went and what you did. Now, try to remember any advertising you may have seen.Chapter 2: Emotional Branding These might be on typical settings, such as billboards or television. They may also appear in less obvious places, such as logos on clothing or in the background of a movie.

1. What was advertised and where did you see it? Can you remember the images and the products being advertised?

2. Is advertising effective? Why or why not? What does the pervasiveness of advertising say about our culture?

3. The film discusses how marketers seek to appeal to consumers, specifically through creating loyalty and a sense of membership. Do you know anyone who feels this way about a product or a possession? What does this say about the product or possession?

References: Janaro, R. P., & Altshuler, T. C. (2009). The Art of Being Human: The Humanities as a Technique for Living. New York: Longman. “The Persuaders,” PBS documentary