DHM 3033 Material Culture Assignment 2: Sharing, describing, & classifying a meaningful or significant object or artifact from my major and option area

Multiple Deadlines:

· 5pm on Sunday, March 14

· 11:59 pm on Sunday, March 14

Note: This assignment sheet is 5 pages long. This assignment is worth 75 points.

****************Consider visiting a museum for this assignment!******************

Museums are great places to learn about material culture! 5 points extra credit will be given for the selection of a museum artifact or museum interior (as related to your major and option area. Your object may be located in the museum gift shop). Do not use an object you are using for another assignment or final paper.

Please allow enough time to fully complete all parts of this multi-part assignment.

No credit will be given for late or incomplete submissions.

Substantial points will be taken off if your submission does not allow other students time to access, review and comment on your presentation.

· Post your presentation to Discussion in Canvas at absolutely no later than

5pm on Sunday, March 14

to allow for other students to respond.

Final materials DUE by 11:59 PM (one minute before midnight) Sunday, March 14:

· Post 3 Responses to other students’ submissions in Discussion in Canvas by 11:59 PM

AND

· Post your submission to Assignment submission folder in Canvas by 11:59 PM (for grading). 5% will be subtracted from your final grade if not posted to assignments.

Note: No late postings will be accepted for any reason.

Purpose

Upon successful completion of Assignment 2, the student will make strides towards achieving the goals of this course. The student will be able to:

1. Recognize the significance of material culture…and the significance of people’s interaction with it.

2. Demonstrate an understanding of the theories and products of the major theoretical movements and their adherents.

3. Evaluate the effectiveness of objects…relative to the needs of the users for whom they were designed.

4. …Communicate…utilizing the vocabulary developed by scholars in the design disciplines and social sciences.

Instructions:

Select a significant three-dimensional, man-made object or artifact of material culture related to YOUR DHM OPTION AREA (Merchandising, apparel design/fashion or interior design).

(This man-made object or artifact of material culture might be something from

your home, a museum (5 points extra credit for a museum object or artifact), a

space or building you visit (5 points extra will be given for a museum interior if you

are in interior design), your workplace, or a retail store.

This cannot be merely a photograph or image you might find of an object or artifact. You must physically touch or be very close to the actual object or artifact and take a current photograph of yourself with it. Ask permission in museums!)

Before proceeding, please review these definitions and sections in your textbook:

· what is material culture?;

· objects versus artifacts of material culture;

· material culture theories;

· and material culture typographies (classification systems)

Using PowerPoint prepare the following:

1. Create a video with ARC with oral commentary (3-5 minutes)

OR

Create written text and slides with images (8-10 slides)

clearly showing you (your face inacluded) along with your selected object or artifact

(for example you could be next to, inside of (for a building interior) holding or wearing your object or artifact. If your face is not included 5 points will be deducted from your final grade.

Clearly indicate if you are presenting an object OR an artifact and justify your choice).

Do not select images or video of yourself or your object that you have taken prior to January 2020!

2. At the very beginning of your ARC video or on the first slide of your PowerPoint presentation, indicate your complete name, your major (DHM) and your option area (interior design, apparel design, or merchandising and how your object or artifact is related to your major.)

3. Using material culture vocabulary, develop a brief story. Include:

a. How you came to be interested in the selected object or artifact; and

b. When was this object or artifact created?

c. Why was this object or artifact created?

d. Who created this object or artifact? (could be a manufacturer or tribe etc.)

e. How was this object or artifact created?

f. What is the material or content of this object or artifact? (i.e. gold, silk, plastic etc. Be as specific as possible. If it is wood, can you identify the exact species of wood?)

g. Why it this object or artifact meaningful or significant to you; and

h. How you can interact with the object or artifact (Consider which senses you use. Do you see, hear, smell, taste, or touch the object or artifact and under what circumstances).

If you cannot definitively answer at least 7 of these 8 questions do NOT use that object or artifact.

“I don’t know” is not a sufficient answer. Do not guess. Be detailed in your responses.

4. Identify and select a relevant theory from your textbook (For example: Freudian Psychoanalytic Theory, Sociological Theory, Marxist Theory) and give the page number in your textbook where you found the theory.

5. Explain and justify why the selected theory is applicable to your object or artifact. Be very specific. Use vocabulary from Material Culture textbook.

6. Classify the object using at least one typology (class system) from your textbook.

(for example: Id, ego, superego; OR

high culture, upper middle culture, lower middle culture, quasi-folk low culture; youth, Black and ethnic cultures; OR

Functional/Dysfunctional/Non-Functional, Functional alternative, Manifest Function, Latent function etc.

7. Explain why the classification(s) you chose best fit your object or artifact.

8. Give your personal assessment of the effectiveness (see below) of your selected object or artifact based on your needs. (Your needs could be that you “need” memories of your summer vacation near your work desk). Is it effective? Why or why not? This should be 5-7 complete sentences.

ef·fec·tive·ness [i?fektivn?s]

NOUN the degree to which something is successful in producing a desired result; success:

“the effectiveness of the treatment”

synonyms: success · productiveness · potency · power · benefit ·

Powered by Oxford Dictionaries · © Oxford University Press · Translation by Bing Translator

9. When finished, upload the ARC video (convert to a MP4 file) or PowerPoint slides (convert to a PDF file) that you produced for this activity to the online Discussion board on Canvas.

(This will give other students the opportunity to see what you have done and prepare their comments.)

10. Then ALSO upload your ARC video (in a MP4 file) or PowerPoint slides (in a PDF file) you produced for this activity to the online Assignment submission folder so it may be graded. 5 points will be taken off of your final grade if you do not complete this step.

11. On the online discussion board, thoughtfully respond to THREE other student’s activity post. Be sure to include your full name so that you will receive credit. Thoughtful responses mean that you do not simply agree with another student or tell them they have done a good job or a poor job. Be sure to offer specific, constructive criticism and advice for improvement, add comments which build on what the other student has done, or indicate specifically what you learned from the other student using terms from your textbook.