7-1 Project Submission

Overview

As you navigate your academic and professional careers, you will encounter many different perspectives and cultures. Whether it’s business, governmental relations, graphic design, or cooking, all fields lead back to human beings. In this course, you have learned how the humanities teach us about each other and also about ourselves. Creative works allow us to make sense of our own identities as well as the world around us. They can serve as an entry point for understanding complicated topics.

Directions

For this project, you will choose one of the three topics (diversity, mental health, or activism) and view the topic through different creative works that represent the visual, literary, or performing arts subject areas of the humanities. First, you must identify two creative works associated with your topic. The creative works must be from two different humanities subject areas. These creative works can be selected from a list of works located in the Project Resources linked in the Supporting Materials section below. Alternatively, you may choose to select two creative works not included in the provided list with instructor approval. You may choose from the following humanities subject areas:

• Visual art (paintings, photographs, sculpture, architecture, drawing, film)
• Performing arts (theater, dance, music, opera)
• Literature (novels, poems, scripts for plays, short stories, song lyrics)

To complete this project, you will use the Project Template. You will use the same template that you began in Module Two and continued using for the Project Draft assignments. Review the instructor feedback on these assignments to revise your work before submitting this project.

Parts One and Two of the template involve describing the two creative works you selected that represent your chosen topic (diversity, mental health, or activism). The third part of the template involves a reflection in which you will consider how the humanities in general influence self-identity.

Specifically, you must address the following:

Part One: Choose the Creative Works

In this section, you will specify which topic you have chosen and the two creative works that you have chosen. You will use the two creative works to compare various subject areas of the humanities in relation to your chosen topic. Address the following criteria in Part One.

1. Creative Works: Describe the two creative works.
   1. Your chosen topic (mental health, diversity, or activism)
   2. The names of the chosen creative works
   3. The subject area of the humanities they fall under (visual, literary, or performing arts)
2. Understand the Topic: Describe how the chosen creative works can be used to understand the topic.
   1. How do the different humanities subject areas you have chosen (visual, literary, or performing arts) approach the topic?
3. Value of the Diverse Perspectives: Describe the value of the diverse perspectives demonstrated in the chosen creative works.
   1. What are examples of diverse perspectives represented in the creative works?
   2. What do these diverse perspectives add to the work?
4. Biases and Assumptions: Describe potential biases and assumptions present in the creative works in relation to the topic.
   1. In what ways does the work challenge the audience’s assumptions or provoke deeper reflection about the cultural issue it addresses?
   2. How does the work present multiple perspectives, contradictions, or ambiguities that invite interpretation and discussion?

Part Two: Self and Society

In this section, you will use the two creative works you chose to demonstrate how the humanities shape the relationship between self and society regarding your topic. Address the following criteria in Part Two.

1. Create Meaning: Describe how the creative works create meaning surrounding the topic.
   1. How do the creative works help the audience to make sense of the topic?
   2. How do the creative works help the audience to make sense of society in relation to the topic?
2. Society’s Perception: Describe how the creative works have impacted society’s perception of the topic.
3. Different Groups: Describe how the creative works might be perceived by different groups of people.
   1. How might different generations or cultures perceive the creative works differently?
4. Development of Empathy: Explain how the creative works influence the development of empathy regarding the topic.
   1. How does the work invite the audience to see the world from another person’s perspective, especially someone with a different cultural or social background?
   2. What specific emotions or experiences in your works help the audience feel a deeper connection to people or issues they might not have encountered personally?
5. Critical Thinking: Explain how the creative works encourage critical thinking regarding the topic.
   1. How do the works challenge an audience to reconsider their assumptions or examine their own cultural perspectives?
   2. How can you describe the artistic choices in the work, such as color in a visual work or the sound of the music in a song, in an objective way? How do your personal reactions to those choices add a subjective layer to your analysis?

Part Three: Identity and the Humanities

In this section, you will reflect on how the humanities influence understanding of self-identity. Address the following criteria in Part Three.

1. Humanities and Self-Identity: Describe the relationship between the humanities and self-identity.
   1. How do creative works impact the way people view themselves?
   2. How has a specific reading or creative work in this course challenged your own understanding of your identity?
2. Sociocultural Factors: Describe sociocultural factors that influence identity construction.
   1. How do sociocultural factors, such as ethnicity, race, religion, and sexuality, influence one’s identity?
   2. Think of a moment when your identity was shaped by a factor such as race, religion, gender, economic class, or nationality. What course material helped you understand this moment more clearly? How did it change how you viewed that moment?
3. Different Humanities Subject Areas: Explain how different humanities subject areas can be used to understand one’s identity.
   1. Choose two different humanities subject areas (literary, visual, and performing arts) and explain how each helped you consider your own identity.
4. Self-Concept: Explain how diverse perspectives influence self-concept.
   1. Consider examples of diverse perspectives discussed in this course. Which perspective in the course was most different from your own? Why?
   2. Choose one to three examples or creators with views other than your own who you have learned about in this course. What did you learn from those different perspectives that showed you some aspect of your own self-concept?