Cultural-Societal Artifact
Description
First, briefly (could be a few sentences) define and describe your own understanding of culture (or how one might think and ask questions in terms of the “cultural”) as well as society (or how one might think and ask questions in terms of the social) and provide a few examples of scholarly “disciplines” (Links to an external site.) as well as potential interdisciplinary (Links to an external site.) topics/areas of interest that might engage these concerns. Second, find an artifact involving culture and or society—could be an example of a prominent cultural or social “structure,” norm, or behavior; it could be an instance of a contemporary cultural or social dilemma or issue; or it could be an object that conveys or represents some aspects of these (feel free to be creative! If you think you can make an argument for why something makes sense to you in these terms, go for it!)—and that you find to be rich and compelling (in the sense that it shows us something potentially crucial about the current historical moment, gives us a window into something critical about the present and future, shows something personally important to you as you navigate these things or anything along these lines) and that you might actually consider using as an artifact in your final collection. Post a brief description of this ‘artifact’ here along with a brief explanation of why you chose it/what kinds of arguments or themes you might be able to explore with it in these terms. Be prepared to discuss all of this during our class session.
