User:JFulton

=Freshman Seminar=

Always Wanted To Schedule

 * Topic

Plan a family vacation to a European country.
 * Research Component

I will research cost, passport requirements, and the country my family would most want to visit in the future.
 * Week 1

•Determine country •Look up passport requirements •Look up flight cost


 * Week 2

•Find book about history of country •Find book with historical sites in country


 * Week 3

•Find scholarly journal •Find means of transportation in country


 * Week 4

•Find reliable internet site with information on country •Find internet site that recommends things to do


 * Week 5

•Make savings plan •Plan budget for trip •Research advise for best places to visit(Videos)
 * Week 6

•Go through Information pull it all together •Double check sources


 * Week 7

•Create final presentation •Write about what went well, what went wrong, and future strategies. •Write about accomplishments


 * Week 8

•Catch up on any late work

Midterm Assignment 1: Taste & Aesthetics
While walking through the Olympic Sculpture Park I came across several statues that were interesting to look at. There were two statues in particular that I did not really care for. Eagle by Alexander Calder and Sky Landscape by Louise Nevelson were my least favorite sculptures in the park. In the end I decided to research the Eagle by Alexander Calder and attempt to see it in a different perspective. Abstract art has never been one of my favorite types of art. Eagle for me looked nothing like the bird, but instead curved metal painted red. My research of Calder was surprisingly interesting though. Calder came from a family of artist, and from a young age was encouraged to be artistic. Though Calder never intended on becoming a world renowned artist, he originally was and engineer and did various jobs until 1923 when he became dedicated to art. One thing in particular that I was surprised to find out about Calder was that he loved the circus, something I can relate to also. Calder became famous for his Cirque Calder, his large scale sculptures such as Flamingo, and his mobiles. Looking again at Eagle, I still am indifferent about the sculpture. Other pieces of Calder’s work such as Crinkly avec disc Rouge I find much more interesting to look at. The size of Eagle mixed in with its solid color to me seems boring to look at despite the curvy lines of the sculpture. Crinkly avec disc Rouge on the other hand has more than multiple colors, shapes, and patterns. Resources: http://calder.org/home.html

Midterm Assignment 2: Manipulation
Links: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQ0A0xbORPU http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDUQW8LUMs8

Midterm Assignment 3: Always Wanted To Progress Report (100 words or so)
In the beginning of this project I stuck to my planned schedule like glue. Over the last couple of weeks I unfortunately have drifted away from my schedule. Luckily for me I planned for my procrastination in week eight, which is dedicated to catching up on any and all late work. Hopefully I will be able to catch up before week eight. Besides falling behind on my planned schedule my project is going well. I believe I made it clear that I will not actually be going to England anytime soon.

Final Presentation

 * Topic (10%)

Plan a future trip to London, England with family.


 * Research (20%)

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 * 1) Internet site:http: //www.state.gov/; Priceline.com; http://www.ricksteves.com/home.htm


 * 2) Book:A traveler’s history of England

Fifth edition Christopher Daniell


 * 3) Scholarly Journal:Wood, Michael. "Birth of England: The Wessex Kings." (2004): n. pag. Web. 8 Dec 2009. .


 * 4) Other (interview, TV show,etc):http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPNJV-SK--k

http://images.google.com/imghp?hl=en&tab=wi http://www.visitlondon.com/attractions/culture/top-ten-attractions


 * Your accomplishment (20%)

My plan for vacationing to London is still a few years away. That is why I created a savings plan that will help me reach my goal. Starting after Christmas I plan on stashing away roughly one hundred and fifty dollars a month in my savings account. If everything goes according to plan in twenty-four months I should, hopefully, have three thousand and six hundred dollars saved. Assuming my cousin and nephew pitch in the money I save should be enough. Not to mention my dad will also save money for the trip, which will be a big help. Also I created a general list of ideal places to visit while in London. Of course there are the must sees like the Tower of London and Big Ben, but there are also the smaller places like local shops and pubs like the Cheshire Cheese. A general ideal list was all I was able to come up with due to the fickle nature of my relatives. One moment they might want to see the Eye of London, the next they might just want to go to the theater and watch a movie instead. So a list of suggested ideal places to visit seemed like the wisest choice and the best way to avoid arguments.


 * Project Review (50%)
 * 1.Information about London was the best part of this project in my opinion. In the beginning I had a general idea about the size of London and the many interesting historical sites. But by the end of this project I was nearly overwhelmed by all of the information. There were just so many suggested places to see and events to do, picking through the information on what to present and what to leave out was almost difficult.


 * 2. Planning is what went poorly in this project. Instead of spreading my workload throughout the weeks, I should have attempted to get the majority of it out of the way at the beginning. Also with getting a new job my project schedule was interrupted, leaving me less free time to get my work done. Besides poor time management I feel this project went alright.


 * 3. Some future strategies I have in mind are planning my time better. Normally I start off strong on a project then drift off course over the weeks. In the future I can plan to do the majority of the project in the beginning versus spreading it out over time, saving me from last minute work.

Self-Assessment
Although I felt this class was mostly review on facts that I had previously learned, I did manage to learn a few new tidbits of information. The hip-hop video in particular was a good learning experience. While I had known some of the fact in the movie I never thought or knew about the extent of violence and discrimination in the music. I thought the whole video was interesting, but did wish that they had interviewed female artist and got their take on the situation. Another interesting topic that we went over in class was the author discussion. Even now I can only name a couple of female or minority authors, but white male authors I can list without a problem. It had never occurred to me before then that a majority of the books I read where by white males. I am unsure about what to do with that information though. In general I pick my reading literature by reading the back of the book and the first couple of pages to see if it is interesting or not. If not obviously I don’t read it. The author of the book never crosses my mind, even when I have finished reading. Even though a large majority of this class was review, I do feel like I have grown somewhat by attending it.