Overview
The enduring relevance of the humanities is that they encourage us to consider the “big ideas.” From wondering what culture is to how we go about studying it, and what is the relationship between objects of cultural and historical significance and the culture in which they are created, the study of the humanities is all-encompassing. The relationship between the creators of works of cultural and historical significance and the things they create and how human meaning is generated through cultural works are part of the themes we will be exploring in this assignment. We humans seem driven to express and create in our search to understand and be understood.
Scenario
For the purposes of this assignment, imagine you are a researcher of human cultures, an anthropologist who is looking from the future back to our world today. In this position, you develop a natural curiosity about cultural works and how they represent a particular culture. You are also curious about how cultural works influence the environment in which they exist. You are new at your job, and your first project is to conduct a thorough analysis of today’s culture via a cultural work, looking to understand how it represents culture and how it reflects its cultural environment. The results of your analysis will be used to craft the copy for a brochure accompanying a museum exhibit about cultural works of the current year.
Directions
Analysis of a Cultural Work
As an anthropologist, you will start your task by analyzing the work of human creative expression that you selected in Module Four. With this work in mind, respond to the questions below. Remember, the insights you gain here will be used to write the copy that will go in the museum exhibit brochure.
Answer the following questions:
Describe the work in detail. Consider the following:
Where did you see the work?
What elements or characteristics stand out to you?
Describe the purpose of the work. Consider the following:
What do you think the creator intended to express?
Were they successful?
Use the work to explore how acts of creative expression impact and are impacted by the people and situations that surround them. Consider the following:
What contributions does the work selected make to continuing a dialogue about that culture and the importance of its works?
State questions you have after thinking deeply about this work. What more do you want to know regarding the following?
The relationship between culture and expression: What is the relationship between the possible intent of the creator and your own interpretation of its meaning?
Explain how your values have shaped and are shaped by your expression and that of others.
Explain how you would approach answering these questions:
What would you study about this work that might address the questions you stated?
Where would you find information to address the questions?
Next, draw conclusions about how the work you selected relates to the humanities:
Explain why you believe humans have a need to express themselves through created works of cultural and historical significance.
Describe a culture shift or event related to the work you selected. This could be a cultural shift that influenced the creation of the work, or it could be a cultural shift that came about because of it.
Explain how a concept or resource you encountered in this course has informed your explanation. Be sure to cite any sources used.
Explain how you think the act of human creative expression impacts and is impacted by the culture in which it was created.
Explain the relationship between human creative expression and the culture in which the work you selected was created using the insights you gained from studying it.
Explain how a concept or resource you encountered in this course has informed your explanation. Be sure to cite any sources used.
Explain how you believe human creative expression can impact issues we deal with in the present day (contemporary to your coursework, not the future scenario posed above). Be sure to be specific about the issues you are addressing.
Use the insights you gained from studying the work you selected to explain how creative expression can impact today’s issues.
Explain how a person or concept encountered in your study of the humanities has informed your explanation. Be sure to cite any sources used.
What to Submit
Your submission should be a three- to four-page Word document with 12-point Times New Roman font, double spacing, and one-inch margins. Two sources are required, one of which must be academic. Sources should be cited according to APA style. Consult the Shapiro Library APA Style Guide for more information on citations.
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4-2 Project Draft
1. Thinking of the work selected, explore how acts of creative expression impact, and are impacted by, the people and situations surrounding them.
• The need to express that creativity is driven by one’s own unique passions or desires that are sometimes intensified by emotions that words just can’t explain.
• Sometimes people express to show honor/respect to their culture or religion, a way to pass on knowledge and traditions.
• The need for the colonists to be free from the aggressive acts against them by the Mexican army was expressed by the creation of the flag “Come and Take It”.
• These people were at their wits end and exhausted from the long travels and daily lifestyle they lived just trying to survive, so they decided to take a stand and created the flag to express desire to be free and left alone to live in peace how they saw fit.
2. State questions about the relationship between culture and expression.
• How does the flag express the culture of the colonists who settled there?
• How does the flag express a Texan culture rather than a Mexican culture?
• What does the flag represent to the people who created it?
3. State questions about your values and how they are shaped by the expression of others.
• How is what we value shaped by everyday life?
• Can emotions affect our cultural values?
4. Determine how you would go about answering the questions posed.
• Research through various websites and books pertaining to the Battle of Gonzales, Texas Revolutionary War, and the Come and Take It flag.
• Visit museums that display artifacts and photos from that time to get a glimpse of life back then.
• Do some soul searching and self-reflection to find out what we truly value and believe.
Lance-Martinez, C. (2021, March 5). “Come and Take It” Flag. Authentic Texas. https://authentictexas.com/come-and-take-it-flag/
“COME AND TAKE IT” Flying a flag for freedom. (2011, April 22). The Houston Chronicle (Houston, TX).