Notes on building the course
Notes on the curriculum development for
Why Do Humans Dance?
Some random collections that have been happening:
“Choreomania” https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20220512-the-people-who-danced-themselves-to-death
Movies:
The Red Shoes (Choreomania)
Why Humans Dance
Books, readings, research
- The People Never Stopped Dancing, Jacqueline Shea Murphy
- Black Acting Methods, Sharrell D. Luckett
- Why We Dance, Kimerer L. Lamothe
- Sand Talk, Tyson Yunkaporta
- Rethinking Dance History, ed Geraldine Morriss and Larraine Nicholas
- Dance, Social Justice and Human Rights
Background, perceptions pre-2000
- The Function of Dance in Human Society, Franziska Boas, Introduciton
- World History of the Dance, Curt Sachs
- Society and the Dance, ed Paul Spencer
- The Anthropology of the Dance, Anya Peterson Royce
Dance and Nationalism
Dance isn’t always liberatory, national dances enforced on a culture as the “only” dance for a country. Dance also can be a way to hold a refugee community together.
https://www.britannica.com/art/folk-dance/Trends-into-the-21st-century – “Folk dances and their association with national identity have made them vehicles for government propaganda. In Nazi Germany in the 1930s and 1940s, the government used charming folk dances to embody the mystique of an idyllic Germany. These folk dances were expected to engender loyalty and the kind of national pride that served the ideology of the Third Reich; Germans were to be knit into a unified and supposedly superior “race,” in part through such activities.”
May 31, June 1 attended the workshop Faculty Student Pedagogical Partnership in Course Development
Initial notes for syllabus creation
Model I am interested in: Whole of Class Co-creation model: for course “Why do Humans Dance” THD 242, open to first years. Spring 2023. M/W 2-3:50
Some first thoughts: SPECIFICS
Co-create learning outcomes (students, community partners) and Essential Questions
Grading –
Send info before first day of class “heads up”
Annotated bibliography assignment from Alison
Brainstorm the difference between if course was called “Why Humans Dance?” Instead of “Why DO Humans dance?
Explore the L’il Buck chant: as a way to regularly commit to class community agreements
Put Reflection in Syllabus
How can WE (faculty me, students, community partners) make this meaningful?
What does “engagement” or “participation” look like (For students) co-create that with students.
What are you giving, what are you getting? (For everyone)
DEEPER – DESIGN IDEAS
Pre-contact:
In Advance Reach out to Community Partners (work with Susan for LOA) Do this in Fall 2022.
Layout the idea
Ask if they want to be involved
Share notions of how this is co-creative, space to ask – what would you want from this? What would you want to know?
Share out compensation and how time commitment works
Who? (and each partner can decide if they want to bring more people along with them, i.e. Stephanie involve Tony and her children – that’s her call)
- Stephanie Snow (Meskwaki)
- Dewayu (Balinese – guest faculty at Grinnell with her husband in music dept)
- Fredo and John Petrus, drag
- Need connection with Latin dance group in the area (Julie help)
- Is there a contra or clogging or polka local dance group leader? (Julie help)
- I have been unsuccessful in finding teacher of West African dance in area (Julie help)
- We do have a new “spousal hire” position could do “Jewish folk dance of the diaspora
- I am thinking of offering to students, “what is missing, how could we find it?” as an assignment. For instance – if they really want ballet to be in this mix, it is on them to find the person
- Hip hop? (Julie help)
- I have lots of people that I could bring in who DON”T live in the Grinnell area, but I want to focus on community partners
- I do want to represent (maybe with Kathleen Hurley) contemporary modern dance (she does make it happen in her Des Moines community)
First classes (not scaffolded yet)
For students:
What do you want to know?
You chose this course, why? (Do the 9 Whys exercise?)
Build Learning Outcomes together – but include mine, we don’t start from blank canvas. They can reject/modify mine. That would be fun!
Do a white board exercise: (could do digital or on white board in studio)
Everyone gets to get up and respond to each question.
We give each question about 7 minutes for responses.
Then take a silence to read all and absorb.
Add more.
Then move on
Why DO you think humans dance?
Why do YOU dance (or why don’t you dance)?
Do you have any dance “traditions”? (Cultural, family, societal, cultural, studies, religious (spiritual)?)
What are the ways dance shows up in your life?
Take a break:
Personal journaling –
What are the ways dance has shown up in your life? (past)
What are the ways dance is in your life now? (present)
What are the ways you would like, or imagine, or dream, dance could be part of your life?
I share my definition of dance;
Dance is movement aware of itself practiced with intent.
We discuss. And modify, accept, reject….
ON ANOTHER DAY:
What is the role of dance in your life?
Value, matter, spirit
As we engage with our community partners – how can we ask ourselves to be able to share, and then to ask our community partners?
- What is the role of dance in your life?
- What is the value of dance in your life?
- What is the significance of dance in your life?
- What are other questions you think we should include?
- This has also been pre-shared with community partners.
Then our students prepare and our community partners prepare for the ZOOM meeting with everyone, and are ready to mutually discuss the questions; as the basis for this course.
Students read over the initial reach out, and LOA, I did with community partners and are invited to share input. The “this is the date and tme” invite is co-written with the students.
ON ANOTHER TOPIC: BUIDLING SYLLABUS WITH STUDENTS:
Together we build:
Learning Outcomes and Essential Questions
- Ask community partners what are the learning outcomes you would like/and What essential questions are important to you and what you are sharing with the students?
Together we co-create our Community Agreements
Could we co-create the grading policy????
Could we create a “Create Your Own Adventure assignments?
Scaffold:
What are examples of assignments you have been given?
What are the purposes of each of those?
Which have you found most meaningful and effective for you? Why? (most/least)
If you had to construct the “100 points” what types/kinds of assignments will be most contributory for your learning to achieve the learning objectives we agreed on?
Discuss FINAL PROJECT
What will celebrate your success in this course?
What form is most fitting, and most exciting to you
- Research paper
- Performance
- Film
- Experiential share
- Portfolio
- Oral Presentation, possibly with a power point
Will it be:
- About you and a personal connection
- A particular dance form you are interested in
- A xxxxx on the topic “Why do humans dance?”
Together create the rubric for grading
Weekly Annotated Bibliographies, an assignment Alison uses:
Each week students are assigned to find a reading, website or video.
They come to class with an annotated bibliography
They meet in small groups (of about 3) and for 10 minutes share their annotated bibliography which is “Write a concise annotation that summarizes the central theme and scope of the book or article. Include one or more sentences that (a) evaluate the authority or background of the author, (b) comment on the intended audience, (c) compare or contrast this work with another you have cited, or (d) explain how this work illuminates your bibliography topic.” https://guides.library.cornell.edu/annotatedbibliography. Or Summary, Analysis, Reaction
Then report backs to the whole class.
COURSE TIMELINE:
1-3 First three classes, foundations
4 – zoom meeting with all the guests
5 build for first guest session
6 session 1 of 2
7 Guest session 2 of 2
8 Reflection of guest, readings, class activities, include check in on learning objectives and essential questios
9 Reflection of guest, readings, class activities
10 session 1 of 2
11 Guest session 2 of 2
12 Reflection of guest, readings, class activities include check in on learning objectives and essential questiosn
13 Reflection of guest, readings, class activities
14 Guest session 1 of 2
15 Guest session 2 of 2
16 Mid sem reflection, start talking about final project
SPRING BREAK
- Prep for next guest
- Guest session 1 of 2
- Guest session 2 of 2
- Reflection of guest, readings, class activities include check in on learning objectives and essential questiosn
- Reflection of guest, readings, class activities include check in on learning objectives and essential questiosn
- Guest session 1 of 2
- Guest session 2 of 2
- Reflection of guest
- Final project, feed backsessions
- Final project, feed back sessions
- Invite all guests for final projects
- Wrap up the course