Class Notes – 3/23/2016

Mar23

Color Walking for a digital space could be to click on a predetermined color of a particular website. Color is very important in digital spaces because they act as visual cues. Visual content is very important in digital environments. All communication is multi-modal.

Digital spaces are like physical spaces in ways like

  • visuals
  • exploration
  • described as a “space”

Ways that a digital space is not like a physical space could be

  • not touchable
  • not a specific location

Descriptions of the digital space will sound a lot like the physical spaces. Navigation, design, character, purpose, comparison, and audience are all things that can be talked about.

Melissa King’s article about Better Online Living through Content Moderation

  • Haven’t developed rules of etiquette in the digital world
  • The problem of accessibility for the internet
  • The controversial idea of cyber bullying – is it really bullying? Are they just words? Do these words cause actual damage?
  • Spamming someone with hurtful messages (more harmful because you have to do more action in order for the harassment to stop) vs saying something hurtful to someone’s face
  • Types of things mostly happen to women
  • Cyber bullies are anonymous. The pro about being anonymous is the person can be truly honest but the con is also the same thing because the honesty can be harmful. Should we take away the ability to be anonymous?
  • The rhetorical situation matters. What is the intent?
  • Privately owned spaces are seen as publicly owned spaces which causes problems
  • Using content control features, authors taking responsibility, moderators discontinue being biased, and establishing rules could diminish these types of problems for users.

Unknown Phenomena of Atlanta: APEX Museum

Mar4
APEX Arc

The APEX Arc

Located on Auburn Avenue, the APEX museum was founded in 1978 by Mr. Dan Moore Sr. This museum was created to display culture and contributions of the African American community in the United States and especially in Georgia. The museum features artifacts, paper tour guides, group presentations, video presentations, and children’s shows. The APEX museum is special because it tells the African American experience (past and present) through the eyes of African Americans in a historically African American neighborhood.

There are two visible doors for entry. The front door is on the side of the building with a highly emphasized red colored walkway. It is indicated as the front door because when entering a visitor will be greeted at the front desk by a tour guide. The exit door is in front of the building that faces Auburn Avenue. The indication that this door is the rear door is because of the gift shop area that is normally at the end of a museum tour. This style can be confusing for a new visitor because of the placement of doors. Consequently, the museum isn’t that big. Visitors can only walk through three rooms; a main room with a gift shop, the Trolley theater room, and the arts/achievement hall room. All of the rooms are connected by a hallway.

 

The exhibits are about African kings and queens, the middle passage, slavery in the United States, and African American businesses and inventions. The exhibits are small but very informative. An ideal tour of this museum would be when entering from the front door, a tour guide will escort you through the main room to the Trolley theater room, passing a few exhibits along the way. In the Trolley theater room is an elevated seating area, the Trolley, with the style of pews. Visitors will sit down and watch two original videos about the history of Auburn Avenue and the African journey to the United States. After that, visitors will be given a paper tour guide that is mainly constructed for the main room around the rows of chairs. Afterwards, visitors can back track by walking to the arts/achievement room that is across from the theater room. Like the theater room, the arts room has two doors so that visitors can walk through the room and walk back up through the hallway to the gift shop at the front of the main room. Additionally, while walking through the hallway, visitors can look at the exhibit of African American inventions.

As of 2016, this museum is 38 years old. It is remarkable that it is still in its same place. The museum displays excellent exhibits and programs however the museum can often be referred to as a historical landmark than a public museum. This could be so because of the lack of space that limits the capacity of information presented. Plans of expansion are prominent but due to financial issues, that dream has been pushed further back.

Location of the APEX Museum

Location of the APEX Museum

Ultimately, what makes the APEX museum so significant is not the information it displays but rather the symbolic aspect of itself. People go to this museum to see it’s content but also to experience the museum itself. After all, it was respectfully considered the world’s largest African American Museum.

APEX Logo

Sources –

  • apexmuseum. The APEX Museum, n.d. Web. 4 Mar. 2016.
  • Murray, Brendan. “Bank forecloses on property owned by APEX Museum” Atlanta Business Chronicle,  2 Dec. 1996. Web. 4 Mar. 2016.

APEX Museum Pictures

Mar4

Original pictures taken by Kimberly Oglesby on March 4, 2016

Annotated Bibliography 6: Constructing African American Urban Space In Atlanta, Georgia by Joshua F.J. Inwood

Feb24

INWOOD, JOSHUA F. J. “Constructing African American Urban Space In Atlanta, Georgia.” Geographical Review 101.2 (2011): 147-163. Environment Complete. Web. 23 Feb. 2016.

Joshua Inwood, an assistant professor of geography at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, wrote a journal about Big Bethel AME Church’s $45 million redevelopment project that included housing and retail space. Big Bethel AME Church is a church on Auburn Ave that is one of the oldest black-run institutions in Atlanta. The author sought to explain the implications of the redevelopment project and how it is symbolic to modern black counterpublic places.

I chose this source because it is an analysis of the Sweet Auburn area and the process of recapturing its past culture. There will be of more concentration on the redevelopment. It will talk about the black community, specifically Big Bethel, and it’s efforts to reclaim their neighborhood. This source can contribute to my research of the redevelopment of African American neighborhood with Sweet Auburn being one of them.

Annotated Bibliography 5: REMEMBERING ‘Sweet Auburn Avenue.’

Feb24

“REMEMBERING ‘Sweet Auburn Avenue.’.” Ebony 43.7 (1988): 164. Middle Search Plus. Web. 23 Feb. 2016.

Published in 1988, this article acts as a primary resource for the mindsets of African Americans when Auburn Avenue was culturally destroyed. The article first tells of what Auburn Avenue was to the black community during that time. It goes on to explain how it was split apart by the 75/85 interstate and the citizens reactions. Lastly, it describes the leaders of the community’s plan to bring the culture of Auburn Avenue back again.

I chose to use this source because it gives a first hand description of what the town was like and what it meant to the people. It will also describe the outcome of the neighborhood’s fall. It’s more reliable to use than a textbook because of when it was published. A textbook isn’t going to offer the same descriptions, quotes, examples, and language as this newspaper article did. I could use this source to make a comparison of that article’s Auburn Avenue and the 2016 Auburn Avenue.

Annotated Bibliography 4: Displacement And The Racial State In Olympic Atlanta 1990-1996 by Seth Gustafson

Feb24

GUSTAFSON, SETH. “Displacement And The Racial State In Olympic Atlanta 1990-1996.” Southeastern Geographer 53.2 (2013): 198. Advanced Placement Source. Web. 23 Feb. 2016.

Seth Gustafson, a candidate in the department of Geography for the University of Georgia, argues his idea of how Atlanta’s city council created plans to make Atlanta a “global city” for the 1996 Olympics by displacing the lower socioeconomic citizens. The article also uses other cities that acted in similar ways like Seoul for their Olympics in 1988.

This source is relevant to my research because it will provide a detailed explanation of what occurred to African American neighborhoods that were destroyed due to construction for the Olympics. It also offers another possible intention of the city council that isn’t solely just racism.

I chose this article because it gives a specific time period and event to focus on rather than just generalized statements that can be made in other sources. It also is centered on Atlanta and the African American neighborhood. It will discuss the process of deconstruction of homes, resistance from former residents, the relocation of displaced people, the construction of Olympic-related places, and lasting effect on the displaced people and neighborhoods.

This is a depiction of some of Atlanta's Olympic related areas and other landmarks

This is a depiction of some of Atlanta’s Olympic related areas and other landmarks

Southeastern Geographer, Summer2013, Vol. 53 Issue 2, p198-213, 16p, 1 Graph
Graph; found on p200

Summary #4 – Recognizing Campus Landscapes as Learning Spaces by Kathleen G Scholl, Gowri Betrabet Gulwadi

Feb16

College campuses are universally supposed to be known as “distinct” community from the cities around them. A problem that campuses face is providing good learning spaces for the diverse evolving needs of each college student. More and more college students are becoming enrolled in higher education institutions. This means even more expectations and demand for accommodations are being placed on universities that it must take in consideration in regards to decision-making and the campus. The latest research states that how a university space is designed and used effect the entire student body. The authors of this essay suggested that natural landscape should be considered an attentional learning resource for students.

College is a stressful but fulfilling part of a student’s life. Most learning doesn’t happen in the classroom. Depending on the university, students can be seen studying in residential halls, cafeterias, lounges, computer labs, quads, and many more. The authors declare that these areas must be perceived as universal learning spaces. They even go as far to say that an entire campus must be seen this way in order for students to get the most success out of their enrollment. If this can be achieved then it promotes a sense of belonging to the learning community for everyone.

Historically, campuses were built in remote places. Founders of these institutions wanted to create a community that was to be secluded from the surrounding city. This idea was put in place so that students and faculty could devote time and attention for learning, growth, and expression. There were many open green spaces in the early American institutions after the Morrill Act in which granted huge amount to land to universities; however construction wasn’t being done during the Great Depression and World War era. When the market was back to normal and people were enrolling, universities began filling their open spaces with parking lots, and standalone structures that didn’t contribute with the existing campus style. Certain elements of a campus still remain today crucial to its identity. More than ever, campuses are starting to implement construction on “green infrastructure” to support the political problem of environmental protection.

“A well designed campus was an integral part of the educational experience of students…” is a quote from the authors. They bring the attention to the idea of the Attention Restoration Theory. This theory discusses the benefits of human-nature interaction. In similar terms, the theory discusses the idea of nature acting as a trigger for the brain to “restart” or “refresh”.  The authors define nature as “the physical features and processes of nonhuman origin that people ordinarily perceive, including living nature…” If a campus contains a holistic landscape, it will have a positive effect on students because it will maintain cognitive function. After a day of sitting in class, a student can feel quite drain. The authors’ idea is that if presented with just a little bit of nature, it will increase their cognitive function which will directly result in better performance on assignments. They point out that nature plays with the in-attentional mind so that the attentional mind can reviving itself in order to do better on task. Green spaces hold as a cognitive benefit to students because it will reduce the levels of fatigue and stress. The authors further enforce the idea that college campuses should create more open holistic learning spaces for the maintenance and effectiveness of a quality higher learning experience.

Sources used –

Scholl, Kathleen, & Gowri Betrabet Gulwadi. “Recognizing Campus Landscapes as Learning Spaces.” Journal of Learning Spaces [Online], 4.1 (2015): n. pag. Web. 16 Feb. 2016

Summary #3 – His & Hers: Designing for a Post-Gender Society by Suzanne Tick

Feb16

‘We are living in a time of gender revolution.” Is the first line stated by Suzanne Tick. The gender revolution can be defined as a time when people do not just identify with one gender anymore. The traditional roles of males and females are no longer the same anymore. Tick said “Masculine and feminine definitions are being switched and obscured. But this is an essentially human phenomenon” Human tastes change over time and most of them repeat. The first indication is through fashion. In this example, clothes considered to be stylish for women look boyish and items normally intended for women are being catered for the men. Boys are looking like girls. Girls are looking like boys. These are things Tick notices. She claims that designers of landscapes, buildings, and architecture should keep up with this movement too. It would benefit society if designers created spaces that cater to this new ideology and promote acceptance of it in the process.

In order to make things more comfortable for the “different” ones of today’s society, companies and schools are starting to accept the concept of not asking for gender identification. People in the past are starting to ask for this privilege. Different organizations like the LGBTQ rights movement have sought out to make concepts like same-sex marriage more acceptable by lobbying in state and national courts. Nowadays people have been wanting softer elements in public and private places like open floor plans, emphasis on textural materials, and the influence of hospitality. In the workplace, people want views, big windows, and natural light. Tick suggest that this trend is happening because women are become more prominent in making critical decisions. Historically, males were dominant in all these areas, therefore; they made most of the decisions while not taking into account what kind of work environment could work for everyone. Tick pushes the idea that designers should look into incorporating more details that are gender sensitive. Tick believes that it would be better for society if designers created spaces that didn’t tend more to any particular gender. Embracing this idea will makes spaces more populated and loved by the people. An example Tick gives that designers can pay attention to is bathrooms in public places and workplaces. She states that big companies like Google are adapting gender-neutral bathrooms to allow less incidents of gender identification. This allows coworkers to have less uncomfortable issues and able to collaborate better as a team.

Tick states that designers shouldn’t treat this problem with just regulations and compliance. An example of this disaster would be the Disabilities Act. Regulations are there however, it is still difficult for disabled persons to find accessible bathrooms and entryways in public areas. Tick says this problem has to be dealt in a much better way in order to reduce the feeling of rejection and frustration for the “different” ones. Tick states being respectful of diversity and creating environments where people can express their individuality openly, equally, and safely is the best way to deal with this issue. It starts with the designers. For a solution, Tick final words could be that “We are only at the very beginning with gender-neutral design, but having safe places for anybody to function and do what they need to do, no matter who they are, should be our first step.”

Sources used –

Tick, Suzanne. “His & Hers: Designing for a Post-Gender Society.” Metropolis. Network Solutions, LLC., 16 Oct. 2012. Web. 16 Feb. 2016

Kimberly Oglesby’s Midterm Reflection

Feb15

Writing on a blog can be challenging for many different reasons depending on the person. One reason could be that a blog is seen as pleasurable and not intellectual. Generally, an author would post tons of pictures or slang depending on the type of blog they want to display. Because this is an academic class, a student may get confused as to what may seem acceptable and what isn’t. The professor could place restraints or be very open. The idea of a blog doesn’t fit quite well with a student however it can be beneficial. If the student tries to become comfortable with the idea then there are endless possibilities as to what they can create. They may even see other things like Twitter, Instagram, and even Snapchat as another platform.

My strengths in this class are understanding the points in the required readings and displaying my work neatly and appealingly on my blog. My weaknesses are proofreading. I normally engage in peer reading so that others can inform me when the content is unclear. I like how this class allows me to be able to earn extra points. It is like I am creating a safety net just in case I don’t get the score that I wanted. I am more prone to the quizzes on D2L. I haven’t really used the Writer’s Help 2.0 because it looks overwhelming. The work requested seems too much or doesn’t apply to me. However, I am satisfied with the efforts I have made in class so far because of the pride I have accumulated in the work.

In the past, I’m used to just getting a prompt and writing an entire essay. Instead in this class, we write short descriptions, annotated bibliographies, and summaries that is essentially considered our research. The projects created in class, like the descriptions, are intended to enlighten someone about Atlanta’s space. For example, a student a working in California might want to know about different landmarks in major cities. Our research is used in our final analysis. In my English 1101 class, we had an essay about a group of people that we were a part of. We had to go to the place, sit back, and observe the area while taking notes. It was the first time I actually went out to a place to research others rather than writing an essay based purely on opinion. In English 1102, research is key to a complete ethical argument for an essay. With the work that we have completed so far, I have learned how to think critically about certain things and places. I begin to question “why?” to everything. I take into account what I consider to be a reliable resource because not every source is a good source. I have also learned that anything can be a platform. From social media to radio, television to newspapers, or song to poetry. There is a way to get a text of words, arguments, descriptions, or expressions across to the world. For the remaining of the semester an and in future projects, I plan to ask more evaluating questions more often while taking advantage of the resources around me.

Images taken at the Jackson Street Bridge

Feb8