Assignment 6: Reading Responses and Documenting UIUC Cultural Centers
Part 1: Reading Response
The readings this week are about the Biological Computing Lab and related movements and figures. Think about the variety of questions that generated energy for Biological Computing Movements, and select, list, and contextualize at least three different strategies that Heinz von Foerster and members of the BCL used to develop cybernetics practice. How were students figured into the BCL's innovations? And how can you tell making spaces centered on and attending to student needs was important to the BCL? Using citations from the readings, write four questions that you could imagine asking members of the BCL today, more than 40 years after their groundbreaking work in cybernetics was initiated.
Part 2: Documenting UIUC Cultural Centers
1. Look over this and last week's calendar of events for UIUC's Cultural Centers. These include the schedules for:
the Bruce D. Nesbitt African American Cultural Center (BNAACC)'s events -- the Asian American Cultural Center's (AACC) events -- the Native American House's events -- La Casa Latina's events -- the Women's Resources Center events and Gender Studies Events -- the Diversity and Social Justice in Education's events -- the International Education's events listed here and here -- the Women & Gender in Global Perspectives Program events -- the Center for Global Studies events -- the Center for Latin American & Caribbean Studies events -- and the new Salaam Middle East and North Africa Cultural Center. "Lunch on Us" events (where a free lunch is hosted weekly between noon - 1PM are held on Tuesdays at the AACC, Wednesdays at BNAACC, and Thursdays at La Casa Latina for all students), and the "Dinner on Us" events at Native American Houses on Tuesdays at 5PM.
2. Select one event from the listed calendars above to attend for 45-60 min. this week. For your visit, document the following as qualitative data points:
- Make note of the time/day of your visit, and what the event is, what the primary activity arranged for the event is, and who is speaking or featured for it. Describe what you see and hear from the speaker/activity featured.
- Take note of how space is being used, and what the physical design and features of it are. How can you tell the space aims to accommodate students? Reflect on what's unique about the space to you and how others use the space.
- Take 2 photos (a phone camera is fine) of some form of visual representation (from the event that represents it for you.
- Write a few paragraphs to document your observations (not more than one page), and to explain the visual data selections and notes you took. How does the event reflect the project and debate surround "Land Grant" values? How do you think the designers of the space thought about inclusion and safety for its users?
Post your Reading Response and Lab Report to your Scalar page and send us (IS266TeachingTeam@gmail.com) the link by 12pm (noon) Monday.