Final Seminar: Popular Culture HU 300: Arts and Humanities

Final Project Assignment: “Your Final Project for this course will be a virtual time capsule. A time capsule is a grouping of items for future discovery. For our purposes, we will imagine that our time capsule will be buried at the end of the course and opened 100 years later. The goal of our capsule is to provide an overview of what you believe future generations should remember about the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries.... Challenge yourself to choose items that might be valuable for the future, though they might not necessarily be your favorites.”

and... “Feel free to include examples that you discovered in our studies this term. Cite sources if you use them. The project can be composed in Microsoft Word or PowerPoint. It can include multimedia if you wish. It should include eight parts....

The first 3 components: 1. A letter of introduction to tell someone in the future about your day-to-day life. What is your daily experience? Tell this person about your habits, your customs, your feelings about our present time, and your dreams for the future. 2. An example of moral decision-making in current culture in 100 words or more. 3. Your definition of happiness in 100 words or more, including how you came to this view.

Parts “Next, you will also chose an artifact for each of the following areas (4-8). You will explain the item in one paragraph, giving it context, and describing it. Then spend at least one paragraph justifying its inclusion in the time capsule: Why is this item worth preserving for the future, and what does it communicate about our culture today? Why this object above all the other possibilities?” MAKE SURE YOU ANSWER EACH OF THESE QUESTIONS!

the last five components: 4. A significant literary work (poem, short story, play, or novel) 5. A significant example of art or architecture 6. A significant song or group of songs 7. A significant film 8. A significant item from popular culture (a toy, gadget, fad, etc.)

The general picture: 1. A letter explaining your day-to-day life to someone in the future (roughly a page) 2. An example of current moral decision-making (a hefty paragraph) 3. Your definition of happiness (a hefty paragraph) 4. A significant literary work (at least 2 paragraphs) 5. A significant work of art or architecture (at least 2 paragraphs) 6. A song or group of songs (at least 2 paragraphs) 7. A film or movie (at least 2 paragraphs) 8. An item from popular culture (at least 2 paragraphs)

How long should it be? It’s probably best to think of each portion as roughly a page long, though often the opening letter is longer. That’s about 8 total pages (not including title page, or reference page, if you need one). Just make sure you don’t go under the minimum length requirement for each portion of the project.

How to get a terrific grade: Know the grading rubric! An “A” Project: Demonstrates creative thinking and thoughtful perspective. Demonstrates careful consideration of time capsule artifacts and clearly justifies their inclusion. Includes all required elements from the various units. Is clearly written and meets posted length requirements.

... as compared to a “B” project: Demonstrates consideration of time capsule artifacts and justifies their inclusion. (Notice, not “careful” consideration, not “clearly” justified inclusion of each item, as with an A project.) Includes most required elements from the various units. Is generally clearly written and meets posted length requirements.

... as compared to a “C” project: Is on topic, but time capsule lacks originality. Does not justify the included elements. Has several mechanical or stylistic errors. Does not meet posted length requirements.

Advertising: Where is It?

What does Times Square say about our culture?

How much does marketing control your life?

How far do advertisers go to get you to buy a product? Are there limits to what advertisers are allowed to do?

Is this ethical? Advertisers employ psychological professionals who explore the subconscious desires of specific parts of the population (a “target demographic”)... then they use this psychological data to reach you, the consumer, at a level below your conscious awareness.

Did you know... That marketing executives have intently studied the psychological process people go through when they decide to join a cult - and that this information is used to create, in you, what advertisers call “brand loyalty”? Current advertising techniques do not try to convince you of a product’s quality – instead, they make you feel a certain way about your lifestyle and the products that express it.

In other words... Advertisers are not aiming for your reason, they’re aiming for your emotion, at a level you won’t be aware of.

Guess who made up these terms: “Climate Change”, as opposed to “Global Warming”? “Death Tax”, instead of “Estate Tax”? “Tax Relief, as opposed to “Tax Cut”? “War on Terror”, instead of “War in Iraq”?

Yikes! “Merchandising Executives” from the advertising industry also work in politics, and every one of these terms was carefully designed by a merchandising executive to make you feel a certain way.

Hmm... What does it say about our culture that political ideas are handled as products that politicians try to sell to consumers?

as an aside... I have really enjoyed your ideas and your collaborative approach to our work this term! Thank you for a very engaging semester! Diane