Course Outcomes
In this project, you will demonstrate your mastery of the following outcomes:
- Develop questions about fundamental aspects of human culture that inform personal assumptions, beliefs, and values using evidence from cultural artifacts and systems
- Investigate major developments in the humanities for informing critical questions related to human culture and endeavors
- Determine fundamental approaches to studying the humanities in addressing questions about how cultural artifacts and the culture they are created in have influenced each other
- Articulate the value of the humanities for their impact on contemporary issues focusing on how humans generate unique meanings
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 WorkAs 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 for more information on citations.
Supporting Materials
The following resource supports your work on the project:
Library Guide: Use this library guide to support your research on your creative work.
Project Rubric
| Criteria | Exemplary | Proficient | Needs Improvement | Not Evident | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Culture Impact: The Cultural Work Selected | Exceeds proficiency in an exceptionally clear, insightful, sophisticated, or creative manner (100%) | Describes the cultural work in detail (85%) | Shows progress toward proficiency, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include more detail regarding the nature of the cultural work selected and how it is experienced (55%) | Does not attempt criterion (0%) | 8 |
| Culture Impact: Purpose of the Cultural Work Selected | Exceeds proficiency in an exceptionally clear, insightful, sophisticated, or creative manner (100%) | Describes the purpose of the cultural work (85%) | Shows progress toward proficiency, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include more detail regarding the purpose of the cultural work selected and how it reflects the culture in which it exists (55%) | Does not attempt criterion (0%) | 8 |
| Culture Impact: Creative Expression | Exceeds proficiency in an exceptionally clear, insightful, sophisticated, or creative manner (100%) | Explores how acts of creative expression impact and are impacted by the people and situations that surround them (85%) | Shows progress toward proficiency, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include more detail regarding the relationship between creative expression and the people and situations that surround them (55%) | Does not attempt criterion (0%) | 7 |
| State Questions: Relationship Between Culture and Expression | Exceeds proficiency in an exceptionally clear, insightful, sophisticated, or creative manner (100%) | States questions regarding the relationships between culture and expression (85%) | Shows progress toward proficiency, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include greater level of analysis in posing the questions, more detail regarding relationships between human culture and expression (55%) | Does not attempt criterion (0%) | 8 |
| State Questions: Values About Cultural Work Selected | Exceeds proficiency in an exceptionally clear, insightful, sophisticated, or creative manner (100%) | Explains how values have shaped and are shaped by the expression of others (85%) | Shows progress toward proficiency, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include greater level of analysis in posing the questions, more detail regarding why works of cultural and historical significance exist and how values shape personal expression (55%) | Does not attempt criterion (0%) | 7 |
| State Questions: Answering the Questions | Exceeds proficiency in an exceptionally clear, insightful, sophisticated, or creative manner (100%) | Explains how to approach answering the questions posed (85%) | Shows progress toward proficiency, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include more detail regarding the considerations for answering the questions posed (55%) | Does not attempt criterion (0%) | 7 |
| Culture Shift or Event | Exceeds proficiency in an exceptionally clear, insightful, sophisticated, or creative manner (100%) | Describes a culture shift or event related to the work selected (85%) | Shows progress toward proficiency, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include more detail regarding a cultural shift or event (55%) | Does not attempt criterion (0%) | 8 |
| Culture Shifts or Events: Study of Humanities | Exceeds proficiency in an exceptionally clear, insightful, sophisticated, or creative manner (100%) | Explains how a concept or resource in this course informed explanation of a culture shift or event related to the cultural work selected (85%) | Shows progress toward proficiency, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include more detail regarding a culture shift or event and how they were impacted by a person or a concept in the study of the humanities (55%) | Does not attempt criterion (0%) | 7 |
| Relationship Between Creative Expression and Culture: Cultural Work Selected | Exceeds proficiency in an exceptionally clear, insightful, sophisticated, or creative manner (100%) | Explains the relationship between human creative expression and the culture of the selected work (85%) | Shows progress toward proficiency, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include greater level of analysis in posing the questions, more detail regarding why works of cultural and historical significance exist and how values shape personal expression (55%) | Does not attempt criterion (0%) | 8 |
| Relationship Between Creative Expression and Culture: The Study of the Humanities | Exceeds proficiency in an exceptionally clear, insightful, sophisticated, or creative manner (100%) | Explains how a concept or resource encountered in this course informed explanation of the relationship between human creative expression and culture (85%) | Shows progress toward proficiency, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include more detail regarding how a person or concept in the study of the humanities has informed the explanation of the larger reciprocal relationship (55%) | Does not attempt criterion (0%) | 7 |
| Impact on Today's Issues: The Cultural Work Selected | Exceeds proficiency in an exceptionally clear, insightful, sophisticated, or creative manner (100%) | Uses insights gained from studying the selected work to explain how creative expression can impact today’s issues (85%) | Shows progress toward proficiency, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include a more thorough explanation of how creative expression can impact contemporary issues (55%) | Does not attempt criterion (0%) | 8 |
| Impact on Today's Issues: The Study of the Humanities | Exceeds proficiency in an exceptionally clear, insightful, sophisticated, or creative manner (100%) | Explains how a concept or resource encountered in this course informed explanation of creative expression and today’s issues (85%) | Shows progress toward proficiency, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include greater detail regarding how a person or concept encountered in the study of the humanities has informed the explanation of the impact of creative expression on specific contemporary issues (55%) | Does not attempt criterion (0%) | 7 |
| Articulation of Response | N/A | Clearly conveys meaning with correct grammar, sentence structure, and spelling, demonstrating an understanding of audience and purpose (100%) | Shows progress toward proficiency, but with errors in grammar, sentence structure, and spelling, negatively impacting readability (75%) | Submission has critical errors in grammar, sentence structure, and spelling, preventing understanding of ideas (0%) | 5 |
| Citations and Attributions | N/A | Uses citations for ideas requiring attribution, with consistent minor errors (100%) | Uses citations for ideas requiring attribution, with major errors (75%) | Does not use citations for ideas requiring attribution (0%) | 5 |
| Total: | 100% |
