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Something New - Month One
May. 30th, 2020 01:07 pmIt is very hard to do anything particularly new at the moment, but nevertheless there are some things - and anything, no matter how minor, is important.
I've taken part in the![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
story_works Communications challenge, and sent ecards to 27 different people, plus actual cards to 6 (some of whom also had ecards.) And since May is not over, I am happy to continue sending ecards, so if you would like one, or another one - I am more than happy to send a second, either comment to my original post Communication where comments are screened, or DM me.
I have done four FutureLearn courses in just over a month:
A-level Study Boost: Unseen Poetry & the Creative Process by the University of Reading. Despite the aim of the course to A-level students, although it was open to all, I suspect the majority were those looking for interests during lockdown. It was quite interesting learning how to look at a poem, although I feel if a poem requires that much indepth study then it probably isn't working on a basic level. One of the good things was that we were provided with a downloadable Poetry Journal to help record our thoughts as we worked through the course, which was very helpful and I appreciated it. We were encouraged to produce a poem ourselves under the heading 'View from the Window' for which I wrote a tanka:
Green trees full of leaf
Branches waving in the wind
Trunks remain unmoved
Yellow dandelions bloom
Turn to seed and blow away
Learning from the Past: a Guide for the Curious Researcher by the University of Nottingham, with input from the British Library. This wasn't what I expected. There was talk about the way understanding of concepts have changed, but at the same time a great deal of condemnation of the past - justified in what people did, but unhelpful when conducting research. Some interesting sections, like how a map would be drawn with certain aims in mind, but some which seemed irrelevant, like the talk on the neo-liberalism of the Thatcher and Reagan economy. It also was strong on the 'we have all the answers now', which annoys me greatly, because that's exactly the same attitude that was held by eras they were condemning.
The History of the Book in the Early Modern Period: 1450-1800 by Trinity College, Dublin. This I did find interesting. It moves from the first printing presses and the use of moveable type onto a time of major book collectors. It's not a subject I would particularly want to study, but as background to the period and the vital part books and pamphlets played in science and religion of the time, it all adds to my understanding and feel for the period. The course was well run, which was proved by my doing well in the weekly tests, because it meant I was remembering what I'd read.
Shakespeare Print & Performance, by King's College, London, the Globe Theatre, and the British Library. This was a bit of a mixed bag. Looking at the world Shakespeare lived in and how his plays were believed to be performed originally and the early folios and quartos was interesting, with some of it tying into the course above. Inevitably the section on modern performances was restricted and with an over-emphasis on avant-garde performances, although there was one item on films. And I know many people like the Globe, but I felt their participation over-stressed their contribution to how Shakespeare was played. I suspect part of the problem for me was that the course rarely connected with my own experience of seeing the plays, so while the historical information was helpful, the current day relevance wasn't.
I've taken part in the
story_works Communications challenge, and sent ecards to 27 different people, plus actual cards to 6 (some of whom also had ecards.) And since May is not over, I am happy to continue sending ecards, so if you would like one, or another one - I am more than happy to send a second, either comment to my original post Communication where comments are screened, or DM me.I have done four FutureLearn courses in just over a month:
A-level Study Boost: Unseen Poetry & the Creative Process by the University of Reading. Despite the aim of the course to A-level students, although it was open to all, I suspect the majority were those looking for interests during lockdown. It was quite interesting learning how to look at a poem, although I feel if a poem requires that much indepth study then it probably isn't working on a basic level. One of the good things was that we were provided with a downloadable Poetry Journal to help record our thoughts as we worked through the course, which was very helpful and I appreciated it. We were encouraged to produce a poem ourselves under the heading 'View from the Window' for which I wrote a tanka:
Green trees full of leaf
Branches waving in the wind
Trunks remain unmoved
Yellow dandelions bloom
Turn to seed and blow away
Learning from the Past: a Guide for the Curious Researcher by the University of Nottingham, with input from the British Library. This wasn't what I expected. There was talk about the way understanding of concepts have changed, but at the same time a great deal of condemnation of the past - justified in what people did, but unhelpful when conducting research. Some interesting sections, like how a map would be drawn with certain aims in mind, but some which seemed irrelevant, like the talk on the neo-liberalism of the Thatcher and Reagan economy. It also was strong on the 'we have all the answers now', which annoys me greatly, because that's exactly the same attitude that was held by eras they were condemning.
The History of the Book in the Early Modern Period: 1450-1800 by Trinity College, Dublin. This I did find interesting. It moves from the first printing presses and the use of moveable type onto a time of major book collectors. It's not a subject I would particularly want to study, but as background to the period and the vital part books and pamphlets played in science and religion of the time, it all adds to my understanding and feel for the period. The course was well run, which was proved by my doing well in the weekly tests, because it meant I was remembering what I'd read.
Shakespeare Print & Performance, by King's College, London, the Globe Theatre, and the British Library. This was a bit of a mixed bag. Looking at the world Shakespeare lived in and how his plays were believed to be performed originally and the early folios and quartos was interesting, with some of it tying into the course above. Inevitably the section on modern performances was restricted and with an over-emphasis on avant-garde performances, although there was one item on films. And I know many people like the Globe, but I felt their participation over-stressed their contribution to how Shakespeare was played. I suspect part of the problem for me was that the course rarely connected with my own experience of seeing the plays, so while the historical information was helpful, the current day relevance wasn't.
