Assignments

Mobility Project: An assignment in two parts

What you will need:

In a group of 3-4 people you will need to have a 3G device (preferably a smart phone) capable of going out into the field and locating a geocache. You will also need several ways to track your movement through space. You might choose to use a mapping function, take video, write down field notes, etc. Lastly, you will need an ID on geocaching.com.

Part I

We’ve talked a lot about the mental spaces we occupy in our culture so far. We talk about film, video games, and search engines as spaces in the mind with concepts like auteur theory, virtual identity, and algorithmic knowledge. But let’s not forget what we read in Gee’s What Video Games have to Teach Us:

Learning involves taking on and playing with identities in such a way that the learner has real choices and ample opportunity to mediate on the relationship between new identities and old ones. There is a tripartite play of identities as learners relate, and reflect on, their multiple real-world identities, a virtual identity, and a projective identity. (64)

            I want to extend this notion a little bit for your next project. I am asking what happens if we begin to look at identity as tied to place? It doesn’t seem like much of a stretch—Scorsese as an auteur is fond of the New York locale (and since winning an Oscar, Boston). Same goes for Lumet. More contemporary filmmakers like Bigelow and Tarantino also have their own movie universes (Middle East violence and the Tarantinoverse). Video games are also linked to place—Space Invaders is maybe the most obvious example. But think of the popular contemporary games where you inhabit a character’s persona to create a projective identity (like Gee’s example of Lara Croft in Tombraider). Those are also tied to place, right?

            Where am I going with this? Projective spaces. Do they exist? I’m inclined to say yes, they do. We have real world spaces like the grocery store, the zoo, prison, school, the desert, and Oxford. We also have virtual places like Vice City, World of Warcraft, and variations of Civ. But do we have projective spaces/places—places that exist in the virtual space but are also a project and projection of values? Are virtual representations of place like Google Earth or Welcome to Pine Point projective spaces?

            In this assignment I am asking you to use an already-established method to explore the virtual, real, and projective spaces around you. We will be geocaching.

The assignment:

Field research:

In the field, you will visit several (at least 5) geocaches. As you navigate to the geocaches, you should be doing several things:

1.     You should be recording your movement. Using any of the tools I listed above, record how you went about deciding on what geocache to visit and the process of finding it. Include all the details—what tools you used, when you looked up the geocache, what the weather was like, what tokens you found and left.

2.     You should be creating a rationale as you go. As you’ll see in the next part of the assignment, you will need to have a formal rationale for your decisions. Save yourself time by starting this as you do your field research. Especially important here is noting how much the technology and the virtual identities are influencing what you do.

3.     Take note of the contexts. Look at where you find your geocache. Is it inside a larger system? What does that larger system look like? Do the rules of these different spheres begin to clash? What about your identities? What does the terrain look like?

Create media:

All of your data will need to be collected in a shared blogsite. I expect you to organize, arrange, and annotate your data on the blogsite. Here is what I will be looking for as I assess your site:

1.     Content. You should have your geocache sites, explanations, field notes, rough drafts—everything—posted to the blogsite. The content should be directly derived from your field research, not just recapping theory.

2.     Organization. Your data should be presented in an orderly manner that befits what you are studying. If using pages helps, do it. If you want a timeline of posts, do that. The key here is that your organization should help guide a person through your blogspace.

3.     Variety. I expect to see multiple media on your blogsite. You might use images, movies, audio, hyperlinks, etc. In short, the presentation of your field research should not be alphabetic text.

4.     Remixed media. Yes, this again [from course unit one]. I expect to see some of your raw data to be remixed somewhat. You might voiceover a video, animate a map, make a basic video game, etc. It’s up to you, but I expect to see some refined media on the page along with your raw data.

5.     The group essay. Of course there is writing involved. In a 1200-1400 word essay I want you as a group to focus in on one or two of your key findings. You might choose to address some of the questions I posed in this assignment sheet or you may come up with your own research questions. In your essay I do expect to see the issues of humanities, technology, and context addressed explicitly.

All edits to your blogsite must be complete by DATE and the url must be emailed to me.

Part II

So far we have studied the creation of spaces and places using geocaching. By now you have come to realize how memory, culture, and technology not only shape space, but also decide who participates in that space. My hope is that at this point you are starting to identify some of the systems and infrastructures that influence, control, and regulate your mobility. They may be systems of oppression, systems meant to keep you from harm, cultural norms, long-held beliefs—the list goes on. And of course these systems overlap and inform each other. It’s a mess really.

            But what I want you to consider for this next half of the project is how we can subvert systems by creating other systems that run counter to them. Take the library, for example. (I am assuming you browsed through the library website at this point....)  In my website I make the argument that navigating a library is actually navigating someone else’s system of thinking. (Here in America, that person would be Melvil Dewey.) Here’s how Farman describes finding the geocache in a public library:

The first geocache I discovered was hidden inside the Portland Public Library in Portland, Oregon. As I wandered among the shelves of the library, my movement and purposes were not aligned with the structure and design of the building. My movements through the building instead transformed the structure into a game space.  (3)

So my question is: Can we change space and place by geocaching?

For this assignment you will need to create a geocache and deposit it in a space that you identify as inherently systemic or problematic. In addition to simply depositing the geocache and registering it online, I expect a refined piece of media to accompany it along with a short written reflection. So there are three major parts: the geocache itself and the media.

The Geocache

By now you should be familiar with the customs and folkways of the geocaching community. As you develop your geocache, I expect you to participate in that community according to their principles (Yes, that is a system). So, as you develop and place your geocache, here are the things you will be assessed on:

1.     The geocache as discourse. The geocache is itself a form of building community, right? Follow the genre guidelines you noted in MPI. (NOTE: You are certainly welcome to subvert some guidelines so long as you have a rationale for doing so and it does not offend the community you are participating in.)

2.     Your online discourse. The geocache exists online too. That’s how and why people are looking for it. Put as much care into building the geocache’s online presence as you would placing the physical geocache.

The Media

Again, the media produced will comprise most of the work for this half of the project. Like the last part of the assignment I want documentation of your work within the online and physical spaces. But instead of creating a blogpage with data, I want a refined piece of media (preferably a movie, but I am open to other ideas). The media should do several things:

1.     Give context. Remember memory? Talk about that. How does history effect the place you are geocaching? What are the sensual perceptions (Degan and Rose)?

2.     Use filmic technique and editing. The camera tells the story. We learned that early in the class. Chose a formalist or verite approach to telling  to documenting what you are doing and develop a film grammar for your technique.

3.     Tell a story. This should be evident from the first two points—places and objects and people all have stories. Develop a narrative; it doesn’t have to be hard.

You might be wondering where you you can get your inspiration for geocaching a space. As luck of systems would have it, I teach an ENG 112 that reads space and place as text. Right now the students are identifying problematic and systematized areas on campus. I encourage you to visit their blogs listed on my homepage. Feel free to post questions to my main page for the ENG 112 students to answer during class. It’s a relationship I think the classes will find mutually beneficial.

The Written Reflection

The written portion of this assignment should be a less formal explanation of your role in the group and what you are seeing as shaping space. This should not be a “what I learned this semester” piece. Think of it as a think aloud—a narration of the walk you’ve taken this semester (Degan and Rose again). You may choose to focus on physical place, online concepts of space, your relationship to film and video games, what systems you have come to realize—the list goes on. What I am looking for here is 600-800 words that demonstrates your engagement in the class and with the class materials. This writing will serve as the script for the final, small project of the semester.

The geocache must be hidden and registered by DATE. The media and individually written reflections must be turned in by DATE.