Week 1--- 1/7

• Introductions
• Syllabus Review
• Introduction to Non-Place

Homework Assigned--Due Week 2:
You will receive a letter grade for each assignment.

• Read Handout #1 (Lippard & Bachelard) and complete the accompanying worksheet. Print and bring both documents with you to next class.

• Photograph your home via your phone or camera. Document all important elements (rooms, spaces or objects) that make your home a Place based on the definition discussed during class. If you do not  regard where you currently reside as home, then document the space to discuss the reasons it is not home, or a Place for you. Is it a Non-Place to you? Why is that? Create a Powerpoint or a Prez (5 minutes tops!) to share with the class that clearly identifies the spaces and objects that have memory, and/or the spaces and objects that depict characteristics of Non-Place.

Week 2--- 1/14

• Share your "Home" presentation. (Please have presentation on a jump-drive or emailed to yourself. You will use my laptop.)
• Class discussion on Reading #1 (Lippard & Bachelard). Turn in worksheet after discussion.

Homework Assigned--Due Week 4:

You will receive a letter grade for each assignment.

• Read Handout #2 (Lefebvre and Habermas) and complete the accompanying worksheet. Print and bring both documents with you to next class meeting (Week4).

Week 3--- 1/21

MLK Holiday!

You will not be required to come to class, BUT you will have an assignment due this week.

Brainstorm on ways that you can change a Non-place into a Place. It can be a grand event or a small gesture. Photograph your activity in the Non-Place of your choice as you are changing it into a Place for yourself and/or others. If it is not clear exactly what it is that you are doing, please, leave a little description. You may collaborate on this exercise.  Email your photos & documentation to me. We will discuss them next class.

Inspiration:
Free Hugs Campaign 
Park(ing) Day

Week 4--- 1/28

• Class discussion of Non-Place to Place assignment.
• Class discussion on Reading #2 (Lefebvre and Habermas). Turn in handout after class discussion for grading.
• View via link: The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces.  Listen closely when Whyte discusses these key elements:

seating space – the documentary recommends 6% to 10%, but the idea of more than enough should apply. Especially with concerns of over-capacity, the problem with urban spaces has mostly been underuse, not overuse
sun, wind, trees, water – these features make the sitting experience pleasant.
food – the draw of food, especially with seating, creates a cafe-like atmosphere amiable to visitors.
the street – urban space should be seen from the street, and a part of the street experience. Secluded and unseen urban space is unused urban space.
triangulation – street acts, public art, music, magicians, all add character and distinction to a space.


Homework Assigned--Due Week 4:
You will receive a letter grade for this assignment.

Take a trip downtown and try to locate a public space that successfully incorporates most or all of these elements. When you find it, have a photo taken of yourself/selves there. Email your photograph, along with a paragraph of why this particular space is your choice. You may collaborate on this exercise. 

Week 5--- 2/4

• Class visits the "Public Space" photo assignment homework.
• Watch The Situationist International. 

Homework Assigned--Due Week 6:

You will receive a letter grade for each assignment.

• Read Handout #3 (Simmel and Debord) and complete the accompanying worksheet. Print and bring both documents with you to next class meeting (Week6).
• Go downtown, and take a 30 minute Derive as discussed during class. Be prepared with notes on our next class meeting, to discuss where your Derive led you and how it made you feel to purposefully "get lost". 

One of the basic situationist practices is the dérive, a technique of rapid passage through varied ambiences. Dérives involve playful-constructive behavior and awareness of psychogeographical effects, and are thus quite different from the classic notions of journey or stroll. 

In a dérive one or more persons during a certain period drop their relations, their work and leisure activities, and all their other usual motives for movement and action, and let themselves be drawn by the attractions of the terrain and the encounters they find there. Chance is a less important factor in this activity than one might think: from a dérive point of view cities have psychogeographical contours, with constant currents, fixed points and vortexes that strongly discourage entry into or exit from certain zones.

But the dérive includes both this letting-go and its necessary contradiction: the domination of psychogeographical variations by the knowledge and calculation of their possibilities. In this latter regard, ecological science, despite the narrow social space to which it limits itself, provides psychogeography with abundant data.

Week 6--- 2/11

• ^{View Jem Cohen's Chain}
• Class discussion of Derive exercise. 
• Discuss expectations of Mid Term Presentations 
• ^{Discuss Reading #3 (Simmel and Debord)}

Week 7--- 2/18

Mid Term Presentations

Each of you will be required to deliver a research presentation during the course of the term. You are provided with a list of topics to choose from, located on this blog. You may propose an alternative topic, however it will not be acceptable if it does not correlate with the topic of Non Place. Make sure that you clear your topic with me prior to your talk. Your presentation should be 10-15 minutes in length and outline the key ideas surrounding that topic. You may use PowerPoint or www.prezi.com.

Anna-- Hospitals Non-Place/Place
Keriann-- Arcades/Shopping Malls
Buu-Tran-- Fee Hugs Campaign
Heather M--Gifting
Victoria-- Chain 
Mathew-- ReBar

Week 8--- 2/25

Class Cancelled.

Week 9--- 3/4

Mid Term Presentations

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Each of you will be required to deliver a research presentation during the course of the term. You are provided with a list of topics to choose from, located on this blog. You may propose an alternative topic, however it will not be acceptable if it does not correlate with the topic of Non Place. Make sure that you clear your topic with me prior to your talk. Your presentation should be 10-15 minutes in length and outline the key ideas surrounding that topic. You may use PowerPoint or www.prezi.com.

Sashel--Flash Mobs
Cora--- Non-Place to Place
Shandra Allan--Derive
Kyle--Non-Place within Non-Places 
Heather L-- The Internet as Non-Place
Ryan--The Spectacle

Week 10--- 3/11

Spring Break!

Week 11--- 3/18

Read your Reading #4 handouts: (Auge) Non-Place  and (Foucault) Heterotopias

Visit these supplementary websites:  Symbolic and Structural Approaches to Place
and Symbolic and Structural Approaches to Michel Foucault: "Of Other Spaces"

If necessary, revisit the two videos provided on our blog concerning Heterotopias.

Write a five- seven page 12pt double spaced research paper comparing and contrasting Non-Places and Heterotopias.

Be sure to include a short bio of Auge and Foucault in paragraphic form and a CLEAR summary of each topic. Feel free to use other sources for your research, as long as you site them.

Bonus Points (worth 10 on your paper!)
Include a paragraphic discussion of Almada's film and how its subject matter applies to non-place and heterotopias. Consider this quote by Almada:

 "When I first went to film at the cemetery where the film takes place in July 2009, there were four new mausoleums under construction and a tractor was digging up the dirt for a new hole to bury another 300 bodies," says filmmaker Almada. "The 'progress' of the cemetery mirrored the violence that was spiraling out of control."

Also, you may want to reference this site to clarify some thoughts about cemeteries, heterotopias and non-places. 

Week 12---3/25

Non-Place and Heterotopias Comparison/Contrast Paper Due.

Prepare to FLASH MOB (For Extra Credit of Course!!)

In the spirit of April Fools Day, organize and document a Flash Mobbing.

The rules:
1--The event must be pleasantly benign and must leave no trace in the Public arena that you choose.

2--YOU MAY NOT DO ANYTHING THAT THREATENS ANYONE'S SAFETY OR THAT WOULD BE CONSIDERED ILLEGAL.

3--You are not confined to a Non-place as some Non-places might find a Flash Mob disruptive enough to call the cops (airports especially). You are encouraged to consider public environments like parks, sidewalks downtown (Gallery Night is coming up!) and so on.

 This should be seen as a fun social experiment for the extrovert or the challenge the introvert in you! (C'mon! Live a little! )

Documentation Due in class on April 8th. This exercise is worth 5 extra credit points!

Tonight we will screen Forgotten Space by Allan Sekula and Noel Burch. Please make notes during screening. Use your notes and reference your previous readings to complete the worksheet that I emailed to you. Please print and turn in the hardcopy next class. You may visit the website for reference. (www.theforgottenspace.net)

Week 13--- 4/1

As a class, we will witness the following event. Please meet at the doors of the Commons Auditorium, April 1st at 6:15 pm to be counted in roll call.

Participants in the “Living Museum” will dress in period costumes and take on the role of an historic figure or event. The portrayals are powerful! You will see Dr. Marie-Thérèse Champagne as she becomes Christine de Pizan, a 14thcentury professional writer; Ben Stubs as Ernest Hemingway, and Tricia Hartley as Harriet Tubman along with a cast of characters.

We have also enticed Nielah Black-Spears, an internally known singer and dancer, to sing a medley of songs used during the underground movement. In addition, Dr. Drucilla Thomas from Pensacola State College will sing a medley of Fannie Crosby songs - Tonya Jackson will portray Ms. Crosby. There is so much more! You’ll see Mr. Jonathan Means as J.R. Tolkien, Sara Luczyk as the Wounded Soldier, Paris Lovette as Wilma Rudolph and Thomas Martin as Paul Robeson. Ryan Martini will share his powerful story in his self-portrayal of “A Different Face of Poverty.”

This annual Common Ground end of the year Big Event is a departure from anything you have ever seen! Please join us as we create a platform for continuing the exploration of stereotypes, myths, and misperceptions in the Commons Auditorium, April 1st at 6:30 pm.

In addition to this event, you will receive Readings  (#5) and a Worksheet via Email. Please use the week to complete the worksheet and bring the Hardcopy to next weeks class.

Week 14--- 4/8

Reading #5 and Worksheet Due:

Final Cumulative Paper
Preparation Exercise #1

Spend this week charting your day to day life. Do not stray from your usual routine. It is imperative that  you carefully track what you do each day and how your spend your time.

Chart how many hours that you spend in Non-Places (be sure to count your transit to and from destinations).
Chart how many hours that you spend in Cyberspaces -- recreational, only surfing, gaming, shopping or using social media.
Chart how many hours that you spend in Cyberspace researching for school.
Chart how many hours that you spend on the phone (texting, facetime, skype, or talking).
Chart how many hours that you spend in Places.
Chart how many hours that you spend sleeping.

Also chart your money spent in that time frame. Separate this total into two amounts. Amount #1 is allocated to necessity, amount #2 is allocated to non-necessities.

Then:
1) Calculate your data and create a Pie Graph in Word that reveals these percentages totaled over one 5 day period (Tuesday-Saturday = 120hrs).
2) Calculate your spending data and create a Pie Graph in Word that reveals these percentages (you do not need to reveal the amount spent, only the percentage of that total amount spent on necessities vs non-necessities).

Your graphs are due next class meeting.

Week 15--- 4/15

Final Cumulative Paper
Preparation Exercise #2

Spend this week charting your day to day life. DO STRAY FROM YOUR USUAL ROUTINE! Attempt to stay away from Non-Places and Cyberspaces and instead opt for alternative methods of communication  entertainment, and consumption.

It is imperative that  you carefully track what you do each day and how your spend your time.
Chart how many hours that you spend in Non-Places (be sure to count your transit to and from destinations).
Chart how many hours that you spend in Cyberspaces (do not include scholastic research or drafting papers--only surfing, gaming, shopping or using social media).
Chart how many hours that you spend on the phone (texting, surfing, gaming, or talking).
Chart how many hours that you spend in Places.
Chart how many hours that you spend sleeping.

Also chart your money spent in that time frame. Separate this total into two amounts. Amount #1 is allocated to necessity, amount #2 is allocated to non-necessities. In this arena, continue to consume non-necessary items or modes of entertainment, but try to avoid compulsions driven by what we understand to be  "The Spectacle." Perhaps you choose to shop at the farmers market, or purchase a handmade bag or scarf and the craft fair. Perhaps visit the COOP for your groceries or refrain from eating at a chain restaurant and visit a locally owned one instead.

Then:
1) Calculate your data and create a Pie Graph in Word that reveals these percentages totaled over one 5 day period (Tuesday-Saturday = 120hrs).
2) Calculate your spending data and create a Pie Graph in Word that reveals these percentages (you do not need to reveal the amount spent, only the percentage of that total amount spent on necessities vs non-necessities).

Your graphs are due next class meeting.

Week 16--- 4/22

Evaluations

Intro to Final Cumulative Paper:

Reflect on all of our readings, discussions and films.  Explore your thoughts about the "charting exercises" and what they revealed to you about how much time you spend in Non-places, Places, and Heterotopic spaces. Consider how these types of spaces make YOU feel when YOU are in them.

Now, let's put all of these theories to the test.
In your paper, you should address how learning about these theories changed the way you see YOUR world, if at all. Discuss both the value of these ideas, and the limitations of them, as they pertain to YOUR life. Discuss if these ideas have influenced your choices about how and where you choose to spend your time.  Discuss how much of it is choice and how THAT makes you feel.

While this paper is expected to be personal and from your perspective, it is expected that you will write it using academic language and grammar. Cite your sources, support your ideas, write in a professional tone, and wrap it up in 5-8 pages.



PARTY on the Green in front of Building 82. Let's turn a Non-Place into a place, together, one last time! Everyone bring food to share and a picnic blanket.



Final Paper Due Via email by Midnight on 4/29. We will NOT meet in class.