Week 8: Buildings, large and small

March 7 and 9

As long as a house has a roof and walls to protect against the elements, it serves its purpose, you’d think. But it turns out a lot more goes into the building of a traditional family home in China (and in other places in the world).

Slides

Readings and class details

Tuesday

Meeting in Ettinger 212, 3.30PM

No exploration packs

  • Knapp, Ronald G. China’s Vernacular Architecture: House Form and Culture. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1989. (E-book Trexler Library)
    • Pick ONE chapter you’re interested in: chapter 2, 3, 4 or 5 (not chapter 1, not useful for this week’s reading)
    • Think about how you’d explain the most salient features of the techniques and what drives the choices made by the builders to somebody who did not read the chapter. What were you most amazed about, what was the most fascinating thing you think they should know? Bring that to class and be ready to share.
  • PEM Yin Yu Tang: this link leads you to an interactive museum feature: scroll down to the bottom of that page, but the images and text above it are very informative too! This features an entire southeast Chinese home from a merchant family. Have a look, it may help to bring to life your chapter, or raise interesting contrasts between this merchant family home and less luxurious surroundings described in the book.
  • Hernandez, Marco. “The Dougong“. South China Morning Post. June 11, 2018.
    • Note that the animal decorations were not always present, often it was connected to your/the building’s status how many there were. 

Thursday

Meeting in Ettinger 212, 3.30PM

The Yuanmingyuan “garden” or “Old Summer Palace” was during the Qing dynasty (1644-1911) in many ways a more important home for the emperors than the Forbidden City in the center of Bejing. It was completely destroyed in 1860, on the orders of Lord Elgin (son of the other Lord Elgin), in a punitive expedition known as the Second Opium war. (Check out the Optional Extras).

No exploration packs

  • Li, Lilian M. “The Garden of Perfect Brightness.” MIT Visualizing Cultures, 2012. (we only read two of the essays)
  • Background: if the jump in history is a bit disorienting, start with Chapter 1 of this text to bring you up to speed with the who, what, where and when of names of dynasties, general trends and events.
    • Dillon, Michael. China: A Modern History. London: I.B. Tauris, 2010. (ebook Trexler)

Optional extras

  • The Destruction, Looting and Memory (1860-present): the third essay from the MIT series, documenting the tragic end of the Old Summer Palace.
  • Hernandez, Marco. “The Origins of Beijing’s Forbidden City.” South China Morning Post. May 29, 2018. https://multimedia.scmp.com/culture/article/forbidden-city/architecture/chapter_01.html?src=follow-chapter
    • This documents that other great architectural feature in Beijing, the imperial palace in the center.
    • Note: there are three chapters in total on the building techniques and materials. At the end of the webpage/article, use the little arrow pointing right on the side of the screen to move to Chapters 2 and 3.

Assignments

1. Final Project step 2: Annotated Bibliography

Due Mon. March 6, 11:59PM, 20 points.

Find all the details on the dedicated webpage

2. Reminder: Blog post (content week 7)

5 points, due Sun. March 5. 11:59PM

Write a blog post exploring themes or ideas based on your reading. You do not need to have all the answers. In fact, learning to ask good analytical or research questions is a skill you can develop during the semester. Remember the description of the assignment from the syllabus.

  • Length: approx. 400 words. excl. list of materials consulted.
  • Add the list of materials consulted at the end of the post, in Chicago notes and bibliography style.
    • TOP TIP: Just copy the bibliography information from the Reading list on last week’s webpage, do not add the descriptive notes I provide for your information.
  • Add the words “Week 7” in the title.
    • Please use this exact phrase, so your post will show up in the blog stream.
  • Indicate which Exploration Pack you chose.
  • Include a relevant image, and add a caption with the source/credit, and an Alt text description
  • Post on your website, and add to the category hst137.

When you’re done, read this declaration carefully and then fill out the Canvas quiz to collect your points.

Declaration
– I wrote a post of approximately 400 words in response to the readings.
– I included the bibliographic references for the materials I used for my post.
– I indicated which Exploration Pack I chose.
– I included an image, and I provided a caption and credit (source), and an Alt text description for the image.
– I use the words Week 7 in the title, and added the post to category hst137

3. Feedback with Hypothes.is

3 points, due March 7, 11:59PM

Below you find links to three blog posts from your fellow students. If one of the websites is your own, or it is twice the same person’s, refresh the page, and you should get new sites. There may be a post from an earlier week: that means it came in after I created last week’s randomizer, but still before the built-in extension of the blog post assignment.

  • Post 1:
  • Post 2:
  • Post 3:

Leave feedback, questions, thoughts, insights about the contents of the posts of your fellow students using Hypothes.is group HST137. You can ask for clarifications, point out similarities and differences with the material you covered, or with your interpretation. This should encourage you to nose around in the other materials you did not read originally, too.

Use tags in Hypothes.is: question: If you have a question (obvious); answered: if you gave an answer to a question; info: if you provide more information, looking up additional facts, drawing on knowledge from other classes; and other tags you can think of. This will help us to navigate more quickly to the questions that still need answering.

Use the “Architect’s Model” of giving feedback, and engage with concrete issues. Go beyond “Yeah, I agree,” “I like” or “I think the same”, and instead explain why you have that reaction, or if you disagree, you can try to persuade the original poster of your idea or interpretation.

Remember that Hypothes.is allows for hyperlinks, e.g. to materials that support your argument, or you can include pictures (memes! [yes, there she is again]), videos etc. that help the original poster to learn more.

When you’re done, read this declaration carefully, and then fill out the Canvas quiz to collect your points.

Declaration
– I commented on three fellow students’ weekly blog post on Week 7 materials, using the Hypothes.is group HST137.
– I made sure to leave substantial comments that help the writer to improve the post, or to identify their strengths.
– I left comments that I would like to receive myself: thoughtful, helpful, kind, but also pointing out errors so they can be fixed.

4. Blog post (content week 8)

5 points, due Sun. March 19, 11:59PM

Write a blog post exploring themes or ideas based on your reading. You do not need to have all the answers. In fact, learning to ask good analytical or research questions is a skill you can develop during the semester. Remember the description of the assignment from the syllabus.

  • Length: approx. 400 words. excl. list of materials consulted.
  • Add the list of materials consulted at the end of the post, in Chicago notes and bibliography style.
    • TOP TIP: Just copy the bibliography information from the Reading list on this webpage, do not add the descriptive notes I provide for your information.
  • Add the words “Week 8 in the title.
    • Please use this exact phrase, so your post will show up in the blog stream.
  • Indicate which Exploration Pack you chose.
  • Include a relevant image, and add a caption with the source/credit, and an Alt text description
  • Post on your website, and add to the category hst137.

When you’re done, read this declaration carefully and then fill out the Canvas quiz to collect your points.

Declaration
– I wrote a post of approximately 400 words in response to the readings.
– I included the bibliographic references for the materials I used for my post.
– I indicated which Exploration Pack I chose.
– I included an image, and I provided a caption and credit (source), and an Alt text description for the image.
– I use the words Week 8 in the title, and added the post to category hst137

Extra Credit assignments

EC8-1. Rewrite a blog post

2 points, due by Sunday, March. 19, 11.59pm

Unhappy about a post you wrote? Feeling you can do better now than a few weeks ago? Had a bad week and rushed to get it in but now you’re ready to do something you can be proud of? Now you can rewrite that post and get some extra credit for it!

  • Pick one post from a previous weeks (not the Cat post) and use the comments you received, and your new insights, to rewrite it.
  • Add a brief paragraph at the end explaining how you rewrote the post: which comments did you address, how did you go about the process (e.g. starting from new blank page vs. tinkering; focusing on structure or word choice or adding/correcting facts,…), and what you learned through the process of rewriting.
  • tag the post with extra, and add “rewrite” to the title
    • (Note: it should already be in the category hst137)

Read the following Declaration carefully, and then head on over to Canvas to collect your points in the Declaration Quiz:

Declaration
I selected a post from a previous week and rewrote it, using feedback and insights I gained since writing it.
I added a brief paragraph at the end explaining what I did to rewrite the post, and what I learned about rewriting
I added the tag extra to the post, and added the word rewrite to the title.
I made sure the post is still in the category hst137.

EC8-2: Extra commenting

3 points, due by Sunday March. 19, 11.59pm

Do you like reading your colleagues’ work? Do you like helping them out by identifying ways to make their posts better? Here’s some good news! You can earn extra credit by doing extra commenting! This assignment will be available regularly throughout the semester.

  • Go to the Blog Stream of the Class
  • Pick a post that piques your curiosity and that you have not yet commented on
  • Use Hypothes.is group HST137, and leave feedback as we practiced with the Architects’s model
  • Pick 2 other posts: they can come from other students in the blog stream, or if you like the writer, you can stay with them and comment more.
  • The only conditions are
    • that you do not comment on blog posts you already commented on before, as part of your regular weekly “sourdough starter” tasks.
    • that the post is actually written for HST137, and not some other class. Check the category, and the content :upside down smiley:
  • Add the tag extra to the comment (this helps me to keep track of how many people use this option.)

When you’re done, please read this declaration carefully and then collect your points on Canvas with the Declaration Quiz.

Declaration
I selected three blogs I have not yet commented on before, from our class’s blog stream, and I used the Hypothes.is group HST137.
I made sure to leave substantial comments that help the writer to improve the post, or to identify their strengths.
I added the tag extra to my Hypothes.is comments.
I left comments that I would like to receive myself: thoughtful, helpful, kind, but also pointing out errors so they can be fixed.

Where to get assistance?

  • Tea Room on Discord:
    • open anytime for you
    • I will be hosting Tue 2PM-3PM; Wed. 1PM-2PM, or at other times by appointment via Google Calendar (usually a 15-20min appointment is enough). You can also find me in my office during Tea Room times.
    • Private room for confidential chat available on request.
  • Discord Text Channel #hst137
  • DLAs: Digital Learning Assistants: check the schedule!
  • Writing Center: Sunday – Wednesday 3:30 – 5:30 & 7 – 11 PM; Thursday 3:30 – 5:30 PM &  7 – 9 PM
  • Trexler Library Course Subject Guide: our own dedicated subject guide for the course 
  • Safety on/around campus: report an incident