Here are a few more interesting and useful weblinks I have come across:
http://www.shapingsf.org/sfhistory_links.htm
http://www.shapingsf.org/
http://www.counterpulse.org/shapingSF_audio.shtml
****PLEASE SEND ME LINKS OF COOL THINGS YOU FIND SO I CAN POST THEM FOR EVERYONE****
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
USEFUL WEBSITES (the new assignment is below this post)
Useful Websites:
*****IF YOU HAVE SUGGESTIONS FOR THE CLASS, EMAIL THE LINKS TO ME AND I WILL UPDATE THIS LIST*****
http://www.archive.org/details/naropa
While not directly related to the contado project, this is a very cool and useful site for research related to Beat/SF poetics. It is the audio archive for Naropa University (the Buddhist university where Ginsberg, assorted Beats, and others ran a school of poetry). There are hundreds of lectures on poetry/poetics and readings. Great resource.
http://www.bayareavision.org/bayarea/index.html
Website for an organization that does a lot of thinking, lobbying, and planning for sustainable growth and practices in the Bay Area.
http://www.sfgenealogy.com/sf/history/sindex.htm
Great site with tons of historical and archival materials related to SF and the Bay Area. Excellent for old maps, articles, images, etc. Make sure you check this out – even if it is only for curiosity’s sake.
http://www.oac.cdlib.org
Another good archival resource run by the University of California Library’s Digital Library. I haven’t explored this site much but it seems like it would be very useful for the Contado assignment.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/bay_area
Good for getting started and for finding other resources. Check the “References” section at the bottom of the article. As mentioned in the Contado Assignment, you are encouraged to use wikipedia but you should ALWAYS GO BEYOND. When you read something interesting in wikipedia, check the citation for this piece of information and, if available, go to that source. Try not to cite wikipedia as the authority. Use it as a guide to other resources.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:San_Francisco_Bay_Area_geography_stubs
Another good wikipedia resource. Contains a broad list of Bay Area geographical entities.
http://www.bopsecrets.org
Another site that might not relate directly to this assignment, but it is useful for this course and it is pretty cool. If you are wondering what this figure of the flaneur is, this has some good theoretical resources. It is translations of “Situationist” documents-mostly from Paris in the 60s. It also has some interesting critiques of urban life and space from a specific historical and spatial context. **Check out the sections of graffiti, really cool**
http://www.archive.org/index.php
The Internet Archive Project is a very interesting project to create a free and open-source library on the web. I have barely scratched the surface of this resource, but it promises to be useful for a broad variety of projects. Do some exploration.
http://youtube.com
You never know what kind of interesting and weird stuff is out there. When you know your object of study, do some searching and see if there are any videos about it. Sometimes there are independent documentaries made about places, communities, and objects.
http://www.deepoakland.org/
Website on Oakland mentioned in lecture by Rob. Good resources, articles, and ideas for original projects.
http://baynature.org/
Good resource for thinking about the Bay Area as a bioregion.
http://www.werc.usgs.gov/bioregions.html
More on bioregions.
*****IF YOU HAVE SUGGESTIONS FOR THE CLASS, EMAIL THE LINKS TO ME AND I WILL UPDATE THIS LIST*****
http://www.archive.org/details/naropa
While not directly related to the contado project, this is a very cool and useful site for research related to Beat/SF poetics. It is the audio archive for Naropa University (the Buddhist university where Ginsberg, assorted Beats, and others ran a school of poetry). There are hundreds of lectures on poetry/poetics and readings. Great resource.
http://www.bayareavision.org/bayarea/index.html
Website for an organization that does a lot of thinking, lobbying, and planning for sustainable growth and practices in the Bay Area.
http://www.sfgenealogy.com/sf/history/sindex.htm
Great site with tons of historical and archival materials related to SF and the Bay Area. Excellent for old maps, articles, images, etc. Make sure you check this out – even if it is only for curiosity’s sake.
http://www.oac.cdlib.org
Another good archival resource run by the University of California Library’s Digital Library. I haven’t explored this site much but it seems like it would be very useful for the Contado assignment.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/bay_area
Good for getting started and for finding other resources. Check the “References” section at the bottom of the article. As mentioned in the Contado Assignment, you are encouraged to use wikipedia but you should ALWAYS GO BEYOND. When you read something interesting in wikipedia, check the citation for this piece of information and, if available, go to that source. Try not to cite wikipedia as the authority. Use it as a guide to other resources.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:San_Francisco_Bay_Area_geography_stubs
Another good wikipedia resource. Contains a broad list of Bay Area geographical entities.
http://www.bopsecrets.org
Another site that might not relate directly to this assignment, but it is useful for this course and it is pretty cool. If you are wondering what this figure of the flaneur is, this has some good theoretical resources. It is translations of “Situationist” documents-mostly from Paris in the 60s. It also has some interesting critiques of urban life and space from a specific historical and spatial context. **Check out the sections of graffiti, really cool**
http://www.archive.org/index.php
The Internet Archive Project is a very interesting project to create a free and open-source library on the web. I have barely scratched the surface of this resource, but it promises to be useful for a broad variety of projects. Do some exploration.
http://youtube.com
You never know what kind of interesting and weird stuff is out there. When you know your object of study, do some searching and see if there are any videos about it. Sometimes there are independent documentaries made about places, communities, and objects.
http://www.deepoakland.org/
Website on Oakland mentioned in lecture by Rob. Good resources, articles, and ideas for original projects.
http://baynature.org/
Good resource for thinking about the Bay Area as a bioregion.
http://www.werc.usgs.gov/bioregions.html
More on bioregions.
3rd Assignment -- Contado Research
Brechin: Imperial San Francisco ---- Contado Projects
For this assignment, we are going to do some background research using the conceptual tools acquired with Brechin’s “Imperial City/Contado” formation. In Brechin’s text he describes many different places in the Bay Area, California, the Pacific, and Asia (among others) that can be considered parts of the San Francisco Imperial Contado. Examples from Brechin are: Hetch Hetchy, Richmond, Lake Tahoe, the Nevada Nuclear Test Site, Hawaii, the Philippines, etc.
For this assignment, we will each do some research on a specific place or site that could be considered part of the SF contado. So,
1) Think about some places (these could be anywhere in the world, but it might be easier to start geographically closer to San Francisco) that might have a connection to SF. Look into the history of this place to see what, if any, relationships it has had with SF. These could be economic relationships (for example, a certain area provides material or labor resources for SF), or cultural or artistic relationships. In other words, find a place or site that can be analyzed in a Brechin-like manner.
2) Build a bibliography of texts or web resources related to this site. Note: Wikipedia will be helpful for this assignment, but use it more as a jumping off point (don’t end with wikipedia).
3) Research this site and conduct an analysis of the site as part of the contado space of SF. Things to look for are: What are the flows involved within the relationship between the site and SF? If an exploitative relationship exists, are there any resistant flows or practices that emerge from the contado space—does the contado “strike back” at the City in any ways? Also (IMPORTANT), has the relationship between this site and SF changed over time?
4) Create a blog entry that discusses your contado site and supports it with links to articles, videos, and archival material. This should be about 2-3 pages – it is required that you include links to web sources and a possible bibliography. This will be part of the total length of the blog; however, the bibliography part should be more than a list of resources – it should be partially annotated: include a link or a citation with a brief explanation of why it is useful (i.e. what did you find in an article or on a certain website).
SOME IDEAS FOR RESEARCH:
-Santa Cruz/UCSC as part of SF contado
-What is the relationship between these two places? How has it changed over time?
-Big Sur
-Atomic Contado of UC Berkeley
-Brechin goes into this; it would be interesting to look closely at the scope of this contado (including raw materials, testing grounds, waste disposal, etc.).
-How has the Atomic contado resisted SF/US exploitation?
-Any cities/areas in the Bay Area of N. California
-Look into when they were founded and see if there was a connection to SF. If related to SF, why were they developed?
-Asia-Pacific
-Brechin begins this analysis. If you want to look at the Imperial SF relationship to sites in Asia or in the Pacific, this is encouraged.
-Hemisphere
-How might other places in the Western Hemisphere be placed within a SF imperial contado? Brechin discusses Mexico. Where else is the influence of SF felt?
-Monuments/Statues/Museums/etc.
-Brechin frequently conducts analyses of various monuments that represent the imperial appropriation of a site (ex: the Sunol Water Temple, the Dewey Monument, the De Young Museum).
-There are tons of monuments and “sites of historical interest” that you could use for this kind of project. Ask me for some ideas…
Requirements:
This project lends itself to our blog format. There is a wealth of information out there on the web that you could use for this project. Your blog entry should include links to the sites you use, and if you are tech savvy, you can embed things like images and maps into your blog (but, if this is too complicated, make sure you at least have links to this sites).
-Some examples of web resources to include in your blog:
-Maps (old and new)
-Images (historical photos and other images)
-Videos
-Articles (from periodicals or other websites)
Preparation for Final Project:
This assignment is a great opportunity to get some of the initial research and footwork started for a final project should you choose to do a contado-research type of final project. Also, the resources you find and post on your blog might be helpful to other students in the class. Similarly, other peoples’ discoveries might be helpful for your own research – make sure you take a look at other blogs!!
***A List of useful websites will be posted later and I will bring to section on Friday some useful examples of texts…
For this assignment, we are going to do some background research using the conceptual tools acquired with Brechin’s “Imperial City/Contado” formation. In Brechin’s text he describes many different places in the Bay Area, California, the Pacific, and Asia (among others) that can be considered parts of the San Francisco Imperial Contado. Examples from Brechin are: Hetch Hetchy, Richmond, Lake Tahoe, the Nevada Nuclear Test Site, Hawaii, the Philippines, etc.
For this assignment, we will each do some research on a specific place or site that could be considered part of the SF contado. So,
1) Think about some places (these could be anywhere in the world, but it might be easier to start geographically closer to San Francisco) that might have a connection to SF. Look into the history of this place to see what, if any, relationships it has had with SF. These could be economic relationships (for example, a certain area provides material or labor resources for SF), or cultural or artistic relationships. In other words, find a place or site that can be analyzed in a Brechin-like manner.
2) Build a bibliography of texts or web resources related to this site. Note: Wikipedia will be helpful for this assignment, but use it more as a jumping off point (don’t end with wikipedia).
3) Research this site and conduct an analysis of the site as part of the contado space of SF. Things to look for are: What are the flows involved within the relationship between the site and SF? If an exploitative relationship exists, are there any resistant flows or practices that emerge from the contado space—does the contado “strike back” at the City in any ways? Also (IMPORTANT), has the relationship between this site and SF changed over time?
4) Create a blog entry that discusses your contado site and supports it with links to articles, videos, and archival material. This should be about 2-3 pages – it is required that you include links to web sources and a possible bibliography. This will be part of the total length of the blog; however, the bibliography part should be more than a list of resources – it should be partially annotated: include a link or a citation with a brief explanation of why it is useful (i.e. what did you find in an article or on a certain website).
SOME IDEAS FOR RESEARCH:
-Santa Cruz/UCSC as part of SF contado
-What is the relationship between these two places? How has it changed over time?
-Big Sur
-Atomic Contado of UC Berkeley
-Brechin goes into this; it would be interesting to look closely at the scope of this contado (including raw materials, testing grounds, waste disposal, etc.).
-How has the Atomic contado resisted SF/US exploitation?
-Any cities/areas in the Bay Area of N. California
-Look into when they were founded and see if there was a connection to SF. If related to SF, why were they developed?
-Asia-Pacific
-Brechin begins this analysis. If you want to look at the Imperial SF relationship to sites in Asia or in the Pacific, this is encouraged.
-Hemisphere
-How might other places in the Western Hemisphere be placed within a SF imperial contado? Brechin discusses Mexico. Where else is the influence of SF felt?
-Monuments/Statues/Museums/etc.
-Brechin frequently conducts analyses of various monuments that represent the imperial appropriation of a site (ex: the Sunol Water Temple, the Dewey Monument, the De Young Museum).
-There are tons of monuments and “sites of historical interest” that you could use for this kind of project. Ask me for some ideas…
Requirements:
This project lends itself to our blog format. There is a wealth of information out there on the web that you could use for this project. Your blog entry should include links to the sites you use, and if you are tech savvy, you can embed things like images and maps into your blog (but, if this is too complicated, make sure you at least have links to this sites).
-Some examples of web resources to include in your blog:
-Maps (old and new)
-Images (historical photos and other images)
-Videos
-Articles (from periodicals or other websites)
Preparation for Final Project:
This assignment is a great opportunity to get some of the initial research and footwork started for a final project should you choose to do a contado-research type of final project. Also, the resources you find and post on your blog might be helpful to other students in the class. Similarly, other peoples’ discoveries might be helpful for your own research – make sure you take a look at other blogs!!
***A List of useful websites will be posted later and I will bring to section on Friday some useful examples of texts…
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Blog Assignment #2 – Ginsberg’s “Howl” and Brautigan’s Trout Fishing in America
Blog Assignment #2 – Ginsberg’s “Howl” and Brautigan’s Trout Fishing in America
Due Date: Please post your entry by 8 pm on Monday, October 20.
For this entry you may write on either Ginsberg’s “Howl” and Brautigan’s Trout Fishing in America. Pick one (but, if you like, you may do entries for both). This entry should be the equivalent of two (2) pages, double-spaced. Also, make sure you engage with the actual texts—provide quotes and citations.
For Ginsberg: There are a couple ways you can approach this poem; you can try to tackle the poem in its
entirety, or you can concentrate on a certain section or passage in the poem.
Suggestions:
If you are trying to tackle the whole poem, try to find a way to organize your discussion. This could include the formal aspects of the poem (structure, language, etc.) or thematic aspects (motifs, imagery, politics, etc.). It may help you to organize your thinking on this long and mighty poem if you find an aspect of the poem with which to center your discussion.
Similarly, if going for a certain part of the poem, try to establish a theme or central idea with which to organize your discussion of the specifics.
For Brautigan: There are also a couple ways you can go about this. As in the Ginsberg “prompt,” you can go for a synthetic treatment of the entire text, or you can try to concentrate on a smaller element of the text (chapters, specific themes, language, etc.)
Some suggestions of things to ponder:
-The structure of the text—it doesn’t look like your average novel; what can you say about the way Brautigan organizes the text and how would this connect to other issues, ideas, things going on in the text. Does the weird form of the novel have a meaning?
-Themes: statues, museums, monuments, graves/graveyards… Trout fishing. Others…
-What is “Trout Fishing in America”? As Rob mentioned in lecture, this idea takes on a lot of different forms and functions in the novel. What is Brautigan doing with this phrase/idea???
-The geography of the novel – if you were to map this text, what would it look like? Is there a connection between the physical geography (the various, shifting settings) and the structure and/or content of the text??
The above are some suggestions for getting into the texts, but are not requirements. You can take this entry anywhere you like. Just make sure you stick to the basic assignment: a thoughtful engagement with either Ginsberg or Brautigan’s texts; addressing them either as a whole or by focusing on other elements.
Reminder: post your entry by 8 pm next Monday (Oct. 20).
Monday, October 13, 2008
Blog Update (as of Sunday Oct. 13)
Dear Comrades,
Thank you to all who were able to get their blogs up and running and send me the links. I am still trying to get them organized and posted on the common blog. If you have not been able to get your blog address to me, make sure you send it ASAP.
I received a few e-mails from folks saying that the Literary Guillotine is having issues with the Ferlinghetti book. If you are having trouble getting a copy and have therefore not been able to post a response on your blog, fret not. Just make sure that when the copies of "San Francisco Poems" are available you draft a response and post it (the "deadline" for this assignment has been pushed back a little because of the book problems).
Also, if you e-mailed me this weekend with other questions or problems, I'm sorry I haven't responded to them yet--I trying hard to get things settled on the administrative/bureaucratic level and will get back to you ASAP.
Finally, I just want to remind everyone that it is required that you sign-in at each lecture. I know it's kinda crowded and hectic in the lecture hall, and it's sometimes hard to sign-in. So, from now on this is the sign-in policy:
On each side of the long table in from of classroom there will be a sign-in sheet. Please make sure you sign-in on one or the other. Also, there will be occasional reminders about assignments and other news at the top of the sign-in sheets. Make sure you take a look and see if there is anything important up there.
I hope everyone had a great weekend. See you on Tuesday.
Jonathan
Thank you to all who were able to get their blogs up and running and send me the links. I am still trying to get them organized and posted on the common blog. If you have not been able to get your blog address to me, make sure you send it ASAP.
I received a few e-mails from folks saying that the Literary Guillotine is having issues with the Ferlinghetti book. If you are having trouble getting a copy and have therefore not been able to post a response on your blog, fret not. Just make sure that when the copies of "San Francisco Poems" are available you draft a response and post it (the "deadline" for this assignment has been pushed back a little because of the book problems).
Also, if you e-mailed me this weekend with other questions or problems, I'm sorry I haven't responded to them yet--I trying hard to get things settled on the administrative/bureaucratic level and will get back to you ASAP.
Finally, I just want to remind everyone that it is required that you sign-in at each lecture. I know it's kinda crowded and hectic in the lecture hall, and it's sometimes hard to sign-in. So, from now on this is the sign-in policy:
On each side of the long table in from of classroom there will be a sign-in sheet. Please make sure you sign-in on one or the other. Also, there will be occasional reminders about assignments and other news at the top of the sign-in sheets. Make sure you take a look and see if there is anything important up there.
I hope everyone had a great weekend. See you on Tuesday.
Jonathan
Thursday, October 9, 2008
First Writing Assignment (Due Friday, October 10)
4) First Writing Assignment: For this assignment, I would like you to draft a 1-2 page (double-spaced) "response" to the Ferlinghetti readings. There are a few ways in which this can be done:
A) Pick a poem from San Francisco Poems and discuss what sort of image the poem presents of San Francisco. Rob outlined some of the dominant themes of San Francisco as image in his lectures (i.e. as "Mongrel space", "imperial city", etc.). In your response, you can describe what depiction of San Francisco you see in a particular poem.
B) You can do something similar to option A but, instead of concentrating on a single poem, you can look at a set of poems or the book as a whole. What are the various images of San Francisco presented in the set of poems or the book as a whole? Are there images of the city that contradict, or otherwise complicate, eachother?
C) You may also approach this general question (What is the image of San Francisco presented by Ferlinghetti's poems?) in other ways. The basic requirement is that you critically engage with the specific poems (avoid being overly general, and make sure you address the actual poems and don't just vaguely refer to them) and provide some kind of "reading" of the poems.
In these responses (and in all of your written work for this course) try to avoid uncritical, opinion driven responses. If you find the poems lousy or if you disagree with the image that Ferlinghetti is presenting of the city (for example, you think that Ferlinghetti is giving the city too much credit for it's professed progressiveness or exceptionalism) don't just rail on him or his work. Try to address WHY this problematic exists; don't just state the problematic.
A) Pick a poem from San Francisco Poems and discuss what sort of image the poem presents of San Francisco. Rob outlined some of the dominant themes of San Francisco as image in his lectures (i.e. as "Mongrel space", "imperial city", etc.). In your response, you can describe what depiction of San Francisco you see in a particular poem.
B) You can do something similar to option A but, instead of concentrating on a single poem, you can look at a set of poems or the book as a whole. What are the various images of San Francisco presented in the set of poems or the book as a whole? Are there images of the city that contradict, or otherwise complicate, eachother?
C) You may also approach this general question (What is the image of San Francisco presented by Ferlinghetti's poems?) in other ways. The basic requirement is that you critically engage with the specific poems (avoid being overly general, and make sure you address the actual poems and don't just vaguely refer to them) and provide some kind of "reading" of the poems.
In these responses (and in all of your written work for this course) try to avoid uncritical, opinion driven responses. If you find the poems lousy or if you disagree with the image that Ferlinghetti is presenting of the city (for example, you think that Ferlinghetti is giving the city too much credit for it's professed progressiveness or exceptionalism) don't just rail on him or his work. Try to address WHY this problematic exists; don't just state the problematic.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Directions for Creating a Blog
Fellow Flaneurs,
Because our section will only meet a few times over the course of the quarter we will be carrying on a discussion through the medium of the blog. Each student is required to create and maintain a blog for the duration of the course. There will be weekly assignments announced on this blog (and possibly by e-mail). These assignments are required and will be a major factor in your Attendance/Section grade (30% of final grade according to the syllabus!).
That being said, this should be a pretty fun way to work through/with the materials for this course. This medium will let us do what we would normally be doing for a discussion section, writing weekly response papers, but with the addition of other stuff like links to articles, videos, songs, etc. Also, you can get as creative as you want with these things. If you're not the creative type or the tech-savvy type, don't worry. The minimum requirement is that you complete the assignments on time. Embellishments are up to you -- just make sure that the blog is functioning (i.e. the links are working and the page is readable) and that it looks like at least a little bit of effort went into it.
And, hey, when this is done, consider yourself to be published.
In general, the weekly assignments will consist of two parts. First part: pick one of the readings from the current week and write a short response to it (short means it should be about 1 page double-spaced). Second part: look at and read as many of the other student blogs as you can and write a response to one of them (you can respond to more than one if you want). Of course, these responses should be mindful and constructive. At times, the weekly assignments may vary. Make sure you check this blog and your e-mail regularly.
Directions for creating your own blog:
Some of you may know how to do this already. If you do, go off and create a blog however you like. Just make sure you e-mail the URL to me so that I can post a link to it on our common blog (http://sanflaneurs.blogspot.com).
If you are like me and don't intuitively know how to do this stuff, follow these directions:
1. Go to http://www.blogger.com
2. There will be an option to start your own blog.
3. Click this option and follow directions. You will have to enter the usual info and create a password. Then you will have to pick a name and an address for your page. The address will be http://_____.blogspot.com
4. Do whatever else the Machines of Loving Grace (Brautigan reference we'll get to at about week 3) tell you to do and you should be set.
5. If you are not set and/or think my directions suck, let me know and we'll figure it out.
6. Once everything is copacetic, e-mail me a link to your blog mailto:jonathanlit101@gmail.com
And, as always, e-mail me with any other questions, concerns, complaints (or compliments) you might have.
Because our section will only meet a few times over the course of the quarter we will be carrying on a discussion through the medium of the blog. Each student is required to create and maintain a blog for the duration of the course. There will be weekly assignments announced on this blog (and possibly by e-mail). These assignments are required and will be a major factor in your Attendance/Section grade (30% of final grade according to the syllabus!).
That being said, this should be a pretty fun way to work through/with the materials for this course. This medium will let us do what we would normally be doing for a discussion section, writing weekly response papers, but with the addition of other stuff like links to articles, videos, songs, etc. Also, you can get as creative as you want with these things. If you're not the creative type or the tech-savvy type, don't worry. The minimum requirement is that you complete the assignments on time. Embellishments are up to you -- just make sure that the blog is functioning (i.e. the links are working and the page is readable) and that it looks like at least a little bit of effort went into it.
And, hey, when this is done, consider yourself to be published.
In general, the weekly assignments will consist of two parts. First part: pick one of the readings from the current week and write a short response to it (short means it should be about 1 page double-spaced). Second part: look at and read as many of the other student blogs as you can and write a response to one of them (you can respond to more than one if you want). Of course, these responses should be mindful and constructive. At times, the weekly assignments may vary. Make sure you check this blog and your e-mail regularly.
Directions for creating your own blog:
Some of you may know how to do this already. If you do, go off and create a blog however you like. Just make sure you e-mail the URL to me so that I can post a link to it on our common blog (http://sanflaneurs.blogspot.com).
If you are like me and don't intuitively know how to do this stuff, follow these directions:
1. Go to http://www.blogger.com
2. There will be an option to start your own blog.
3. Click this option and follow directions. You will have to enter the usual info and create a password. Then you will have to pick a name and an address for your page. The address will be http://_____.blogspot.com
4. Do whatever else the Machines of Loving Grace (Brautigan reference we'll get to at about week 3) tell you to do and you should be set.
5. If you are not set and/or think my directions suck, let me know and we'll figure it out.
6. Once everything is copacetic, e-mail me a link to your blog mailto:jonathanlit101@gmail.com
And, as always, e-mail me with any other questions, concerns, complaints (or compliments) you might have.
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