The document provides instructions for two cultural experience field reports. Students are asked to visit local cultural venues, such as museums, performances, or sites of architectural significance. They must speak with someone at the venue and write a 500-800 word report about their visit. The report should describe the event, reflect on an interesting aspect, discuss tools of interpretation learned in class, and reflect on how the experience relates to their life and culture. Students are evaluated on providing details of the experience and venue as well as applying course concepts.

1. Cultural Experience Report #1
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Instructions
Cultural Experience Field Report #1
For this assignment, you will visit a cultural venue from the
instructions below, talk with someone at the venue, and write a
short 500-800 word report about your visit.
Purpose
The purpose of this assignment is to introduce you to the
process of engaging with the cultural venues and communities
in your locality. This will inform you personally of art in your
area and groups that support it.
Skills
This assignment will help you practice the following skills that
will be useful to you in your professional and personal life
beyond school.
1. Identify local cultural venues and inform you with deeper
knowledge about the art form chosen.
2. Organize reflections about engaging with a cultural
experience and community
3. Use concepts and skills learned in class to describe and
interpret cultural experiences and communities
4. Use appropriate and proper grammar, organization, and
academic-style formatting in order to communicate
Knowledge
This assignment will help you become familiar with the
following important content knowledge in the Humanities.
1. Available local cultural venues and communities
2. Methods of interpretation within the Humanities

2. Instructions
For your report, attend one venue from this list.
· art museum or sculpture garden
· significant or notable architectural site (if there is explanatory
material there to help you understand it)
· music concert
· dance performance
· other displays, museums, or performances may be acceptable.
Check with your instructor for approval beforehand.
Restrictions: The experience should be done in person during
the current semester. If this is impossible, contact the instructor
to arrange for alternatives. You may not report on a cultural
experience from prior to this class.
Write a report after your attendance at the event or visit to a
site.
Your report should include the following information. Include
photos or links that help convey the information. As always, be
sure to document all sources you consult in preparing your
work. This includes brochures from the site or websites that
informed you about the particular venue you visited.
· Name and location of the museum, site, or performance event.
If there is on-line information about the site or performance, be
sure to include a link to it within the text of your essay in an
appropriate place.
· Type of museum, site or event. For example is it a portrait or
sculpture museum, a music concert, or dance performance? If
you attended a performance, name the performer or the piece.
Be specific about what you attended, when, and where.
· Name and/or general description of the person you spoke with
at the venue, and their answer to this specific question, "How
did you become involved with this place/event/organization
etc.?"
· Briefly describe the general setting by talking a bit about the
location, the number of people there, the general overall "vibe"
of the place.
· Describe at least one aspect of the experience that you found

3. especially interesting. For example, you might write about a
particular work of art, cultural artifact, song, dance section,
costumes or lighting, a particular vocalist, etc. Explain what
impressed or affected you, and why. Your reaction can be
positive or negative, as long as you offer an explanation.
· Identify and use at least two tools that you have learned about
in this class to talk about your visit. For example, if you visit a
museum, you might point out how color works in one of the
paintings, or if you go to a concert, how rhythm works in one of
the songs. Make sure you are explicit in identifying the tools
you are using and the learning resources your tools come from.
Make sure to inform the reader about the tool through a quote or
paraphrase from the learning resource. Then, make sure to tell
the reader how you interpret some elements of your visit with
the tools.
· Be sure to cite the learning resources you have used in MLA
format. Please
see http://sites.umuc.edu/library/libhow/mla_examples.cfm
· Reflect on the relevance--if any--of your experience to your
everyday life. How did the experience engage your feelings or
emotions, if at all? What does this tell you about human culture,
and/or about yourself?
STOP: Before you hand in your assignment, ask yourself the
following questions:
1. Have I provided the name and location of the museum, site,
or performance event and URL, if available, identified the type
of museum, site or event, and provided a general description of
the setting?
2. Have I identified and explained an especially interesting
aspect of the experience and used examples to illustrate
reflections and to explain why this aspect was interesting?
3. Have I identified the person I spoke with and provided their
answer to the required question?
4. Have I identified and applied two tools of interpretation from
learning resources to two different examples from visit?
5. Have I used examples to clearly explain the relevance of my

4. visit to at least one of the following: 1) emotion 2) human
culture 3) self-identity 4) cultural identity?
6. Have I provided a list of resources and do all of my citations
conform to MLA 8th edition guidelines?
7. Have I proofread this assignment for grammatical, structural,
and spelling errors?
This assignment is due by the end of the fourth week of class on
Sunday by 11:30PM ET.
Cultural Experience Field Report #2
For this assignment, you will visit a cultural venue from the
instructions below, talk with someone at the venue, and write a
short 500-800 word report about your visit.
Purpose
The purpose of this assignment is to introduce you to the
process of engaging with the cultural venues and communities
in your locality.

5. Skills
This assignment will help you practice the following skills that
will be useful to you in your professional and personal life
beyond school.
1. Identify local cultural venues
2. Organize reflections about engaging with a cultural
experience and community
3. Use concepts and skills learned in class to describe and
interpret cultural experiences and communities
4. Use appropriate and proper grammar, organization, and
academic-style formatting in order to communicate
Knowledge
This assignment will help you become familiar with the
following important content knowledge in the Humanities.
1. Available local cultural venues and communities
2. Methods of interpretation within the Humanities
Instructions
For your report, attend one venue from this list.
· theater play
· poetry reading, author event, or spoken word performance
· Film festival or presentation of a film by an academic author
or cinema expert
· religious service, ceremony or ritual for a religion very
different from yours, if you practice (for instance, if you are
Christian, you may not go to another Christian denomination's
service)
· other displays or performances may be acceptable. Check with
your instructor for approval beforehand.
Restrictions: The experience should be done in person during
the current semester. If this is impossible, contact the instructor
to arrange for alternatives. You may not report on a cultural
experience from prior to this class or be on the same type of
experience that you wrote on in Cultural Experience One.
Your report should include the following information. Include
photos or links that help convey the information. As always, be

6. sure to document all sources you consult in preparing your
work. This includes brochures from the site or websites that
informed you about the particular venue you visited.
· Name and location of the museum, site, or performance event.
If there is on-line information about the site or performance, be
sure to include a link to it within the text of your essay in an
appropriate place.
· Type of museum, site or event. For example, is it a film
festival, a poetry slam, an outdoor Shakespeare festival
performance? If you attended a performance, name the
performer or the piece. Be specific about what you attended,
when, and where.
· Name and/or general description of the person you spoke with
at the venue, and their answer to this specific question, "How
did you become involved with this place/event/organization
etc.?"
· Briefly (2-4 sentences) describe the general setting by talking
a bit about the location, the number of people there, the general
overall "vibe" of the place.
· Describe at least one aspect of the experience that you found
especially interesting. For example, you might write about a
particular scene in a play, costumes or lighting, a particular
character in a film or play, in a religious service you might note
differences in the tone of the service or interactions between
leaders and regular members, etc. Explain what impressed or
affected you, and why. Your reaction can be positive or
negative, as long as you offer an explanation.
· Identify and use at least two tools that you have learned about
in this class to talk about your visit. For example, if you visit a
museum, you might point out how color works in one of the
paintings, or if you go to a concert, how rhythm works in one of
the songs. Make sure you are explicit in identifying the tools
you are using and the learning resources your tools come from.
Make sure to inform the reader about the tool through a quote or
paraphrase from the learning resource. Then, make sure to tell
the reader how you interpret some elements of your visit with

7. the tools.
· Speak to a person at the performance or religious service, etc.
Ask them how they became to be involved in this cultural
community and the thing about it they like the best. Identify
them specifically by first name and what position they were
fulfilling at the event/service.
· Be sure to cite the learning resources you have used in MLA
format. Please
see http://sites.umuc.edu/library/libhow/mla_examples.cfm
· Reflect on the relevance--if any--of your experience to your
everyday life. How did the experience engage your feelings or
emotions, if at all? What does this tell you about human culture,
or about yourself?
STOP: Before you hand in your assignment, ask yourself the
following questions:
1. Have I provided the name and location of the museum, site,
or performance event and URL, if available, identified the type
of museum, site or event, and provided a general description of
the setting?
2. Have I identified and explained an especially interesting
aspect of the experience and used examples to illustrate
reflections and to explain why this aspect was interesting?
3. Have I identified the person I spoke with and their answer to
the required question?
4. Have I identified and applied two tools of interpretation from
learning resources to two different examples from visit?
5. Have I used examples to clearly explain the relevance of my
visit to at least one of the following: 1) emotion 2) human
culture 3) self-identity 4) cultural identity?
6. Have I provided a list of resources and do all of my citations
conform to MLA 8th edition guidelines?
7. Have I proofread this assignment for grammatical, structural,
and spelling errors?
This assignment is due by the end of the seventh week of class
on Sunday by 11:30PM ET.

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