Month: September 2022

(The below information was also emailed to the class around noon on Friday, September 2nd.)

I hope everyone’s first week of classes went well.  

Since we had some absences and new enrollment, I’m sending a few announcements / reminders from yesterday’s class.  The second announcement requires your response, so please read and reply in a timely fashion. 

1 – Next Week’s Assignment:  Please watch the film Can You Bring It?  Bill T Jones and D Man in the Water for next week.  You should be able to access it from logging on to Kanopy (a database you can access by searching the BC library online catalogue) and looking under either “My List” or “My courses.”  (There is probably also a link to Kanopy on Canvas under course resources.)

Note: that we will discuss the film on Tuesday and Thursday, but for Thursday’s class you’re also expected to read the accompanying interview with Bill T Jones dancer Sean Curran by the foundational Black dance scholar and artist Brenda Dixon Gottschild.

2 – For this class everyone will keep their own online journal.  I am issuing students’ class blog sites (where you’ll build your online journal) this weekend.  In order for me to make your site, I need you to email me the handle you’d like me to use as I make your unique url.   Please email me your handle by Monday morning, September 4th at 9:00 am.  As you decide on your handle, keep the following in mind:  

•  Do not use your name or identifying information.  
•  Everyone’s url will begin with sites.bc.edu/blackmoves 
• To make your particular site, I will add your handle to the end
  • Ex 1:  Handle: hope  Blog Url:  sites.bc.edu/blackmoveshope  
  • Ex 2:  Handle:  penn  Blog Url: sites.bc.edu/blackmovespenn 
•  Once I assign the url, you CANNOT change it. 
• By default, your handle will also be your site title.  However, you CAN change the site title later.

3 – At the beginning of class yesterday, I also gave a very quick crash course on how to customize and build your WordPress blog site to make it your own. If you missed the class, you might reach out to a classmate or stop by office hours.  Ultimately though the crash course was just an introduction.  The best way to get acquainted is to just mess around and try things. You can’t mess up the site, so don’t worry.  Just play around; see what you learn; and what questions come up.   You should start familiarizing yourself with your site as soon as you receive your url, so we’re not wasting any time.  We will talk more about building your blog in the next coming weeks, and of course, you can always stop by office hours if you have additional questions or concerns.

4 – This week we watched a short solo performance by Bill T Jones (via youtube clip, linked on the course schedule).  If you haven’t watched this video please do. If you have watched it, don’t be shy about watching it again.  As I mentioned in class yesterday, my hope is that the piece might function as generative theory and instructive methodology as we think about the aesthetics, sociality, and politics of black movements.  

5 – In class yesterday, I also gave an overview of the “Boxed and Bound” packet (linked on the course schedule).  That packet includes the readings for the week after next, and while you can definitely read/review the packet materials without the benefit of the overview I provided yesterday, it may be helpful checking in with one of your classmates.   Certainly if you start reading the packet and feel confused in any way, reach out to your peers and to me.

Have a great weekend,