The last half of the semester will be focused on a group project that you will choose during Wednesday, March 26's class. We will describe the three projects, and you’ll choose your groups based on your preference. You will “carry out” the project over the remaining weeks of the semester, and then present your project and reflections on it in front of SCSU leadership and Arts Administrators from across the city during our last class on Wednesday, May 7.
The presentations should include some type of visuals (powerpoint, google slides, prezi, etc.), and every member of the group must speak during the presentation (however briefly). Each presentation should be about 15 minutes long.
Some guiding questions to consider while putting together your presentation:
What was the context for the nonprofit needing your help?
How did you decide who was going to do what?
Did you run into any difficulties or did you have to change course from your original plan?
How did the project tie into themes or ideas we chatted about in the first half of the course?
Were there any "hard outcomes" of your work? (Can you show you "made a difference"?)
Option 1:
Help the Arts Council get started on gathering Oral Histories. They're purposely keeping this assignment vague, to allow you to interpret it as you see fit. Ideally, you would deliver this assignment on two layers: A larger-picture idea where you create a sort of "tool kit" for people to gather Oral Histories, and then a smaller-picture execution where the group actually "DOES" an Oral History.
Option 2:
Laurel Music Camp (Yes - BAND CAMP!) is still recovering, "numbers wise," from Covid. We've been steadily gaining campers back over the past 4 years, but at this point last year, we had 30 more campers registered than where we are right now. Help our PR person, Lyric, with some Marketing ideas on getting the word out about camp. There are two ways this can happen: create actual social media posts, but also there is room for pitching some campaigns that might garner attention and engagement among high schoolers across the tri-state area.
Option 3:
Work with Kelsey Carbone, the International Festival of Arts & Ideas's Director of Production, who uses the month of April to focus on the upcoming Neighborhood Festivals throughout New Haven. Kelsey works with all aspects of the Festival, from all the headliners of the main stage to the local artisans featured at Neighborhood Festivals.