EXPLORING THE CITY (1)

The NEW YEAR is here (HAPPY NEW YEAR :-) …and with it new ideas and new projects.
For starters, tell me… how well do you know Lisbon? Are you ready to use your (video) camera and explore it? Are you ready to ‘trek’ up and down past unknown places? To stop, and spot, and wonder about the little details that bring a city alive? Are you ready to forget the comfort of your parents’ car and spend two hours hopping up and down the bus or tramway? Yes, this is what this new unit will take!
Well, before you give up, here is a glimpse of my proposals for the first half of the term. Take a minute to think about them. And then react :-)
DISCOVER the CITY.Amoreiras? Bairro Alto? Martim Moniz? Alfama? …? You pick… And GO.
Let’s organize a first exploratory visit together. Later, after having set your own objectives and purposes, you should return on your own (group).

Your FOCUS
As you go along the streets keep your eyes open, both for general points and for detail. Your observations should be linked to (one of) the 4 topics of the English syllabus.
Brainstorm some questions that may guide your observation. Later you’ll decide what exactly your focus will be.
Connections to other subjects – History / Geography /… - are strongly welcome.

Here are some examples of questions that you could ask:
WORK –What kind of economic activity is there in the area? What impact does it have on people’s lives? What do local people do for a living? Do they have to commute?
CULTURES – Who are the people that live in the area? Who works there? Are there any signs of different cultures mixing together? Or do they just coexist? Side by side? What are people’s attitudes towards diversity? What can you find there that you’ve never seen before? CONSUMER SOCIETY/ADVERTISING – Is this particular neighborhood a ‘good’ example of our ‘Name Brand society’? Are there billboards/neons everywhere? Of what kind? Are people happy with this kind of environment? Indifferent? Does it go unnoticed? What impact does it have on people’s lives? What kind of shops are there? Is a particular branch more common? Why?
ENVIRONMENT – What is the atmosphere like? Are people aware of the impact of their actions? Are there any environmental hazards in the area? What is causing them?

Your group should pick ONE area/neighbourhood and ONE focus. Brainstorm more questions, let your curiosity run wild!

What about your final task?
Use your experience, your photos or footage to build your own narrative of the city. In other words create a narrative based on what you saw and documented.
There are actually different ways of doing this:
- an exhibition of your photos and respective catalogue;
- a story/play that you write (and illustrate) based on what you saw;
- … ? (Your suggestion)

You can then post your product in CNN – iReport/My City,My Life

In the meanwhile we’ll be reading different texts and discussing pictures and paintings that bring us different views and interpretations of city life. But I’ll tell you about it later.

Do you like these proposals? Do you think they’ll work? Are there any suggestions you’d like to make? Are there any questions you’d like to ask? Let me/everybody know if you have any texts, images, songs, poems, …, that you’d like to use in class or recommend your colleagues. Let’s discuss all this during the first two weeks of January both in class and using this forum. Once you’ve contributed with new ideas I’ll try to incorporate them in the final version of the unit which I’ll post by January 20/23.

Here is a chart with the main dates for this initial stage of the project.
STEP 1 – 6 to 16 January - Presentations of project; brainstorming and discussing new ideas
STEP 2 – 13 or 14 January - Exploratory Visit
STEP 3 – 16 January - Class Presentation – Your favourite photo(s)
STEP 4 – 16 January - Decide what your FOCUS will be; Your objectives and/or Research Questions;