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updated 9/24/13

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PROJECT ONE

250 POINTS AT STAKE 

+ UP TO 25 POINTS FOR RESEARCH

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ALL PROJECTS ARE DUE IN BLOG FORMAT ON THE P1 BLOG ON BLACKBOARD BY 10:30 A.M. before the 10-1 class

Basic requirement: an essay in blog format* of at least fourteen-hundred words that must include multimedia (at least two images), at least two of the required citations, and endnotes (*footnotes become endnotes). Must be acceptable college-level writing.**

PENALTIES FOR BEING LATE AND/OR NOT MEETING THESE REQUIREMENTS:

-20 IF UP BY 10:30 A.M.10-2 ; -30 IF UP BY 10:30 A.M. 10-3; -40 IF UP BY 10:30 A.M., 10-4. -50 IF UP BY 10:30 A.M.10-5. -60 IF UP BY 10:30 A.M.10-6 .

-100 IF NOT POSTED BY 10:30 A.M.10-7  

YOUR COLLEAGUES ARE RELYING ON YOU: DON'T LET THEM DOWN.

CRITIQUES OF OTHERS ARE DUE ON BLACKBOARD BY MIDNIGHT 10-9.

IF ALL FIVE OF YOUR CRITIQUES ARE NOT COMPLETED BY THEN YOU LOSE THE CHANCE TO EARN 65 POINTS AND RECEIVE, INSTEAD, -50 WITH NO CHANCE TO MAKE THIS UP, BECAUSE YOUR CRITIQUES ARE OF NO USE TO OTHERS AFTER THEY HAVE WRITTEN THEIR PAPERS. YOUR COLLEAGUES ARE RELYING ON YOU: DON'T LET THEM DOWN.

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with an accurate word count of at least 1400 words (not counting quotations)

and at least two images

and at least two of the required quotations:

[a] one from a scientific account of your animal (may be from the internet) or from the course anthology section of Animal Speak; and/or the course anthology section of Spirit Animals and/or“Power Animals in Bless Me Ultima, Harry Potter, and Black Elk Speaks: A Few Examples” and/or “Totemism and Power Animals, some definitions .”

 

[b] and one from  a library book not available in any way on the internet. You may choose one of the books on reserve listed below. (Needless to say, the quote from the reserve book can not be from pages reproduced in our course anthology. )

But you will earn more points for a different kind of book about your animal such as a scientific book, for example.

In any case, you must supply complete bibliographical information for the book[s]

Books on Reserve in the PCL for This Project:

Animal spirit guides : discover your power animal and the shamanic path / Chris Lüttichau. -- BF 1275 G85 L88 2009;

Power animals : how to connect with your animal spirit guide / Steven D. Farmer. -- BF 1275 G85 F37 2004 TEXT ;

Animal-speak : the spiritual & magical powers of creatures great & small / Ted Andrews. -- BF 1623 A55 A53 1993;

Power animals : how to connect with your animal spirit guide / Steven D. Farmer. -- BF 1275 G85 F37 2004 CDROM

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TOPIC

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1. Begin with the animal.

You can choose your animal any way you like and you can then draw on your memories and/or the scientific observations of others to establish the traits of the animal that interest you.

Here are three contemporary guided meditations that may help you find a power animal in the Native American tradition:

Steven Farmer

Shamanic

Denise Linn

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2. Be the animal

REV IEW GOALS:

[2A2a] To return to the traditional college goals of developing character and conscience.

[2A2b] To practice replacing fear and greed with love, compassion, tolerance, and the sympathetic imagination,which is essential to morality and ethics. Trying to imagine what it was like to be someone else is a form of experiential learning, the kind that can stick with you later. All of this depends on your willingness to be an actor, to willingly suspend your disbelief long enough to play the part. That willingness also enables you to FREE yourself from the world views that you may have inherited without conscious thought or decision on your part.* Trying out the worldviews of other cultures is the humanities equivalent of a scientific experiment. When you adopt, however briefly, another Weltanshauung, and see and feel as a member of that culture would, you test out whether any part of that philosophy of life is one you want to adopt and/or, by contrast, what part of the worldivew you inherited you may consciously want to embrace as an adult.

*William Blake called them your "mind-forged manacles"

 

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To get a sense of the animal, in addition to your memories and your research, use your sympathetic imagination, trying to imagine what it is like to be the animal. At least 400 words must be devoted to helping us see, feel, hear, etc. as the animal does.

This of course is good practice for Project Two where you must write even more from the point of view of the animal.

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3. Learn from the animal (For example, what could you learn from the animal's ability to "be here now.")

Focus on the animal's traits and what you can learn from them: those that you would like to have more of yourself and those that you would like to see less of in yourself. It would be especially useful if you include traits that you need or don't need to be a better leader.

HOW COULD S/HE BE A LEADER FOR YOU?

HOW COULD S/HE HELP YOU DEVELOP YOUR OWN LEADERSHIP TRAITS?

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4. An optional, EXTRA CREDIT tertiary topic is to imagine not only what it is like to be your animal but also what it would be like to be a Native American who identifies with this animal.

[Note: "Identifies with" us does not mean "worships". Like us, Native Americans usually "worshipped" one God, such as the Great Spirit, rather than animals in general or individual animals]

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