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MEDITATION AND GUIDED IMAGERY:

"A Zen-inspired blend of meditation, breathing exercises and focus techniques are in vogue in corporate America—championed by blue-chip employers like Google Inc. and General Mills Inc. as a simple but potent mind-sharpening tool." Gershman, Jacob. "

Lawyers Go Zen, With Few Objections." WSJ. June 18, 2015.

Accessed September 20, 2015 by Starfish, E603A

Lovingkindness is a form of meditation designed to cultivate feelings of warmth and kindness to all people, including oneself, the researchers said. Practicing the technique may activate a soothing-caring regulation system that is probably deficient in chronic self-critics, they suggest [that] this practice may...... help in breaking down perfectionist tendencies. I know that at least for me, if I choose to allow myself forgiveness, encouragement, and grace, then I will be happier and more peaceful. The harshest of "self-critics" can use this meditation to learn how to better handle their self-judging nature. When we are less demanding of ourselves, we can in turn, be less demanding of others.

Lukits, Ann. "After Meditation, Self-Critical People Ease Up." WSJ. August 13, 2015. Accessed September 20, 2015 by Starfish, E603A

 

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Meet at Natural Science Museum up the hill from the Mustangs statue

START WALKING NOW

Bring a camera, and a laptop or notebook, to the Texas Natural Science Center (A.k.a. Texas Memorial Museum). 

I will  be sitting at the main entrance (Trinity Street ) waiting for y'all.

It is TMM in this map:

FDH J. Frank Dobie House   SHD Simkins Hall Dormitory  CS4 Chilling Station No. 4

JON Jesse H. Jones Hall (Law) SJG San Jacinto Garage TMM Texas Memorial Museum

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SCAVENGER HUNT: Take pictures and notes to enable you to post a blog about the museum for the NSC BLOG and earn up to twenty points. Instructions are below.

You can prepare for this visit by checking out my photos at http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu/~bump/images/tmm/

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TODAY'S GOALS:

IMMEDIATE PRACTICAL GOAL: [1C] how to read and follow directions

WRITING GOALS FOR YOUR BLOG:

[2E1] get a taste of what it is like to be a professional writer aiming at perfection and adopting the necessary time management, rewriting, and proofreading to become a great writer.

[2E2] get a taste of writing as a work of art. We practice informal writing as way to overcome writer’s block and as a foundation for becoming good writers. Our formal writing is writing as art, and thus the best writing you can possibly do. Think of your project as, say, a statue: you want it to have as few flaws as possible, to be as “perfect” as possible.

[2E3]. experience writing as discovery learning, especially as one connects parts of the essay, usually while rewriting. Our mottos:

[2E3a]. Only connect! . . .Live in fragments no longer.”

[2E3b]. “, ‘Hammer your thoughts into unity’.

[2E4] practice writing energized by positive rather than negative motivations, by love of your work of art rather than fear of deadlines, by creativity rather than going through the motions, by curiosity rather than compulsion.

[4] EXPLORE U.T. GOALS

[4A] Signature Course goal: to acquaint students with some of the gems of the university that make it unique (its “signature”)

[4B] Related goal: To capture a sense of the university as a place, esp. the campus as an alma mater, a second home: its museums.

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TODAY'S TOPICS: SEMIOTICS, reading the world as text

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TODAY'S ACTIVITIES: This is another example of exploring the campus and finding another “gem” of the university, as they call them, in this case the Natural Science Museum and another version of experiential learning, in this case an example of semiotics, reading objects the way we would read a book.

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INSTRUCTIONS

This is another opportunity to exercise your sympathetic imagination. Assume you’re your spirit/power/totem animal (the one you chose for your project) now gifted with superhuman intelligence, critical thinking, and the ability to express yourself in words.  Read this building and grounds as if it were a book.

You must answer all three of the following questions in your Blog.

1. OUTSIDE THE MUSEUM: What can you learn about the relationship between homo sapiens and other animals from the location and architecture of the Natural Science Museum and the statue in the front of the museum (on Trinity St.)?

2. INSIDE THE MUSEUM: Inside the museum you must focus on one animal on the first and third floors that no one else has chosen, as far as you know, and one item on the fourth floor that no one else has chosen, as far as you know. Begin by identifying it by name and location and describe it as specifically and explicitly as possible. Also take a picture of it if you can. Then write about it according to the following directions.

2a. If you were your power animal, how would you feel about the remains of this animal on the first floor, the stuffed version of it in one of the dioramas on the third floor, and the various theories and research projects about you and other animals represented on the fourth floor?

2b.If you were your power animal, what would you think about the remains of this animal on the first floor, the stuffed version of it in one of the dioramas on the third floor, and the various theories and research projects about you and other animals represented on the fourth floor? For example, what would you learn about the species homo sapiens? For example, what would you conclude about the future of the relationship between animals and homo sapiens and why?

3. Go back to the west entrance alcove between 3:05 and 3:15 so that I can check off your name and be sure you stayed the whole time.

4. When you have turned your notes into a little multimedia essay, post it on the NSC blog.