Unit 2: Analyzing the objects of our affection

“What bothers me about the mall is its silence, a silence we mostly live in nowadays; what cheers me are the ways people are learning to read the silence histories of objects and choosing the objects that still sing.” –Rebecca Solnit, The silence of the lambs wool cardigans

Permitted Sources:

In Unit 1, we attempted to define our relationship to our education by placing ourselves somewhere on a continuum between being an intrinsic and extrinsic learner. Along with way, many of us created new concepts (identified by new terms such as multicultural learner) that offers a nuanced and complex analyses of how we relate to and think about past, present, and future of international study abroad programs.

Now we’ll turn our attention to the ways that we, as international students, act and interact with technology .

Unit 2: 500+ Word Prompts(Already included, see attached file)

Prompt 1: Identify one piece of technology that you own and have affection for (we might use the term ‘love,’ as in, ‘I totes love my iPhone.” Why do you like this thing so much? (Dig deeper: Would you use the word love? If you do, what do you mean by that?)

Prompt 2 (Data gathering): Write a description of the object you’ve chosen. Your description should convey the object’s physical properties without relying on evaluative terms (such as “good,” “helpful,” “expensive,” etc.)

Prompt 3 (Data gathering): How do you experience this object? Without relying on evaluative language, describe your use of this object. How do you use it? Describe the experience. Where, when, and for what purposes? 

Prompt 4 (500-1000 words): Write from the perspective of your object.

• What does your object identify as?
• Fill in the blank of the following statements as many times as possible to reveal it’s allegiances and it’s location in a network: I am _______________________.
• Is your object part of a group?
• What forces shape(d) your object’s identification?
• Does you object have any memories?Has your object forgotten anything?
• Does your object keep anything secret of hidden from you?
• What might your object think about your or humans in general? About nature? About other animals? About other objects?

Prompt 5: For this prompt, I’d like you to do two 10-minute sessions. For each, produce 250 words (so, you’ll produce 500 words all told). Write down one observation — analytical or otherwise — about your object. Now, ask and answer the “so what” question until time is up. Rinse and repeat for your second observation.

Prompt 6: What is the single most interesting observation you’ve made about your object? What is it (your observation) and why do you think it’s so interesting? Regale us with your insight!

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