Overview

In this second part of the course, we are thinking about how we see culture around us. Where do things come from? Why do we do some of the things we do? How have other cultures influenced us over time?

The Traces of Cultures project is your chance to curate a collection of traces of different cultures that you find in your own life.

The project is due Monday, October 11 and will not be accepted after Monday, October 18.

What you will do

You will have some flexibility on the format of this project. I want you to be creative, but I also don’t want to demand any particular tech skill set! Regardless of how you end up presenting it, you will:

Find and document, in Spanish, 8 or more traces of various cultures in your own life. This can be things you use; things or places you visit or see in your routine; art, music or entertainment you enjoy; language you use; food you eat (as part of your normal diet really – not just the cool ethnic restaurant you went to once); etc.

You should be presenting traces from at least 4 different cultures (most likely more.) This is not a project where you tell us 8 different ways your family maintains Mexican culture, for example. You should have 8 traces from a number of cultures that you find around you.

For each trace, you need to include:

What the trace is
What culture it comes from
What is its history or what does it mean in that culture
A brief statement about how it came into your life. When and/or how did you (or your family/ancestors) pick it up? If you’re not sure how it came into your life, comment on its significance to you.

Format

Everything must be in Spanish and presented in narrative form. This means use sentences and paragraphs. One-two word answers for any of these questions won’t cut it.
I do not put specific length requirements. You just need to make sure you answer all the questions and provide thoughtful, detailed answers.
You can choose how you want to format or present your project from the following choices.

Video presentation

Create a video in which you walk us through the various traces you found and their explanations. You could show pictures or literally video the trace itself, depending on what it is, and tell us about it, answering the questions above.

Narrated Powerpoint

Create a Powerpoint slide show with narration in which you show a visual of the trace (a picture of the thing or something that represents it) and tell us about it, answering the questions above.

Slideshow with written information

Create a slideshow (Powerpoint, Google slides, etc) with pictures and written descriptions of each trace. Each slide would show a visual of the trace (a picture of the thing or something that represents it) and 1-2 paragraphs written about it, answering the questions above.

Other ideas?

If you have another idea of how you’d like to present your traces, I’m open to it. It just needs to tell us the traces and answer the questions. Check with me before you start though just to make sure we agree on the details.

How to submit

How you submit may depend on which format you choose and how big the file ends up being. You may submit the project any way that works for you. I’ve listed options, in order of my preference:

Upload to the Sakai Dropbox
Share with me via Google Drive (or other online service you might use). Be sure it is shared to my address hahns@durhamtech.edu. If you embed audio/video files, make sure those files are also shared with me or I may not be able to run them in your presentation.
Email to me at hahns@durhamtech.edu. I usually expect emails to come from your ConnectMail account, but you can send from any address for this.

Note on language use

This is all to be done in Spanish. We’ve been reviewing some helpful grammar structures for this project, so I will particularly be looking for your use of these:

Present tense
Preterit and imperfect for narrating in the past
Present perfect
Passive voice (Remember it’s better to say “Chopsticks are used in Asia.” than “They use chopsticks in Asia.”)
Progressive tenses

Academic Honesty Notice

Please remember that you need to write your own work and cite your sources. You may need to research the origins of some traces. When you do, make a note of your source and include that with your project. (In the case of a video presentation, you can send the source list to me separately.)

Be careful that you create your own sentences for this. Do not copy text from any source. If you do, you must officially quote it, but for this project it really doesn’t make sense to include quotes. To avoid plagiarizing, I always recommend you research your information, take notes if you need to, then turn away from the source (close or minimize the website, close the book) and write what you want to say about it.

Finally, do not write out your entire description in English and then try to translate it. This only causes more work and often leads students to the scary world of online translators! Take your ideas and put them into Spanish words and structures you know how to use.

If you have any concerns about the Academic Honesty Policy or aren’t sure if something you’re doing is ok, please ask before turning in the assignment. If I see evidence of plagiarism, translator help, or other unauthorized help, it will lead to a violation report. I don’t want to go there any more than you do!

Grading

The project will be graded using the following rubric.

CRITERIA Points	Exceeds Expectations 4	Meets Expectations 3 2		Does Not Meet Expectations 1
		Strong	Minimal
PRESENTATIONAL MODE: Traces of Culture
Content	Project includes all required elements. Information is presented with accuracy and rich details. Is appealing to the audience visually and in the content presented.	Project includes all required elements. Information is presented with accuracy. Some detail. May not be appealing visually or in the content presented.	Project includes all required elements. Information is presented with accuracy. Lacks details and is not appealing visually or in the content presented.	Project does not include all required elements and/or includes inaccurate information.
Comprehensibility	Project is understood without difficulty by those accustomed to the writing/speech of language learners.	Project is understood with only occasional difficulty by those accustomed to the writing/speech of language learners.	Project is understood, although often with difficulty by those accustomed to the writing/speech of language learners.	Project is difficult to understand.
Grammar control	Project uses accurate structures. Some errors occur with more complex structures, but show no patterns of error. Errors do not impede understanding.	Project uses mostly accurate structures, with more errors occurring with more complex structures. Errors show no more than one pattern of error. Errors do not impede understanding.	Project uses mostly accurate structures, with more errors occurring with more complex structures. Errors show few patterns of error. Errors only slightly impede understanding.	Project uses many inaccurate structures, even on a basic level, showing multiple patterns of error. Errors do impede understanding.
Vocabulary and spelling	Project uses a rich variety of vocabulary appropriately. Has few to no spelling errors, including accent marks.	Project uses a rich variety of vocabulary appropriately. Has some spelling errors, including accent marks, but spelling does not impede communication.	Project uses mostly appropriate vocabulary but lacks variety. Has some spelling errors, including accent marks. Spelling errors may impede slightly with communication.	Project uses inappropriate vocabulary and lacks variety. Has spelling errors, including accent marks, that impede communication.
Source citation	Any research sources (as applicable) are cited appropriately.		Some research sources are cited appropriately, but there are obvious places where research was done with no citation.