6 posts tagged “bgsu”

(Bowling Green, OH) – On Tuesday, April 22nd the Bowling Green State University Virtual Campus in Second Life® held a "Birth/ Earth Day Celebration" in commemoration of the first birthday of the virtual island. The celebration included poetry readings, live DJs, art exhibition openings, and an Earth Day scavenger hunt. During the scavenger hunt, the island was devastated by the effects of global climate change. In the past week, factories emitting black smoke appeared around the island. The sandbox, an open area for building objects, transformed into a paved parking lot full of cars. The island, unable to sustain the polluting effects of these new additions, began to change. The water levels rose and covered 80% of the island flooding the classrooms, Writing Center, Performance Center and Zen Garden. The trees on the island turned brown and died. The grassy areas became an arid wasteland and turned brown. Icebergs carrying stranded polar bears appeared around the island. This catastrophic event complicated the Earth Day scavenger hunt and made it extremely difficult for the participants to find the hidden clues. The scavenger hunt contestants were asked to find 10 items that contained clues on what they could do to prevent global climate change in the real world.

Despite the challenging environment and the difficulty of finding the clues, there emerged a winner. Linda Mandlebaum, BGSU Professor in the Department of Intervention Services, collected the 10 items and answered the five questions correctly. As the participants discovered the various clues on how to save the earth, the environmental damage began to reverse itself. The water receded, the trees turned green, and the parking lot disappeared. Dr. Mandlebaum won 2,000 Linden dollars for being the first to “save the island.” She donated her winnings to Wheelies, a center for disabled residents in Second Life.

The Birth/Earth Day Celebration was simultaneously broadcast on a large projection screen in the lobby of the Bowen Thompson Student Union on the BGSU campus and in Second Life on the virtual campus. Barbara Toth, director of the BGSU Writing Center hosted the poetry readings. The art exhibitions included an installation artwork by Jeff Lovett, a visiting artist from Ohio University, and work by graduate students from the Digital Arts division of the School of Art. The live music was performed by DJ What the Bleep, a TCOM student and VCT student, DJ PsysiX. The event was coordinated by Anthony Fontana and Bonnie Mitchell, both professors in the School of Art, with the help of the Ohio Learning Network Second Life Learning Community members at BGSU and Second Life student assistants.

The Ohio Learning Network Second Life Learning Community in Northwest Ohio (whew!) met for the first time this year and discussed recent projects in Second Life. Radhika Gajjala is working with two graduate students on the a bi-lingual educational exchange project (English and Japanese).

Cassandra Jones is teaching "Women in Sci-Fi," an American Culture Studies class. She is using Second Life to explore fandom and the many ways in which people express their interest or participate in fandom. Cassandra lead the group on a field trip to the Star Trek Museum of Culture in Second Life. We were also joined by Montana Miller, Richard Anderson from Psychology and Chris Wammes from ITS.

A portion of the discussion was focused on creating a survey for students using Second Life. What sort of initial reactions, experiences, or change in online practice did Second Life facilitate? Perhaps these responses change over time as the students become more familiar with the virtual world.

We also dedicated a short amount of time looking at:

• A "chat logger" which records local chat even when your avatar is not there
• The new planetarium on BGSU island (SLURL) and
• The ongoing construction of the Writing Center on the BGSU virtual campus (SLURL).

On November 9th, we held the BGSU Second Life Virtual Campus Grand Opening. This event took place in real life at the BT Student Union on the BGSU campus with live musical performances by students from the College of Musical Arts and two student DJ's. In Second Life the event was attended by people from all over the world and documented by several of our learning community members. Below are just a few of the snapshots from in-world.

We've also received some great press lately including this article at SLNN.com and this article in the Toledo Blade.

Anthony's snapshots:

Rads snapshopts:

These are a few images from my piece in the BGSU Faculty Show at the Dorthy Uber Brian Gallery.

 "ReCon(Text)" is essentially an interactive wall comic. Using cut out panels, figures, and word balloons taken from my upcoming original graphic novel, THE DOGS, the audience is free to juxtapose the images in any order or direction on the wall. Behind the cutouts I have economically drawn the logo for the book. This has created new narratives that examine each element from a new perspective. Charming, melodramatic scenes become twisted sexually explicit jokes. Characters are free to confront themselves again and again.

Surveying new ways to present and recontextualize the work from my book, ReCon(Text) aims to be the first of several pieces I have planned. Comics artists have traditionally shown the pages from a book in their original format, often in linear order, when shown at art galleries. Through this series of experiments I hope to deconstruct the conventional nature of comic reading and utilize the gallery setting as a device for heterodoxical approaches to already existing narratives.

More experimental approaches to "Innovating the Strip" will be explored in my upcoming class at BGSU by the same name:

Innovating the Comic Strip involves 2D studio assignments in various media with emphasis on experimentation in the static sequential narratives of a comic strip format. Special focus will be placed on narrative interpretation, content development, and alternative display. Students will investigate and explore the exploding community of online comics, their aesthetics, and examine their functionality as art. Students will innovate the strip free from the constraints imposed by outdated restrictions. Demonstrations will include: How to (de)construct a traditional comic strip, How to start an internet comic, How to develop meaning through narrative comic strip communication, Techniques for optimal impact of various media in unconventional displays, and How to develop prolonged study of formal and conceptual thematic comic strip inventions. Lectures will include: Investigating traditional restrictions, Communicating information and instruction, The value of internet comics, and Collaborative strips and interactive comics. 

Student Learning Outcomes:

Upon completion of this course the student will be able to:

• Create non-traditional comic strip narratives utilizing various innovation and experimentation strategies
• Effectively communicate and design meaningful sequential narratives using various 2D media and the comic strip
• Focus on thematic development for prolonged study
• Show increased analytical and visual sensitivity, creativity, and critical awareness of the comic strip format and the role that it plays in the creation of meaning and narrative.
  

Course Content: 
This class will address:

• The history and theoretical principles applicable to inventing non-traditional comic strip structures.
• Demonstrating the tools, skills and software to design and construct non-traditional comic strips.
• Media compatibility and archival issues arising from the use of non-traditional comic strip display innovations.
• The completion of 4 major projects, 1 utilizing site specific display for informational or instructional communication, 2 based on innovating traditional strip conventions in a non-traditional display, and the fourth, an ongoing semester long assignment developing creation strategies/media in an internet setting will form the capstone project