Week 7: Repose (relax, reset, recharge, re–)

What comes after last week’s theme of chaos? How about a pause?

re·pose rəˈpōz/ noun — a state of rest, sleep, or tranquility.
“in repose her face looked relaxed” synonyms: rest, relaxation, inactivity;

This week in Networked Narratives is for you to choose your own path. We have one scheduled activity, the first virtual bus tour (see below). But what you do with your time might be:

• Return to something you perhaps did not finish or even start from an earlier week. Not to be checked off a list, but because your curiosity calls.
• Revisit your posts and creative works so far. Are you seeing development? Are there loose threads? Just take in your own work.
• Tinker with your blog. Figure out how to add menus, spiff up the theme, add widgets/gadgets to your sidebars. If you want, contact Alan for a session to kick your blog’s tired and check its engines.
• Spend some time reviewing the work others have done. Take a spin on the random blog post ride.
• Do the Daily alchemies solely if they interest you. Or try doing them in a less literal fashion. Experiment.
• Go back and ponder the earlier open question– what does it mean for you to be a Digital Alchemist? Are you growing into one or trying to find the answer somewhere?

And do you know what’s better? Because the following week is Spring Break at Kean, this reposing stretches over two weeks.

Get recharged, because it ramps up on the other side!

The One Thing Happening This Week is a Bus Ride

Yes, we are moving into the next phase of the Networked Narratives Spine, what we call “virtual bus tours”. During the month of march, we are hopping on a virtual bus to visit four different locations, four different groups of people, culture.

Our first bus happens during Kean class time, the bus is going to Puerto Vallarata, Mexico:

where we will meet with University of Guadalajara Professor of Tourism Laura Aguilar and a few of her students. Before going on the bus, please check our pre-boarding activity where we and our Mexican colleagues will share what we know of each other’s place. We also will share some imagery related to a really cool topic– FOOD!

This is all a means to also talk about how we perceive other cultures and what it’s like when we hear their perceptions of us.

Thank you so much @MiaZamoraPhD @cogdog & students of #netnarr 😊 pic.twitter.com/x9LDtP5mCW

— Turismo UdeG 🍥 (@TurismoUdeG) March 2, 2017

A screenshot gif of #netnarr virtual bus tour to Puerto Vallarta… home of good friends @TurismoUdeG and chocolate! pic.twitter.com/Btw5vnsWzx

— Alan Levine (@cogdog) March 2, 2017

Favorite moment today in #netnarr virtual visit to Mexico– when asked about border walls Alondra said "The first border is in your mind"

— Alan Levine (@cogdog) March 2, 2017

@cogdog Thank you so much!! We have to tourn our mind and turn the borders in a big good changes !! 😁 ours contrys are brothers not enemys

— AlondraJLepe (@AlondraJHudson) March 2, 2017

In our discussion after the tour we laughed at but also talked about the dangers of stereotypes in the series of “America First / World Second” videos. Here is a playlist of a few of these videos (the top left icon lets you navigate the list)

Is That All? Where is the Long Scrolling Blog Post?

The scroller has taken a repose of it’s own. What you do this week is up to you, but write at least one blog post (and you have two weeks) about what kind of repose you had. Of course, we will not complain if you choose to do more than one…

We will not leave you empty though at the bottom of the page! The Network Effect site we sent you to last week is a variant of what some call “interactive documentaries” or “i-docs”, a merging of the more traditional film format of a documentary but published to, and using the networked affordances of the web.

If you feel like exploring a few more varieties, we have an i-doc collection for you.

Are you relaxed?

via GIPHY

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Featured Image: “Merson Rest on the Flight into Egypt” by Luc-Olivier Merson, a work in the Public Domain.