Exploring Multicultural Identity and Creativity

For your Final you are to research and investigate an aspect of multicultural creativity. Students are allowed to explore plays and topics from class or outside of class that they are interested in. Be sure to choose a topic that you feel you can really invest in and would enjoy writing or creating a presentation around. You are to choose ONE of these two options.

Written Final- Should be 2-3 Pages on a Word Document (.docx, .doc) or 8-12 Paragraphs submitted to Canvas. All written finals should have appropriate citations/footnotes as needed (at least 3). Written finals should include Images, Quotes, Videos or any additional materials you come across in your research that you feel are relevant. Paper should be articulate with correct spelling and grammar.

Possible Subjects and Ideas:

– Speak/Write about your own cultural identity, traditions, or any multicultural past from your family’s history. Where do these traditions come from? Do you travel back to a village, home, or have any rituals that you are apart of?

-Choose to do a set design or costume design for one of the plays from class, describe influences and reasons you’ve made the choices you have. Include images, genres, and concepts in your portfolio.

-Poetry reading and biography of writers like Langston Hughes, August Wilson, Amiri Baraka, Gwendolen Brooks or other influential multicultural poet. Look for authors whose work has some kind of performance aspect involved (either plays or musicals, or artists whose work is regularly referenced or adapted in the theater).

-Write in-depth about specific movements or cultural shifts that have happened in the United States (Civil Rights movement, Women’s Rights/Suffrage, Gay Rights, LGTBQ Movement or others) , discuss the theater (plays or musicals) that have come out this period or have been inspired by it.

-Pitch a theatrical production or any scripted work from a multicultural perspective. You could modernize or adapt a classical piece (Romeo and Juliet in Oakland 2019 for example) or a play from one of the playwrights we discussed in class but did not cover (the canon of August Wilson, Lynn Nottage, Luis Valdez, Eve Ensler, or others). If you choose this topic I will be able to guide you and ask additional questions.

This project should be researched, well prepared, and academically sound.

Examples I have had in the past:

These are introduction paragraphs to previous assignments I have had in the past. These examples are meant to give you some ideas about what your final should be about.

“Mexican traditional ArtsEverything You Need to Know About the Danza de los Voladores

There’s been dances, music, and a little bit of theater that’s been past down from our history. From the Aztec era to present day times. These teaching have continued to live on through history. We do these traditional during festival or as celebrations. We even do these traditions to show people our history that’s been past down and at a time was lost. Most of it comes from times of war and times of peace. The most popular dance performed today are Danza de los Voladores and the Jarabe Tapatia. Music from Mexico has grown most popular in today society as well. Theater in Mexico has come back from the past, since is was disappeared due to circumstance of the past…”

“I was born in California, but that is just a piece of me here.File:Flag of Portugal and Scotland.png – Wikimedia Commons

There are parts of me all around the world. You don’t truly realize what your background is and how diverse you are until you write about it and put it on paper. The food we eat, the music we listen to, the traditions your family shares, and the clothes you wear are all things that make you differ from others.Before I mention my background with all the fun traditions that make me who I am let’s begin with what I am made of. My father is Danish and Scottish whom his father came from Denmark and his mother came from Scotland. My mother is Portuguese and Spanish whom her father came from Spain and her mother came from Portugal. My parents were both born in California and there came me. These countries are all different from each other that have brought features to my identity. This is what makes everyone differ from one another because we are all from different places around the world. Peter, A. (2002). Beyond Cultural Identity: Reflections on Multiculturalism, “The multicultural person is intellectually and emotionally committed to the basic unity of all human beings while at the same time recognizing, legitimizing, accepting, and appreciating the differences that exist between people of different cultures,” originally published in Culture Living. Though, these countries that I’m apart of differ in their own ways, my family is well connected. We share a piece of these countries at different times of the year, but we are a whole.

“Who Built the Fence?Little Rock Nine – Definition, Names & Facts – HISTORY

In America, we have experienced multiple movements and social changes from women’s rights, civil rights, and technology taking over. Although this is the era of technology and slow acceptance to one another, the Civil Rights Movement was the start to this all. The Civil Rights Movement was the start of a new America where people can at least go to the same Starbucks and order a caramel frappuccino at the same time. This is the movement that allowed artists such as August Wilson, Langston Hughes, and Lynn Nottage to create award winning productions that challenged society in an impactful and log lasting way. Although this fight is considered history, this is still a current battle, but in a different way and is less about race and more about the working class, social inequality, and politics. So, lets discuss the Civil Rights Movement. The movement began in the late 1940s and ended in the late 1960s and was an organized effort to gain equality under the law as well as rid of discrimination…

https://photos.app.goo.gl/581fvkttosDYoEiu9

“I decided to make my video presentation about my cultural identity, and my experiences with these cultures in my life. My personal cultural identity is a mix of both Persian and American culture, as my parents were the first generation to leave Iran and begin a life in the United States. There are a lot of aspects of Persian culture that I identify with, while I do recognize that my experiences are somewhat Americanized. In this video, I go into Persian and American cultural aspects that I identify with, and also discuss the differences I’ve noticed between these two different cultures. Growing up with such differing cultures, has most definitely allowed my cultural identity, to become unique and has broadened my experiences in life.”

Once you have an idea (or ideas) of what you would like to present and work on for your final please respond/submit to this assignment and I will give you guidance and give you specifics or additional questions I would like you to address for this final. This is an opportunity for the person who is grading your final to give you advice on how to get the most out of your chosen project (I would take full advantage!)

Don’t wait till the last minute without contacting me and submit something rushed, I’ll know…