I had a paper due Wednesday, so Monday was pretty low key. For my history paper, I had to compare some aspect of the United States to two European countries. Since I had visited Michelle's school in the Netherlands, I decided to talk about the different elementary education systems. I found that in terms of structure, all three systems are pretty similar. However, the Dutch have little to no testing and allow their schools a significant amount of freedom in terms of organization and assessment. They seem more focused on allowing kids to just be kids instead of test-taking machines. As a future teacher, it's great to have the opportunity to see what works and what doesn't work in other countries!
On Tuesday, we went to the National Gallery for media and society. Usually Mo takes us to places that we aren't sure are really relevant, but he sells it so by the end of class you kind of get it. For this class, he prefaced by saying "I'm going to try and convince you that this fits with what I'm talking about." In class, he discussed art and the media, comparing art in a museum with advertising. The museum was definitely a stretch; he kept pointing to famous pieces from the 1500s and saying "this is when Hollywood started." I love the National Gallery, so I didn't mind being back, but definitely one of Mo's weaker lessons. He had started doing so well to relate things recently, too!
It was back to Trafalgar Square for Culture by Design when we went to the National Portrait Gallery. We saw a temporary exhibit of George Catlin's portraits of Native Americans in the West. We're still talking about stereotypes in the media, so we were examining the portraits to get a sense of what Americans think about Indians. I really enjoyed the exhibit. Indians are often viewed as belligerent, stupid, and savage. While you could certainly get those ideas from the paintings by Catlin, I feel he was just painting what he saw. It's hard, because stereotypes have to come from somewhere, they're just usually skewed by society and the media. Except for one painting (which was a portrait OF Catlin), I definitely didn't get the sense that he was just carrying "the white man's burden," which often happens in an ethnography.
After CBD we went to CHIPOTLE! I got my usual burrito bowl with tortilla chips. In some ways I liked it better; they don't use as much cilantro here, which I like. However, maybe the cilantro gives it some of the flavor it needs, cause my food was a little bland. Everyone thought it tasted different, which it did, but it was still good!
On Wednesday, we talked about the break up of the Soviet Union and watched "The Lives of Others." The film came out in 2006 and actually won an Oscar for Best Foreign Film in 2007 (well deserved). Set in East Berlin in 1984, the film follows the story of playwright George Dreyman, who begins to be watched the State Security. It essentially shows the totalitarian state of Germany under Soviet rule, and the struggles people face when they have to choose to do the right thing. Definitely worth a watch! It's sad but powerful.
For art history we went to the V&A to see the David Bowie exhibit!! It was really cool, but really crowded. I was excited to see the exhibit and I heard great things about it, but I was a little skeptical that we were going for an art class. But the exhibit convinced me that art isn't just about painting with a paintbrush, it can be performance too. The exhibit really immerses you in the life and mind of David Bowie, from his beginnings in London to the present. The coolest part was that you wore headphones the entire time, which picked up on where you were and played particular songs or sound bites depending on where you were standing. It was hard and frustrating sometimes because it was so crowded, I'd have to wait a while to read everything. By the end, I kind of gave up and just looked, which honestly was just as good. I'm really glad we were able to see this exhibit while in London!
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