Epochal Constellation

Midterm Project Brief

Overview

Once you’ve i) chosen an alternative epochal term of interest and ii) joined a group of three or four students (including you), you’re ready to begin developing your “Epochal Constellation” (EC). The EC is a collective representation of the particular dimensions, interpretations, and critical relations between your set of alternative ‘cenes. You are tasked with understanding how your alternative epoch and, as a group, your set of epochs intersect and diverge according to the criteria and questions detailed below.

Schedule

The project will involve three parts spread over one and a half weeks (4/26–5/06):

1. Project “pitch” (in class, Tuesday, 4/26): Pitch a descriptive narrative and explanatory framework for your EC (5 minutes, up to 10 minutes feedback and discussion based on number of groups). You might imagine this as a representative “scene” from the world your unique constellation creates (see Deliverables for more information).
2. Working Session (in lab, Thursday, 4/28): Lab this week will be reserved for i) a very brief review of publishing on Medium as detailed by Medium here, and ii) a working lab session focused on your group’s media elements for your Medium story. We expect you to come prepared by reading the Medium guide to publishing linked above and bringing work-in-progress to informally present and discuss.
3. Publish story on Medium (by Friday, 5/06, end of day): Your group will publish a synthetic, cogent set of representative materials combining found media, reading quotes and terms with original text, maps, and drawings that together sketch out the key elements of your group’s constellation (see the Guiding Questions and Deliverables below).

Guiding Questions

The following questions are meant as guides to how you should respond to each prompt, but are not exhaustive. As you begin to form answers, consider how they’ll fit together into a synthetic, well-composed text that will explain your ‘cene and, when integrated with those of the group, your EC.

• 5Ws + 1H: Answer the basic who/what/where/when/why/how questions; who or what is the “protagonist” of your ‘cene, i.e., who or what is centered by the term and the narrative of planetary transformations it puts forward? Who or what are the antagonists? Are there shared protagonists or antagonists in your group set? Or is one the antagonist of another? How are they related to one another? Where are the particular places, geographies, and/or more abstract spaces that anchor your ‘cene? How are they connected? When does your ‘cene begin, and why does that matter? Why and how do these who/what/where/when’s intervene in a debate about the Anthropocene?
• Theory: What theoretical framework does your epoch draw on? What is that theoretical framework trying to do? What do we need to know about that theoretical framework in order to make sense of your term? Is it coming from a particular discipline, or is it inter- or transdisciplinary? Do your terms share these frameworks? If so, do they offer different interpretations of a given framework, or use shared concepts differently? If they do not share theoretical frameworks, are they aligned or complementary? In tension? In opposition?
• Method: What disciplinary, evidentiary, and/or narrative methods does your ‘cene draw on? What kinds of tools or techniques do these methods require? What kind of analysis do they entail? How do these methods reflect and/or determine the core elements of the ‘cene, i.e. the who/what/where/when?
• Data & Evidence: How are the data and/or evidence for your ‘cene presented? In what format? Are they expressed as geospatial or environmental data? Qualitative or quantitative? Raster or vector? Anecdote or oral history? Theory or concept?
• Media: Are there particular media — artifacts, satellite or aerial imagery, maps, drawing styles, projections, data, and so on — associated with your ‘cene? If so, what kinds? What do they tell us about the ‘cene? If not, what media help express the argument or perspective of your ‘cene? Why, and how?
• Constellation Relations: As a group, consider how your responses to the criteria above draw relations between your ‘cenes. What kind of relations are they? Do they suggest partial or broad alignment? Are they complementary or resonant in another way? In tension? Antagonistic? Why, and how?

Deliverables

Presentation: 4/26 in class

Your group presentation will take the form of a “pitch” followed by discussion (5 minutes presentation, up to 10 minutes discussion depending on number of groups). In short, your group will need to pitch an explanatory framework for how your constellation hangs together, tracing the relations between the different ‘cenes through narrative description. What form that narrative takes is entirely up to you, and can be as creative or analytical as you see fit. You might take, for instance, the viewpoint of the protagonist of one particular ‘cene and use that as a prism to explain the others; you might track the circulation of a single dataset through each ‘cene to show how interpretations and uses of its data are transfigured. This will be a work-in-progress “crit” (from “critique”) modeled on art/design crits. You will need be well-prepared, but your project does not need to be finished at this point; on the contrary, you will be expected to incorporate feedback from class feedback (instructors and students) for the final deliverable.

Story Publication: 5/06, end of day

Your group story to Medium must consist of well-integrated text and media. Compose the story as a single piece, flowing from beginning to end, and able to be read by any interested person unfamiliar with the course (but broadly comfortable with academic scholarship, literature, and writing; imagine sharing this with a roommate or friends at UChicago). Choose a creative but descriptive title and subtitle, and subdivide/organize the piece into whatever combination of sections make most sense for your narrative. When you’re ready to publish your piece, follow the guidelines explained in Medium’s publishing tutorial and set the story tag to “Constellation”. Once we (as editors) approve the story (in this case a technical formality, not a review process), it will automatically be assigned to the “Epochal Constellations” part of the course publication.

In composing your story, you’ll need to fulfill the following requirements:

Introductory text (minimum 300 words, excluding block quotes): Introduce your EC in a brief explanatory statement that responds to the key guiding questions posed above. Using those questions as needed, you should explain clearly i) which ‘cenes comprise your constellation, ii) how your ‘cenes are connected as a constellation and iii) what we might learn from this unique set of alternative epochs.

Drawing Descriptions (about 400–600 words, excluding block quotes for each drawing, more as needed): Tell us what you’re trying to do with the drawing, and how it conveys something important about your EC. Describe what’s happening in your drawing, including any relevant details about content, compositional choices, datasets, projections, and so on. Make sure to include citations as needed.

Integrate the elements listed below into your text. They should read as natural parts of your narrative, not separate elements.

• A clear (if provisional or working) definition for each ‘cene in your own words, with citation(s)
• At least 4 glossary terms useful in understanding your constellation, with an additional 1 term specific to each ‘cene, all linked to the appropriate {G} block in Are.na. You may draw from existing blocks (whether your own or posted by your classmates) or add new terms. Make sure to add your term to Are.na if it’s not already there.
• At least 3 quotes from different assigned readings, 3 quotes from optional readings or additional scholarly articles/books relevant to your constellation, and another 1 for each ‘cene. Link to the appropriate {Q} block in Are.na. You may draw from existing blocks (whether your own or posted by your classmates) or add new quotes. Make sure to add your quote to Are.na if it’s not already there. If appropriate, you may post a longer quote for your {Q} block than what appears in your text; if you decide to use a long, block-style quote (not to be confused with Are.na “blocks”) do not include the block quote in your word count.
• At least 3 examples of found media representing an important relation or dimension of your constellation, linked to the appropriate {M} block in Are.na. You should also include at least 1 example of found media for each ‘cene, linked to the appropriate {M} block in Are.na. Include a caption with each with a short description and attribution, including the link to the Are.na block. These may also come from {M} blocks on Are.na but must be from blocks with appropriate sources for academic scholarship. Appropriate sources include published or exhibited maps, diagrams, or other artwork. Refer to Felix’s “Geologic Chart” block, Silvana’s Armour Foods Source Map, or Cal’s Climate Spiral diagram for excellent examples of the kind of source, description, and citations expected.

Original Media: Each group member will need to be the “point-person” for one original media deliverable. While each one can and should be collaboratively constructed, the point-person should coordinate, edit, and ensure the quality of the final drawing. The individual portion of your grade for the EC will depend largely on this drawing.

• 1 synthetic map (based on {L01} and {L04})using a scale and projection of your choosing that represents the essential dimensions of your constellation as a set, shown in contrast with smaller, individual maps for each ‘cene. While the synthetic map will represent the constellation as a whole, the individual maps will represent a graphical “key” for understanding which dimensions are particularly important to each ‘cene. Each individual ‘cene map should draw on at least two raster and two vector datasets. You may choose an appropriate number for your synthetic map. Include a legend and line- + text-based annotations that explain and visually narrate what your map(s) show.
• 1 synthetic “Point of Life” diagram (based on {L02}) that constructs the “life world” of your constellation, drawing on at least one dataset from each ‘cene.
• 1 synthetic “systems” diagram (based on {L03}) that explores the data and/or evidence used in your drawings. Include at least three datasets and show how they’re connected in some way, using at least one from each ‘cene. You may need to be creative in how you connect the datasets; perhaps they draw on the same satellite or sensor type, or are deployed for similar purposes by various political, economic, social, environmental or research entities.
• If your group includes more than 3 people, you must generate one additional drawing based on any of the drawings above.