The PTI Seminars 2004
Group B Seminars
(Open to all teachers)
HEALTHY MINDS/HEALTHY BODIES
Seminar led by Steffi Domike and
Autumn Maloy,
Chatham College
This seminar will examine food and nutrition in America both as a subject of scientific inquiry and as an experience of popular culture. On the science side, the seminar will cover food chemistry, the food pyramid and other nutritional guidelines, weight loss programs and food safety. The cultural studies aspects that will be examined include the food production industry, representations of food in popular culture and the nutritional aspects of ethnic foods. Field trip destinations may include: a food production factory, the production side of a cafeteria, the warehouse side of a major food store.
INTRODUCTION TO FOLKTALES
Seminar led by Karen S. Goldman, Chatham College
This seminar will examine the literary, cultural and social significance of folktales and their influence on other forms of literature. Rather than focusing on a particular time period or geographic region, the seminar will identify and examine common themes and motifs in folktales that link different cultures within the United States and around the world. Themes and types to be studied include fables and animal tales; quest stories; tricksters, rogues, and tall tale heroes; fair princesses, and other heroines; magical, malicious, and monstrous encounters; Beauty and the Beast and other transformations; and humorous and satiric tales. We will study folktales as important reflections of human nature and social values. The seminar will further explore how individual authors in different times and places have rewritten folktales and incorporated folk motifs into other literary modes such as poetry, fiction, theatre and film.
PITTSBURGH PARKS AND LANDMARKS
Seminar led by Janet Stocks, Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh is very fortunate to have several large parks and other landmarks for the public to utilize and enjoy. In this seminar we will explore our parks and landmarks from a variety of perspectives including history, geology, ecology, culture, politics and sociology. Teachers from different disciplines are welcome to develop their own perspectives on this area of our public life. Guest speakers and fieldtrips will be a major portion of the seminar and will be developed around stated teacher interests. This seminar will also work closely with the National Science Foundation “explanatoids” group that is working to develop informal educational installations in public places around the Pittsburgh region.
Rendering the Visible in Writing
Seminar led by Sarah D.
Eldridge,
Carnegie Mellon University
This seminar will explore the art of noticing, wondering, and then looking again to form purposeful texts that enable students to see themselves as writers. Fellows shall have the opportunity to read and discuss significant research that enables this habit of mind. The work of Lucy McCormick Calkins will center our conversations on the art of teaching writing but the experience and imagination of seminar participants will deepen our inquiry.
THE ESSENTIALS OF AFRICAN CULTURE
Seminar led by Kwame
Botwe-Asamoah,
Chatham College
The purpose of this seminar is to provide teachers with an in-depth knowledge about the essential aspects of African culture. Critical among them are the philosophical, institutional and creative aspects. The philosophical aspect embodies the ideas of religion, spirituality, cosmology, aesthetics, axiology and ontology, it also includes attitudes toward life and death, rites of passage and folklore. The institutional aspect manifests itself in political structures, family, kinship, marriage, sacred fraternities, healing and health delivery systems, the production of goods, and commerce. The creative aspect, on the other hand, consists of forms of art, symbols, motifs, and ornaments and their place in every day life, ceremonies, sacred rituals and festivals; critical in this category are orature, story telling, theater, masquerade, music, dance and game-songs. While the interactive discussions and analysis of these cultural aspects will focus on their commonality among African peoples, special attention will be paid to their distinct characteristics among sub-regional groups as well as among specific ethnic groups.