Spring 2011- 3/27/11
On March 27th, 2011, there was a workshop at “Shared Stories” led by Jerome, who is a blogger at “Open City”http://openthecity.org/. The theme of the workshop was to show the importance of adding details and active listening in good writing. We performed different activities in order to do so. The first one that we did was through Google maps. At the beginning we just typed an address and it showed a blurry image of the place. Upon zooming we could see the place more clearly and with details. It was very important because it demonstrated how we can discover new things just by focusing. The second activity was very interesting because we had to interview other people. It was amazing how an interview starting from a very general questionnaire would give deeper information about a person. At first we only asked random questions but later chose one specific topic to focus upon. So a topic that might start from asking about a person’s neighborhood might end up in something different such a favorite food or even religion. The last activity on the day was to go out, look for stuff and take notes. So we went outside and start to observe the surroundings. After coming inside each person described what they saw and everyone had something different to say. For example someone talked about a fire station that was there which nobody else actually noticed. Then someone else talked about the weather and how it was affecting the moods of the people walking outside. In my opinion this exercise was one of the most important one as it shows how we overlook things in our daily life. We might be able to discover new things, only if we are paying more attention to them. It is actually important for every field in life.
Jerome Chou is the Director of Programs at the Design Trust for Public Space, a nonprofit dedicated to improving New York City’s public realm. Prior to joining the Design Trust, Jerome worked at Field Operations as a project manager on Freshkills Park; as a community planner for Baltimore City Department of Planning; as an organizer for ACORN and the Working Families Party; and as an assistant editor with the nonprofit publisher The New Press. He has degrees in Urban Planning and Landscape Architecture from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design.
Jerome has organized and produced numerous public space interventions. Most recently, in response to budget cuts in 2009 that eliminated Sunday public library services throughout Brooklyn, he helped create Branch, a temporary Sunday library in a parking lot in Fort Greene. He is currently an Organizing Fellow for the Open City Fellowship with the Asian American Writers Workshop.
Click here to link to the Open City blog!
Jerome has organized and produced numerous public space interventions. Most recently, in response to budget cuts in 2009 that eliminated Sunday public library services throughout Brooklyn, he helped create Branch, a temporary Sunday library in a parking lot in Fort Greene. He is currently an Organizing Fellow for the Open City Fellowship with the Asian American Writers Workshop.
Click here to link to the Open City blog!
Week 3 Homework
Interview a family member for 5 pieces of information.
1) Your birthday
2) When you came to this country
3) When your parents or relatives came
4) Your parent's first job in the US
5) Anything important even in your family's history.
4-5 sentence reflection on Jerome's workshop today!
Please e-mail to [email protected] by Friday night 4/1/2011!
1) Your birthday
2) When you came to this country
3) When your parents or relatives came
4) Your parent's first job in the US
5) Anything important even in your family's history.
4-5 sentence reflection on Jerome's workshop today!
Please e-mail to [email protected] by Friday night 4/1/2011!