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Projects in World Arts and Cultures: WHO'S HUNGRY?
Instructors: Dan Froot & Dan Hurlin
UCLA, Los Angeles, CA (Winter Quarter 2008)

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Who’s Hungry? is an interdisciplinary project that tells the stories of five diverse individuals living with food insecurity, through the means of oral history and performance. Students in this class will participate in all levels of the project, by learning about local hunger issues, practicing oral history methodology, adapting real people’s stories into theatrical form, and realizing them as short toy theater plays. Toy theaters are tabletop puppet stages, complete with sets, lights, moving figures and low-tech special effects. The class will build, rehearse and perform several of these plays as a culminating activity.

Through readings, discussion and in-class exercises, we will learn the basics of oral history methodology, including interviewing techniques, active listening, and technical issues. Then each of you will conduct a mini oral history project. This will include writing a mission statement, making a contract with a narrator, performing three hour-long interviews, transcribing and minimally editing the interview texts.

You will study the history and practice of toy theater, and, in small working groups, will apply your understanding by adapting some of the mini oral histories into short toy theater plays, to be presented during an open class session at the end of the quarter.

Alongside these projects, you will have the opportunity to be part of the creative process of Who’s Hungry?, working collaboratively with Dan and Dan on the adaptation, design and construction of three larger scale oral history/toy theater works.

REQUIREMENTS

• Recording device: a handheld cassette recorder works well, as do mini-cassette recorders and digital voice recorders. Students are encouraged to share resources whenever possible.
• Dedicated access to computer (for transcribing and editing oral history interviews)
• Cardboard boxes; bring in several used boxes for projects.
• Ruler that you bring to class

ASSESSMENT

• Participation during class time (showings, feedback, consultations) – 50%
• Short form oral history proposal – 5%
• Completed short-form oral history text document – 15%
• Toy theater project showing I – 10%
• Toy theater project showing II – 10%
• Final showing – 10%

On-time attendance at all class sessions and meetings outside of class time is imperative. Each unexcused absence will result in a 5% grade reduction. Arriving to class more than five minutes late constitutes tardiness. Two tardinesses will be counted as one absence.

CALENDAR

Week 1

Tuesday, January 8

• Orientation to course
• Oral History workshop I (overview and interviewing techniques)
• Assignment: read What Is Oral History? by Linda Shopes (pages 1-12; handout). Due Thursday, January 10.
• Assignment: propose a short-form oral history that you can carry out this quarter. Proposal can be 250-500 words. Proposal should include name and brief background of narrator. Most importantly, your proposal should tell us why this oral history needs to be done. Due Friday, January 11

Thursday, January 10

• Due: reading of What is Oral History? pages 1-12
• Oral History workshop II (interviewing techniques and active listening)

Friday, January 11

• Due: short form oral history proposal
• Oral History workshop III (technical considerations)
• Discuss student proposals
• Assignment: once proposal has been accepted, begin interview process. Three interviews (and raw transcripts, with personal identifying information redacted or changed) should be completed by Tuesday, January 28.

Week 2 (Dan Hurlin)

Tuesday, January 15

• Toy Theater workshop I (Powerpoint, VHS, DVD)

Thursday, January 17

• Toy Theater workshop II (vertical theater, drawing/construction)

Friday, January 18

• Toy Theater workshop III

Week 3

Tuesday, January 22 (MEET AT CENTER FOR ORAL HISTORY RESEARCH, YRL ROOM 11717)

• Orientation to Oral History archive

Thursday, January 24

• Discussion: reading oral histories for theatrical adaptation
• Assignment: write a brief (200-250 words) abstract that describes the main features of your oral history. In addition, choose three segments (200-500 words) from your raw transcripts that you find provocative and/or evocative, to read in class. Due: Tuesday January 28.

Friday, January 25
NO CLASS

Week 4

Tuesday, January 28

• Due: raw transcripts from oral history interviews
• Due: abstract and three segments of transcripts to read aloud
• Choose oral histories from which to create toy theaters
• Choose working groups for each toy theater project

Thursday, January 31

• Toy theater workshop: developing visual vocabulary and storyboard

Friday, February 1 (optional)

• optional iChat with Dan Hurlin
• optional lab time for toy theaters

Week 5 (Lab time and class visits)

Tuesday, February 5
Assignment: read raw transcript from Who’s Hungry? Due Thursday February 28

Thursday, February 7

Friday, February 8 (optional)

• optional iChat with Dan Hurlin
• optional lab time for toy theater

Week 6 (Lab time and class visits)

Tuesday, February 12

Thursday, February 14

Friday, February 15 (optional)

• optional iChat with Dan Hurlin
• optional lab time for toy theater

Week 7 (Lab time and class visits)

Tuesday, February 19

Thursday, February 21

Friday, February 22 (optional)

• optional iChat with Dan Hurlin
• optional lab time for toy theater

Week 8 (Dan Hurlin)

Tuesday, February 26

• Student project showings and feedback
• Toy theater workshop

Thursday, February 28

• Due: reading of Who’s Hungry? raw transcript
• Who’s Hungry? workshop

Friday, February 29 (optional)

• Who’s Hungry? workshop

Week 9 (Dan Hurlin)

Tuesday, March 4

• Who’s Hungry? workshop

Thursday, March 6

• Student project showings and feedback
• Toy theater workshop

Friday, March 7 (optional)

• Who’s Hungry? workshop

Week 10 (Dan Hurlin)

Tuesday, March 11

• CLASS SHOWING

Thursday, March 13

• Video-documentation of toy theater projects
• Evaluations

Friday, March 14
NO CLASS