kristianscpsa-blog

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On Sunday April 30th, I attend chapel service with the university of Maryland Gospel Choir. I have been attending chapel service every Sunday all semester in order to add my voice in worship in the house of the Lord. However this particular Sunday, the entire choir came together to perform a few select songs chosen from our set list originally performed at our concert one week prior to this chapel performance. The songs sang included "You Are Worthy to Be Praised", "Excellent", and "Emanuel".

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On Saturday, April 29th, I attended a performance featuring UMD STEEP. The performance was great! The team embraced a series of African cultured elements not only through their wardrobe choices, but also through their ability to produce such rhythmic beats with their bodies. In other words, they used their entire bodies as if they were instruments.

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I think it may be better for me to use my original two examples, Lynn Swann and Alvin Hill, for my societal examples instead of doing the interviews so that I can showcase how practicing ballet can optimize performance in football on a professional and collegiate level.

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Sited Source for info. used on capstone poster

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Sited sources for the photos used on my capstone poster.

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I am not sure if this should even count as a journal entry. However, I don't know how but for some reason I keep feeling lost in my own project. I have information about the intensity and cognitive portions. I have even decided to refer to 2 football player I have found (1 that was in the NFL & 1 that was a terp on the collegiate level)

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Reflection #1

         From doing this assignment and getting the chance to observe the work of other arts scholars also doing a capstone project, I was able to see that most of us took a similar route with our project. We all combined an interest that we have outside of art with an interest we already had of a specific art form. I also noticed that I am not the only one who may have had instances throughout the project where I have felt unsure about something I originally planned on doing. This has assured me that it is alright to have some changes/ alterations in the project given that the project is going to grow and sometimes that means that it may not be what was originally expected. In other words, it is a part of the development process to have bumps in the road and make changes where needed.

           To me, the most helpful feedback was from Melissa when she discussed her interest in my project. Her feedback consisted of generally what I want people to think of when they look at my project. I want people to not only see, but appreciate dance on a technical level as they do football players. With that being said, football players are commonly looked at as people to idealize whereas dancers are not commonly given as much credit for their physical abilities or dedication. Through my project, I hope to be able to identify enough similarities so that people can draw the conclusion that they are somewhat one in the same.

         Moving forward, I will be less timid to consider changes in the way I go about the completion of my project. It is possible that any new changes that I come up with may be beneficial in the end.

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Artist’s block definitely happens to the bet of us. I attended an art school back in high school for studio art, so I understand how you can be so entice by the idea of practicing your artistry one day and loose motivation and interest at other points in the process. A technique that use to help me was going back to what inspired me to be an artist. I was commonly attracted to pieces that showcased realism and demonstrated strong contrast in terms of lighting and colors. I would advise you to try to remember the spark that made you interested in the first place, then move on from their looking at a variety of other artists that for both contemporary and of the older millennium. 

Reflection #1

I think I’ve finally caught my first case of artist’s block in this process. I haven’t looked at my paintings in a week, because I do not know how to move forward. Before, my ideas felt new and exciting, but now I am unenthusiastic about even the idea of picking up a brush. I am being dramatic, of course, but any artist knows that a creative and emotional roadblock can feel devastating, especially considering how invested I felt in the beginning. Fortunately, I am on break this week, so I will have a chance to collect my thoughts and come up with a new plan of action. I am going to take a closer look at Picabia’s abstract works (like La Source), because I believe my main obstacle right now is creating effective spatial relationships across the picture plane.

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I think it is great how you are focusing your capstone on individuals that have mental illnesses. I know from experience that many people do not see mental illnesses as just that, somewhat of a disability. They a moreso just brush of the issue when an individual shows signs of abnormal behavior rather than face the problem head on. I believe that your capstone will really help to raise awareness that mental illness should be taken more seriously and be handled in a serious manner. With that being said I’m excited to see the research journals! What made you shorten the number from 10 to 5?

CPSA250 Reflection 3

Today I volunteered at keen greater DC. I played sports (and was paired individually) with two different kids (one per session). The first session, I was paired with an eight year old boy who was shot in the arm and has ADHD. His name is Todd. For my second session I was paired with a twenty three year old man with downs syndrome and autism. His name is Brian.

I have decided to change my project a little. Instead of ten research journal, I am going to do five research journals (three of which are done and focus on the state by state qualification for special education, integrated learning programs/ work training, and social interactions) and five volunteer experiences at keen. This has been a great addition to my project and a very enjoyable experience overall.

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     I feel like I should provide a clear description of what my Capstone project is. I plan on focusing my capstone project on the relationship between football players and ballet dancers by describing, identifying, and explaining the differences and similarity between the two. I am specifically comparing them in terms of intensity, physicality, and cognition to draw the conclusion that ballet can be used as a tool to promote optimal performance in football.

     To research intensity, I will be focusing on finding out the elements that are most important to the lifestyle of both a football player and a ballet dancer. These elements include a strict diet, an exceptional amount of practice, and many vigorous workout sessions.

     To research physicality, I will be focusing on 3 specific skill sets (flexibility, strength, and balance) by creating three sketches that depict particular body positions of both football player and ballet dancer. I plan to make these sketches in the form of gesture drawings, than making drawing right next to each gesture drawing that depicts the flexion/extension of specific muscles in order to show similarities in the movements.

     To research cognition, I will be referring to specific lobes and cortices of the brain in order to emphasis the heightened brain activity that occurs in both a football player and a ballet dancer.

     I will then wrap up my findings by interviewing at least 2 UMD football players that has, or is thinking about, taking a dance class that involves ballet to see how they think it has/ will alter their ability to play optimally.

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The image above is one of the images I plan on using when in order to provide a visual representation of the cognitive process involved with movement and decision making. I am thinking of drawing attention between the cognitive parallel between the use of the frontal lobe when an individual has to localize their own body positioning in reference to space around them in order to perform movements that allow them to be aware of other things and people within their environment. This is process is able to be done due to area number 4, The Primary Motor Cortex. Both a football player and a ballet dancer needs to be aware of their own body positioning in reference to the environment around them in order to appropriately utilize their space. For example, a football player needs to be able to see any pathways possible to get pass defensive players and score,while a ballet dancer needs to be aware of the stage and commonly the other people or props that are also on stage. In addition, they both have to be aware of where each of their body segments are in reference to other in order to properly carryout/ exercise precise movements.

http://thebrain.mcgill.ca/flash/d/d_06/d_06_cr/d_06_cr_mou/d_06_cr_mou.html

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Here is a sketch of one of the potential positions I will be observing to compare the movements of ballerinas to football players.

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On Tuesday, February 28th, I attended the Black History Month Closing Ceremony in the Nyumburu Cultural Center. The Ceremony focused mainly on the crisis of education seen in the black community over the years. Mary Uwadineke performed spoken word to emphasis the typical stereotypes of African Americans versus the actual reality of what it is like.

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On Friday, February 24th, I attend an art exhibit being displayed in the front portion of the Cole Field House. The exhibit commemorated and celebrated the attributes of African American women. It also featured a video presentation and discussion of what it means to be an African American woman and what comes along with the identity. All of the pieces of art displayed throughout the exhibit depicted the ambiance of African American women through vibrant colors, expressive figures, and bold emphasis on cultural backgrounds.

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During the meeting with my advisor, we discussed what direction I would go with my capstone project. When I was originally filling out the agreement form, I began to think that I would compare art and sport in terms of the physical abilities needed in order to make a piece of artwork or pursue a game objective. However, during the meeting we discussed expending the relationship between art and sport by continuing to look at ballet and football, but in terms of physicality, cognition, and the time spent practicing /preparing for optimal performance. Proceeding with my project, I plan to do some extra research on the primary parts/areas of the brain that are utilized most by a ballet dancer and a football player and compare my findings. I expect to see a difference in in the amount of activity in the various lobes of the brain. For example, a dancer would probably experience more activity in the temporal lobe considering they have to listen to the music in order to interpret what movement to execute on what beat count. On the other hand, a football player may experience more activity in the frontal lobe due to the fact that they have to problem solve on their feet depending on what is happening in a game. Either way, the evident thinking processes demonstrate some level of cognitive ability. Also, I plan to research the typical lifestyles of both a ballet dancer and a football player. I will look at factor ranging from their diets to the approximate amount of time they spend practice/ how much practice is predicted until someone can be deemed an expert. The only question that I have at tis point is are the specifics in my project subject to change if I find that something is not working?

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Earlier this evening, on February 4th, I had the pleasure of visiting The National Museum of African American History & Culture! The museum consisted of 4 floors showcasing African American history/culture over the course of decades. There was a focus on general topics ranging from music to slavery (ancestry) to the role we played during a variety of American wars. The photo above depicts the Sport exhibit which featured a statue outside of the exhibit of three African Americans winning gold, silver, & bronze in the olympics. The exhibit also included items & plaques from Jack Robinson to Gabby Douglas inside. In addition, the displays were accompanied by 3 viewing areas commemorating the advancements African Americans have achieved participating in football, basketball, & baseball.

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On December 3rd, I attended the University of Maryland Gospel Choir's Annual Winter Concert. As a longtime member of the gospel choir for the last 3 semesters, I was immensely proud of our performance. The concert featured roughly 12 musical pieces ranging from traditional gospel music to spiritual hymns to Christmas/ holiday selections. There was also a dance performance during the intermission by one of UMD's dance teams. The event truly involved the Lords presence as we as well as the audience was able to rejoice in his holy name!😇