The first week is almost over and Humanities has been busy.

We generally start each day with some writing, sometimes on a specific topic or question, other times as a free write, just to get students writing and putting thoughts onto "paper."

To begin the week, students completed a video project where they made a movie trailer to advertise a book they had read recently, requiring them to identify key information, develop a plan of how they were going to communicate with their audience, and then actually identifying images, video clips and audio in order to present their thinking, as well revision and editing for effectiveness. (Once we have viewed the videos in class and critiqued them for learning opportunities, I will post them to the internet and provide links for viewing.)

Currently, we are enjoying having our Irish guests from the DCU program in class each morning, where they are working together with Humanities students on our second project: an exploration of the causes of the American Civil War. This project will not only help students learn about a key point in American history, but also develop skills in communicating complex ideas to an audience they are not speaking with, skills that will be utilized when we begin to write essays, papers and fiction pieces designed to stand alone without spoken explanation.

I look forward to seeing and meeting you next Tuesday at Back to School Night.

If you have any questions, or need to contact me, email is the best option. You can reach me at eamonn.obrien@asu.edu