chinatown project

chinatown project assignment for eating san francisco

yesterday, we field tripped to chinatown. the chinatown crüe arranged for a tour of the tin how temple, dim sum brunch at new asia, and a brief visit at the golden gate fortune cookie factory.


1. working solo or collaboratively with others, create and share a story.

2. your story must involve food.

3. your story must involve chinatown.

4. your story must teach us at least one thing about food. teach us something interesting, something fascinating.

5. be creative.

6. as always, your project must rest upon a platform that a) supports multimedia, b) is open to the public, and c) allows visitors the opportunity to comment on your work.

7. when finished, and no later than class on wednesday, thick tweet your project.

homework for tuesday's class

homework for tuesday's class in digital media production

tuesday's class will be a wikipedia workshop day. if you have a laptop, bring it to class. if you don't have one, try to borrow one from your roommate or friend.

also, prior to class, please:

1. create an account on wikipedia. you may use your name, your full name, or a pseudonym.

2. start an account on google docs. this requires having a google account.

3. watch common craft's google docs in plain english.

4. learn how to use google docs.

5. cut and paste the section or subsection of USF's wikipedia page you are working on to google docs. save it and be ready to edit and add to it in class on tuesday.

6. in class on tuesday, using zotero, wikipedia, and google docs, we will individually and collectively work on USF's wikipedia page.

a talk about the future

tomorrow i'll be giving a talk as part of the communication and the future conference at cal state east bay. if things go as planned, i hope to cover four things.

exhibit a: twitter assignment

exhibit b: cook a delicious meal assignment

exhibit c: a community garden on campus


exhibit d: jerusalem artichokes


update: a photograph of the audience:

zotero project

zotero project assignment for digital media production

1. visit, download, and familiarize yourself with zotero.

2. take some time with some of the site's learning tools, including the quick start guide and the video demo on the front page.

3. add to zotero the library/print resources you found from last week's assignment.

4. find and add to zotero between 5-10 online resources that will help you with your section of USF's wikipedia page.

5. discover at least one interesting feature of zotero and be ready to share it with the rest of class on thursday.

hint: take some time with zotero - it's more powerful and more useful than you may first think.

rule: if you have no work to demo, do not come to class.

the earth's journey - a USF dance performance for earth day

on wednesday, april 22 and friday, april 24, a number of USF students will be performing a dance called "the earth's journey" in recognition and celebration of earth day.

the dance performances are as follows:

wednesday, april 22, 6:30 pm in the dance studio in koret center.

friday, april 24, 9:30 am in the dance studio in koret center. (please note that this performance will begin in the dance studio and then move out to other parts of campus. therefore, make sure you are in the dance studio by 9:30 am.)

for students enrolled in digital media production or eating san francisco, please try your best to attend one or both of the performances, document it, and share publicly your findings and reactions through a flickr set, blog post, and/or video.

educating minds and hearts (and bellies!) to change the world - a saturday talk for recently admitted students

this afternoon, i'm giving a talk to recently admitted students to USF. with luck, my talk will correspond roughly to some of the pictures and projects below.







update: pics of the admitted students!

cook a delicious meal project

cook a delicious meal project assignment for eating san francisco


1. cook a delicious meal.

2. you may cook your delicious meal solo or with others.

3. you must share your delicious meal with at least one other person.

4. document the process.

5. as always, your project must rest upon a platform that a) supports multimedia, b) is open to the public, and c) allows visitors the opportunity to comment on your work.

6. when finished, and no later than next thursday night, tweet your project.

wikipedia project assignment, part 1

wikipedia project assignment, part 1 for digital media production

although we will continue learning new topics and tools, the majority of our remaining time in digital media production will be spent working individually and collaboratively to edit, improve, and extend USF's wikipedia page.


1. select one topic or task that you wish to work on to improve USF's wikipedia page. topics can include existing sections or subsections or entirely new sections. tasks can include editing the wikipedia page, adding photographs, designing maps, etc. you can select any topic or task as long as you find it interesting.

2. find at least 2-3 interesting, relevant, and credible offline sources related to your topic. we spent much of today's class discussing what makes good and bad sources - check your notes! we will have plenty of time to find online sources but for now we are looking for relevant and credible library and archival sources.

3. consult the list of librarian liaisons at gleeson library, select at least one librarian whose expertise relates to your topic, and arrange to meet him or her within the next week or so. like college students, librarians are busy people - plan ahead.

4. begin to brainstorm ways that you can integrate some form or forms of crowdsourcing to improve your research. take some time to think about this. consider taking a walk while thinking about this. share your budding ideas with friends to get feedback. be creative.

5. in class on thursday, be ready to demo your topic or task, your 2-3 sources, and your selection of a librarian liaison. and be ready to share your crowdsourcing ideas.

hint: select a topic or task that interests you.

rule: if you have no work to demo, do not come to class.

castro project

castro project assignment for eating san francisco

1. two weeks ago, we read and discussed gayle s. rubin's "the miracle mile: south of market and gay male leather, 1962-1997." then we formed into groups to brainstorm topics for our upcoming walkabout and dinner in the castro.

2. last week, we field tripped to the castro. the castro crüe arranged for us to meet at and tour the castro theater, hear a brief lecture and tour the GLBT historical society museum, and eat and drink at the sausage factory.




3. now, working collaboratively within your group, create and share a story about the castro.

4. be sure to use original media material - your own photographs, video, words, interviews, ephemera - in your story.

5. be sure to use at least one photograph taken by one of your classmates outside your group. be sure to cite or, better yet, link to that classmate's work.

6. be sure to include original research, using two or three relevant, credible, and creative sources. if relevant to your story, consider using rubin's "the miracle mile" as one of your sources.

7. be sure to work together. the more you work together, the better your work will be. trust me.

8. as always, your story must rest upon a platform that a) supports multimedia, b) is open to the public, and c) allows visitors the opportunity to comment on your work.

9. sometime before class on wednesday, thick tweet your group's castro project.

mapping haight ashbury assignment

mapping haight ashbury assignment for digital media production


1. over the course of spring semester, you have learned how to share photos via flickr, how to share ideas via blogs, and how share your work via google maps. now is the time to work and create collaboratively.

2. last tuesday, we formed into groups of three. last thursday, we took a field trip to haight ashbury.

3. working in groups, annotate a single google map of haight ashbury. the map should reflect your individual efforts, your group's efforts, and, most importantly, the class-as-a-whole's efforts.

4. the map should incorporate the design and story-telling strategies we have discussed throughout the semester. how you all make this happen is up to all of you.

5. although the map will reflect the work and perspectives of all of you, it should have a single or unitary design. again, how you all make this happen is up to all of you.

6. one of the key points of this assignment is to learn how to work together creatively, effectively, and collaboratively. another key point of this assignment is to collectively create something inspiring with very little input and guidance from me. good luck.

7. once the map is finished, share your work with a thick tweet that includes a link to the map.

8. be prepared to demo your collective work in class on tuesday. (our lunch field trip, originally scheduled for tuesday, will be rescheduled.)

hint: the more you work together, the better your work will be. trust me.

rule: if you have not contributed to the map, do not come to class on tuesday.

update! here's what my students created:


View Documenting Haight Street in a larger map

how-to homestead hoe-down this saturday night

join friend and USF colleague melinda stone and the how-to homestead crew for a down-home hootenanny of movies, tastings, song, and dance!

what?!? a how-to homestead hoe-down
where?!? other cinema, 992 valencia @ 21st, san francisco
when?!? this saturday, april 4, 8:30 pm
what's the cost?!? $10
what's the cost if you bring homemade beer, whiskey, or pickles and share with others during intermission?!? $6


the evening begins with new homesteading movie shorts, including melinda stone's "wheat for the people" (with live music by didimao), maya donelson's "graze the roof," becca brenner's "whey fermented vegetables" (with tastings at intermission), mariana lopez's "how to make a milk-crate container bed," and more surprises.

then, intermission! this includes free tastings of home-made beer, booze, fermented vegetables, and other homestead goodies. intermission also includes erik knetzen, co-author of the urban homestead.

finally, clear the chairs for dancing and singing with the goat family, a nuevo-traditional jug band on the old-timey exuberance and infectious tip.