Yearly Archives

The internet has become an increasingly present source in the academic world. For students,the Internet is a great source of information but it is also sometimes viewed as a threat. We are warned about untrustworthy sites and unreliable information available online, but the web is also a powerful research and communication. I personally use the internet to quickly find bits of information and as a stepping stone for academic work.

We are not supposed to use Wikipedia for anything but sometimes you need a summary of a book or biographies of individuals. Sites like Wikipedia are useful for gathering background information about an author you are reading in class. Sometimes the references list at the bottom of a Wikipedia page is a useful place to find more readings. Professors do not think Wikipedia is always a reliable source, and they are right. There is no way to ensure that the individuals adding to pages have the correct information. I think that most students do not use Wikipedia for more than the quick acquisition of information and keywords for further research.

The Internet is sometimes a good place to find books and other required readings. Sometimes Google Scholar has entire books and articles available to read. CLIO is also useful for finding materials online. CLIO has many digital copies of books as well as the rest of the online articles for which it is often used.

I think Barnard attempts to encourage the use of digital materials in the sense that computer use is becoming increasingly essential. Barnard seems to be embracing the Internet as a source of education. Many professors use blogs and Wikipages as a platform for discussion posts and communication between students. Also, Professors sometimes send us links to additional articles that are relevant to class topics.

This post has recommended image sizes as well as tutorials on some of the plug-ins for for the Digital Shange Projects website. For more general information, check out my previous post, below.

TIP: Posting to the Digital Shange Projects site

Recommended Images Sizes

Thumbnail​ image​—

• Width: 700 pixels
• Height: 393 pixels
• 72 ppi (pixels per inch)
• Reminder: post thumbnails for your Portfolio item by using “Featured Image”

Large image/s—

• Max width: 1200 pixels
• 72 ppi
• Note: if you are posting the image at the top of your Portfolio item, I recommend using the following size: 1200×600 pixels

Plugins

1. To add images with pages that flip, use Booklets.

Copy/paste the “shortcode” to add your Booklet to your Portfolio item.

You can choose whether your Booklet has a light or dark background.

Short list of terms:

• Padding: the margin around your images.
• Flip speed: how fast your pages flip
• Automatic flip delay: how long it takes for the page to flip (set to 0 if you don’t want the pages to flip automatically)
• Show thumbnails: choose “Yes” to show all of you images at the bottom of your Booklet; choose “No” to hide the thumbnails.
• Booklet cover behavior: add a cover to your Booklet or by choosing “Closable – Centered” or “Closable – Either side.” If you don’t want a cover, choose “Opened always”

 2. To add images in a standard slider, use Soliloquy Slider.

Soliloquy Slider tutorial:
http://soliloquywp.com/docs/creating-your-first-slider

3. To create have more control over the layout of your Portfolio item, use Visual Composer.

Visual Composer tutorial:
https://vc.wpbakery.com/video-academy/visual-composer-tutorial-for-beginners

Ntozake, Healing, and Spoken Word Poetry

“somebody/ anybody sing a black girl’s song bring her out to know herself to know you but sing her rhythms carin/ struggle/ hard times sing her song of life she’s been dead so long closed in silence so long she doesn’t know the sound of her own voice her infinite beauty she’s half-notes scattered without rhythm/ no tune sing her sighs sing the song of her possibilities sing a righteous gospel let her be born let her be born & handled warmly.”

The silence that Ntozake Shange speaks about in this post is one that I believe for so many people is combated by dance, movement and/or spoken word poetry.

The idea that action paired with words builds a door that it’s ok to walk through. This is also something that music is capable of providing for people. This door is the portal to the allowance of healing. There are several videos online of Shange reading poems out loud. But, also if you look at certain styles of writing/grammar techniques there are ways to differentiate “spoken word” for “page poetry”… What do you consider your or Shange’s way of telling the audience if the work requires a voice or only eyes to access it full potential.