Vampires, Zombies, Robots!

While I was at U Birmingham (UK) for induction a few weeks ago, the Distance Learning PhD cohort did an activity that was part speed dating, part apocalypse, part screen-writing, and part serious research.  The title was "Vampires Robot Apocalypse!" and its purpose was to strengthen our ability to give an "Elevator Speech" about our research.  (Either that or one of the folks on the induction week planning committee just had too much coffee--or wine--and thought it would be hilarious.  It was.)  Everyone met with three different partners and, under a time limit, explained what our research is and what led us to want to pursue that research.  After the first partner, we also had to choose which sci-fi/fantasy scenario best lent itself to our research: Vampires, Robots, or Apocalypse.  I went with Vamps.  With our final partner, we were asked to combine our research foci and our scenario of choice, add ourselves into the mix as protagonists, and write a book or movie preview.  The results were pretty hilarious.

I decided then and there that I was going to find a way to work the exercise into my Research & Writing course.  So I did.

I modified the title and added Zombies to the mix: "Vampires, Zombies, Robots!  (Oh my!)"

First, I told my students I wanted to give them "Context" on the class meeting's activity, so we watched the previews for I, Robot, Queen of the Damned, and Warm Bodies.  Without telling them why, I then instructed my students each to find a partner who is not in their Focus Group (small groups of students organized by theme and similarity in research topic).  I then gave the students three minutes each to explain their: 1. Research Project, 2. Purpose, and 3. Justification (why they chose the topic).  I then gave them the following descriptions and told them to choose one:

*Vampires: Vampires exist by sucking the life-blood out of humans, ruling over them with their superior life-span (forever) and strength.  Life is short if you’re a human.
*Robots: Science and technology have triumphed; creative thought, mistakes, and human emotion are no longer relevant.  Life is mechanical. 
*Zombies: People are mindless consuming bodies, decaying and falling to ruin.  Life just isn't life.

They had a shorter time to discuss their Topic, Purpose, and Justification with their second partners, then additional time to explain their choice of apocalypse.  In their third pairings, students had even less time to discuss their Topic, Purpose, and Justification, but additional time to discuss their apocalypse.  I then gave them about 15 minutes to write a movie preview combining their research topics, apocalypses, and themselves as protagonists.  I made sure to remind them to use their cheesiest "movie guy" voice as they wrote.  At the end of class, all of the pairs read their previews aloud as dramatically as they could (when they weren't collapsing into giggles!).  

Success!  It was an absolute riot and it was a useful exercise: Students had to work with partners they might not normally have chosen to work with.  Students also had to describe their research (8-10 pgs.) concisely to someone who wasn't familiar with their project.  Students had to think abstractly to connect topics like STDs prevention, the importance of architects, and GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms) to an appropriate apocalypse.  On top of all this, students had to synthesize their research, an abstract idea (apocalypse via Vampires, Robots, or Zombies), and create a viable end product: a film preview.  I will definitely do this again!

   Life just isn’t life.

Beautiful, Nose-Tickling, Irreplaceable Dust

I have spent the last week and a half in Birmingham, UK for the induction to my PhD program at the University of Birmingham.  Much of this time was dedicated to ensuring that the new doctoral students would not suffer the academic version of 'culture shock' after our two weeks on campus are over (a large cohort is Distance Learning students), but I have also spent a significant portion of my time in the campus Main Library.  It's a glorious building full of floors and floors of books, periodicals, and journals.  (And it doesn't hurt that there is a delicious café on the ground floor...)

Of course most of the time I've spent in the library has been focused on research and writing--although I spent all of today dealing with course assignments and student questions (I'm teaching my courses via DL/online platform for the two weeks I'm gone), but I've definitely spent more than a few minutes simply drooling over all the beautiful books.  Please don't misunderstand me: I love my iPad.  This [over-priced] magical tablet allows me access to millions upon millions of books; however, I will never, ever accept a touchscreen as an equitable replacement for the texture of paper.  True: I've sneezed more in the past few hours in the library than I normally do in a week, but this seems a small price to pay to be in the presence of so many glorious tomes.  Caxtons, caxtons, everywhere! 

I am an admitted, unabashed bibliophile.  --A sneezy bibliophile, but one who will defend the importance of paper no matter how brilliant the technology is to come.

Today's moral: Read a book, a real one, one that has a possibility of giving you a paper-cut.