UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN - MILWAUKEE
Peck School of the Arts
Department of Dance
Dance Service Learning
Syllabus
Winterim ‘11
January 3-20, 2011
3 credits
Instructor: Associate Professor Simone Ferro
Course number: DANCE 319 – U/G
New Orleans, LA
Office: ZEL 372
Phone: (414) 229 4178
E-mail: sferro@uwm.edu
Office hours: on-site or by appointment
This is a site-specific course where students will discover New Orleans from the
viewpoint of community partners. It is designed to promote learning experiences in the
field of the arts. Interdisciplinary works will be developed through Service Learning
opportunities with community groups, including residents of New Orleans’ Lower 9th
Ward.
Course Description
This course is designed to give students an opportunity to explore interdisciplinary and
foundational learning experiences in the areas of dance through a site-specific trip to New
Orleans. This includes all aspects of dance, including music, art, religion, historical and
social context and production. Students will have the opportunity to examine how New
Orleans, fragmented by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, is rediscovering the artistic roots
that once bound their community together. It will be a reflection on centuries-old
traditions and how the impact of these natural catastrophes changed local artistic
communities.
It has been five years since Hurricane Katrina struck the city of New Orleans. For
residents in the lower 9th Ward in particular, the return, rebuilding and recovery have
been slow if not nonexistent.
Residents who are able to return are now out of the nation spotlight. Their everyday
struggles are seemingly marginalized in the city’s overall effort to recover. And yet there
are inherent lessons, which emerge from this national tragedy. Students in this course will
reside in New Orleans and participate in research projects, which focus on the return,
recovery and transformation of the New Orleans community in particular the lower 9th
Ward.
Course Themes

How is New Orleans culturally important to America?

How does the artistic community respond to the disasters they have lived?
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
In what ways did the responses to Katrina inform our understanding of
governmental, communal and personal responsibility as a response to this national
disaster? To future disasters?

What are perceptions of Race, Class and Citizenship after Katrina and how
it impacts the artistic community?
Course Objectives

Students will gain understanding of New Orleans’ cultural contributions to
the diversity in the arts in United States. 

Students will increase understanding of world dance and of contemporary
dance forms

Students will analyze performance and production in the context of New
Orleans culture.

Students will develop and make use of applied research methodologies
through interactions with New Orleans community.

Students will gain a greater understanding of the impact of culture and
history on the local dance and performance.

Each student will conduct a critical inquiry into understanding the many
dimensions of governmental, communal and personal responsibility, which
emerged in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Do we live in a world of
“two Americas” which divides the world into the rich and poor?

Students will investigate and learn how and in what ways race and other
demographics influence the rebuilding efforts in New Orleans.

A student in this course will be encouraged to use interdisciplinary themes
to guide his/her research. Students’ applied research inquiries will incorporate
research methods as part of the research inquiry e.g., feminization of poverty,
music traditions, Mari Gras parade families, Social and Pleasure Clubs among
other topics.
Course Requirements
You must be enrolled to attend this UWinterim course. Assignments will vary across
students’ interests. Each student will identify an area of study for his/her research focus.
This research focus will serve as a focal point for observations, service learning
assignments and documentation activities. Students will have supervised learning
experience. Cultural training, lectures, and outings to public events are all part of your
immersion into New Orleans’ culture. Participation/Observation will include a variety of
experiences.
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20%- Reflective Journal
Students will be required to keep a running daily journal with field notes of their
experiences. Their notes will be then entered on D2L on a weekly basis (total of three
weeks). These entries will be accompanied by any supporting materials the student feels
appropriate to enhance his/hers portfolio. At the end of the UWinterim the student’s
journal entries will be graded and shared with all the other students involved in the
UWinterim classes. The entries must contain: personal reflections; observations regarding
culture and diversity; and analysis of dance performances, classes, events and production
you have observed. In classes and lectures, additional questions will be assigned and are
to be included in the journal as well. Students will then use their journal entries notes to
build their final research papers.
Weekly assignments will focus on field notes/journal submissions. All students will keep
extensive fieldwork journals, which will be reviewed on a weekly basis. You will be
provided with how-to guide and focus questions at the orientation session.
30% - Research
Students will do research on dance, music and other art forms in New Orleans through
physical exploration, interviews, community interactions, service-learning experiences
and extensive data collection. Activities will be conducted through on–site classes where
students will study and practice different dance techniques, attend music events, observe
architectural sites, try the local culinary, and experience related art forms. These skills
will be integrated in a research where a comprehensive investigation
(physical/dramatic/historical) will be developed. Students will be required to do original
research on a chosen art medium among these: dance [folk and/or theatrical], music,
Second Lines, Social & Pleasure clubs, Mardi Gras Indians, religion, or art (sacred or
profane).
Evaluation will be based on (1) students’ participation as active learners in each of the
scheduled activities, (2) students’ initiative in seeking out additional sources of
information and experience according to their interests (and consent of the instructor), (3)
gathering of new information and development of new movement and music skills, and
(4) combination these experiences in a creative product (e.g., a choreographic piece, a
documentary work, analysis of interviews with New Orleans cultural participants). The
specific research product of each student will be developed in consultation with the
instructor to ensure its relevance to the theme of the course and its contribution to the
overall richness of the course experience.
Students will be responsible for developing their own projects within course guidelines.
A partial, but not exclusive list, of research guidelines includes the following:
1) Written analysis and movement work (a) contrasting traditionally based popular
culture and the abstractionism of modern dance, and (b) analyzing the importance of the
codified art form understood as “high art” as a means for understanding and portraying
folk traditions.
2) Edited video documentation illustrating some aspect of the topic of your
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choice.
3) Research on the use of these art forms to express rebellion, ethnic identity,
religiosity, social criticism, and sense of community.
4) Production of materials (photographic, video, written, oral presentation,
choreographic work).
All video projects must be completed and sent via QuickTime or DVD (edited with a
maximum length of ten/twelve minutes) and word document attachment. Papers should
be a minimum of 10 pages in length, double-spaced, font 11 or 12. I will be considering
75% of your grade for the paper’s content, insightfulness, presentation and 25% for the
grammar and punctuation. Additional guidelines for the final paper will be given during
the class. All entries must be in Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx). Please note: I will not be
able to read documents using Word Perfect, so please DO NOT use this system.

Preliminary paper proposal
sferro@uwm.edu

First Draft of Final Paper
mail to sferro@uwm.edu


Final Paper
Friday January 7 – sent via e-mail to
Thursday January 20 – sent via eMonday January 31 – entered in D2L
Documentation will be an ongoing part of your experience in New Orleans. Digital and
video cameras will be available. Each student will assist with the documentation
activities. A collective repository will be developed documenting our work in New
Orleans. It is hoped that a small committee will assist in providing each class member
with a CD collection of photos taken. Students will receive instruction the equipment as
part of their orientation in December.
20% - Service Learning Experiences
Students in this course will have a residency in New Orleans, where they will engage in
research, which is interdisciplinary in scope and supports students’ cross-cultural learning
experiences. As part of this course, students will conduct interviews with artists, mostly
residents in the Lower 9th Ward. These interviews will be determinate by the faculty. A
questionnaire will be build by the students enrolled in the different classes related to the
New Orleans UWinterim’11. Additionally, students will complete Service Learning
assignments. These placements will include local museums, schools and community-arts
based organizations, and community associations. These opportunities have the emphasis
on the development of the student’s broad understanding of the New Orleans community.
A list with all the organizations connected with the service learning aspects related to this
course will be provided during the one-day orientation schedule on December 15th.
30% - Class Participation – Physical and intellectual
Students will be expected to attend and analyze a number of events, lectures,
presentations, classes, and service learning experiences. Each one of the above will
involve some type of preparation (physical, intellectual and social). Attendance to all
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classes, lectures, service learning sites and activities scheduled in this course is
mandatory. Fail to comply with any of the required course work, related activities or
attend any of the events organized for this course without a valid excuse will affect the
overall grade of this class. Punctuality, promptness, physical and intellectual curiosity,
commitment to the process, work ethic, group friendship and cordiality, will be taken into
account in evaluation.
On site in New Orleans the schedule may change. Opportunities for additional learning
experiences may occur. They will be added to the schedule of activities when possible.
Your flexibility is an important asset in these contexts.
As part of the preparation for this course assignments on D2L have been organized will
be assigned as part of the orientation to aid your understanding of the impact of
Hurricane Katrina and Rita in New Orleans. You are expected to complete these
assignments prior to your arrival in New Orleans January 3, 2011.
UWinerim Common e-portfolios
Students participating in this course will be required to collaborate to four different eportfolios sites related to this trip:
1. Related to the Interviews & field notes
2. Related to the questions you will share with your interviewees
3. Related to the service-learning site you will attend
4. Photo-gallery where students will enter your best pictures related to this course
Grading
Due to the participatory nature of this class, attendance and active participation in all
events and activities is required. Plan to arrive on time, prepared, and ready to work. Plan
also to take notes during and immediately after each event and reflect on how each
experience can add to your final report. Student work will be evaluated according to
originality, intellectual and physical investment, evidence of reflection and seriousness of
thought, and application of skills and knowledge acquired during this trip.
Required readings in e-reserve & in D2L
Berry, J. (1988). African Cultural Memory in New Orleans Music. Black Music Research
Journal 8(1), p. 3-12
Bodere, T. (2008). “to look at death another way”: Black teenage males’ perspectives on
second-lines and regular funerals in New Orleans. Omega (Framingdale, N.Y.) V. 58
No. 3 (2008/2009) P. 213-32
Hellwig, B. (2010). Hard Times Don’t Last Forever. Dance Magazine. 84 (8) p. 22
Lipsitz, George. (1988) Mardi Gras Indians: Carnival and Counter-Narrative in Black
New Orleans. Cultural Critique. No. 10 p. 100-121
Mc Kernan, J., & Mulcahy, K. (2008). Hurricane Katrina: A cultural Chernobyl. Journal
of Arts Management, Law and Society, 38(3), p. 217-232
Regis, H. Blackness and the politics of memory in the New Orleans Second Line.
American Ethnologist Vol. 28 (4) p. 752-777
Smith, Michael P. (1994) Behind the Lines: The Black Mardi Gras Indians and the New
Orleans Second Line. Black Music Research Journal. Vol. 14 (1) p. 43-66
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Optional readings in e-reserve & in D2L
Marsalis, Ellis L. (1998) New Orleans jazz Funerals. American Visions, 13(5), 19-23
Turley, Alan C. (1995) The Ecological and Social Determinants of the Production of
Dixieland Jazz in New Orleans. International Review of the Aesthetics and Sociology of
Music. Vol. 26 (1) p. 107-121
Required Films available in D2L
Trouble the Water
University Policy and Procedures Website
http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/SecU/SyllabusLinks.pdf
Final grades will be assessed on the following scale
A
95-100 points
A92-94 points
B+
90-91 points
B
89-83 points
B82-80 points
C+
79-77 points
C
76-72points
C71-70 points
D
69-65 points
F
64 points or less
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