Frequently asked questions
Here are some frequently asked questions. This list may grow over time. If you don't see your question answered, email me at [email protected].
1. Q. How many credit hours can I earn?
A. You earn 15 credit hours. They come from different departments and they are arranged on an individual basis. If accepted into the seminar we'll sit down and look at what you still need to take to graduate and examine which courses the seminar work might fulfill. Then I will negotiate with the relevant departments to ensure your participation will earn 15 credit hours.
2. Q. When do I register?
A. While your application is in process you should register for your fall 2014 classes as if you will NOT be in the seminar. Then, if you're accepted into the program and we find 15 credit hours for you, we'll go through a simple drop/add process. By registering for fall 2014 classes as if you're not in the program, you ensure that your fall semester is set whether or not you are accepted and decide to enroll in the seminar.
3. Q. May I take extra classes outside the seminar?
A. No. As an intense, immersive learning experience, we want you to focus entirely on the seminar tasks, goals, and learning experiences. We become a tight-knit community working on our project, working long hours on some days. It's kind of like a career job where you're focused on this one thing until you go home to your private life at the end of the day. If everyone is going off to other classes at different times our focus dissipates and we won't be able to reach our goals and complete our project. Part of the appeal of a VBC seminar is this single focus on the project goals.
4. Q. What if I have a paid job?
A. Ideally, you need to be able to devote your time to the seminar project. This is especially true if you are working for money during the 8-5 weekday hours. Also, we may need to travel on occasion and may have occasional evening and weekend events, so your time flexibility is really important.
5. Q. Is there transportation to and from the Kitselman Center, where the VBC is located?
A. No. You need to be able to get there on your own. People will often carpool or bike. It's about a 20 minute walk from campus, give or take.
6. Q. How will I be graded?
A. I will turn in grades for each of the official classes for which you are receiving credit. You will be evaluated on the quality of your work and the quality of your contribution to the group and the success of our seminar. There will not be regular tests and so on.
7. Q. How is the seminar structured? What will the semester look like?
A. Our focus is on creating the product that is the goal of the seminar. All learning is in support of or comes from that process. We will have some seminar-style sessions where we read material about issues related to our project (art theory, museum studies, history, creativity, art education, etc.) early in the semester. While we do that, we'll make some group decisions about the product we want to make and how that will be done. I will not be "teaching" or pushing content in the way you may know from a lecture course. Students will figure out what needs to be done, devise ways to do those tasks, and decide who will do what and when. While I have set the larger parameters for the course (what in general we're doing, who our community partner is, what our likely product is, etc.) I do not control how the semester goes. As a seminar at the Virginia Ball Center for Creative Inquiry, we will take the title seriously. This is about creative inquiry. I don't know the "answers" to our seminar questions. I'm simply leading the team. We'll be figuring this out together as we go along. That's part of the point. I won't be pushing content at you nor do I have a set way this has to go. We get to creatively design our product together.
1. Q. How many credit hours can I earn?
A. You earn 15 credit hours. They come from different departments and they are arranged on an individual basis. If accepted into the seminar we'll sit down and look at what you still need to take to graduate and examine which courses the seminar work might fulfill. Then I will negotiate with the relevant departments to ensure your participation will earn 15 credit hours.
2. Q. When do I register?
A. While your application is in process you should register for your fall 2014 classes as if you will NOT be in the seminar. Then, if you're accepted into the program and we find 15 credit hours for you, we'll go through a simple drop/add process. By registering for fall 2014 classes as if you're not in the program, you ensure that your fall semester is set whether or not you are accepted and decide to enroll in the seminar.
3. Q. May I take extra classes outside the seminar?
A. No. As an intense, immersive learning experience, we want you to focus entirely on the seminar tasks, goals, and learning experiences. We become a tight-knit community working on our project, working long hours on some days. It's kind of like a career job where you're focused on this one thing until you go home to your private life at the end of the day. If everyone is going off to other classes at different times our focus dissipates and we won't be able to reach our goals and complete our project. Part of the appeal of a VBC seminar is this single focus on the project goals.
4. Q. What if I have a paid job?
A. Ideally, you need to be able to devote your time to the seminar project. This is especially true if you are working for money during the 8-5 weekday hours. Also, we may need to travel on occasion and may have occasional evening and weekend events, so your time flexibility is really important.
5. Q. Is there transportation to and from the Kitselman Center, where the VBC is located?
A. No. You need to be able to get there on your own. People will often carpool or bike. It's about a 20 minute walk from campus, give or take.
6. Q. How will I be graded?
A. I will turn in grades for each of the official classes for which you are receiving credit. You will be evaluated on the quality of your work and the quality of your contribution to the group and the success of our seminar. There will not be regular tests and so on.
7. Q. How is the seminar structured? What will the semester look like?
A. Our focus is on creating the product that is the goal of the seminar. All learning is in support of or comes from that process. We will have some seminar-style sessions where we read material about issues related to our project (art theory, museum studies, history, creativity, art education, etc.) early in the semester. While we do that, we'll make some group decisions about the product we want to make and how that will be done. I will not be "teaching" or pushing content in the way you may know from a lecture course. Students will figure out what needs to be done, devise ways to do those tasks, and decide who will do what and when. While I have set the larger parameters for the course (what in general we're doing, who our community partner is, what our likely product is, etc.) I do not control how the semester goes. As a seminar at the Virginia Ball Center for Creative Inquiry, we will take the title seriously. This is about creative inquiry. I don't know the "answers" to our seminar questions. I'm simply leading the team. We'll be figuring this out together as we go along. That's part of the point. I won't be pushing content at you nor do I have a set way this has to go. We get to creatively design our product together.