Mary Bridget Bullock
Design Development
Project Ideas
February 8, 2011
1. A brief summary of ideas.
2. How you plan to research it.
3. Identify two readings or books that you believe will aid in your research.
4. Identify one primary source you would like to contact.
5. Explain what you hope to develop from your efforts.
Idea #1
· Develop a space for prisons that would be a place for them to develop/ practice religions. The space would have to be a spiritual place and an escape from ordinary prison life. There are many constraints that would shape this project such has prison regulations and coming up with a nondenominational design allowing everyone who wishes to worship there the freedom to do so.
· To research this I would like to understand the regulations that exist within prisons. Also I would need to look into different types of religions and their needs to practice their faith while keeping the space from feeling like it has any real religious affiliations. I think it is also important to look at the arguments against having faith-based programs within the prison system.
· One reading that I know will be helpful in my research is from the Encyclopedia of Crime and punishment. Within this four-volume encyclopedia there is a large portion that is devoted to religion in prisons. Also, this source contains many other important issues and laws within the prison system that I feel would be beneficial while designing this space. Another book that I feel world be beneficial is called “Prison Religion: faith-based reform and the constitution” by Winifred Fallers Sullivan. This book highlights key constitutional problems when trying to implement religious worship in the prison system. And looks at how the separation of church and state becomes fuzzy when religious worship focuses on the individual rather than the institution. There is also a case study from an Iowa state prison showing what “faith-based” prison programs mean for the separation of church and state, particularly when prisoners who participate receive special privileges. Another reading that will be helpful in creating the design is Healing Places by Wilbert M. Gesler, which “…examines how different environment affect physical, mental, spiritual, social, and emotional components of healing.”
· One person that I think would be helpful to speak with would be Mark Larrimore who is an associate professor of religious studies here at The New School. He has a PhD in religion from Princeton University and a BA in philosophy, politics and economics from Worcester College and Oxford. He has been published in many different publications relating to this topic and teaches courses here that are based in many different areas that relate to this topic. Also, I don’t think that it would be to difficult to be able to find a time to meet with him and have some guidance with my project.
· Through my efforts here I would like to be able to find a balance between religion and the prison system that would allow inmates to practice their faith within the correctional programs that are already in place here in the U.S.
Idea#2
· Develop a type of shopping experience or service that helps people understand their body and what they are trying to say about themselves through their clothing. Either through an actual shopping experience (in stores or virtual) or through a shopping service such as a personal shopper, maybe both.
· There is actually a ton of research on this topic and I am currently taking a philosophy course called Fashion and Embodiment, which looks at fashion theory, and how it relates to the body and questions of identity. Also looking into consumer behavior topics and understanding the best way to reach target audiences.
· All of the readings that are required for my fashion and embodiment class will be helpful while conducting my research. One of our readings is from a book called The Presentation of the Self in Everyday Life by Erving Goffman, we are only looking at a section of it for my class but I think that reading the entire book will be particularly beneficial for this assignment. Also, a reading from Liquid Modernity by Zygmunt Bauman called “Individuality” focuses on clothing and consumerism, which also will have beneficial information while developing this idea more.
· With this project I could easily use my teacher Lucy Collins as a primary reference and mentor throughout the development of this assignment.
· With this project I hope to come up with a way that will help shoppers develop a personal style that will ultimately improve their self of steam while making them see and understand why they make the choices they make when shopping for clothing.
Idea #3
· Develop a travel-based program for students who are about to enter college designed to help them develop a true sense of who they are. I would be a program that could be offered through their academic institutions or through an unaffiliated program like International Student Volunteer (ISV). And would be available to them either the summer before starting college or over the course of their freshman year. This program could be offered on both a credit and non-credit level.
· To begin to researching this project I would want to first look at places and events that exist throughout the world that relate to providing spiritual healing and finding oneself. Look at different cultural healing methods and find the best way to include as many of these experiences in the program as possible. It will also be important to look at different institutions policies on student travel as well as looking into how to develop this program at an affordable price without having it be based through universities and open at everyone in the specific age range.
· The Art of Pilgrimage: The Seeker’s Guide to Making Travel Sacred by Phil Cousineau, is a resource for travelers at a crossroad in life. While it does look into religious pilgrimages it also looks at ones with no religious history but have personal and historical meanings as well. This book I think would be a good starting point when trying to decided which places would be the most beneficial for these students. Another book is called The Art of Travel by Alain de Botton. It is a meditation on not only where everyone should travel but also how and why. And although this isn’t the most exciting sounding book I think that it will be very important when developing this program Student travel: policy, regulations, procedures, forms this is a guide from the Department of Education. Lastly, a reading from the International Journal of Intercultural Relations Volume 21, Issue 4, November 1997, pages 475-490. This article is entitled Crossing Cultures: Student Travel and Personal Development by George Gmelch from Union College, Schenectady. It discusses what students do and learn when they travel abroad; it shows through personal journal entries from students abroad that many of the things they learned where found in unexpected places. “Much of the personal benefit of travel comes not from what students learn about the places or cultures they visit, but from the need to continuously make decisions and deal with the demands of daily life in new and unfamiliar settings. It is suggested that these experiences foster personal development in several ways.”
· One of my best friends from home Natalia Nowacki has been traveling though out her high school and college experience. She has studied abroad from every semester except for her sophomore year and will be graduating from The University of Pennsylvania this May. It would be interesting to see from her perspective how travelling has helped and changed her as well as seeing what places she would recommend exploring for this program.
· Through this project I hope to develop a program for students that will hopefully be beneficial in helping them understand themselves and the world they live in a little better before/during a big life transition. After my sophomore year of college I actually took part in an ISV program where I did conservation work in southern Australia at a wildlife reserve and then traveled with a small group of students (none of which I knew before the trip) and I really believe that this was one of the most beneficial experiences I have had in college and strongly believe in the idea that traveling is one of the best forms to develop a strong sense of who you are. I would like to be able to give other students the ability to experience this through this program.
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