In class on Tuesday the 5th we focused on Jamboree. We watched some riveting footage of our junk band, some elegant line dancing and some chef mastery. (I personally think you guys added the perfect amount of syrup). We were asked what our video revealed about our FYS, and apparently it shows that our FYS is fun. I think every part of the video was there: the ideas to dance, make music and food, the music quality, and the video editing. The only missing ingredient was enthusiasm and emotional expression. Sorry to say, but our lack of gaiety-that's right, gaiety- was the number one thing people took away from our video. Nobody came up to me and said, "Hey you guys are jamming on that junk," or "nice moves."(Not that they should anyways). The first thing people commented on was our accurate portrayal of zombies. But hey! I had fun making the video so what the hell. I thought our booth was very successful. Whenever I came by to visit Jamboree/get some grub, our table had the most visitors. So hopefully some of us got a chance to share some of our American roots music knowledge. I had one person that listened to the music clippings which was cool.
During our discussion it was someone mentioned that jamboree sucks. Yes it may have been on the lame side, but is that the fault of jamboree or the people involved in it. I mean had there been a better overall attitude towards it, it could have been a better experience. Take for example: one booth I walked by was being manned by one person who was preoccupied with their cell, our video isn't exactly uplifting and other booths I visited I had to force the people into talking to me. I think it would have been cooler if people would have been more eager to share their ideas. Some booths were better, the geometry table was inviting, but I didn't come away with much, such as a connection between digitally cutting my face in half, geometry and human diversity. I think the point of having devices such as a camera and a computer, or a projector and speakers was to attract visitors. Then talk to them. However, in some cases it seemed to turn in to the main theme.
We also discussed the unity of FYS. It was interesting to hear about the history of this part of the class, and how it's kind of tapered off. We can see how it is now almost non-existent, we all agreed in class that "Human Diversity" is a poor excuse for unifying the classes. I think some more unity would be good, which is the purpose of jamboree right? All the classes come together and share what they've learned, I don't think too many of us found it (or us) successful in that aspect however. It may also have to do with the fact that, like someone in class said, all the topics are pretty random. In class we also talked about how FYS can be useful by ensuring we meet at least one professor in our first year. Well our discussion from Tuesday is to be continued on Thursday, so see ya all then.