Deadline: March 1.  Space is limited.

Summer Study Abroad Course: “Follow the Fringe”

The University of Maryland, College of Information Studies, Maryland’s iSchool, announces a Study Abroad course offering this summer.  Directed by Mary Edsall Choquette, iSchool faculty, the course, “Follow the Fringe: Documentation and Preservation of Cultural Movements in Media,” offers 10 students the opportunity to travel to Scotland and participate in the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2013.  Kathy Carbone, Performing Arts Librarian at the California Institute of the Arts will accompany the class.

The course introduces students to the fundamentals of archival documentation and preservation of, and access to, performance activity information.  It specifically focuses on documentation and preservation of movement phenomena performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2013.  Students will research and follow a performance group from the CalArts Festival Theater Summer Program, California Institute of the Arts, which has participated in the Edinburgh Festival for 10 years. 

The Festival Fringe in Edinburgh is the oldest performance festival of its type.  While several “fringe festivals” now happen in cities in the United States, the Edinburgh festival is the mother of all and has the historical elements making it most worthy of initial research and practical experience.  It provides a unique experience to investigate strategies for documentation of performance phenomena and the creation of archives, adding to the history of the event.
  
Building on a model for live performance documentation and preservation created by Dr. Choquette, students will plan a documentation strategy specific to this project; implement that strategy; and place the resulting media and data in archives repositories in Edinburgh, at CalArts, and at the University of Maryland.  Students will also create metadata for these archives for access purposes. 

Students will live and work for 2 weeks in the heart of Edinburgh, among thousands of people performing and working at the festival as well as audience participants and the residents of the city.  This provides a unique experience of living in a city being lit by culture 24/7 during the 2-week stay.  

Students will be exposed to real life in Scotland through tours of libraries and archives, and independent touring experiences and will be exposed to the world of festival culture through practical experiences; by living among festival participants; and through audience activities.  

Throughout these various experiences, students will document and collect found cultural information and will collectively produce a digital “Movement Mash-up Mural” upon return from Scotland.  The Mural will be premiered at an event at Maryland’s iSchool later in the summer.

This course directly relates to the iSchool’s mission of engaging in collaborative and innovative research, teaching, and service.  It also responds to the iSchool’s vision of transforming the way individuals, organizations, and communities connect with information.  The course also reflects the iSchool’s commitment to diversity and community across cultures. 

For more information on the  “Follow the Fringe” course and to apply for admission, please see the online course brochure:
http://ter.ps/sufringeinst

Questions can also be directed to Mary Edsall Choquette:  [log in to unmask]



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Mary Edsall Choquette, MA, MLS, PhD; Lecturer
Assistant Program Director, Online Programs
College of Information Studies, Maryland's iSchool
University of Maryland, College Park
4111H Hornbake Building, South Wing
College Park, MD 20742
301.405.2047
[log in to unmask]

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