Urban Art Space

So, summary: we took a ride on a COTA bus down to the OSU Urban Art Space, which has a lot of undergraduate art along with art from other people and staff around Columbus. They change their art frequently, so if you don't like one exhibit, you can go to the next one (you can take the COTA bus 2 down High st. to it). There were hors d'oeuvres and they gave us a brief introduction to the art space.

One of the things I like about art galleries is that even though I'm not very into looking at art, with so much art in one space, there's bound to be something interesting. I am also a huge fan of modern art (although, I think we need another century to weed out all the 'eh' modern art - you know, today we only have a fraction of the art from the romantic or baroque or rococo period. We just have the good stuff). But, I would say I have two favorite pieces, for two different reasons. One:

I really like this one because of the texture. The silver part is like coal dust and that area is cut out of the landscape in the background. I like it because it looks nice. Period.

The other one I can't find a picture of, but it was essentially a very dense and brushed filled forest. I actually like this one because I find pictures can be great inspiration for stories and this was one of those. So. The end.

Scavenger Hunt

I really enjoyed the Mentor Scavenger Hunt. I liked spending time with my roomies and mentors. I got the chance to see many parts of OSU that I probably would never see or know about unless I was on the scavenger hunt. We learned a lot about each other and it was a great time to just hang out. It was pretty fun to do great competition. I learned a lot about certain buildings and traditions. Overall, it was a great OSU/Scholars experience.

Prohibition

Last Thursday, I attended the WOSU presentation "Prohibition: An Evening with Ken Burns". At first, I didn't know what to expect. I had never seen any of Ken Burn's work before and I was a little leery of watching a historical documentary outside of a required classroom; however, my curiosity go the better of me, and it paid off.
Ken Burns and Lynn Novick were gracious enough to share some excerpts and clips from their upcoming PBS film series: Prohibition. The group of clips that I found to be the most interesting were from the third and final episode. The last episode was about how hypocritical Americans became after prohibition; America, a theoretically "dry" country had become the largest importer of cocktail shakers in the world by the end of prohibition.
Prohibition goes behind the scenes and explains that the banning of alcohol was not just a simple yes or no vote, but; rather, a fire fed by religious differences, racism, expected gender roles, and politics. Ken Burns and Lynn Novick took period videos, propaganda, music, and documents and created a clever and informational documentary describing a very influential event in America's History.
Overall, I am glad that I went. I would highly encourage all of you to tune into Prohibition on October 2nd - October 4th.

Humanities Mentor Scavenger Hunt

The scavenger hunt was a very fun and entertaining way to spend some time in the afternoon. It was also a great way for the mentees to get to know their mentors. One of the most entertaining parts of the exercise was the site seeing, getting to see buildings and parts of campus I have not seen yet. My only complaint is that there was not a map with the instruction sheet. So that we would not have run around not knowing exactly where we were going and how to get there. But overall I think that the event was a success and I look forward to the next mentor/mentee event.

An Evening with Ken Burns

The moment I heard Ken Burns would be at The Ohio State University on September 23, 2011, I ran online to order my tickets. After attending, "Prohibition: An Evening with Ken Burns", I'm even more excited about my career choice and the actual premiere of his new documentary series on October 2. It is a three day event and will end on October 4, 2011. Both Ken Burns and Lynn Novick interacted with a panel of scholars discussing a number of topics ranging from the 1920s up until modern times. His documentary and discussion discussed civility, immigration and democracy. Many of the clips that were shown describe Ohio as a center point in regards to the Prohibition movement. As was discussed in the preview of the event, the documentary showed the Anti-Saloon League in Westerville as highly important in passing the 18th Amendment. The most fascinating part of the evening for me was understanding that Prohibition involved more than just the drinking aspect of society. Organized crime became a problem, elections contained intense slandering, and immigration/minority problems were at their worst points in American History.

I therefore encourage you all to watch this documentary series on October 2-4. Ken and Lynn are both extraordinary historians and truly know their facts. If anybody has any questions about the event please feel free to comment!

Scott Stevens