FUNDING STRATEGIES FOR TTU ARTS PRACTICE STUDY ABROAD AT CHIAPAS, MEXICO, SUMMER 1 2016
We are taking a team of creative staff (Dance: Kris Olson & Nicole Wesley; Music: Roger Landes & Chris Smith), dancers and student musicians (ESO/others: see below) to Chiapas Mexico in Summer 2016. During 11 days on campuses at Tuxtla and San Cristobal de las Casas, in Chiapas, we will perform, take classes, collaborate with local teachers and students, and so forth. Participating undergrad students will register and earn 3 hours toward either Multicultural requirement and/or Humanities core.
Accommodations & meals for all students will be contributed by the host institution.
Students will be responsible for their own travel costs (see “paths to funding” below) and TTU tuition fees. Those costs include:
(1)Roughly $500 airfare (RT LBB-Chiapas listed at $600 + taxes and fees as of 12/20/2014)
(2)TTU tuition
(3)Mandatory TTU “Study Abroad Fee”) = $200
TOTAL: ~$700 + TTU tuition
Students have 2 paths to raise travel funding via TTU:
a)Enroll in ONE course (VPA2301 [undergrads] or MUSI7000 [grad students]) and apply for Study Abroad Scholarship but NOT Financial Aid monies to pay 3 credits & travel
b)Enroll in TWO courses (VPA2301 + MUSI4000 “Intro to Community Arts Entrepreneurship”—see the latter, below) and apply for Study Abroad Scholarship AND Financial Aid monies to pay 6 credits & travel
Thus:
·If you register for VPA2301, you must pay credit hours but can apply for Study Abroad Scholarship support (we can help author this application).
·If you register for VPA2301 *and* MUSI4000 (or another 3-credit Summer 2015 course) for a total of 6 hours, you can both apply for Study Abroad Scholarship AND use student Financial Aid (other scholarships, loans, etc) for funding.
NOTE: it is not permissible to enroll in MUSI4000 alone; if enrolling for only a single course, that course must be VPA2301.
NOTE: if you have taken VPA2301 previously, you may sign up for this special Summer-only study abroad section.
NOTE: if you are an ESO member wishing to participate in the trip, but cannot / do not wish to sign up for VPA2301, you must be in touch with Dr Smith immediately [email protected]
We plan to run a “crowdsourcing” project which we intend to cover any shortfall in travel costs; we are committed to making it possible for every interested ESO/EHS member to participate in the trip. HOWEVER, only students confirmed as of January 15 2016, and enrolled in VPA2301 by April 2 2016, will be eligible for crowdsourcing assistance.
All VPA2301 students will be required to apply for Study Abroad Scholarship. All students are expected to contribute to the very best of their abilities to meeting travel costs.
NOTE: VPA2301 must enroll at least 10 students or we cannot offer the trip; that is, if fewer than 10 students register for VPA2301, the trip is off.
Maximum number of seats is capped at 22. Preference will be given to ESO members, but enrollment is open across the campus. Permission of instructor required.
THEREFORE: think about June-July 2016 now, and begin making financial plans NOW.
This course is designed to expand students’ understanding of artistic practice as both reflecting and shaping socio-cultural conditions around the world. Students will engage in interdisciplinary and collaborative art-making experiences, integrating music, the visual arts, theatre, and dance (and intermedial forms), and investigating the philosophical and practical implications of such making to the health and survival of transnational global societies. Special attention will be paid to the relationship of the arts to their broader social environments as well as the formal, theoretical, ethical, political, and professional contexts of artistic production/reception.
VPA2301 fulfills Multicultural OR Humanities credit
MUSI4000 (3 hours)
An introduction to the range and integration of skills, perspectives, knowledge, and understandings necessary to assess need and provide effective participatory arts experiences in diverse communities and situations. Addresses both philosophical and practical considerations. Students emerge with solid foundation in strategies, communications, implementation, and assessment of social and advocacy applications for participatory performing arts. Assignments: readings, project-design, reflective journals, lectures and discussion, grant-writing, etc. In Summer 2015, analysis of crowd-funding strategies will be the particular focus of attention. Foundation course for the Certificate in Community Arts Entrepreneurship (undergraduate). Permission of instructor required.