look closer, learn more, share
About Open Neighborhoods
Open Neighborhoods is an educational social networking site that
seeks to provide a thematic framework for distance learning partnerships interested in media production and analysis. The project focuses on the theme of exploring the relationship between symbolic communication systems and the physical environment. The project addresses several growing trends and concerns.
Primarily, the project seeks to address the problem of decontextualized geography, in spite of increased global networks. As more individuals connect through business, gaming, social networking, or instant messaging, these relations often remain framed by screen names, which can distance individuals and reframe relationships. Although the Internet provides resources for exploring diverse cultures, many people remain unaware of the daily lives of their peers around the globe, or in their own backyard. One could argue that while individuals grow closer online, they grow more distant in the street.
There is an urgent need for an articulation of place and human experience that moves beyond mediated caricature and generic stereotypes. This understanding must transcend the delivery of information; and strive to evoke a full sharing across the senses. As we acknowledge that our identities are increasingly shaped by mediated cultural forces, we must also remember that they remain rooted in our physical environment as well.
Open Neighborhoods strives to be a model for developing more focused, sustainable interactions, which allow individuals to use social networking to share intimate portraits of their lives, and the realities of their environment. The collective participation will provide a lens for which we can learn about other cultures, experiences, and perspectives.
Learning modules will develop students’ abilities to become aware of the ways in which messages and meanings are embedded in the everyday landscape of our lives. Creative production and reflection exercises will provide students with the opportunity to engage with their environment and explore relationships across borders that deepen their understanding and curiosity of the world around them .
seeks to provide a thematic framework for distance learning partnerships interested in media production and analysis. The project focuses on the theme of exploring the relationship between symbolic communication systems and the physical environment. The project addresses several growing trends and concerns.
Primarily, the project seeks to address the problem of decontextualized geography, in spite of increased global networks. As more individuals connect through business, gaming, social networking, or instant messaging, these relations often remain framed by screen names, which can distance individuals and reframe relationships. Although the Internet provides resources for exploring diverse cultures, many people remain unaware of the daily lives of their peers around the globe, or in their own backyard. One could argue that while individuals grow closer online, they grow more distant in the street.
There is an urgent need for an articulation of place and human experience that moves beyond mediated caricature and generic stereotypes. This understanding must transcend the delivery of information; and strive to evoke a full sharing across the senses. As we acknowledge that our identities are increasingly shaped by mediated cultural forces, we must also remember that they remain rooted in our physical environment as well.
Open Neighborhoods strives to be a model for developing more focused, sustainable interactions, which allow individuals to use social networking to share intimate portraits of their lives, and the realities of their environment. The collective participation will provide a lens for which we can learn about other cultures, experiences, and perspectives.
Learning modules will develop students’ abilities to become aware of the ways in which messages and meanings are embedded in the everyday landscape of our lives. Creative production and reflection exercises will provide students with the opportunity to engage with their environment and explore relationships across borders that deepen their understanding and curiosity of the world around them .
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