Flash Mob Videos

Below are a number of videos of flash mobs that have occurred here in New York and elsewhere around the United States and Europe.

The first is from Philadelphia, and shows how the model of the flash mob was negatively co-opted and used to perform a series of robberies. 

The second video is actually a commercial or advertisement for T-Mobile, titled "Welcome Back."  This flash mob took place in London at the Heathrow Terminal 5.

This third video occurred in New York City a few years ago and was performed by a group known for its varied performances of flash mob. They call themselves Improv Everywhere. In this particular mobbing, individuals enter a Best Buy dressed in their uniform Prank

In the fourth video, Improv Everywhere strikes again, yet this time they press the "Mute Button."

Perhaps one of my favorite flash mob events ever to occur in NYC was the "Frozen Grand Central" mob, again performed by the group Improv Everywhere. It really redefines (and therefore recreates) the "moving" space of Grand Central Station in an artistic and visceral manner. What are your reactions to this event?

Perhaps one of the more amusing and certainly awkward annual flash mob events that has been in existence since 2006 is the "No Pants Subway Ride." Here, footage from the most recent no-pants-ride this past January is shown.

Lastly, the annual "MP3 Experiment" stands as a beautiful and colorful testament to the various critiques of control and autonomy that flash mobbing exposes. Still, the purpose of simple and sheer entertainment could never be more apparent than in this footage from the eighth installment of the MP3 Experiment. If you're interested in participating in this year's experiment save the date for Sunday, 7/14/13. More information on the event can be found here.

Updated Thesis Proposal Rubric Posted

Good day all,

The rubric for the Thesis Proposal has been updated and is now posted on the Schedule, Readings, and Rubrics page. Note that I have included a scanned copy of the sample research calendar outline from Hacker's text here so that you can use it as a model when filling out your own research calendar.

Let me know if you have any questions regarding the upcoming assignment, or if you would like to discuss your working topic and thesis in further detail.

s.

Refining Keyword Searches in Databases and Search Engines

I have transcribed the following information from page 338 in the Writer's Reference. Employ this to guide your keyword searches while beginning your initial research and topic/thesis development for your final paper. Remember to vary your usage of these Boolean operators and terms so that you can elicit the most refined search results possible.

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Although command terms and characters vary in electronic databases and Web search engines, some common functions are listed here:

• Use quotation marks around words that are part of a phrase: "gateway drug."
• Use AND to connect words  that must appear in a document: hyperactivity AND children. In some search engines--Google, for example--AND is assumed, so typing it is unnecessary. Other search engines require a plus sign instead: hyperactivity + children.
• Use NOT in front of words that must not appear in a document: Persian Gulf NOT war. Some search engines require a minus sign (hyphen) instead: Persian Gulf -war.
• Use OR if only one of the terms must appear in a document: "mountain lion" OR cougar.
• Use an asterisk as a substitute for letters that might vary: "marine biolog* (to find marine biology or marine biologist, for example).
• Use parenthesis to group a search expression and combine it with another: (standard OR student OR test*) AND reform. 

NOTE: Many databases and search engines offer an advanced search option for refining your search with filters for exact phrases that must appear, specific words that should not appear, date restrictions, author and title restrictions, and so on.

Social Experimentation

For tomorrow, Tuesday 6/18, please answer the following two prompts by devoting a full paragraph to each. You should type this homework and bring a printed copy to class.


1.) Design your own social experiment and explain how it might utilize and comment upon Milgram's analysis of conformity. Be sure to use quotations from Wasik's text as support.

2.) Examine your own sense of conformity. In what ways do you conform? What do you conform to? How and why? Or, why not?