Global Learning – Curating Zoe

Presenting at SpARC

Zoe Katz — Sun, 01 Apr 2018 23:47:04 +0000

I’m so excited to announce that I will be presenting at the Agnes Scott Spring Annual Research Conference (SpARC) not once, but twice! Below are the abstracts of my presentations that were approved. To learn more about SpARC, visit the SpARC page on the Agnes Scott College website.

Pathways: A One-Act

Pathways is a one-act play that follows the lives of a recent high school graduate, James, and his girlfriend, Sarah, as they navigate the murky waters of future after high school. At the crux of their relationship, James cannot pay for college and is planning to enter the army instead, while Sarah is both financially and academically able to stay home and attend school. When James joins the army and prepares for his departure, the audience sees Sarah become desperate to make him stay. She proposes losing her virginity to James, and he disagrees, and their relationship dissolves into an argument just days before he leaves. This play explores the notions of virginity in adolescent sexuality, as well as toxic masculinity within teenager’s lives, and enters into a new genre of playwriting rarely explored, a juncture of theatre and adolescence.

A directed reading utilizes a cast and direction to bring a play to life without traditionally staging it. By staging a reading of Pathways, the Spring Annual Research Conference allows important sociological and psychological phenomenon to take the stage in a non-traditional presentation of experience, research, and craft. Pathways utilizes the traditional one-act format and linear narrative alongside a small cast and engaging dialogue in presenting common yet under-discussed themes of adolescence. Pathways is a finalist in the One-Act category of the 47th Annual Agnes Scott Writers’ Festival Writing Contest and is Zoe Katz’s first play.

The Enlightened Pirate

The Enlightened Pirate is a digital research project conducted in History 309: The Enlightenment in Europe. The Enlightened Pirate examines the Golden Age of Piracy (1700-1750) as an actualization of Enlightenment ideals. My research examines primary sources such as accounts, Captain’s accords, and historical texts as evidentiary support to the claim that men and women of the 16th century became pirates as an expression of enlightenment ideals. Supplemented by secondary sources such as Villains of All Nations: Atlantic Pirates in the Golden Age by Marcus Rediker, The Enlightened Pirate crafts a thorough argument that combines the excitement of the Golden Age of Piracy with the revolutionary ideals of the great Enlightenment thinkers such as Kant, Rousseau, and Locke.

The Enlightened Pirate is a web-based research project, rejecting the conventions of typical research essays. Utilizing a sub-domain of the Summit Digital Portfolio dedicated to the topic, The Enlightened Pirate uses multimedia, primary sources, quotes, and text to create an accessible and entertaining format to present the argument the findings that pirates in the Golden Age of Piracy were more than petty thieves or criminals, but had legitimate intentions to create a new society as defined by Enlightenment ideals. The presentation at the Spring Annual Research Conference would combine the website with a powerpoint to discuss methods of research, arguments, and application of findings as well as the tools utilized to create the digital research project.

Creating Artport

Zoe Katz — Sun, 25 Mar 2018 20:49:10 +0000

In Fall 2016, I worked on a group project called Artport, analyzing non-traditional museums, global perspectives, and humanity within the Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.

Creating Artport

Ever since I was a kid, I loved going to the airport, because it meant I didn’t have to sit with my parents and siblings in a car for a billion hours listening to NPR and eating trail mix that gave me a headache. As I grew older, instead of the excitement of flying in a plane, I loved airports for their efficiency. Flying out of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Airport as many times as I have in my life, I came to realize that Hartsfield-Jackson was more than an extremely efficient, well-organized airport. Unbeknownst to me, Hartsfield-Jackson displayed hundreds of pieces of artwork and was home one of the largest Airport Art Programs in the country. It was fascinating researching and creating Artport for my final project, and I loved learning about the curation of a non-traditional museum such as the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Airport.

The first step in our project was to outline our (my partner Courtney Serra and I’s) aims and objectives. We were interested in exploring the curation of the permanent and rotating exhibits of the Airport Art Program, but we also had a few questions that were the driving force in our project. How does art elevate the Hartsfield-Jackson airport? How do location and security affect the accessibility of the art? How do you curate a museum that no one is there to see?

The final question was what we discussed most with David Vogt, director of the Airport Art Program. Mr. Vogt took us on a tour of a few different exhibits in a variety of mediums, from multiple artists, all curated in different ways. He explained to us that art that was more complex was placed in areas where people often waited for long periods of time. An example of this was a collection of beautiful and dynamic pieces of art from the National Parks Service, located in the T-Gate terminal. This display not only had nature photographs, but intricate pieces of art, like sculptures, woven blankets, and works of an activist nature. They were curated alongside videos of artists explaining their work and mission. We saw numerous travelers looking at the art while waiting to board their planes. On the other hand, one of the most permanent exhibits, a collection of rock sculptures from Zimbabwe, were placed in an area with a large traffic flow where not many people stopped and looked at the art. This made sense, as the massive pieces were beautiful and eye-catching, and people would be able to enjoy the artwork even as they traveled on the moving sidewalks connecting gates.

It was interesting to talk with Mr. Vogt, and discuss with him the challenges and work that involves the curation and maintenance of a large art program. We learned that Hartsfield-Jackson has one of the largest collections of art in the United States, but unlike the San Francisco airport and others, Hartsfield-Jackson is not museum accredited, and thus often has trouble acquiring artists for their rotating collections. We also learned that the program often facilitates art sales between artists and travelers interested in the art. In the atrium, a photography exhibit had price tags next to the art, and Mr. Vogt told us that artwork from elementary schools and high schools were most often sold. Mr. Vogt also told us about a program within the airport that displays the work of airport employees, from retail associates to custodians. He said they get hundreds of works from thousands of employees.

In order to present what we learned from visiting the airport and talking to employees, we knew we couldn’t display our information in a powerpoint. We instead tried our hand at non-traditional curation and created a website. This was a much more interesting way to present what we had learned, and it allowed us to directly contrast galleries and works of art while showing larger images of the airport as a whole. This also allowed us to display quotes from readings that shaped the project, such as Berger’s Ways of Seeing and Karp’s Exhibiting Cultures: the Poetics and Politics of Museum Display in direct contrast with images, allowing for further understanding into the quotes we used and why we used them.

Creating the website also helped me reflect on the project because I had to return to the very beginning of our process to create the website. I had to sort through the many pictures I took and had to choose what was not only informative to the viewer, but aesthetically pleasing. Ultimately, this project was eye-opening. Not only did I learn about curation, but I also saw Atlanta and its culture in a way I had never seen it– through the airport. After finding and researching this not-so-hidden gem of Atlanta, I will never be able to fly into or out of Atlanta without giving a mini-tour of the artwork and describing all I have learned about its curation and importance. Now I will enjoy going to the airport even more than I did as a kid, and I’m thankful for that.

Ma grande famille

Zoe Katz — Sun, 25 Mar 2018 20:21:52 +0000

Global Learning at Agnes Scott means learning a new language. I’ve been taking French for six years now! Here’s an essay I wrote for French 202.

Ma grande famille

J’ai une grande famille. En plus de ma mère et mon père, j’ai deux sœurs, deux frères, deux nièces, un neveu, et deux chiens! Décembre Dernière, toute ma famille a visité pour la fête des Lumières, Hanoucca! C’était bon de visite avec ma famille.

Pour Hanoucca, mon frère, Douglas, a voyagé de New York avec ma nièce, Ashley, et mon neveu, JJ. Je n’ai visité pas Douglas depuis longtemps. Il est plus âgé que moi. J’ai 21 ans, mais Douglas a 34 ans. Nous avons visité plus souvent avant j’ai quitter New York. Ma nièce, Ashley, a treize ans. Elle est très intelligente et elle aime écrit. Mon neveu, JJ, a sept ans. Il est un petit comédien!

Ma sœur, Bethany, visite de la Virginie, avec son mari, Tommy, et son bébé! J’aime visiter avec ma sœur parce que son bébé, Ava, a un an et elle est trop mignonne! Elle est très amusante à regarder. Ava apprendre à parler et à marcher. Elle a de grands yeux bleus et des cheveux blonde. J’aime visiter avec Bethany, Tommy, et Ava beaucoup. Ava me rend très heureuse.

Mon frère, Harrison, a 24 ans. Il vit en Atlanta avec son chien, Max. Il a conduit d’Atlanta pour Hanoucca. Harrison travaille avec les ordinateurs, et il est très riche. Je l’aime, mais il me met en colère. Toutefois, il me fait rire aussi.

Ma petite sœur, Frances, a quatorze ans. Elle habite avec mes parents. Elle est une gymnaste. Dans son école, elle est très populaire. Elle a beaucoup ses amies. Elle est très dramatique. Nous nous battons, mais je l’aime.

Nous sommes restés à la maison de mes parents. Je vis avec mes parents quand je ne suis pas à l’école. Mes parents, Alan et Laura, sont très intelligents. Alan a son MBA. Laura a sa MBA aussi. Alan travaille pour l’institut de technologie de Géorgie, et Laura travaille pour l’université de Géorgie. Ils vivent à Athènes, en Géorgie.

Mon père, Alan, est juif, et ma mère, Laura, est catholique. Nous célébrons Noël et Hanoucca. J’aime quand nous sommes tous ensemble. Parfois, nous célébrons Hanoucca ensemble, et parfois nous célébrons Noël ensemble. Quand nous sommes ensemble, nous sommes bruyants et fous. Nous sommes comme un cirque! Ma famille m’énerve de temps en temps, mais je les aime!

POLAND: PART 1

Zoe Katz — Wed, 06 Sep 2017 15:22:41 +0000

On Mother’s Day, I boarded a Delta Airbus at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport and flew across the Atlantic for the very first time.

It was around 4 in the afternoon when I left, and 8 am when I arrived the next morning in Charles de Gaulle. It was my first time entering a time zone more than one hour ahead or behind Eastern Standard Time, and I was disoriented and exhausted, even though I slept fairly well on the plane.

Still, it was my first time in Europe, and even though I was only in France for a two-hour layover, I was eager to spend my time wisely. I practiced my French, ordered a massive cafe latte and a pain au chocolat. Then, our group, about 20 in total, boarded an AirFrance flight to Warsaw. I spent the flight looking out over the countryside of Europe, staring at the beautiful, rolling fields. I was surprised by how much Europe looked like a flight over North Carolina or Georgia.

Then, I fell asleep.

When I arrived, I was in Warsaw, the capital of Poland. The first thought I had was: wow, Polish makes no sense phonetically or grammatically. Then, I thought– holy cow, I’m in Poland. I had this thought frequently throughout the trip.

We didn’t go through customs as we were leaving the airport, which annoyed me because, now, I don’t have a stamp from Poland in my Passport.

We arrived at our hotel, the Campanile Warsaw, which was only a short tram ride away from the heart of downtown Warsaw. I washed up, and then promptly fell asleep again. Apparently, I am not good with Jetlag. This would have been nice to know before I traveled to Europe. After napping, our group went to dinner at a local restaurant.

Chicken Noodle Soup in Warsaw

After napping, our group went to dinner at a local restaurant. I am nearly 100% Polish. I was not aware of how apparent my Polish heritage was in my life until I sat down for dinner that first evening in Warsaw. For our appetizer, we were served a simple Chicken Noodle Soup. I took one sip and was blown away by the familiar taste on my tongue. This soup was identical to the Chicken Noodle Soup my mother makes for me when I’m sick– the same spices, the same broth, the same noodles. I felt at home and homesick at the same time.

I don’t remember much about that first dinner, except for watching Polish folk dancing and listening to Polish folk music. I was overwhelmed with how much I was reminded of my family’s traditions, especially my late grandfather, who passed away this past October. He taught me how to Polka. That night, I had tears in my eyes, thinking of him. His mother immigrated from Poland, and he never had the chance to go back.

Later that evening, I set out with two other girls in my group to find Sim cards, and we ended up at the massive Galeria Mokotów. This mall is a massive four story shopping center full of luxury brands like Lacoste, United Colors of Benetton, Adidas, Chanel, and more. I was in awe, as I had never been in a mall that nice, not even the Lennox mall in Buckhead.

I was in awe of the beauty of Warsaw. It reminded me of Pittsburgh or another industrial city that’s been given new life by its passionate citizens. Warsaw has risen from the ashes, literally, but that’s a story for another day.

In front of the Palace of Culture and Science, a gift to Warsaw from Stalin.