Blogging Assignment Feedback from Professor: Kenzie, this is an interesting blog, and like Carey I like how you opted for frequent, short updates. You raised some good questions about the Street Art Museum's relationship(s) to its surrounding community, and I think the problem you highlight is one that's going to be endemic to any kind of creative work that relies on a single person's work and vision--sometimes it's going to be at odds with other people's, and the process of negotiating those differences can be an important driver for innovation and creativity. There are lots of keen cultural observations scattered throughout, frequently framed in terms of the differences you note between US and Dutch society. That doesn't always work--while you're right to note that the Dutch approach the question of tolerance towards the LBTQ community differently than the way Americans do, it arguably speaks to the degree to which sexual orientation is a non-issue to mainstream Dutch society, in much the same way as most Americans don't really worry about theological differences between mainstream Protestant Christian denominations.
That aside, one of the things I really enjoyed and took away from my reading was the day-to-day details of your life with and on the program. While your team had some challenges, I think you managed to get a lot out of the presentation process, and while the speakers and site visits didn't have a uniform technological focus, you took from them (and from our classes) the things you needed to make sense of the material in the context of your life and education, and you did a great job integrating reportage, reflection, and analysis in your writing. Fine work!
Final Reflection Feedback from Professor: Kenzie, this is a wonderful reflection piece. As someone who's spent a lot of time traveling internationally (particularly in the Netherlands), it's easy for me to forget just how big a deal it was the first time I flew to Europe, and I was a grizzled 35-year-old when I did that. This puts your experiences in an interesting perspective, and I'm really impressed not just with what you learned academically in the course of the program, but how you feel you grew, and as I've said before, you and your colleagues handled a challenging group experience with maturity and compassion. As much as you feel you learned and benefitted from the program, I feel I (and Carey and Rose) benefitted more. Thank you!