Constructing the Good Life Assignment: Sacred Spaces

This exercise has five steps.

Step IWatch the multimedia lecture by Dr. Peggy Carr, on Constructing the Good Life. The lecture is on Sakai, in the readings and lessons. It is titled “Carr-Plaza of the Americas”.

Step II Choose a place that you consider “sacred.” It must be sacred to other people aswell as yourself.

Spaces do not have to be churches or temples or mosques to be considered sacred. A sacred space is one that brings meaning to people’s lives. Physically, a sacred space might be any public space, such as a park, a yard, a spot in a forest, on a bluff, in a famous plaza, a school courtyard, a space between buildings, even an empty lot. You must have physically been there yourself.

A sacred space might be an urban space, like the Mall in Washington DC, or it might be a natural space, such as a particular mountain peak that climbers come to visit from all over the world. It could official and organized, or informal and haphazard.

An historic event may have happened there. It could be a quiet place of reflection, or it could be a busy place. It is a place that you and others strongly value. No monetary value can be put on the feeling it gives you.

The sacred space that you choose must fulfill these conditions:

1. It must be a physical place that you have actually visited. 2. Other people consider the space to be sacred (not only you). 3. The space must be accessible to pedestrians. 4. The space cannot be inside a building, although it could be enclosed on

the sides.

Step IIIMake a graphic image of the sacred space. You can do this in one of two ways:

Way 1: Digital ImageUse Google Earth or the satellite function in Google Maps (maps.google.com), to capture a bird’s-eye view image of an outdoor space that you consider to be sacred.  You can then drag/import the image into Powerpoint and use the “draw” function to draw lines and symbols to indicate the elements of the space, or you can print out the image and draw on it with pencils or pens, stickers, etc. The printed image should be no larger than standard 8.5x11 size paper. Put your name on the back of the image.

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Way 2: Hand-Drawn ImageUsing a piece of paper, cardboard, cloth, or some other suitable surface no larger than 8.5x11, draw and color a bird’s-eye view image of the sacred space. Put your name on the back of the image.

Step IVAnalyze the image of the sacred space in the following manner:

1. On your image of the sacred space, draw a line indicating the outside boundary of the area that feels sacred to you.

2. Within the boundary, draw circles or boxes to indicate the parts of the space that are used by people. For example, people might sit in one place, walk in another, give public speeches in another, etc. Indicate on the image how the areas are used (“sitting,” “eating” etc.)

3. Using whatever symbols you wish, indicate the physical elements that contribute to the feeling of the space. For example, you might note things like, “old oak tree,” “Lincoln Memorial,” “big hill,” etc. etc.

4. Submit the analyzed image in one of two ways:

Way 1: Powerpoint Image

Before your section meets, upload the Powerpoint image in Assignments of Sakai. Label it yourlastname_constructing_image

Way 2: Printed/Hand-Drawn Image

Hand in the analyzed image to your TA at the beginning of your discussion section meeting for the week.

Step VWrite one paragraph explaining what you think makes the space sacred, for you and for others. Describe briefly how the space is used and submit the paragraph in one of two ways: 

Way 1: Online

Before your section meets, upload your paragraph as a word document in Assignments of Sakai. Label it your lastname_constructing_paragraph

Way 2: In Section

Hand in the paragraph to your TA at the beginning of your discussion section meeting for the week.

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