Out of the Blocks - and Out of the Box...

Congrats on your first posts, CLAMmers! You have gotten off to a good start - and some of our bloggers  are discovering an entirely new way to communicate, compose, and connect.

Check the links in the navigation bar to the right to see the new blogs of our Spring 2010 CLAMmers. CLAMmers should add a similar "My Blogs" gadget to link to this (CLAM Soup) and to the blogs of fellow CLAMmers.

Some good photos posted already - I'm looking forward to seeing more photos along with your posts. I do remind you of that great photo-posting tip in the last blog - some of you missed it! (http://clammysoup.blogspot.com/2010/01/new-kids-in-soup.html)

So, add those links, get into the new material, keep taking photos, shooting video, and spend time learning about your software and hardware - the pens and pencils of digital composition!

Looking out My Back Door - Sunrise in Pickens County  (R. Nichols)

New Kids in the Soup!

Welcome to our new CAAH 201 (CLAM) students -  - Spring 2010 is here! Soon, new blogs will be listed in the column at the right and a new crop of bloggers will become part of a growing network of Clemson students who are critically engaging cultures in interesting, inspiring and provocative ways!

I will be posting some general comments here each week - answering questions, sharing tips, and highlighting some of the work from our CLAM students' blogs. Check back often, and, as the new blogs appear in the column at teh right, explore some of the work our CLAMmers are doing across the globe. (For now, you can still enjoy the ground-breaking work from our pilot CLAMmers.)

So... FIRST TIP! Students, you will be posting digital photos often to your blog, so this first tip is one you will put to use early and often. Don't post more picture than you need! A size of 800 x 600 with a resolution of 72 dpi is plenty! (OK - 96 dpi if you got a Mac.) Let Tommy's Joynt help explain...

I've posted two pics below of a cool restaurant in San Francisco. Do you notice any difference?

The first one is untouched exactly as it was downloaded from my iPhone. Go ahead, click it. HUGE Picture! Over a 1.2 MEG!*

The second one is the same photo - but reduced to 800x600 in size with a resolution of 72 dpi. perfect size for web viewing and only a fraction of the size - only 140k! (and a fraction of the upload/download time!)

Of course, I saved the smaller pic under a new name so I could keep the higher res photo for later use. This tip will save you lots of time in posting, so practice it early and often. (Deeper teaching on this subject will come later in the course - but this tip you need now!) You can do this in any photo editing program. I use PhotoShop on my lab computer, PaintShopPro on my home computer and GIMP on my laptop.

Don't have a digital image editing software? GIMP is free! Get a copy here now: http://www.gimp.org/

Welcome to the blogosphere, new CLAMmers! I'm looking forward to seeing your work on these blogs.


*(1.2M uploaded - conerted to 285k by blogger - still twice as long to download, and ten times as long to upload.)

CLAM Soup for the People!

The work of students in the pilot course version of CLAM (CAAH 201) is being proliferated to the world via a couple more digital avenues I’d like you to see:

• YouTube – via the ClemsonOIA channel. (http://www.youtube.com/user/ClemsonOIA)
• Facebook – via the Clemson University Study Abroad group (http://www.facebook.com/facebook?ref=pf#/group.php?gid=120226240703&ref=ts)

 Check out theses sites. Post comments. Ask questions. Enjoy!

Around the World in 80 jpgs, mpgs, avis, etc.

Most students from the pilot program of Cultural Literacies Across Media have posted their final digital projects (or links to them) on their blogs. (Check out the links to students' blogs at the right of this frame.) The remaining projects will be available soon, as well.

CLAM students will display their work via "Digital Posters" at the Study Abroad Welcoome Back Reception on September 22 in the Flour Daniel Atrium on the campus of Clemson University. (See invitation here.) Several students will be on-hand to talk about their photography, videography, digital editing and other aspects of their cultural engagement.

Students are also joining the Facebook Group "Clemson University Study Abroad" to discuss their experiences. Plans are in the works for a related YouTube Channel as well. I encourage you to view the students' projects in some of these media (blogs, YouTube, Facebook, at the Study Abroad Reception, etc.) and learn more about their experience in the Study Abroad Program and in Cultural Literacies Across Media.

(image courtesy of AarinFreePhoto.com)

Whirlwind!

The term is ending and I am amazed at the richness of the experiences shared by our Clemson CLAM students! My blog has been silent for some long periods as I worked on our home campus with other studies, but the blogs of our students has been constantly buzzing and humming with evidence of their cultural engagements.
If it has been a while since you checked their blogs, you should do so again to catch up on the experiences. Students are completing their comprehensive digital projects for the course and will be sharing them with our academic community. On this blog, I will announce where these projects will be displayed and provide links to the multimedia work of our students.

Arches All Over the World

Congrats, CLAMers - everyone made it to their respective fields!

I have enjoyed reading your blogs, viewing your pics, and seeing your engagement with the cultures of your host countries. (My last couple of attempts to respond were foiled by the "word verification" being down. - Also, hey Melissa, your blog seemed to disappear. What's the deal?)

So... here is your first Group Blog Challenge: McDonaldization!

• Go to Mcdonalds.com and visit the McDonald’s USA Site, as well as the site of your host country.
• Visit, if possible, a McDonald's in your host country.
• Compare and Contrast – what things are similar? What things are different? What similarities surprise you? What differences surprise you?

Blog about these things. Feel free to post photos and graphics, too. Read the blogs of your fellow CLAMers and respond. This should make for a very interesting collection of observations!

Feel free to email me with questions...

Almost In Full Swing!

Looks like the clam blogs are picking up steam - and I expect momentum to increase geometrically!

CLAM Students: Read the blogs - and feel free to comment liberally with your observations. Share your comparable (and incomparable) experiences with your fellow travelers! And don't forget to fill us all in on your brilliant observations of culture in media - and media in culture!