Report on the Diego Rivera Project

List of Activities

August 1998

Following a suggestion by Teresa Stojkov (Oberlin), Nelson de Jesus (Oberlin) contacted Eduardo Jaramillo (Denison) to discuss the possibility of coordinating an Ohio5 event. A collaborative study of Diego Rivera's work which will culminate in a visit to the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Museum was programming an exhibit of Rivera's works for the Spring of 1999.

Eduardo Jaramillo contacted the Museum. They had recently installed a two-way video-conferencing system similar to the facilities planned for Kenyon College and Denison University.

September 1998

Denison professors Bernardita Llanos, Monica Ayala, and Eduardo Jaramillo set up a team to coordinate the activities. The main activities were

• Individual Study [one semester length]
• Assignment for a class or for an Individual study on a related subject
• Study of Rivera's works in the following Denison courses: Spanish 220, Spanish 230, Spanish 335
• Visit to the museum

October 1998

Professor Ayala links her page to a number of web sites dedicated to Rivera.

November 1998

Professor Llanos coordinates different activities with the Museum. They include a participation in a symposium dedicated toRivera's works and a series of video-conferences.

January 1999

The team presents a grant proposal to the Kenyon-Denison Mellon Project to get support for the cost of four video-conferences: two will be delivered by the Museum curators, and two by Denison and Kenyon professors.

February 1999

Denison and Oberlin professors attend a symposium at the Cleveland Museum of Art on Diego Rivera.

March 1999

March 12

Denison Professor Kim Masteller (Art), lecture on "Diego Rivera and Art History"

March 23

Cleveland Museum of Art lecture on "Lithographs by Diego Rivera" (Video-conference for Denison students, taped for Kenyon students) (note: technical limitations of the Museum made impossible to deliver the conferences to Kenyon and Denison simultaneously)

March 29

Kenyon Professor Joe Klesner, lecture on "Diego Rivera and the Mexican Revolution" (Video-conference for Denison students)

March 30

Denison Professor Kim Masteller (Art), presentation on "Diego Rivera and Art History" (Video-conference for Kenyon students)

Cleveland Museum of Art lecture on "Diego Rivera" (Video-conference for Denison students)

April 1999

April 2

Approx. 70 Kenyon and Denison students visit the museum. They are accompanied by Kenyon professors Joe Klesner, Clara Román-Odio, and Linda Metzler, and by Denison professors Ayala, Llanos, and Jaramillo. Oberlin Professor Steve Volk (History) delivers a lecture on "Rewriting the Mexican Nation. Kahlo and Rivera in the Context of the Mexican Revolution."

Assessment

• Distant collaboration works very well when there is an ex-change of expertise. The lectures delivered by professors Masteller (Art, Denison), Klesner (Political Sciences, Kenyon), and Volk (History, Oberlin) were the highlights of the project.

• It is important to keep a constant flow of information among the parties involved. E-mail is not the best way to do this. A web page for the project could have been more appropriate.

• Student feedback was very positive. They profited greatly from the lectures delivered by the guest speakers (faculty and museum curators).

• The learning experience was enriched by the fact that it took different formats, and all of them complemented each other. These formats were: class activities, video-conferences, lecture, and the field trip.

• The video-conference equipment worked very well. We learned the following about using it:
  • At least at the beginning, while we learn how to operate the equipment, it is important to have technical assistant at all times.

  • In order to increase the interactivity, it is a good idea for the students to have an abstract of the lecture before-hand. It also helps if the speaker has a list of the students participating in the video-conference.

  • The teacher must accompany the students and serve as a facilitator in the video-conference

  • We experienced some audio problems. Also, we experienced a small problem of ergonomics: when showing slides, it was difficult to see the details on the TV monitors. Some students had to watch them in the back monitor. it may be advisable to get a larger screen if the quality is not affected by the enlargement of the image.