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Project | 4-6 Weeks

Statues, symbols, and stories: how public spaces reflect a country's past and present

OVERVIEW

statues and symbols

Look around your community. Who gets put on a pedestal (literally)? What kinds of statues are in your town/city/region? Whose names are on public buildings, such as schools, and who is featured in public art, such as murals?

Have any of these things changed, been renamed, removed in recent years? If so, let’s find out why.

For this assignment, think about how communities decide which historical perspectives and people to honor in statutes, murals/paintings, and public spaces.

Are these symbols important? How do they connect to the present day? Who gets lifted up and who gets left out– and why does that matter?

CHOOSE A FOCUS

  1. Removed: produce a story about a public monument in your community that has been or is in the process of being removed.
    1. Example: Monumental Shift from PBS NewsHour.
  2. Changed/renamed: produce a story about something in your community (a school building, road, river/creek, etc.) that has been renamed recently.
    1. Example: Deeply Rooted: What’s in a name?
  3. Forgotten history: who is left out of public spaces and monuments? Produce a story about a historical event, a group, or individual(s) from your community that have not been historically recognized for their contributions.
    1. Example: Official UNESCO designation elevates Legacy of Africville.
  4. Advocacy: how do some artists create art to raise awareness of issues they care about?
    1. Example: See how Danish artist Thomas Dambo creates giant sculptures out of trash.

CHOOSE A FORMAT

  • Profile (2-4 min. long): A profile is the story of one person. It has voiceover (VO), b-roll, pictures, nats (natural sound), interviews of family members or peers of that one person. Here’s an example of a profile.
  • Explainer (2-4 min. long): A video explaining a concept. Often it includes a host/narrator speaking directly to the camera. The tone could be serious, funny, or informative. Here’s an example of an explainer.
  • News package (3-5 min. long): Video stories about newsworthy issues and topics. A news package has factual information, balanced reporting, research, voice overs, multiple interviews soundbites, b-roll footage. It may also include things like infographics, a reporter standup, nats (natural sound from filming b-roll). Here’s an example of a news package.
  • NAT package (2-4 min. long): A video story guided by the natural sound from interviews and the environment where you’re filming. Natural sound, commonly known as “NAT sound,” puts the viewer in the place the story was told by enhancing the scene(s) with video containing rich audio such as a musician singing at a train station, a storm approaching, or the sound of a tractor plowing the field. This kind of story would often not have a voiceover narration. Here’s an example of a nat package.

More Examples

When Should School Names Get Canceled?

Edward Colston

Wildfires at Easter Island

Vestiges of Ancient Art form, preserved by catastrophe

How to Submit

HOW TO SUBMIT

This prompt does not have an active deadline to submit to PBS NewsHour Student Reporting Labs. However, students are encouraged to publish their stories on their school/club/program website or through video/social platforms such as YouTube, Instagram or Twitter and tag Student Reporting Labs.

FACEBOOK: /STUDENTREPORTINGLABS

TWITTER: @REPORTINGLABS

INSTAGRAM: @STUDENTREPORTINGLABS

TIKTOK: @REPORTINGLABS

About This Resource

This project originated as part of PBS's Iconic America, a documentary series exploring America’s history through iconic national symbols, places, and archetypes.

It was adapted for the Global Education Toolkit, made possible with support from the Longview Foundation.

Ethics

A set of moral principles based on standards of right and wrong, usually in terms of obligations, benefits to society, fairness, or specific virtues.

Source: Markkula Center for Applied Ethics

Diversity

The condition of having or being composed of differing elements. Especially in the context of the inclusion of people of different races, cultures, etc. in a group or organization

Source: Merriam Webster

Inclusion

The act or practice of including and accommodating people who have historically been excluded (as because of their race, gender, sexuality, or ability)

Source: Merriam Webster

Proximity

Local information and events are newsworthy because they affect the people in our community and region. We care more about things that happen “close to home.”

Perception

Awareness of the elements of environment through physical sensation or intuitive cognition. A capacity for comprehension and understanding.

Source: Merriam Webster

Relevance

People are attracted to information that helps them make good decisions. If you like music, you find musician interviews relevant. If you’re looking for a job, the business news is relevant. We need to depend on relevant information that helps us make decisions.

Empathy

The term “empathy” is used to describe a wide range of experiences. A generally definition is the ability to sense other people’s emotions, coupled with the ability to imagine what someone else might be thinking or feeling. In media-making, creators can have empathy for their subjects and the audience can empathize with the characters.

News package

Video stories about newsworthy issues and topics, factual information, balanced reporting, research, voice overs, soundbites, b-roll footage, infographics, reporter standup, nats (natural sound bites).

Short documentary

Narration and/or voiceover (VO), scene reconstructions, archival footage, nats (natural sound), b-roll, images, research, lengthy interviews, soundbites.

Research

An investigation into and study of sources in order to establish facts and reach new conclusions.

Fact-check

The process of verifying the accuracy of a piece of information.

Curiosity

A desire to learn and know about something or anything.

B-roll

The supplemental footage used to visually support your A-ROLL.

Search: broll.

Historical Sources and Evidence

Historical inquiry is based on materials left from the past that can be studied and analyzed. (NCSS D2.His.9.9-12 - D2.His.13.9-12)

Determining Helpful Sources

Determine the kinds of sources that will be helpful in answering compelling and supporting questions, taking into consideration multiple points of view represented in the sources, the types of sources available, and the potential uses of the sources. (NCSS D1.5.9-12)

Global Collaborator

Students use digital tools to broaden their perspectives and enrich their learning by collaborating with others and working effectively in teams locally and globally. (ISTE)

Analyze the legal and ethical responsibilities required in the arts, audio/visual technology and communications workplace.

  • CCTC AR 4.1: Analyze the legal and ethical responsibilities required in the arts, audio/visual technology and communications workplace.

Reading - Integration of Knowledge and Ideas

  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.9-10.7: Analyze the representation of a subject or a key scene in two different artistic mediums, including what is emphasized or absent in each treatment (e.g., Auden’s “Musée des Beaux Arts” and Breughel’s Landscape with the Fall of Icarus).
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.9-10. 8 (Not applicable to literature)
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.9-10.9: Analyze how an author draws on and transforms source material in a specific work (e.g., how Shakespeare treats a theme or topic from Ovid or the Bible or how a later author draws on a play by Shakespeare).

Perspectives

Historical understanding requires recognizing this multiplicity of points of view in the past, which makes it important to seek out a range of sources on any historical question rather than simply use those that are easiest to find. It also requires recognizing that perspectives change over time, so that historical understanding requires developing a sense of empathy with people in the past whose perspectives might be very different from those of today. (NCSS D2.His.4.9-12 - D2.His.8.9-12)

Civic and Political Institutions

In order to act responsibly and effectively, citizens must understand the important institutions of their society and the principles that these institutions are intended to reflect. That requires mastery of a body of knowledge about law, politics, and government. (NCSS D2.Civ.1.9-12 - D2.Civ.6.9-12)

Describe the diversity and variety of functions within the Journalism & Broadcasting Career Pathway.

  • CCTC AR-JB 1.1: Summarize the roles of journalism and broadcasting in society today using knowledge and history of journalism and broadcasting.
  • CCTC AR-JB 1.2: Distinguish between different forms of media and their specific applications.
  • CCTC AR-JB 1.3: Explain the value of having a broad general knowledge base and how awareness of cultural, regional, and diversity issues adds to a journalism and broadcasting career.
  • CCTC AR-JB 1.4: Analyze the business and economic factors that influence programming, content, and distribution.
  • CCTC AR-JB 1.5: Demonstrate professional conduct that follows a professional code of ethics.

Speaking and Listening - Comprehension and Collaboration

  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.9-10.1: Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grades 9–10 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.9-10.2: Integrate multiple sources of information presented in diverse media or formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively, orally) evaluating the credibility and accuracy of each source.
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.9-10.3: Evaluate a speaker’s point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric, identifying any fallacious reasoning or exaggerated or distorted evidence.
Topics

Journalism

Representation

Stereotypes and Misconceptions

Race and Justice

Civics

History

Arts

Identity

Levels

Intermediate

Advanced

Materials

Post It Notes

White board, chalkboard or other visual board

Markers

Computers

Camera or Mobile Phone

Notebook

Estimated Time

4-6 Weeks