What's going on with VAOJ?

Yes, dear readers, nearly a month went by with no posts and now a manic slew of posts has been uploaded in a seemingly haphazard order with seemingly strange subject matter (Jimi Hendrix's grave?) for your reading/viewing pleasure. Much of the last month was spent traveling. One highlight was my participation in the 2009 Summer Institute for Intercultural Communication program. Specifically I was a student in the workshop "Visual Literacy: The Meaning of Images in a Multicultural World" taught by Jack Condon and Miguel Gandert. It was an incredible experience - I learned not only how to make (take) better photographs but how to better "read" photographs as well. I hope to include what I learned in my Visual Anthropology of Japan course and in my own research. Many thanks to Jack and Miguel (three days wasn't enough to extract all the valuable information and experience these guys have - but three days was certainly enough to learn how incredibly caring and friendly they are) and all workshop participants. And kudos to the directors, teachers and volunteers who ran the Summer Institute - I have never been to such an organized event. This is a great program for anyone interested in intercultural communications.

One odd thing was that I didn't take many photos at the workshop - other than my homework. My next post will feature my second homework assignment.