Wednesday, March 1, 2023

The nation on the Eurovision stage

Thumbnail images of the songs we've chosen to analyze. All images from eurovision.tv

Hello from Seattle!

Somehow it's already time for our final blog posts of the quarter.

This time we’ve each chosen one Eurovision performance from each of our countries and have been exploring how to analyze those. Sometimes that’s about discussing elements of the song and staging – choreo, use of props, LEDs, language choices, symbolism and metaphor in the lyrics, and so on. At other points, we might be testing out different “lenses” for interpreting these performances to see whether they help us. Those include various forms of Othering or differentiation (such as Orientalism, homonationalism, cosmopolitanism), as well as ideas around representation. We can take these pieces in so many directions!

We’ve also been asked to draw a comparison between the performance and the national identity we discussed in our last blog post to see whether they’re aligned, misaligned, or utterly befuddling.

And like last time, we’re referencing things in APA as best we can, so you can just happily skip them if all those parentheses get in the way of the flow.

As ever, though, we’re wondering what are we missing? Do you have background info, ideas, or resources we can draw on for a revision (with a very short turnaround time)? Constructive feedback is always welcome. Revisions are due on 9 March, Seattle time, so any ideas before then would be super useful.

Here are the links to our blogs. (Some are running a little late, so will be linked once they’re ready.)

Friday, February 3, 2023

National identity in Eurovisionland

We're back!

In our first written blog posts, we're looking at what makes up the national identity of the 18 Eurovision countries we've chosen to investigate.

We've been asked to explain what "national identity" means, then use evidence from our research to identify key aspects of our country’s national identity.

Sometimes national identity is more about what a country is NOT, so we'll discuss whether Othering generates or maintains a national sense of self.

We've been asked to use in-text citations as well as references using the APA system. We suggest you skip over them while reading - unless you're excited to learn more!

What are we missing? What good sources can you recommend? Your feedback is appreciated, so please leave your constructive comments at the end of our posts. For this first written paper, we have the option of revising the text based on feedback (by February 16, Seattle time), so your thoughts are especially welcome!

Below are links to our blog sites. We'll be updating them regularly as more of our papers appear online:

Wednesday, February 1, 2023

Three-minute nation: A short introduction to Eurovision countries

Map of Europe showing the countries that students are introducing here

Hello again from Seattle.

We're posting this slightly later than planned – thanks for your patience!

To help Eurovision-curious readers get their bearings, we’ve each made a three-minute "narrated briefing" to introduce you to the countries we’ve chosen to examine.

How much can we cover in the length of time it takes for a Eurovision song? Find out here!

As ever, your positive and insightful feedback is welcome!

Tuesday, January 10, 2023

WINTER/HIVER 2023 – WELCOME TO/BIENVENUE À “THREE-MINUTE EUROPE”

Welcome to our Winter 2023 edition!

This year, 19 intrepid Seattle University students will be exploring the nooks and crannies of the Eurovision Song Contest to see what gems they can find. They’re studying for degrees in subjects all across the university – nursing, engineering, business, social sciences, interdisciplinary fields – and are mostly in their first year of study.

For the first time since 2020, we’re starting Winter Quarter back in person, and the enthusiasm is palpable. At the same time, we’re also very conscious that we’re exploring the world of Eurovision when one of its star participants of the last 20 years – Ukraine – has been invaded by Russia and continues to defend its territory, people, and culture.

The students are all taking this first-year humanities inquiry seminar as part of Seattle U’s Core Curriculum – a general education program that provides all undergraduates a taste of different fields of inquiry.

For the ten weeks of the course, each student will explore a different country participating in the Eurovision Song Contest over the last ten or so years. This year those countries are in central, eastern, and southeastern participants in the contest.

Students will be posting their assignments as individual country blogs, each of which will be linked from this central site.

A public blog format is the chance for students to have a real audience. We would love it if any of you who are either Eurovision fans or are just Eurovision-curious would check out the students’ work and offer kind and constructive feedback. Students have the opportunity to revise two written blog posts, so your feedback could really help them expand their knowledge and understanding, as well as honing their skills as communicators.

This year, students have chosen following countries to study, organized into five peer groups that will provide each other feedback and support. (We'll be adding URLs to their sites as soon as they're available.)

EAST

ARM Armenia | AZE Azerbaijan | GEO Georgia | UKR Ukraine

EAST-CENTRAL

BGR Bulgaria | CZE Czechia | ROU Romania

NORTH

EST Estonia | POL Poland | LTU Lithuania | LVA Latvia

SOUTH

ALB Albania | CYP Cyprus | ISR Israel | MLT Malta

SOUTH-CENTRAL

MNE Montenegro | MKD North Macedonia | SRB Serbia | SLV Slovenia

We look forward to your ideas, suggestions, links, and above all, encouragement. And if you have any thoughts or questions about this project and course as a whole, please drop us a line below in the comments.