Undergraduate students in Candace Stout’s Introduction to Visual Culture GEC course took part in a semester-long assignment that used iPhone photos and narrative writing. Titled, “OSU Post-its: Photo Sketches of My College Experience,” the project prompted students to become more willing, diligent, sensitive observers of their college life, explained Stout, professor in Arts Administration, Education and Policy.

“As photographers and writers, they were asked to reflect on those sights/sites that in some significant way describe, embody, and capture the meaning in people, places, and events—those detailed moments that take place as they experienced campus life during their autumn semester,” she said. The project culminated in a December exhibition at the Hale Center of over 250 student photos accompanied by narrative essays encapsulating each student’s perspectives on the 14-week assignment.

In one student’s words, “Years from now when I reflect on my college years, these images will have extra meaning because of this project in our visual culture class.”

Another said, “The project allowed me, forced me, to find beauty in the moments that were pivotal and should be cherished in my college experience.”

Stout said the OSU Post-it assignment has yielded some of the most significant student work she has encountered in her 11 years at Ohio State. In one student’s assessment, “The OSU Post-it project I have completed for this class has given me a new perspective on the way I view my life and my surroundings. The project has been my favorite of all that I have done while at Ohio State. I have been here for three years and I have many people, places and experiences that I will remember for the rest of my life. To have them all summed up into a project and presentation like this one means a great deal to me.”

*Photo Credit: Brian Kellett: Doctoral Student in Arts Administration, Education and Policy