Proposal

Women's Roles through Time

Who: 8 women in college and 8 elderly women from independent living at Meadowlark.

What: We will connect 16 women, 8 residents at Meadowlark and 8 college students, to explore generational differences. We will gather information through conversational storytelling and differences in cuisine.

Where: The first meeting will be in the bar and lounge area at Meadowlark so they can interact in pairs. The second meeting will be dependent on the participants and where they choose to engage.

When: Participants will meet November 18^th for conversation over coffee. They will cook together the week after Thanksgiving.

Why: We are curious about how the role of woman has changed and what we can learn from one another.  Do women play a larger role in the work force outside the home? What impact does this have on family life? Does cooking continue to be a stereotypical role of women and something generations have in common? What are the differences in womens lives between generations? What are the commonalities that continue today?

Timeline of Events

Tuesday, November 19^th – Learning Circle, Preliminary interviews

12:30 Initial Interviews with women in college, Great Room Library
3:00 Living Room at Meadowlark

·         Interviews:

o   What was the role of women in your generation?

o   What role do you think women play in our culture today?

o   Do you think those changes are positive? Are we moving in a good direction?

o   How does that change family life?

o   What are roles are common to both generations?

·         Tell them to bring an interesting object that displays their generations’ visual culture to the next meeting as a conversation starter.

Thursday, November 21^st – Find your partner and have conversation over coffee

12:30-1:30 Manhattan Room at Meadowlark

Be there at noon to set up

·         Mixer game to allow people to find a partner, led by Steph.

·         I will photograph their visually interesting objects.

·         Once they have a partner, they will drink out of pairs of handmade mugs, symbolically connecting them.

·         They can start by talking about the visual culture of their generation and the object they brought, but continue talking about whatever they would like.

·         Set up a date to cook together.

Between November 21^st and December 10^th – Meet to cook together

·         College women will bring digital cameras to document their interactions and the cooking process. Take pictures of the space, patterns, anything visually interesting. I will be creating serving dishes inspired by your interactions and combining visual cultures of both generations.

·         Write down the recipe.

·         Learn about each other through collaborative cooking and sharing a meal together!

Tuesday, December 10^th – Final interviews and collect documentation of cooking

1:00-3:00 Living Room at Meadowlark

·         4 pairs will be interviewed together; 4 pairs separately.

·         Interview Questions:

o   What did you not expect?