Material World
You must participate in this extra credit opportunity by the date stated on the Calendar of Activities on the Syllabus.
First, access the photos under this link:
https://menzelphoto.photoshelter.com/gallery/Material-World-Family-Portraits/G0000Ip09fSBViW8/C0000d0DI3dBy4mQ [Links to an external site.]
CLICK ON THE PHOTOS TO ENLARGE THEM.
In the early 1990s, after hearing a story about Madonna’s “Material Girl” promotion, photo journalist Peter Menzel decided that the world needed a reality check. After traveling the world for nearly a quarter century taking photographs and writing articles of dramatic events for newspapers and magazines, Menzel wanted to bring to light the everyday lives of average people around the world. What better way to contrast the materialistic fantasy of American pop-culture than to find statistically average families, and show what real life is like through their material possessions? Some of the results of Menzel’s project can also be found on these links:
http://menzelphoto.com/galleries/material-world/ [Links to an external site.]
https://menzelphoto.photoshelter.com/gallery/Material-World-Family-Portraits/G0000Ip09fSBViW8/C0000d0DI3dBy4mQ [Links to an external site.]
https://www.brainpickings.org/2011/04/08/material-world-peter-menzel/ [Links to an external site.]
If the links above are not active, then Google for active links using these key words: “Peter Menzel Material World – A Global Family Portrait”. You should see 12 families around the world in front of their dwellings with all [or nearly all] of their possessions. Demographers at the United Nations and World Bank helped determine the criteria for average families according to location [urban, rural, suburban, small town, or village], type of dwelling, family size, annual income, occupation, and religion. In this activity you will explore the material world by examining different locations around the world and consider how differences in economic growth have resulted in drastically different standards of living.
Then answer these questions: What did you learn from considering the photos in Material World: A Global Family Portrait? Have differences in economic growth created disparities in the standard of living around the world? How important is economic growth?
In order to receive full credit for this discussion, you need to post a substantive answer of at least 50 words that explains what you learned from the photos and how these photos can be used to illustrate the importance of economic growth.
Please change the title of your response to reflect the main idea in the sentences that you post.
