Most children do not start talking until the age of one. By…

Most children do not start talking until the age of one. By the age of three, they understand most rules of sentence construction. The average six-year-old, native English speaker has a vocabulary of about 13,000 words. These skills are impressive, considering that most children at that age are not adept at activities such as driving, cooking, or fine motor coordination. From this, we can surmise that language acquisition is:

Think of an artwork or visual object you have seen from outs…

Think of an artwork or visual object you have seen from outside the Western art tradition that you did not fully understand at the time. Describe what you noticed visually and emotionally, then reflect on what this experience suggests about the limits of viewing art without cultural context—and what responsibilities viewers may have when encountering non-Western art.

Describe your first meaningful encounter with an artwork, im…

Describe your first meaningful encounter with an artwork, image, object, or architectural space from a culture different from your own (this may have occurred in a museum, classroom, book, online, religious or community space, or while traveling). Explain your initial reaction, then reflect on how your cultural background, assumptions, or expectations may have shaped that response.