Scenario:You work for Gauze and Effect, a local humanitarian organization that provides emergency medical care to people in crisis. Two years ago, your friend Dr. Lee asked you to join Gauze and Effect as the organization’s first part-time employee.

Recently, the organization received a large donation from a private donor. It also received a new government grant. These funds will allow the organization to expand its reach nationally. To prepare the company to respond to more natural disasters throughout the country, you will need to add more people to the administrative staff. And to accommodate the larger staff, you’ll be moving to a new, larger workspace.

Dr. Lee wants a workspace that fosters creative collaboration and encourages social connections. Since your employees will be spending the majority of their daylight hours in the space, he wants them to be involved in the design process. DIRECTIONS:

Article for The Gauzette

Angie O’Gram, the editor of The Gauzette, Gauze and Effect’s monthly e-newsletter, has approached you about writing an article. She’d like you to write about the workspace design initiative. Your article will help explain the initiative to the organization’s network of volunteers.

Angie has given you a list of topics and questions that she would like you to discuss in the article. Using the resources about workspace designs (which is also linked in the What to Submit section), answer these questions:

• Compare and contrast cultural and historic definitions of work and workspace using examples: 
  • How do different cultures define work and workspaces? What are some examples?
  • How have definitions of work and workspaces changed over time?
  • How do different groups in a culture define work and workspace?
• Explain how other definitions of workplaces compare to the culture of your current or former employer. Also consider how these definitions compare to the broader societal culture. Share some examples: 
  • How does your workspace represent the culture of your current or previous employer?
  • How does the culture of your current or former employer relate to the larger societal culture? 
    • How do that employer’s values compare to the values of your society and culture?
• Describe the relationship between your culture and your ideas about work and workers: 
  • How does your societal culture fit with your self-concept as a worker? Explain your answer.
• Explain how studying the humanities can help you understand artistic merit: 
  • How has learning about the humanities changed the way you notice artistic merit? How has it impacted what you see in artifacts and your surrounding environment?