Q Small enough to slip in a backpack? Our appreciation of art can help in its preservation, but can also be destructive. The opening of prehistoric caves has disrupted the environmental balance that has preserved the cave paintings. Human conflict and art theft, such as that of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, has caused illicit art trafficking on an enormous scale. The purpose of this essay activity is to highlight problems of art preservation and historic inquiry in the face of human interference. Prior to beginning this activity, you should do the following: Complete the text reading for this Module, and through EC Virtual Library, or the New York Times website, locate and read ONE of the following: • John Darnton. “The Splendid Cave at Altamira Suffers from its Popularity (Links to an external site.).” New York Times, 9/13/83. • Edmund L. Andrews. “After the War: Culture; Global Network Speeds Plunder of Iraqi Antiquities. (Links to an external site.)” New York Times, 5/28/03. • David Johnston. “Picking Up the Stolen Pieces of Iraq’s Cultural Heritage (Links to an external site.).” New York Times, 2/14/05. After your readings, compose a short essay (two pages of double-spaced text) that synopsizes the article you have read and highlights the issues of preservation that are presented. Include your own thoughts on the issues. In your comments, you may want to consider the following: • How does our love of art and history hinder preservation, whether intentional or not? • How can our enjoyment of art and history destroy evidence of historic context for an artwork? • What has been done to counteract human interference? Is it enough? Essay Writing Requirements: 1. Double-space 2. Two pages or 500+ words 3. Follow the APA style. 4. Proofread: Be sure to check your work and correct any spelling or grammatical errors before you post it. 5. Submit the essay to the assignment dropbox. 6. Grammar assistance is available using the Online Writing Lab (Links to an external site.) (OWL). 7. Submit the paper by the due date. Compose your work in a .doc or .docx file type using a word processor (such as Microsoft Word, etc.) and save it frequently to your computer. For those assignments that are not written essays and require uploading images or PowerPoint slides, please follow uploading guidelines provided by your instructor. Check your work and correct any spelling or grammatical errors. When you are ready to submit your work, click “Upload Submission.” Enter the submission title and then click on “Select a file to upload.” Browse your computer, and select your file. Click “Open” and verify the correct file name has appeared next to Submission File. Click on “Continue.” Confirm submission is correct and then click on “Accept Submission & Save.” Turnitin® This course has Turnitin® fully integrated into the course dropbox. This means that you should only submit your assignments to the dropbox below. Please do not submit your assignment directly to Turnitin.com. Once submitted, your assignment will be evaluated by Turnitin® automatically. You will be able to view an Originality Report within minutes of your first submission that will show how much of your work has been identified as similar to other sources such as websites, textbooks, or other student papers. Use your Originality Report as a learning tool to identify areas of your assignment that you may not have cited appropriately. You may resubmit your assignment through this dropbox as many times as you need to check to see if you have made improvements, until the due date of the assignment. However, once you have made your first submission, you will need to wait 24 hours after each subsequent submission to receive a new Originality Report. Plan accordingly as you draft your assignment. Once the due date has passed, your assignment submission will be considered final. Evaluation This assignment will be graded using the Written Assignment Grading Rubric located on the Rubrics page within the Start Here section of the course. Please review the rubric prior to beginning your work so that you ensure your submission meets the criteria in place for this assignment. This assignment is worth 30% of your final course grade.