This week Our Unlearning Hour met at the Thompson Library for 30 minutes in order to allow participants to attend “The Americas before 1620: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Indigenous Cultures, Colonialism and Slavery” Symposium.
Alanna Radlo Dzur, our K’acha Willaykuna GRA in 2019, delivered a talk on Imagining the Marietta Earthworks.
This week our conversation turned to “Cultures of Improvisation” as we reflected on Dr. Subhendu Ghosh’s (Univ. of Delhi) visit to Ohio State, his classroom interventions and participation in The Unlearning Hour last week. As we compared classical and folk music approaches to participation, learning and performance,
Juan Zevallos commented on the “willingness of Andean musicians to jump in” and also noted that some Andean musical pieces can last up to an hour. Michelle Wibbelsman reflected on the significance of this timing and informal structure for players to achieve a sense of “flow” as a group (Turino) and commented on challenges along these lines in the Andean Music Ensemble and the alternative pedagogies she uses to draw students into Andean cultural dispositions of “jumping in” in participatory fashion. https://www.amazon.com/Music- Social-Life-Participation-Ethnomusicology/dp/0226816982/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?keywords=thomas+turino+flow&qid=1582644658&sr=8-1-fkmr0 https://www.amazon.com/Music-Andes-Experiencing-Expressing- Culture/dp/0195306740/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=thomas+turino+andes&qid=1582644610&sr=8-1
Lexi Breitenstine, one our stellar undergraduates, joined the conversation this week and contributed a reflection on shyness or reluctance among students to explore beyond their comfort zones, mentioning institutional practices and expectations (like grades, more structured learning in certain fields, timing of classes and presentations) that sometimes inhibit our “willingness to jump in” or venture beyond our field. Juan Zevallos described his experiences at Temple University with minority students who were often more expressive and vocal about their opinions. Along with Ann Hidalgo we also discussed cultural notions/expectations of leadership and how this cultural ideal can at the same time potentially dampen the initiative of a group.
In other updates and news, the
Knowledge Equity and Legacy Preservation Working Group spearheaded by Pamela
Espinosa de los Monteros and Eric Johnson is off to a great start with
attendance of 8-10 participants for its first session. Reading for the group includes
Caroline Shipley’s article titled: “This is not translation of the Accompanying
Text in Quechua” in the latest ¿Qué Pasa,
Ohio State? Issue
https://issuu.com/quepasa_osu/docs/fall2019issue_issuu/22. This WG along with other K’acha Willaykuna WGs are preparing an exhibit of Festival Masks at Thompson Library (Spring 2020) and Lakewood Public Library (Cleveland March-August 2020) including a talk by OSU alumnus and donor Mark Gordon and a panel discussion including Lisa Voigt, Dorry Noyes, Richard Fletcher and Michelle Wibbelsman on March 17, 2020. So save the date! The next meeting of the Knowledge Equity Group is March 17.
Also save the date on March 4, 5:15-7:15 for a screening of The Bridge Master’s Daughter (circulated by Juan Zevallos)
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