...and how are you dealing w/ the difference?  We agreed to take turns being responsible for where we will meet (and if we move midway, etc.) --AND that each of us will post a short reflection here, on the day that we chose, about our decision: what it was like, watching the class and the world in which it is operating, inside or out…what seems foreground/background/essential/not? How distracted were you/what did you do about it?

Do you have any ideas about how to incorporate the "distractions" of being outside (or inside) into our curriculum? What are you coming to understand of the relation between "reading the word" and "reading the world" that the word represents, about foregrounding much of what is usually backgrounded in literary studies, asking what we might lose by seeing the world only as mediated by the word....?

...and how are you dealing w/ the difference? What are the "rules of engagement" for our meetings in these alternative spaces? Please post a comment on the day when you selected our site, describing both what you noticed and how you coped w/ the distractions of being outside (or not)... Do you have any ideas about how to incorporate them into our curriculum?

This project is based on the way urban gardens have made Millcreek a better community. We asked the people in the community their opinions about the beauty of nature in their neighborhoods and created a documentary. We need people who are willing to work and dedicate time to care for the garden to make it a more colorful and welcoming place. We hope to inspire more youth to better engage in their communities and become active agents of positive change.

Who: We are three students, one from Bryn Mawr College and two from Parkway West High School

What: Growing out of our experiences in an environmental studies course last spring, we worked together to envision and design an urban garden in the Mill Creek Community of West Philadelphia.  We met throughout the summer to weed, compost, and plant the garden.   throughout this process we were able to make meaningful connections with people in the community which we were then able to create a documentary that talked about what beauty means to different people in the area. 

Here's the plan for next Thursday's teach-in. We have eight performances scheduled, for an 80-minute class period, so each one can take up to 10 minutes. And not a moment longer! And this includes set-up! (In other words, be warned: if the set-up gets complicated, you'll need to reduce the length of your performance on the spot, in order to make sure that there's time-and-space for all....).

12:55-1:05 hwink, michelle, JD
1:05-1:15 Colleen and MC
1:15-1:25 S.Yeager and dear.abby
1:25-1:35 meowwalex, mbeale, buffalo
1:35-1:45 pejordan, melal, FrigginSushi
1:45-1:55 epeck, sekang, dchin
1:55-2:05 sara, aybala, bluebox
2:05-2:15 rayj, amophrast, w0m'n

And here's what actually happened--thanks, all!

Here's the plan for next Thursday's teach-in. We have five performances scheduled, for an 80-minute class period, so each one can take up to 15 minutes (if needed/wanted). Don't feel that you have to fill the time; we can always spend it talking about what we've done and/or seen one another do...

 9:55-10:10 Alicia
10:10-10:25 KT
10:25-10:40 Aya and froggies315
10:40-10:55 vspaeth, egrumer, dglasser
10:55-11:10 leamirella, kobieta, sterrab

And here are the images of what actually happened!

Please join us here to read and exchange about the journey our 360 Program, "Learning and Narrating Childhoods," is taking to Ghana over spring break.  We are 16 undergraduate women from Bryn Mawr and Haverford Colleges, two faculty members, a Bryn Mawr College alumna, and two colleagues from Northern Ghana's Titagya Schools.  Our destinations are Titagya Schools, in Dalun, and the University of Ghana, Legon, near Accra.  We will be learning with young learners, teachers, community members, university students, and faculty.  We are exploring how languages, lives, and futures interact as children and communities grow and change.  

This picture is from our joint field trip earlier this semester with Parkway West High School students to UPenn's Museum of Archeology and Anthropology's "Imagine Africa" exhibition.  There we explored and interacted with representations of the continent in order to participate in a renovation of the museum's exhibition of African art and technologies.  Now as we set off to visit and volunteer in Ghana, will will continue revise imaginings with new experiences and future possibilities.

Geis Student Research on Women Conference

Open to the Member Institutions of the Greater Philadelphia Women's Studies Consortium

Saturday, April 28, 2012 University of Delaware

_____________________________________________________________________

CALL FOR PAPERS

The Geis Student Research on Women Conference invites submissions by students attending institutions in the Greater Philadelphia Women's Studies Consortium who have done research on women or gender issues. The thirteen institutions of the Consortium include:

• Bryn Mawr College
• Drexel University
• Haverford College
• LaSalle University
• Rosemont College
• Saint Joseph’s University 
• Swarthmore College
• Temple University
• University of Delaware
• University of Pennsylvania
• Ursinus College
• Villanova University
• West Chester University

The conference is open to female and male students, at either the undergraduate or the graduate level. Group-authored projects are acceptable. Faculty help and advice are assumed, but the paper must be entirely student-written. All papers will be reviewed, and acceptance will be based on excellence and relevance of the research to women and/or gender issues. Past winners are encouraged to submit new work for presentation but are not eligible for awards.
____________________________________________________________________

ENTRY RULES

To Submit Papers mail to:

Hello all!
I just wanted to write to thank each of the students in the in class/outclassed course for participating in the conversation we held last Thursday, Dec. 1. I really enjoyed being able to come and speak with you about the ways we personally wrestle with our class statuses and how we try to make sense of this very absurd system of "classifying" people. One aspect that I did not get to address during the class was the topic of class in context of a capitalist system. In response, much your feedback to my zine has revolved around the question of "how could a wealthy person ever feel bad/guilty about having wealth?" My answer is that I feel this way due to my opposition to a capitalist system that is based in (and provokes) many social ills - competition, exploitation, persecution, and unequal wealth distribution. If you remember a quote from Ty in my zine, "people are wealthy BECAUSE other people are poor." People are poor, in part, because of the concentrated wealth that I have benefitted from. My disdain for my wealth is connected to my political desire to be anti-capitalist and to work for another economic system that does not involve colonialism and unjust resource extraction; for a economy that does not simultaneously create poverty and the many social traumas poverty brings. As you can see, this commitment is tied up into so many other causes and issues that I am devoted to. I'm open and interested to continue working through this with each of you. Please feel free to get in touch with me with further thoughts, questions, & ideas.