OK, since as I said before, the purpose of this blog is mostly to journal the progress of my (hopefully) integrated projects for both my Research Methods (RM) and Creativity and Community (C&C) classes, I thought I would go ahead and draw up a rough proposal explaining what I would like to do. As those of you in C&C know, we have the option of doing a service learning project in which we can spend time with the Three Rivers Jenbe Ensemble group who perform traditional West African music and dance. (For those of you in RM the group is made up of students from 7 to 17. Take a look for more information.) I would like to take this service learning option and participate in and work with Dr. Cain in the creative writing class she teaches to the kids in the group. For my research project for RM I was thinking of researching traditional West African literature/storytelling and possibly going as far as to compile some kind of collection of these types of works. I thought it would then be fun to share what I find with the kids in the group and possibly lead them in creating their own stories in West African tradition. As C&C requires that our project be somehow made part of a public forum, I thought I could possible create some kind of web page with the information I find and also the stories I and/or the students write and then link it to the Ensemble’s web site. I know that this proposal is far from detailed or complete, but it is at least the start of an idea. It of course will require the approval of both Dr. Cain and Dr. Amidon, and will change and grow based on their suggestions/ideas. Also, as I said before, I will do my very best to make this blog interesting and informative to both classes. I know that many of the blogs for C&C (as there are no guidelines beyond a minimum number of words posted per week)may be on topics more interesting than my research, I hope that the experiences I have with the ensemble and my findings about West African stories will be enough to keep everyone at least somewhat interested! If anyone in either class has any questions or comments to make I would be glad to hear them. That’s all for now.
Malissa
1 comment:
Yes, even I am struggling to figure out what exactly I am going to do for the C&C class project. I have seen the Jenbe ensemble perform at my parent's church before, and they are something to behold! It doesn't matter what culture you call your own, there's something spiritual in performance that digs right to the root of what it means to be human, and you will be changed by it. The service learning option doesn't really reachc out to me personally though, so I think I'm going to pass on it, even though I just gave a big "thumbs up" to the group. So I'll keep thinking about it and hopefully come up with something to present! Good luck to you.
Thom
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