Tag Archives: Harvard University

HOMAGE TO JUDY VICHNIAC

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On October 22 Judy Vichniac, former associate dean of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University, passed away.

An accomplished academic, she possessed in addition an idealism and generosity that inspired me on a daily basis during my stint at the Institute. I will always recall her as the one at the door of Byerly Hall, arms spread in welcome and the perfect sharp exclamation of acknowledgement issuing not only from the largess of her mind but also from the portal of a deep spirit.

To learn more about this remarkable individual, follow the link below:

https://www.radcliffe.harvard.edu/news/in-news/radcliffe-institute-mourns-judith-vichniac-who-led-radcliffe-fellowship-program

TEA PROGRAM FROM RECENT HAVARD EXPLORATORY SEMINAR

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“Creating a Living Archive of Shared Humanity:

FB Library / Database of Remembrance and Human Rights”

April 23-24, 2018—Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study

Exploratory Seminar Leaders: Ben Miller (RIAS ’15) and Irmtrud Wojak (RIAS ’15), with V.V. Ganeshananthan (RIAS ’15)

Below is a link to a program from an event held on the first Seminar afternoon.

Afternoon Tea 4.18

 

ESSAY IN FALL 2017 ISSUE OF ECOTONE

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“The Hornpipe and The Rake” appears in this issue centered around the theme of Craft, and containing—cover-to-cover—a multitude of glorious surprises.

For more information follow the link below:

https://ecotonemagazine.org/submissions/upcoming-issues/

UPDATE: FB LIBRARY / DATABASE OF REMEMBRANCE AND HUMAN RIGHTS

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I continue to collaborate with German Historian Irmtrud Wojak on the FB LIBRARY / DATABASE OF REMEMBRANCE AND HUMAN RIGHTS. (The project is named in honor of German jurist and campaigner for human rights Dr. Fritz M. Bauer.)

As part of this project, we hope to cultivate a series of creative works. To find information on that “Library Within a Library” go here:

http://www.buxus-stiftung.de/index.php/en/fmb-college/research-topics?id=107

On April 23-24 (2018) I will be co-leading a two-day Exploratory Seminar at Harvard University dedicated to studying the following key questions related to the project:

What tools and methods would make a school curriculum that generates moral and intellectual bravery workable?

What are the obstacles to telling unique stories of resistance effectively, and how might they be surmounted via documentation and narrative ingenuity?

Whereas the academic rule of thumb is impartiality, and impartiality is in some cases impossible to attain, how might stories be told as fairly and fully as possible?

What are the uses of identifying universal parallels between acts and tactics of resistance originating in vastly different regional contexts?

What organizations should we align with to achieve our goals?

When should verification of a story of resistance be considered complete?

How best can we attract users to a definitive database / library of resistance stories?

How does the power of Big Data work for, or against, the vital telling of the stories of individuals who exist as names rather than numbers—people who often are inspired to act not only by tragic facts but also by pre-existing intellectual, spiritual or emotional concerns?

Can truth-tellers and truth-telling organizations be effectively protected against cyber-attacks and campaigns of misinformation?

What are the connections between resistance to injustice and physical and mental health?

SCHLESINGER LIBRARY PRESENTATION

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https://youtu.be/WZFtqbxZ13o

Above is a link to a video of a portion of a presentation delivered last month at Harvard University. Below is the text of the event program. The sex discrimination case referenced is Sharon Johnson v. University of Pittsburgh (Civic Action No. 73-120; United States District Court, Western District of Pennsylvania).

 

“THE GREAT MELT” SNOWBALL CEREMONY

June 14, 2017

Schlesinger Library Research Grant presentation

In connection with the projects:

My Aunt: Chemist, Black Belt, Plaintiff (book chapter)

Year of Discovery: Essay as Sculpture or ENTICEMENT TO ACTION

 

Participants

Snowball, circa terrible Boston winter of 2014-15

Ivelisse Estrada, Snowball Bearer

Kevin Grady, cinematography

Joe LaRocca, fife

Ben Miller, writer

 

There wasn’t a snowball’s chance in the Mojave that M.I.T.

PhD Sharon Johnson would sit back and let the University

of Pittsburgh deny her tenure without a fight….

 

Noon

Snowball Homily, steps of Schlesinger Library

12:10

Snowball Procession, across yard, with fife accompaniment

12:20

Snowball Melts in the Bright Light of Facts

12:40

Discussion

“CAGE DIES BIRD FLIES” EXCERPTS TO APPEAR IN SPRING 2017 ISSUE OF HAYDEN’S FERRY REVIEW

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A spread consisting of eight works from Phase One of “Cage Dies Bird Flies,” my on-going collaboration with painter Dale Williams, will appear in Issue #60 of the Hayden’s Ferry Review. To visit this print journal’s website, follow the link below:

http://haydensferryreview.com

MURAL SPEAKS! UPDATE: 114th TRANSLATION GATHERED

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An Edison Elementary School student in Sioux Falls last week submitted a pair of translations (French and Kirundi) to my effort to raise awareness about the diversity of the urban Midwest by gathering versions of the William Carlos Williams poem “The Red Wheelbarrow” in each of the 140 plus languages spoken in South Dakota’s largest city.

Translators around the world, of all ages and skill levels, are welcome to participate in this public art project designed to build community across boundaries of many sorts—regional, social, economic, generational.

For more information contact me at: muralspeaks@gmail.com.

TRANSLATIONS STILL NEEDED

European: Croatian. African: Acholi, Afar, Akan, Avokaya, Baki, Bari, Bassa, Bhojpuri, Burundi, Creole, Didinga, Erapice, Fulani, Grego, Gurage, Hiadi, Jur, Kabila, Kikiyu, Kisio, Krahn, Krash, Kuku, Lango, Lakoka, Lango, Luganda, Madi, Mai Mai or Bantu, Mandinka, Mawo, Mondari, Moru, Murule, Ndogo, Nubiar, Nuer, Nyambara, Nyangwana, Oduk, Ogoni, Pojulu, Rafica, Ruel, Rwanda, Shilluk, Sholuk, Tekamah, Toknath, Toposa, Wolof or Senegal, Zande. Asian: Azeri, Bhutanese, Cambodian, Cantonese, Dari, Gujarati, Lergdie, Manderine Chinese, Nepali, Oriya. Central and South American: Kiche, Mam, Mayan. North American: Ojibwe or Chippawa, Dakota, Nakota, Navajo, Omaha, Ponca, Winnebago.

COLLECTED TRANSLATIONS

KEY: NSF = language not yet spoken in Sioux Falls; (#) = number of translation versions received so far

European: Albanian, Bulgarian, Bosnian, Belarusian, Czech (NSF), Estonian (2), Dutch (NSF), Swedish (NSF), Finnish (NSF), French (5), German (4), Greek, Hungarian, Irish, Italian (2), Latvian, Lithuanian, Norwegian (2), Montenegrin (NSF), Polish, Romanian (2), Russian (3), Serbian, Scottish Gaelic, Scots, Spanish (3), Slovak, Ukranian.

 African: Afrikaans, Amharic (2), Anayuak, Arabic, Dinka, Hausa, Kinyarwanda, Kirundi (2), Kiswahili, Kunama, Lingala, Igbo or Ibo (2), Nyanja, Oromo, Somali, Swahili (2), Tigrinya, Turkish, Xhosa (2: NSF), Zulu.

 Asian: Armenian (Hayeren or Armenim), Azerbaijan, Bangla, Chinese, Farsi or Persian, Filipino, Hindi, Indonesian, Japanese (2), Kazakh, Khmer, Korean (4), Kurdish, Lao, Malay (2), Mandarin Chinese, Pashto, Sinhala (NSF), Tagala, Tamil, Telugu, Thai, Urdu (2), Vietnamese (2), Zhongwen of China

 Central and South American: Castellano of Chile, Portuguese (4), Quechua

 North American, 1: English, Lakota

 Other (4): Hebrew, American Sign Language, Esperanto, International Phonetic Alphabet

Total number of Sioux Falls languages covered, excluding duplicates: 24 Euro, 19 African, 24 Asian, 3 CSAm, 2 NAm, 4 Other—76 TOTAL 

Total number of translations gathered, including duplicates and NSF: 114

Language List Source: Sioux Falls Multi-Cultural Center, based on registrations for driver’s training, programs at the center and additional research.