1/22-1/26 Week in Review
Hello Friends,
The word of the week: Cooperation
This week Suzi was visiting family in Arizona and so Eleanor and Dawn took the reigns. Monday we had our first financial literacy class with Suzi before she headed west, then made lasagna with Eleanor and headed over to the Reher Center for Oral History Training with Dr. Willa Zhen. Dr. Zhen stressed the importance of every person's story as together they create a web of experiences that make up an era of time, a generation and a history. Without these stories we risk losing chunks of history and instead must rely on the history represented by politicians, academia and governments, which often serve the agenda of established power.
Tuesday was a snow day and so we did not have programming. On Wednesday we returned to HRMM where the boat is taking form, and definitely looks like a boat. Eleanor joined us at the Wooden Boat School for the first time and tried her hand at wood-working–and also brought much appreciated music into the workshop. Fellows also created beautiful terrariums in glass vessels with Kerry which was so much fun.
On Thursday we gathered in homeroom to put our oral history training into action. Fellows took turns sharing personal stories and listening to their partners while using oral history techniques from Dr. Zhen. Lunchtime was a smorgasbord and included homemade pancakes made by Memphis himself. The afternoon was spent at CPW, where fellows further articulated their project ideas and looked at the work of film-based artists who incorporate narrative and oral history into their work, as well as the work of documentary photographers. These will serve as useful references as fellows consider how their own photography will support their Place Story projects.
At the end of the week fellows were given questionnaires to share their thoughts and brainstorm ideas for transportation, along with an additional copy for each household to fill out as well. This input will help inform strategies around transportation in the future.
Have a good weekend,
Place Corps Team
:)
