Mental Health in War-Torn Countries

In today’s Critical Pedagogy meeting, Eleanor Roffman talked about her research that she presented at the Gaza Mental Health Conference in October, 2008. We will post more on the discussions we had around the issue of psychosocial support for individuals and communities who have survived trauma and war, but in the meantime please go to the conference website for references and information on this interesting and relevant topic:

Gaza Mental Health Conference
You can access Eleanor and others’ papers by using the left-hand navigation and clicking on conference papers [English] at the top.

Open Windows DVD

The DVD of Monica Prendergast’s presentation with the guest speaker series, Open Windows, is now available in the Critical Pedagogy binder in 13 Mellen. If you were not able to attend the lecture you can check out the DVD using the sign out sheet in the back of the binder.

Monica discussed her performances of Peace Mom in the context of research. She presents on using performative writing and shares a poem she wrote about her performances and doing in character talk backs with students. Finally, she performs a section of the play (most of this is available, but the end was cut off due to lack of space on the tape).

If you are interested in any of these topics please feel free to check out the disc to learn more.

Open Windows April 6th

We would like to remind and encourage everyone to attend the Open Windows Guest Lecture Series presentation by Monica Prendergast on Monday April 6th at 4:00.

The Critical Pedagogy & the Arts Committee got the privilege of seeing a preview of this presentation in our March meeting. The play, Peace Mom, which Monica will be performing excerpts from, has never been performed in the United States and it is a unique privilege to learn more about this play and the power of performance to encourage dialogue on peace. We hope to see you all there!

When: April 6th, 4:00 PM
Where: University Hall 3-094

For more information on this play and Monica’s performances in Canada you can visit the PUENTE Theatre website. To navigate to Peace Mum click on “What We Offer” then “more” under Performances, then “Peace Mum”.

Open Windows on April 6th

Monica Prendergast will be the guest lecturer for the Open Windows series this semester speaking about her research on peace education through theater in Margaret Sears’ Arts and Education, History and Philosophy class.

April 6, 2009, 4:00 p.m.
University Hall, 3-094

Peace Mom

Our next guest lecturer for Open Windows will be Monica Prendergast, Assistant Professor in Creative Arts in Learning at Lesley University. She will be discussing her past performance of the one-woman, one-act play Peace Mom, a powerful political storytelling play about the work of U.S. peace activist Cindy Sheehan, by Dario Fo and Franca Rame.

We will announce more specifics about the date and place in the near future. Monica will also be facilitating our meeting on Thursday, March 19th on the topic of Peace Education.

Resources:
Cook, S.A. (2008). Give Peace a Chance: The Diminution of Peace in Global Education in the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada. Canadian Journal of Education, 31(4), 889-914.

Sheenan, Cindy (2006). Peace Mom: A mother’s journey through heartache to activism. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster.

Facing Peace at Marran Gallery

Announcing opening reception of Facing Peace exhibition Friday November 14, 2008 from 5:00-8:00 pm in the Marran Gallery at the Lesley University Student Center with artist Lisa Kessler, Louis D. Brown Peace Institute Staff, and participating families.

The exhibition will be displayed from November 6 to December 8, 2008. There will also be an artist talk Thursday, November 20 from 5:00-6:30 pm.

FACING PEACE – Struggles, Strengths, Strategies of Families Surviving Violence is an exhibition celebrating the strength of survivors of homicide victims, and showcasing the collaboration between Boston photographer Lisa Kessler, the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute, and Lesley University.

The exhibition includes Kessler’s photographic portraits of families involved with the Peace Institute – a Dorchester organization founded to assist the families of homicide victims – as well as artwork created by the survivor families. Facing Peace shines a light on the broad, rippling effects of street violence and the survival strategies of families working towards peace.

Please visit Lisa Kessler’s website for additional information.

September 11, 2008 Meeting

Discussion
Review of 2007-2008 meeting topics.
Planning schedule for 2008-2009: topics include Disability, Sexuality, Peace Education, Class (see finalized schedule here)
Brainstorming guests for Open Windows guest lecture series.
Reminder that Open Windows DVDs are available for checkout in 13 Mellen.
Read the poem “Name, Act Critically, Reflect”. This is available in the CP binder.

Boston Cyber Arts Festival
The Digital Divide should be a topic for the 2009 festival. This has implications for Critical Pedagogy.

Activity: Creating a ‘zine
We created a ‘zine around themes of the first day of school, feelings of ELL students and native English speakers, and No Child Left Behind.
What you need:
Paper, pencils, pens, markers, magazines, glue sticks – any other art materials.
Steps:
1. Use words, collage, drawing, etc. to have each person create a page or two around these themes.
2. After all page contributions have been collected, make copies and compile them into a magazine or book format.
Copies of our ELL ‘zine are available in the Critical Pedagogy binder in 13 Mellen St.

Resources
In Place of War: This group researches and creates performances as well as documents what is being done in places where there is armed conflict.

Sheenan, Cindy (2006). Peace Mom: A mother’s journey through heartache to activism. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster.

‘Zine resource: links, how-to, defition, etc.

Using ‘zines in the classroom

‘Zine on Wikipedia