Advertise on podcast: Learning Matters: a Bridge to Practice

Today we have with us Sydney Dvorak, Angela Konrad and Kate Muchmore Woo to talk a student practicum project where over 100 theater posters spanning 50 years were digitized and archived in TWU’s Special Collections. For more information about the project and to access the archive please see: https://create.twu.ca/library/2022/03/09/search-twu-theatre-production-posters-online/  https://archivessearch.twu.ca/posters-3  https://www.twu.ca/news-events/news/history-student-digitizes-over-100-theatre-production-posters-twu’s-archives-and Learning Matters: a Bridge to Practice Discussing matters of learning and building bridges to practice. https://tinyurl.com/learningmatters-twu Podcasting from Studio Yarah at Trinity Western University – hosted by Scott Macklin. Support the show

 Today we have with us Monika B. Hilder who teaches in the English Department at Trinity Western University.  Monika is an author, teacher, and speaker who specializes in Fantasy and Children’s Literature with a particular focus on the writings of C.S. Lewis and other Inklings-related writers.  She edited The Inklings and Culture: A Harvest of Scholarship from the Inklings Institute of Canada (Co-edited with Sara Pearson and Laura Van Dyke). How did five twentieth-century British authors, C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, Charles Williams, Owen Barfield, and Dorothy L. Sayers, along with their mentors George MacDonald and G. K. Chesterton, come to contribute more to the intellect and imagination of millions than many of their literary contemporaries put together? How do their achievements continue to inform and potentially transform us in the twenty-first century?  Monika serves as the Co-Director of the Inklings Institute of Canada  (IIC).  IIC encourages the advancement of Inklings scholarship through literary criticism and related collaborative research across the disciplines; investigates how these authors critiqued their own cultures and therefore help us to respond to our own historical/cultural context; promotes the publication of research and scholarship in peer-reviewed journals, books, and other suitable venues appropriate to the various disciplines; fosters undergraduate and graduate student involvement in such research and scholarship; seeks funding for Inklings research; contributes to the current return of religious language to public discourse—and does so within the campus, with associated members nationally and internationally, and with the general public. https://www.twu.ca/research/institutes-and-centres/university-institutes/inklings-institute-canada https://monikahilder.com/ Support the show (https://www.twu.ca/donate-now)

Today we have with us Russ Rosen discussing the Bez Arts Hub as a place for nurturing creativity and planting seeds for the harvest of ones life’s work. Learning Matters series on convening methodologies for holding space for hope, healing and restoration. Russ serves the artistic director at Bez Arts Hub in Langley, BC where he and his wife (Sandy) train and mentor emerging artists, host live music events, dance shows, workshops and all manner of arts and community interactions.  Bez is an intimate live performance venue which hosts some of the most notable artists from all around North America and beyond. With an inspiring sense of community, the warmth of great sound and the close personal engagement with the artists, Bez offers a unique and inviting atmosphere for enjoying live performances. Russ began his piano lessons at 4 years old, got kicked out at 7, took up drums at 10 and at 12 started a short lived band with Michael J. Fox called “Walrus”. Later he wrote the inspirational songs, “Got a Song in My Heart”, “Wind of the Spirit”, “Dancing in a Field” and many others for a year round “camp in the city” program called Rise Up. https://www.bezartshub.com/ https://russrosenband.bandcamp.com/ http://www.russrosen.ca/ Support the show (https://www.twu.ca/donate-now)

Today we have with us Karam Dana discussing implementing creative critical pedagogies. Learning Matters series on convening methodologies for holding space for hope, healing and restoration.  Karam’s serves as the The Alyson McGregor Distinguished Professor of Transformative Research at University of Washington Bothell.  He was selected as the recipient of the 2018 Distinguished Teaching Award. His scholarship explores the evolution of transnational political identities and their impact on civic engagement and political participation, with a focus on Palestinians and American Muslims. As an interdisciplinary social scientist, he examines social contexts related to religion, identity, and politics to describe, explain, and provide answers to persisting theoretical and policy questions. The overarching theme of his scholarly journey is centered on how ethno-, socio-political, and religious identities are formed, evolve, and transform under different socio-economic and political circumstances.   Hie is the founding Director of The American Muslim Research Institute (AMRI), and the co-Principal Investigator of The Muslim American Public Opinion Survey (MAPOS), which remains one of the largest surveys of Muslims in the US, a decade on. He also led The Middle East Public Opinion Project (MEPOP) and directed more than a dozen public opinion surveys in the Arab world, including “The 2013 Palestinian Public Opinion Survey,” which explores Palestinian opinions and attitudes on various socio-economic conditions and political issues 20 years after the signing of the Oslo Accords.  https://www.uwb.edu/ias/amri https://www.uwb.edu/ias/mepop Support the show (https://www.twu.ca/donate-now)

Today we have with us Amanda Fenton discussing holding space to spark new thinking and to foster collaborative leadership. Learning Matters series on convening methodologies for holding space for hope, healing and restoration. Amanda Fenton (she/hers) hosts participatory processes such as The Circle Way, Open Space Technology, World Café, Collective Story Harvest and others to spark new thinking, foster collaborative leadership, navigate uncertainty and possibility, accelerate learning, and move to wiser action. She is teacher of The Circle Way and the Art of Hosting, and is a co-designer and facilitator with Decolonizing Practices, inviting fellow settlers in the journey of learning and unlearning to transform colonial impacts and de-centre whiteness.  Meeting Planner Tool Guide to the Meeting Planner Tool  and video Guide to the Meeting Planner Tool How to Use the Web Version of Jamboard How to Host Open Space Technology Online Using Zoom + Google Slides Support the show (https://www.twu.ca/donate-now)

Today we have with us Benjamin Hunter discussing curiosity, flow, alchemy and music. Learning Matters series on convening methodologies for holding space for hope, healing and restoration. Benjamin has been busy cross pollinating multiple artistic disciplines for more than a decade, the Seattle based polymath and multi-instrumentalist has dedicated his life to transforming the world’s stale status quo into a vibrant, inclusive, communal, and compassionate society.  Hunter’s first tool was the violin accompanying him on laps around the world. Playing since age 5, he was fortunate to travel the world and absorb various musical styles at a young age. Receiving his degree in Performance Violin, with keen interest in politics and philosophy, Hunter set his sights on the intersection between art, community, and a rapidly evolving clash of culture. Touring with his band mate Joe Seamons in the internationally acclaimed, award-winning blues duo, Ben Hunter & Joe Seamons, Hunter’s stirring instrumentation and timbre brought tales of the slave trade, reconstruction, racial reconciliation, and America’s still broken promises to the uninclined. ​ Seeking to formalize the education he received in school and delivered in music venues across the world, Hunter then founded Community Arts Create. In a time when music and arts education is being surgically extracted from school curriculums, the non-profit seeks to create space and opportunity for people of all ages and backgrounds to engage with their individual and collective creative identities, using that as a lens to view their connection with social justice.  However, schools only provided a temporary sanctum for Hunter’s gospel of changing the world through art. He needed a headquarters that existed for the sole purpose of bridging divides, filling knowledge gaps, and fostering a community around those ideals.  ​ The Hillman City Collaboratory was soon formed. Housed in South Seattle’s Hillman City neighborhood, the “social incubator” has brought and maintained camaraderie, inclusiveness, education, and social wellbeing to the residents in and around an area that is seeing rapid shifts due to unrelenting displacement. His ultimate wish is to inspire a Collaboratory in every underserved community in the nation, showcasing the collective might of community members defying precarious economic circumstances through creativity, engagement, and dialogue.  That still wasn't enough for Hunter, and in 2016 he co-founded the Black & Tan Hall, a co-operatively owned restaurant and performing arts venue, shifting the for-profit paradigm to an alternative platform that is hyper-local, built by and for people rooted in community, and serves as an anti-gentrification model that combats displacement and sustains good jobs.  More specifically, B&TH supports and elevates arts that give voice, agency, and power to those too often ignored. A place where art and the artists are dignified, valued, and heard!     To find out more about Benjamin’s work, check out: www.benjaminhuntermusic.com Community Arts Create collective education Hillman City Collaboratory social incubator Black & Tan Hall co-operatively owned restaurant and performing arts venue Support the show

Today we have with us Lisa Levine discussing helping people to get unstuck and reconnected to  limitless possibilities. Learning Matters series on convening methodologies for holding space for hope, healing and restoration.  Lisa is a Certified Life and Health Coach at Audacious Health & Wellness. She helps women who are approaching midlife to create new and healthy habits in the way they think, eat, sleep and move, empowering them to live their lives fully and audaciously. After a successful career as an Executive Producer of music videos, commercials and other media, she currently resides in Seattle spending much of her time writing, enjoying the beauty of the PNW and playing in the kitchen, creating healthy fare for her family and friends.  Lisa helps women create new and healthy habits in the way they think, eat, sleep and move, empowering them to live their lives fully and audaciously. She says, “I really think of myself as a Possibility Coach because that’s the ultimate goal of coaching; helping people get unstuck and reconnected to the limitless possibilities that exist for all of us.” Lisa’s new book Midlife, No Crisis: An Audacious Guide to Embracing 50 and Beyondis now available.  Check out her musings at The Audacious Life www.audaciouswellness.com Podcasting from Studio Yarah at Trinity Western University – hosted by Scott Macklin. Support the show (https://www.twu.ca/donate-now)

Learning Matters series on convening methodologies for holding space for hope, healing and restoration. Today we have with us Martha Diaz discussing the creation cyphers of inquiry and becoming dealers of hope. Martha Diaz (MD) is a community organizer, media producer, archivist, curator, and educator. MD is one of Women’s eNews distinguished 21 Leaders for the 21st Century whose work has traversed the hip-hop entertainment industry, the public arts and education sector, and the academy over the last 25 years. Her passion is advancing human rights and transforming communities through Hip-Hop media, technology, and social entrepreneurship. She has associate produced and consulted on numerous hip-hop documentaries including, Where My Ladies At? by Leba Haber Rubinoff (2007), Black August: A Hip-Hop Concert by Dream Hampton (2010), and Nas: Time Is Illmatic by One9 (2014). In 2002, MD founded the highly acclaimed Hip-Hop Odyssey (H2O) International Film Festival, the first and largest festival of its kind. She was invited to curate the first Hip-Hop movie series presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and served as a guest curator at the Museum of the Moving Image.  In 2010, MD formed the Hip-Hop Education Center to research, cultivate and formalize the field of hip-hop-based education. Through her publications of research reports, books, and curricula, she has chronicled hip-hop history to preserve its cultural value and memory. A graduate of New York University’s Moving Image Archiving and Preservation Program, MD has worked on archival projects with Parkwood Entertainment (Beyoncé Knowles-Carter), Tupac Shakur Estate, and National Jazz Museum in Harlem, to name a few. She was a Senior Fellow at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History – Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation, Fellow at Catherine B. Reynolds Foundation Program in Social Entrepreneurship, Curator/Scholar at The Schomburg Center, Community Scholar at Columbia University, and Nasir Jones Fellow at Harvard University. MD is currently completing the New School Creation Fellowship at the High Tech High Graduate School of Education. Hip Hop Education Center  https://hiphopeducation.com/author/martha/  Hip Hop Education Guidebook  http://hiphoparchive.org/scholarship/bibliography/the-hip-hop-education-guidebook  H2O Newsreel Film Catalog  https://www.twn.org/h2o/responsive/h2ocatalog.aspx Support the show (https://www.twu.ca/donate-now)

Learning Matters series on convening methodologies for holding space for hope, healing and restoration. Today we have with us Randy Engstrom discussing culture, racial equity, community development, and hopeful acts of inclusive creativity and the arts. Randy Engstrom has been a passionate advocate and organizer of cultural and community development for over 15 years.  He is currently an Adjunct Faculty at the Seattle University Arts Leadership Program and an independent consultant focused on cultural policy, organizational development and racial equity. Most recently he served as Director of the Office of Arts and Culture for the City of Seattle, where he  expanded their investments in granting programs and Public Art, while establishing new programs and policies in arts education, cultural space affordability, and racial equity. He served as Chair of the Seattle Arts Commission in 2011 after serving 2 years as Vice-Chair, and was Chair of the Facilities and Economic Development Committee from 2006 to 2010. Previously he served as the Founding Director of the Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, a multimedia/multidisciplinary community space that offers youth and community member’s access to arts, technology, and cultural resources (www.youngstownarts.org). Prior to Youngstown, Randy spent 3 years as the Founding CEO of Static Factory Media, an artist development organization that owned and operated a record label, bar/performance venue, graphic design house, recording studio, and web development business.  In 2009 Randy received the Emerging Leader Award from Americans for the Arts and was one of Puget Sound Business Journal’s 40 Under 40. He is a graduate of the Evergreen State College in Olympia, and he received his Executive Masters in Public Administration at the University of Washington’s Evans School of Public Affairs. Support the show (https://www.twu.ca/donate-now)

Learning Matters series on convening methodologies for holding space for hope, healing and restoration. Today we have with us Tony Benton discussing the celebration of Black History   and transforming the media landscape by amplifying diverse narratives. Tony Benton is a founder and Station Manager of Rainier Avenue Radio, super-serving and amplifying the diverse narratives and voices of Southeast Seattle’s communities.  Be sure to check Black History Month programing on Rainier Avenue Radio: https://www.rainieravenueradio.world  Tony B. has been heard over the airwaves on several different radio stations in the Seattle-Tacoma region. Whether he was hosting community affairs shows, like KUBE 93’s “StreetBeat,” or covering sports topics on SportsRadio KJR AM’s “Get in the Game,” Tony’s shows are known for being open, honest and thought-provoking.  After graduating from Seattle’s Franklin High School, Tony attended the University of Washington, with a major in communications. He has received several awards for his contributions to music, youth and community organizations, in addition to serving on boards of organizations such as Thrive by Five Washington, Seattle Public High Schools Radio/TV Advisory Committee, the Northwest chapter of NARAS, the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, Crosscut.com, and SouthEast Effective Development (SEED). As the Founder and CEO of MUSICA Entertainment, LLC, Tony produces the King County Executive's Awards for Excellence in Hip Hop, an annual Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday festival showcasing the Northwest’s emerging hip hop scene. He is also creator of the Call to Conscience Black History Month Essay Writing Challenge, the Call to Conscience Black History Month Celebrations and the Dr. King Digital Media Challenge. Tony B was honored and presented with the "2009 Spirit Award" by the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle. The Urban League referred to Tony as the "Voice and Consciousness of the Community."  Be sure to check Black History Month Programing on Rainier Avenue Radio: https://www.rainieravenueradio.world Support the show (https://www.twu.ca/donate-now)

Learning Matters series on convening methodologies for holding space for hope, healing and restoration. Today we have with us Almetta Pitts discussing “interrupting the ouch” and somatic abolitionism – embodied anti-racist practice and cultural building one brave space at a time. Almetta supports individuals, communities, organizations and companies who seek to interrupt the “status quo” of workplace wellness. She facilitates brave spaces that cultivate tough conversations around diversity, equity and belonging founded within coined methodology of somatic wellness and anti-racist practices (SWAP).   She has significant experience of co-curating  somatic impact  experiential learning experiences via the collaboration of leading organizations, companies and institutions. She is the Founder and Principal Consultant  of Attemla Consulting, LLC.    Attemla Consulting's areas of activism focus upon workplace & leadership wellness via trauma informed care, organizational change, restorative justice, radical self-care, strategic development,  racial equity and social justice. Our interactive anti-racist training series, inter-group dialogues and strategic planning retreats empower our clients and their teams to explore the public health epidemic(s) of  Systemic Racism and the School to Prison Pipeline.  We also explore “somatic based anti-racist philosophies of navigating tough conversations within the workplace.”  To find out more about Almetta’s work, check out: www.attemlaconsulting.com The Map Ministry: https://thenapministry.wordpress.com/ Support the show (https://www.twu.ca/donate-now)

Welcome to the Season 2 | Episode 1 of Learning Matters where we will digging into holding space for hope and healing. Today we have with us Dr. Jabali Stewart discussing circle keeping, peace making and spiritual source coding.  Jabali is an inclusion specialist utilizing Peacemaking Circle in schools (K-College), businesses, families, government, and community settings. He has trained in the lineage of Circle Keeping connected to Mark Wedge, Kay Pranis, and Barry Stuart for nearly a decade. Besides keeping Circle he also trained in, and practices other Art of Hosting social technologies, all with a focus on institutional cultural change. Jabali is also a public speaker who has also cultivated a practice of deep one-on-one cultural counsel. His work is deeply informed by his belief and practice of sensible, love based leadership.  To find out more about Jabali’s work, check out: https://www.wearehuayruro.com/ And to listen to Special Vices: https://specialvices.bandcamp.com/ Support the show (https://www.twu.ca/donate-now)