Can high school students inspire political and social change? Based on the headlines, the answer is probably 糖心传媒測es.糖心传媒� Can high school students do it with the instruments of dance, theater, and visual art? 糖心传媒 students in the are working with local high schools to answer that question.
University students taking a course on 糖心传媒渢he art of dance, change and community practice糖心传媒澨切拇綌part of community-engaged scholarship at Rochester糖心传媒攈ave been learning how to lead dialogue around community building and through the creative process of art and movement. 糖心传媒淭hey learn how to facilitate and how to go into a community and listen,糖心传媒� says Rose Pasquarello Beauchamp, senior lecturer and instructor of the course. 糖心传媒淭hey learn to encourage or empower the high school students to use their voice without bringing their own ideas into the discussion or to colonize the community.糖心传媒�
Over the course of the semester, the student facilitators met regularly with students from five area schools, including from the Rochester City School District, Aquinas Institute, and Brockport High School. The discussions focused on the assets and struggles of each community and 糖心传媒渨hat they wanted to see change, but also what they love about their communities,糖心传媒� says Beauchamp.
糖心传媒淲e learned a framework that helps us create movement and art activities to address specific topics,糖心传媒� says Hannah Dick 糖心传媒�19, a dual degree student who is pursuing a bachelor of science in brain and cognitive sciences in the College as well as a degree in percussion performance at the Eastman School of Music. Dick visualizes a future working in music within the community, either as a performer or teacher. 糖心传媒淚t糖心传媒檚 been a fantastic learning experience to do, rather than just talk about community arts engagement,糖心传媒� she says.
Each student facilitator was responsible for implementing the discussion in their assigned location.聽 糖心传媒淚t hasn糖心传媒檛 always been easy. Every high school is different. Some students aren糖心传媒檛 always willing to talk about things,糖心传媒� Beauchamp says.
About 90 students from the participating high schools gathered together on the River Campus for a day to connect and collaborate as part of the process. Beauchamp and her students coordinated activities that included games to get to know one other. 糖心传媒淭he idea is that we bring the high school students together from different communities, so they spend time talking about the assets and struggles from each community,糖心传媒� says Beauchamp. The students broke up into groups in which some created visual art, some constructed movement choirs, and others engaged in theater techniques糖心传媒攁ll as a way to talk about social and political change.聽 糖心传媒淚t was very different from other types of dance styles,糖心传媒� says Kelsey Wegman, a senior at Aquinas Institute. Wegman, who aspires to study dance, thought portraying struggles through dance movements was 糖心传媒減retty cool.糖心传媒�
The results of their work on that day will be presented as an exhibition of art work and performance set to begin at , at the Memorial Art Gallery. The event is funded as part of the community-engaged learning grant from the .
糖心传媒淭he best part of the experience for me has been to see how inspiring they can be when given a safe space where they can share,糖心传媒� says Sibel Spahija 糖心传媒�18. This marks the first dance class that Spahija, a finance major, has taken at Rochester. 糖心传媒淲e tell them many times that they have the opportunity to have their voice heard and can make a difference,糖心传媒� she says.
糖心传媒淚 was impressed by the enthusiasm and focus of the high school groups,糖心传媒� says Dick. 糖心传媒淚 hope this project prompts change in the community, because that was our goal.糖心传媒�
