Well, it's 12:11am...no, it's 12:12, and I have been working on this website for about three weeks, I think, but the project itself has been in the works for months. The Super Bowl ended three hours ago, and I was disappointed. WHY DID HE THROW THE BALL??! They should have run it in! Anyway, Ms. Terah, Ms. Bobbie, and I are really stretching ourselves as artists to put together this project, and I am very proud of that. So I will put the Super Bowl out of my mind and focus on this wonderful, wonderful learning that is about to begin!
In this country, we really don't focus enough on Middle Eastern arts education (or non-Western arts ed in general). It gets sort of glossed over as a "specialty" or maybe you take it as part of a "World Music" course where they cover the WHOLE WORLD in one semester, or you listen to Middle Eastern music for a week in a Music Appreciation class, maybe if you are lucky enough to have a professor who's comfortable enough to include it. So Terah and I are particularly reaching out of our comfort zones to provide this experience.
I am so grateful to Terah for enthusiastically saying "YES!" to this project of mine. Bobbie...well, she's been teaching so wonderfully for so long...I was not surprised in the least when she just started bringing me all sorts of things that she had in mind. And then there's Viji. I love Viji. I feel very fortunate to work with her in the same room each week. She is a very knowledgeable teacher, and I learn from her all the time. Just sitting and listening in the classroom, I learn from her.
I am so excited to begin this 5-week adventure. The teachers are Pioneers as much as the students!
In this country, we really don't focus enough on Middle Eastern arts education (or non-Western arts ed in general). It gets sort of glossed over as a "specialty" or maybe you take it as part of a "World Music" course where they cover the WHOLE WORLD in one semester, or you listen to Middle Eastern music for a week in a Music Appreciation class, maybe if you are lucky enough to have a professor who's comfortable enough to include it. So Terah and I are particularly reaching out of our comfort zones to provide this experience.
I am so grateful to Terah for enthusiastically saying "YES!" to this project of mine. Bobbie...well, she's been teaching so wonderfully for so long...I was not surprised in the least when she just started bringing me all sorts of things that she had in mind. And then there's Viji. I love Viji. I feel very fortunate to work with her in the same room each week. She is a very knowledgeable teacher, and I learn from her all the time. Just sitting and listening in the classroom, I learn from her.
I am so excited to begin this 5-week adventure. The teachers are Pioneers as much as the students!