Bridging Multiple Worlds: The Arts as Social Text

Robert Stephens and Mary Ellen JundaUniversity of Connecticut

Multiple Worlds

BRIDGING PEOPLE

Scale of Intensity of New World Africanisms

based on M.J. Herskovits Man and His Works, New York, A. A. Knopf, 165.

From Africa to the Sea Islands

What are the elements of the oral tradition?

•Communal (group or collective)

•Common (everyday rather than extraordinary)

•Informal (in relation to formal institution)

•Marginal (in relation to center of powers)

•Aesthetic (artistic expressions)

•Traditional (stable over time)

•Ideological (expression of beliefs, systems of knowledge)

Geechee Gullah Ring Shouters

What is a Landmark Grant?

The Landmarks of American History and Culture Program

Gullah Voices: Points of Focus

• Sounds and Traditions: The Sacred World of Black Slaves

• Sounds in Place and Time: The Plantation and the Praise House

• Images and Iconography

• Stories and Artifacts

• Cultural Memories in History: Recollections

Who Participated

• 26 states and the District of Columbia

•20 Elementary Teachers

• 23 Middle School Teachers

• 29 High School Teachers

• 9 Mixed levels

Subject Areas•History

• Social Studies

•World Languages

• Language Arts

• English

•Visual Arts

•Music

•Culinary Arts

• ESOL

• Special Education

•Global Studies

• Intervention Specialist

• Enrichment Specialist

• Librarian

• School-wide Program Developer

Landmark Sites

Gullah Voices: Traditions and

Transformations

Teacher Reflections

•“The strength of this program was its variety. The balance of lecture, activities, discussions, and variety of topics gave me a broad view of Gullah culture. Having members of the Gullah-Geechee community tell their own stories through song, literature, food, and story-telling was the true genius behind this experience.”

Teacher Reflections

• “What an amazing week. I will return home with not only a much greater understanding and appreciation for Gullah culture, but a renewed vitality for understanding and appreciating my own personal history and culture as well as those around me.”

Teacher Reflections

•“I anticipate that the biggest impact this experience will have on my teaching is the importance of crafting lessons and experiences that allow students to not only think, but to feel. Feel the power of human struggle along with hope and faith in the future.”

Mary Moran Singing “Amelia’s Song”