Okay, let’s do this.
My head is a bit fuzzy, and it feels like ages since I last wrote. I’m recovering from a (non-covid) cold, and retreated to bed last Thursday and took the weekend and most of this week to get better. Almost a week later, I don’t feel as coldy, but I have a horrible cough, and the first few minutes of waking up, with dry mouth, and bunged up, I’m finding a tad challenging.
The students are on a Fall break, a short reading and recovery week, for their own health. I’m not supposed to set any homework this week, which I’ve done, but I know they will be working a few days. I’ve asked them to spend some time on themselves, do something nice, go for a walk, meet up with a friend, rest for a while on the couch, and don’t worry about that book you thought you’d read, just lie there, close your eyes.
Of course, I had a few of these things planned myself, including a bike ride, and I may tentatively venture out tomorrow if I get a chance. I’ll have to wrap up, its beautiful in the mornings, the light shines through the leaves, which are red, yellow, with burnt tips, or falling in showers. Autumn is just getting started, but already it is putting on a show.
Stephan
Spaces to Connect
I had two meetings this week, I lurked in each, saying a few things, but suffering a little off camera. The first with the group that teaches in IDeATe, which is another home, the program I always imagined could exist, but never saw realised in the way that it is here at CMU.
That’s down to the people themselves, probably some of the most open and compassionate colleagues that I’ve encountered, who care very deeply about the experiences of their students, who are often modest and low-key about their many talents. I always feel very lucky to be in their company, and appreciate those who have brought this group together, who are similarly unassuming, and quietly professional. They’re not just putting together an exciting and interesting program for students, they’re also modelling a way of learning for the institution, and a way to work openly, and generously.
These ways of learning seem to work for students too, courses are often filled up, and speaking anecdotally, I find that those who have signed up for one course, often go on to do others in the program, and can quickly find themselves with a minor in one of the many strands offered. I just love it, and wish I could be a student for a couple of years taking all these courses.
In my second meeting, I met my colleague in Carnegie Coffee, hoping to spend some time working upstairs on the mezzanine going through ideas for our upcoming spring course. Instead, a film crew arrived to film some scenes, rigging lights and reflectors. To be honest, the were quite efficient, didn’t take too long to set up and shot what they needed. We found a cubby hole and squirrelled ourselves away, talking about our hopes and wishes for this new course.
I’ll say more in future issues, especially as we get closer, but have to say that I can’t wait. Neither of us have had particularly great experiences co-teaching, but I think this is going to be very different, probably because we’re not interested in the measuring so much as the doing. This is going to be a course with lots of playful elements and themes, each week there will be different exercises, because we want the students to use all their senses, make films that are still, slow, and suspend time. We want to tell stories from the margins, explore subjects that might be difficult, or unheard precisely because they are difficult.
Let’s see.
Life Lessons
So, I know I haven’t said much about the news, which is so awful at the moment that I’m just quiet in my thoughts and hopes that someone will come to their senses, even though I can’t see that happening soon. I just don’t know how to process what is happening and thinking of my colleagues across the university who are teaching Arabic and Jewish studies, who recently visited the West Bank, and Israel, and who met the very people who are suffering, and experiencing such loss and terror. I’m also thinking about the fighting, and the need for humanity at this time. I’ve linked to a few articles, one by Gaby Hinsliff, and this from The Conversation.
Listening Space
I have been reading, listening to music. I’m really enjoying the switch to spotify, it is really good, it’s all about the playlists. After the success of Broken Echoes of Sonic Bliss, I made a follow up that you can play below.
On Thursday I walked along Potomac Avenue in Dormont, and ducked into The Outpost, a new record store created by the folks at The Government Center. There’s a really good selection, and as its only been open a week, they’re still putting out all their second hand and used stock. I picked up a few four dollar bargains, including Cat Stevens, and Led Zeppelin, and look forward to seeing if they sound okay, it’s a risk, but who cares really at that price.
I bought the new album by Mitski, called The Land is inhospitable and so are we which is a move to a more folksy sound, even country in parts. She has a beautiful voice, and love her phrasing, and there’s still a sense of tension in her gentle songwriting. There’s a nice review by Alexis Petridis in The Guardian.
Lost and Found
Retreating to the basement, I’ve watched a few films. Some in preparation for the documentary filmmaking course that I’ll be co-teaching in the Spring, and more because I have a long watchlist on Kanopy that I want to make progress on.
The treat this week was to watch The Painter and The Thief, which is a wonderful, intriguing documentary about an artist who struck up a friendship with the man who stole her work from a gallery. It’s a film about relationships, and control, he’s in a very vulnerable position, but so is she. He says he doesn’t remember where the painting is, and she presses him, trying to find out who he is and what made him commit this act. We learn a little about him, through her eyes, and then halfway through, he tells us that while she’s been watching him, he has been watching her, and he shares what he’s learned from their friendship, and unexpected bond. It is fascinating, structured in a cycle of self-destruction, seeing, sketching, layers upon layers of paint on the canvas.
I also watched Westwood, although I fell asleep for a few bits, it was great, the grande dame of punk fashion, anxious that the company was growing to fast, becoming too successful, in part because she had often had very little, that she’d become an art teacher because her working class roots dictated that she apply her talent to the service of others. She cared deeply, about the future of the Planet, leaving some of the day to day running of the business so that she could attend rallies, join marches and voice protest.
Thank you
That’s about all I can manage this week, I’m feeling a bit better just for writing this post, and I’m hopeful that I’ll be back to my usual self by the weekend.
So I still have a few days of recovery, reading, and thoughts will start turning to next week and picking it all up again.
I hope you are well, take care of yourselves and see you soon.