tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29863092309659082202024-03-20T15:51:20.089-05:00Wake-Up Wednesdays!a blog about the weekly conversations hosted by the Treehouse in New Hall North at Tennessee Tech! 6pm in the classroom above the Perch (NHN 282)!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12051454581533304614noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2986309230965908220.post-63404233691206312352017-09-26T11:17:00.002-05:002017-09-26T11:17:48.563-05:00"Words Just Started Pouring Out of Me" : A Night of Poetry with Becca Klaver<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghguvr4oy39bAgP-qQ8b12ma4bam6hN7Dk63vb48IiS8zkJepLZc_ewVJaro9yxaddMC9DsjzbYJ2cTMQOMEMtUwOFcggWIjKSJZ2IwJPc9Z6oCa0R_7oeiG_ZkS_eIYUIeRK-aBGd0Io/s1600/Dr.+Klaver+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghguvr4oy39bAgP-qQ8b12ma4bam6hN7Dk63vb48IiS8zkJepLZc_ewVJaro9yxaddMC9DsjzbYJ2cTMQOMEMtUwOFcggWIjKSJZ2IwJPc9Z6oCa0R_7oeiG_ZkS_eIYUIeRK-aBGd0Io/s320/Dr.+Klaver+1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dr. Becca Klaver, Tennessee Tech’s newest creative writing professor and poet, joined us at Wake-Up Wednesday on September 20. In addition to a poetry reading, Dr. Klaver answered a few questions about her writing journey. </span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-cec39e08-befa-c32a-553d-d419cdbf813e" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As with most writers, Klaver said that she doesn’t remember choosing to write--”words just started pouring out of me”. As a young child, she filled notebooks with stories only realizing that poetry was a thing in middle school. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dr. Klaver’s main focus of work in on the poetics of everyday, and for her, this means the interaction between the physical world and the virtual world. She got the idea to put the internet into her poetry from the New York School of poets. The New York School, including Frank O’Hara and John Ashbery, constantly included pop culture references in their poetry. These poets felt that is was important to name and celebrate reality. The reality of 2017 turns out to be virtual reality. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Before Klaver became a poet she, studied screenwriting at USC LA. She told us that she wanted to be more experimental, and, as the poems came to her without beckoning them, she needed to escape from the formula of screenwriting. However, just as with the internet, film still plays a role in her poetry. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We asked Dr. Klaver what her writing process was like. She said sometimes she takes found texts such as tweets and creates a poem. Often, a piece of language will inspire her and a poem will spin out from that. One such piece emerged from various Facebook posts on the day Osama Bin Laden died, including a found text within the found texts, an all-too appropriate quote from Allen Ginberg’s “America.” </span></div>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dr. Klaver read to us from her book </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Empire Wasted </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">which focuses on New York and the American Empire. Later, we asked if she would write about her newest home Cookeville. She said that the movement in Cookeville is of interest to her, so maybe something will come out of that. Coming from a large city where everyone walks, she’s interested in our need to drive everywhere here. We hope she grows to love our little city and university because we are so excited to have her join our TTU family. </span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12051454581533304614noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2986309230965908220.post-66115827575348443612017-02-21T20:33:00.002-06:002017-02-21T20:33:43.491-06:00The Bible Rarely has One Answer: Susannah Larry on "Is the Bible Sexist?"<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On the first of February, Susannah Larry, Hebrew Bible scholar from Vanderbilt University, joined us for a discussion on the existence of biblical sexism. Larry began our conversation by saying that “the Bible rarely has one answer”. She used this logic to combat traditional biblical views of men, women, and the relationship between them. </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">First, we asked the question “what is a biblical woman?” Many different answers came from our biblical knowledge including: a seductress, a man’s property, an obedient wife and mother, a warrior. As Larry told us at the beginning, there is no one answer to this question. Certainly, examples of all these types of women can be found in the Bible. However, in order to compile some more concrete answer, Larry took us through a few examples more thoroughly. </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Of course, it makes most sense to begin with Eve, mother of all women. Part of the argument that women are to be submissive and even inferior to me lays with the creation of Eve as the second human. In the original, Hebrew the name Adam merely means “dirt being” and has no association with gender. In fact, the words for man and woman are not used until after Eve was created. This suggests that there was no gender in place until both man </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> woman were created.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">With the most basic claims to superiority addressed, we moved on to the first sin. Eve is consistently blamed for the fall of man. The traditional story of the serpent and the tree of knowledge suggests that Eve was alone with the snake and, therefore,was solely responsible for the Fall. However, if we read Genesis 3:6 carefully, we see a small phrase that refutes this idea. In several translations, the verse reads “she also gave some to her husband, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">who was with her</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, and he ate”. Once we take notice of this phrase “who was with her”, we can say that Adam was subject to the serpent’s persuasion and, therefore, equally responsible for the Fall of humanity.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As Adam and Eve were cast from paradise, God heaped judgement upon them. One such judgement is often used in the argument that a husband should be the head of the household. God spoke to Eve “your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you” (NRSV Gen. 3:16). The fact that this was one of God’s judgements as he cast Adam and Eve from the garden suggests that God never intended for man to rule over woman. Inequality, then, is perhaps a sign of the falleness of the world.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Next, we should take a look at the concept of warrior womanhood. The Bible gives us a couple examples of female warriors. Deborah, as the judge of Israel, was a leader in her community. Jael caught the opposing general during war by wooing him drawing him into the false security of a bedchamber. She took this opportunity to kill him. In these two stories, the Bible gives us excellent examples of women who were able to lead and protect their people.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So now that we have some idea of biblical womanhood, what is biblical manhood? We could answer this multiple ways including: a macho warrior, a tender-hearted friend/lover, a sex-crazed hooligan, a devoted spouse. Most would agree that the Bible is ripe with examples of macho warrior men and that this particular type of man is widely celebrated. Devoted spouses and tender-hearted lovers exist and receive similar celebration. It’s safe to say that the warrior man is often more preferred by both men and women. However, it’s important to acknowledge examples of strong men that are also tender-hearted friends. The best example is the friendship between David and Jonathan. The two were very close friends and often “wept with each other” (NRSV 1 Sam. 20:41). When Jonathan died, David lamented the loss of his friend greatly, “greatly beloved were you to me” (NRSV 2 Sam. 1:26). The friendship between David and Jonathan provides a good example for men to know that it’s okay to be emotional towards other men.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">With an idea of a biblical woman and a biblical man, we moved on to the idea of the ultimate relationship between two people: marriage. In our western society, we often view marriage as something to do when you are in love. In the Bible, there are examples of love matches; however, there are also examples of business marriages. In Genesis, we see Jacob fall in love with Rachel and work for her father so that he can marry her (Gen. 29:18). In Deuteronomy 22, we see an example of the terms upon which a woman may be given in marriage. The man who wants to marry will “give fifty shekels of silver to the young woman’s father, and she shall become his wife” (NRSV Deut. 22:29). We can see that marriage can be defined in a couple different ways. How we view it today depends on our own personal translation.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Let’s talk about a topic potentially more interesting to a modern audience than marriage: sex. So, does the Bible say that sex is reserved only for marriage? Not exactly. In Song of Songs, we have two lovers exploring their sexuality together quite plainly; however, there is no marriage mentioned. While certain translations choose to render the sex PG, others make the sex clear. In Ruth, Naomi (Ruth’s mother-in-law) instructs her to “go and uncover his feet and lie down; and he will tell you what to do” (NRSV Ruth 3:4). Here Naomi is attempting to gain security and protection for her daughter-in-law by having her sleep with a man. Why uncover his feet though? In the original Hebrew, feet is a euphemism for male genitalia. So we see that sex does happen outside of marriage in the Bible. </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
<span id="docs-internal-guid-b008737b-63aa-2c76-6ef0-a9e2b38b57a1"><span style="font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After Larry brought us through these numerous questions, we still wanted to know “is the Bible sexist?” Well, it was written by men for men in a different time and a different culture. So, maybe. The book is comprised of many discordant voices. So, maybe. Ultimately, it is the responsibility of the interpreter to determine the context and how to apply the scripture to individual lives. </span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12051454581533304614noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2986309230965908220.post-7403652068386303532017-01-31T07:06:00.001-06:002017-01-31T07:06:16.624-06:00The Vagina Monologues<br />
<div>
<span id="docs-internal-guid-7e059b02-f4a1-1e4c-b383-7101c66ddfdb"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On our first week back at Wake-Up Wednesday, we were visited by three cast members of </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Vagina Monologues. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The play, written by Eve Ensler, will return for its 10th production at Tennessee Tech on February 15th, 16th, and 17th (for more information, see the link at the end of this blog). The proceeds from the performances will benefit a number of national and local organizations including Genesis House, Planned Parenthood, and The Tennessee Coalition for Women.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Holly Mills, librarian at Tech, began our conversation with her experience as a cast member of </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Vagina Monologues</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Fairly new to acting, Mills told us that she was, “not always good at standing up and shouting loudly enough to be heard.” She’s finding her footing, though, as she rehearses her monologue about a woman who had a good experience with a man and came to love herself as a result. While the concept of learning to love yourself through an experience with a man may seem foreign to young women today, it’s certainly something worth talking about. Self-love should evolve from a woman’s own being; however, sometimes we need a little help to see ourselves in a flattering light. Considering the sensitive material in </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Vagina Monologues,</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> we asked Mills if she was worried about performing the play in conservative Cookeville. She replied, “The older I get and the more polarized the country gets, I just say what I need to.” Good advice for all.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Robin Ridley, 1998 graduate of Tech, shared her unique experience as a transgender woman. As a member of a group often excluded from female-only activities, Ridley said “It’s particularly important to be included as a woman.” She is performing the trans monologue that was added to the play in 2005. Ridley told us that she entered activism through her transgender identity and serves as the face for transgender identities in the Cookeville area. We asked her what it was like to not be accepted among female feminists. The early waves of feminists were extremely anti-trans insisting that the transgender community were only men attempting to infiltrate the movement and often banning them from activities. Ridley offered us a scientific perspective on transgender people. Transgender people’s brain structure is more similar to their identified gender than their assigned gender. This is due to a complication during pregnancy. The hormones responsible for brain structures went awry while the hormones responsible for genital development worked correctly creating a disruption (for more information, see http://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2016/gender-lines-science-transgender-identity/). These scientific explanations are important and incredibly enlightening; however, the thing to remember is the inclusion of transgender women in the fight against violence and oppression. One of the ideas of </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Vagina Monologues</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is to bring together women from all walks of life. Ridley’s inclusion in the Cookeville production accomplishes this goal wonderfully. </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Our last guest is a veteran of Wake-Up Wednesday. Jenn Ulschak, local ASL interpreter, gave us a more in-depth history of </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Vagina Monologues</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and its activism work. Eve Ensler uses all the money raised through the performances of the play to fund events to stop violence against women. For example, she has built a safe-house in Kenya to protect nearly 200 girls from genital mutilation, a common practice in the area. Ulschak was honored to interpret at the Nashville Women’s March recently. She told us that she had learned of lateral violence at the march. Lateral violence happens when people on the same level (i.e. women) turn on each other rather than joining forces. Ulschak said that, “It really matters that we stand up against oppression.” I’d have to agree. She told us that she saw </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Vagina Monologues</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> in 2015 and it changed her life. Now, she has the chance to not only get back on the stage for the first time since high school but perform the play that changed her life. Ulschak’s monologue is about birth. She herself has had two natural births and recommends it to other women. The right to give birth to your children naturally is sometimes a tricky one. While I have no children of my own, I’ve run across this issue many times in my short life. When my little sister was born, I remember being horribly frustrated that I wasn’t allowed to see her or stay with my mom in the hospital. More recently, I came across a disturbing recollection of Diane di Prima’s first birth in the 1950s. She wanted a natural birth but was forcibly put out and not allowed to witness the birth of her daughter. </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">These issues are only three of the many that will be covered in </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Vagina Monologues</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Please join these incredible women and many more in Derryberry Auditorium for this year’s production. This week at Wake-Up Wednesday join us with Susannah Leary for a conversation about sexism in the Hebrew Bible. </span></div>
<br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Information about the Vagina Monologues can be found at: https://www.tntech.edu/cas/english/bdph/seasons </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12051454581533304614noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2986309230965908220.post-59694921501332053492016-09-22T11:18:00.001-05:002016-09-22T11:18:15.471-05:00"You can't argue with me about my love" : Peace between Muslim Americans and Christian Americans<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Last night at Wake-Up Wednesday we were joined by Jenn Ulschak who gave us a perspective on Muslims few of us have ever had the chance to see. </span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-ba4d16f2-52ae-e0ee-1e12-eea9d8c34734" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">With all of the unrest in America related to Islamic terrorism, it’s difficult for the public to see past the fear and hatred of radical Islam to the peaceful religion that the majority of Muslims follow. Jenn, as an ASL interpreter for the convention held for the Islamic Society of North America, was able to give us a personal account of her relationship with Muslims. Even more than her interpreting work, Jenn has been able to connect to the Muslim community through her best friend since she was a freshman in college, who is Muslim. She spoke about how during that time she loved spending time at her friend’s house because she and her family were so loving, kind, and accepting of her. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What may be surprising to most Americans is the similarities between Islam and Christianity. Muslims believe in all of the same prophets Christians do plus one more--Muhammad. Of course one of the main differences lies in how the different groups view Jesus. Christians believe Jesus to be the Messiah, the Savior. Muslims believe that Jesus was a great prophet and revere him greatly. In fact, in the Islamic tradition, every time the name of a prophet is said--including Jesus, Moses, and Muhammad--it is followed with the phrase “Peace be upon him”. This is done as a sign of respect for the prophets. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">With the fear of Islamic terrorism and ignorance, comes hate crimes against Muslim Americans particularly Muslim women because they are so easily recognizable with their hijabs. Jenn urged us to remember that when Americans commit hate crimes against Muslims, it only gives terrorist groups more fuel. She said, “Every time I put on a hijab I am afraid.” She told us how much she admires Muslim women who wear hijabs in public every day.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Despite this fear and real danger, Jenn says she wears a hijab at times as an act of embodied solidarity. This concept of embodied solidarity comes from Dr. Larycia Hawkins. Dr. Hawkins was a professor at the Christian institution Wheaton College when in an act of embodied solidarity she wore a hijab to work. She was suspended from her job and although Wheaton College’s official statement says they did not fire Dr. Hawkins, she was ultimately let go. So what is embodied solidarity? Jenn told us that embodied solidarity is using your body, putting your body at risk, to be in solidarity with others. According to Jenn, by wearing a hijab she is becoming an accomplice rather than an ally. She argues that embodied solidarity requires you to risk and therefore strengthens you solidarity. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At the end of the night, Jenn was asked if she feels called to lead her Muslim friends to Christ. She said no. She told us that she and her Muslim friends do not try to convert each other; they simply exist in peace, love, and harmony. Personally, I was pleased to hear Jenn speak so fondly of her Muslim friends and the sisterhood she feels a part of when she is with other Muslim women. I think this is a message of peace that all Americans need to hear right now. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Wake-Up Wednesday will take a break this week. On October 5, Wake-Up Wednesday will join Cardboard City.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Please like our Facebook page for updates: </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/526437980887477/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://www.facebook.com/events/526437980887477/</span></a></div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12051454581533304614noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2986309230965908220.post-22972882538614594132016-09-17T18:16:00.000-05:002016-09-17T18:16:18.088-05:00A Rabbi, Reverend, Mullah, & Monk are My Traveling Companions<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Last week at Wake-Up Wednesday, Reverend Mark Pafford of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Cookeville joined us for the second time. Rev. Pafford brought us a talk about the many different religions he carries around with him as teachers. </span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-e342db81-3a6f-d05f-f000-3941ce99f3cb" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He grew up in the United Methodist tradition and was a Methodist minister for some time. Following his time as a minister, Rev. Pafford became a chaplain for the Veterans Association where he worked specifically with those dealing with addiction. Right after high school, he joined the army and went to South Korea where he was introduced to Zen Buddhism. This was the first step towards his interfaith journey. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rev. Pafford described his interfaith lifestyle as looking through many different lenses. He said that some days he may pick up the lenses from his Christian heritage while other days he may pick up the lenses of his Islamic faith and still other days he may pick up the lenses for the Buddhism he discovered at a young age. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Today, he serves as pastor to the Unitarian Universalist church in Cookeville. The Unitarian Universalist church is a safe haven for those of many different religions, sexual orientations, and other backgrounds. Rev. Pafford is also expecting to graduate with a Master’s degree in counseling this December. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rev. Pafford filled us in about the “Standing on the Side of Love” movement that is going on in the Unitarian Universalist and LGBT communities right now. The movement was mobilized after the shooting in a Knoxville church where LGBT believers were welcome. They are working to continue to fight for the rights of the people of the LGBT community.</span></div>
<br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Join us next week with guest Jenn Ulschak with a talk titled “A Christian Woman Wears a Hijab”.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12051454581533304614noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2986309230965908220.post-90579185199674333942016-09-13T11:12:00.000-05:002016-09-13T11:12:26.985-05:00Fear Through the Years: The 2016 Election in Historical Context<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Last week at Wake-Up Wednesday Dr. Troy Smith of the
history department at TTU joined us to speak about the upcoming election in a
historical context. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It seems like all the media can talk about is Hillary
vs Trump. We wanted to know how this campaign compares to those in the past. The
first election that seems to come to mind is 1884 for the sole reason that no
one liked either candidate then either. It makes me wonder why this is the
first issue that comes to mind. Perhaps it speaks to what Americans (or at
least those who are unversed in politics and only watch the evening news for
the latest football scores) value most in their leaders: appearances. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Dr. Smith, however, argues that there are other
elections that provide us with a better comparison. The two elections that
compare the best to the 2016 election are 1856 and 1920. The first comparison
is immigration. Today’s candidates are
constantly arguing about immigration policies.
But even more than policies, the issue of hatred and fear towards
immigration is huge in this election.
This was also the case in the 1856 election when the issue wasn’t Latino
immigrants but Irish and German Catholic immigrants. In 1920, it was Jewish
immigrants. Today, we aren’t as bothered by European immigrants (Trump’s wife
is a European immigrant), but Latino immigrants strike a chord in many
Americans; our candidates have caught on. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In the 1920 election, people feared immigrants because
of their ideas revolving around socialism and anarchy among other things.
Today, people fear immigrants, especially Middle Eastern immigrants, because of
the terrorism we’ve faced in the last 15 years from a small radical faction of
Islam. Regardless of what people are
fearing it is certainly a throwback. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">There are some unique qualities about the 2016
election, though. One of the main unique factors is the Democratic candidate
herself. Despite her gender (she is the first female candidate to win the
nomination of a major party), Hillary Clinton is the first candidate who is a
former First Lady, a former Senator, and the Secretary of State. While the
Republican candidate seems to be lacking any political experience, he has
certainly gained the backing of many Americans. 2016 will certainly be a historical
race that could go either way. Remember to stay tuned into the election and
VOTE. Here is a link to the Putnam County Election Commission: </span><a href="http://www.putnamcountytn.gov/?p=departments&s=electioncomm"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">http://www.putnamcountytn.gov/?p=departments&s=electioncomm</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Join us tomorrow night with Rev. Mark Pafford from the
Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Cookeville for a talk titled “A Rabbi,
Reverend, Mullah, & Monk are My Traveling Companions”. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12051454581533304614noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2986309230965908220.post-48516367443414472042016-09-07T15:38:00.002-05:002016-09-07T15:38:26.459-05:00Purple Goes Green<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We opened Wake-Up Wednesday for the semester with a visit from DeLayne Miller, Carolyn Huppman, and Allie Ricketts from Tech’s new Office of Sustainability created in January of 2016. </span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-0bf95e6a-065f-1e13-1b0d-a6667b9af4fc" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In 2005, Tech began its sustainability efforts with the “Green Fee” which is an $8 fee that students pay every semester. These funds go to projects such as our Bike Share program, the hydration stations that enable students to use reusable bottles, the green fitness room in the Fit that harnesses human energy to help power the building, the recycling program, solar charging tables, and much more. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Additionally, with the creation of the “Green Fee,” came the creation of the Sustainable Campus Committee which is in charge of deciding how the money will be spent. The committee consists of eight students and ten faculty or staff. The Sustainable Campus Committee is the only organization on campus where the students control where their fee money goes. For this reason, only six of the faculty members on the committee are voting members. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Office of Sustainability is currently working on plans for Earth Week and Sustainability month. Miller told us that they are also in the process of attaining a LEED Certification for the new science building which will be the first building on campus to have this sustainable certification.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One of the main goals of the Office of Sustainability is student outreach. To achieve this goal, they are holding “Think Tanks” and maintaining a presence on social media. They are constantly looking for innovative ideas from students and the community. If you have any ideas or questions you can contact DeLayne Miller at </span><a href="mailto:dlmiller@tntech.edu" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0563c1; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">dlmiller@tntech.edu</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> or visit the Office of Sustainability on campus. </span></div>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Join us tonight at Wake-Up Wednesday with Dr. Troy Smith from the History Department to find out what you need to know about the historical context for the upcoming presidential election. </span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12051454581533304614noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2986309230965908220.post-1538782039086431932015-10-20T14:30:00.000-05:002015-10-20T14:30:58.040-05:00We're All Artists (featuring Troy Bronsink)<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kYTLHA4Qgao" width="560"></iframe><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">On September 30, we had the privilege of hosting
singer-songwriter and creative design leader Troy Bronsink. Troy travelled to
Tech from Cincinnati where he lives with his wife and two children to teach us
how to live our lives as art. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Bronsink introduced us to tools to enhance the
creative design process. This process is circular in nature and contains six
components. It can be used for everything from writing a short story to
designing a cell phone to planning an event to living your life. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">The starting point of the design process is
dreaming. We have to open our minds to what is possible. This may seem like a
simple step, but we all have roadblocks to our dreams. We may not realize that
we stand in our own way. Not knowing our own roadblocks can become our biggest
roadblock of all. In order to learn and let go of our roadblocks, Troy led us
through a meditation process. Once we are able to fully open our minds to all
possibilities, we can truly dream. Without a dream, the entire process is impossible.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Following the discovery of a dream, we must enter
the next step of hovering. Here, we focus on a particular aspect of the dream. As
this may be difficult for some of us, particularly those of us who often get
caught up in the dreaming phase, Troy led us through a meditative focusing
exercise. He instructed us to focus a warm energy flowing from the top of our
heads to our ankles. This taught us to focus our creative energies. It can be
difficult to let go of a part of our dreams as they often become a part of who
we are; however, it is necessary to let go of certain aspects of our dreams in
order to make the entire dream come true. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Once we are able to focus our dream, we need to risk
it. We have to put our baby out into the world and sit back, waiting for
success or failure. We have to test how our creation will function in the
world. Risk isn’t something we only do with a project. We risk things in our
lives every time we make a major decision. Troy encouraged us to ask ourselves
what the “no” or “yes” is in our lives that we are postponing. What is the
crossroads in our lives? The reason we often stand at a crossroads and postpone
saying no or yes lies in our fear of risk. It is, however, a critical part of
the design process that is our lives.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">The results of our risk will come whether we like it
or not. In order to gain insight from our risk, we must listen, truly listen,
to our audience, or in the events of our life design, to ourselves. We must
listen to understand what our user’s experience is. Feedback is crucial to the
creative design process. As a writer, I go through a feedback process every
time one of my pieces is read and workshopped by my peers. It’s a tough
process, but without it, I’ll never grow as a writer. As a leader, I go through
a feedback process every time an event or idea I worked hard on plays out. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Sometimes my risk resulted in success and sometimes
it didn’t. Either way, I always learn something through truly listening to
feedback. This is the only way I grow as a leader. One of the exercises Troy
led us through for the listening process was meditating over our day. We began
from the morning and worked our way through the day reflecting on what our body
was telling us at each part of our day. Listening to our bodies daily allows us
to discover the question that lingers inside of us all day every day. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">So what do we do with our feedback? The next step of
the design process is to reintegrate our feedback into our design. We make
changes and improvements to our design based on our listening. This may involve
going back to any one of the previous stages of the process. We may have to
scrap everything and begin dreaming again.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Following whatever reintegrating means for our
particular creative endeavor, we must rest. We must, as artists, take a step
away from our creation giving it and ourselves room to breathe and rest. Many
of us forget or refuse to take this step. Many of us, myself included, feel
guilty for taking this step always feeling like we could do more. However, rest
is key to a successful creative design. It may be a cliché, but if you love
something, you must let it go. The same thing goes for your creation. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">While a useful tool to shaping our projects and
lives, the creative design process can only go so far. We must be mindful of
our use of it particularly in the listening stage. We must go through the day
stopping to integrate our meditative processes into our everyday lives. As
citizens of a sleepless nation, we often get swept up in the business of the
day and miss out on the opportunities to listen that happen all around us. Troy
suggests carrying a token of some sort—something small such as a stone or
prayer beads—around with you to remind you to meditate throughout the day. Or
for the more techy people, put a reminder on your phone. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">It was a great pleasure to meet and get to know Troy
Bronsink. I’m very grateful for the things he was able to teach us during his
time in the Tree House. He helped us create a peaceful open energy the entire
night through music and meditation. As my friend and colleague Brett Meeks
said, “These meditations created amazing unity and energy in the room.” The
unity and atmosphere Troy was able to help us create was a true gift that we
will be able to use for the rest of our lives. I’ll leave you with this thought
that Troy borrowed from Frederick Buechner and that really spoke to me: your
calling is where your deepest passion meets the world’s deepest need. - Chelsea Mathes <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNbJFrDXtA-U93XMNvfXi_8TuemjtCNqFnE6uUgn11yGFqS4XdmEBFrB7ddqpEsh8UxbljTFgxFlv8sb_ZUNInR6a1yYnRBSbMk_HPQNmSFKuJNIPpQsYySYCzTIj2pWxmWMbSzJtLppQ/s1600/troy-wuw2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNbJFrDXtA-U93XMNvfXi_8TuemjtCNqFnE6uUgn11yGFqS4XdmEBFrB7ddqpEsh8UxbljTFgxFlv8sb_ZUNInR6a1yYnRBSbMk_HPQNmSFKuJNIPpQsYySYCzTIj2pWxmWMbSzJtLppQ/s320/troy-wuw2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Wake-Up Wednesday has been hiatus due to midterms
but resumes this Wednesday, October 21, with Rev. Mark Pafford on “What is
Unitarian Universalism?”<br /></span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
Teacher On The Radiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16868255300336830210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2986309230965908220.post-39684376558484440642015-09-18T09:25:00.001-05:002015-09-18T14:03:51.967-05:00Rabbi Rami Shapiro: An Interfaith Conversation<div class="MsoNormal">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6R4dlKIdYQVbQw9aAZ3knklJwM9-sX_vgx2-DCH8eHCmby4jaOBpUdEOrIirimbyR-kmSVGxeC87ka0Qc0RKB-7zv6h8OJnLZXpHi4pPS0GVhTtkxqrhZTdaff1h0_Bs_tf3lMpPuRIo/s1600/Rabbi+Rami+and+Andy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6R4dlKIdYQVbQw9aAZ3knklJwM9-sX_vgx2-DCH8eHCmby4jaOBpUdEOrIirimbyR-kmSVGxeC87ka0Qc0RKB-7zv6h8OJnLZXpHi4pPS0GVhTtkxqrhZTdaff1h0_Bs_tf3lMpPuRIo/s320/Rabbi+Rami+and+Andy.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rabbi Rami Shapiro and Andrew Smith</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large; line-height: 107%;">Rabbi Rami Shapiro joined us for Wake-Up Wednesday
this week for the first leg of our interfaith journey. Shapiro is a prolific author and practical
mystic who lives in Murfreesboro. We expected an in depth discussion about
Judaism and how it fits into the interfaith web. What we got was much better. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large; line-height: 107%;">Rabbi Rami presented us with a smorgasbord of faith
traditions and opened up the conversation to little known pieces of Hebrew
translation that make all the difference.
For another curve ball, he even expressed this idea that Judaism, his
chosen path, is only one path to a universal truth and ultimate reality, or God,
depending on your individual path.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large; line-height: 107%;">One of the points Rabbi Rami talked about was this
idea of drawing teachings from many different faiths. Yes, all religions are mutually exclusive <i>as religious doctrine</i>. If you ask a Christian how to get to heaven,
she will tell you to accept Jesus Christ into your heart. No other answer will fulfill her faith
requirements. The same goes for any
other religion and whatever their answer may be. But are there not things we can learn from
other faiths that may even enhance our own spiritual journey? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large; line-height: 107%;">You may believe that the only way to heaven is to
accept Jesus Christ as your savior, but does that prevent you from learning a
thing or two about life from other faith traditions? We don’t think it should. We all have something to learn, even if it is
just respect, from other faith traditions.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large; line-height: 107%;">As Rabbi Rami said, “I was only interested in what
worked.” His statement says it all. If what works for an individual on his or her
path to this universal truth we all so desperately seek happens to be a
collection of teachings and beliefs from a multitude of faiths, who are we to
say that person is wrong?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large; line-height: 107%;">As a translator, Rabbi Rami was able to give us some
insights into the original Hebrew text of the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament. Certain words or phrases can often get lost
in translation causing us to lose the original meaning of the text. One such instance occurs when Abraham is
called in Genesis 12 to “Go from your country and your kindred and your
father's house to the land that I will show you” (Genesis 12:1 ESV). Another translation of the Hebrew could be
“go inside yourself” instead of “go from”.
This interpretation changes everything.
It makes Abraham’s journey and our own journey not one of physical
travel but one of pscyhospiritual exploration.
It calls us to free ourselves from ourselves rather than the external
world so that God can do His work. The
translation means everything. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large; line-height: 107%;">Another translation issue Rabbi Rami spoke about comes
in the opening lines of Ecclesiastes. The English translation says
“’Meaningless! Meaningless!’ says the Teacher. ‘Utterly meaningless! Everything
is meaningless.’” (Ecclesiastes 1:2 NIV).
The Hebrew word that was translated into “meaningless” is <i>hevel, </i>which can also mean “impermanent.”
This completely changes how we read this entire book. Rabbi Rami put his understanding of the text
like this, “Life is no more permanent than the morning dew.” Nothing in life can be meaningless. Even a single drop of morning dew is meaningful. It is God—or a piece of God. It becomes words to a poet and perfection to
a painter. We simply cannot reconcile
ourselves to a life where anything is meaningless. It hurts more the more meaning you have, but
imagine carving your heart out of your chest every day, rather than sit with absolutely
nothing where everything should be. A
simple translation difference can change a life perspective. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large; line-height: 107%;">One of the most powerful pieces of our talk with Rabbi
Rami came when he talked about this idea that God cannot be named but only
experienced. A brilliant illustration of
this came when he explained about contemplatives (people who spend their lives praying
and meditating) of different religions coming together to meditate in their own
way and having a discussion about their experiences. Rabbi Rami said that no matter what faith
each person came from, he or she had the same experience as everyone in the
group. Each person experienced this
oneness with God. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large; line-height: 107%;">Alternatively, he or she experienced God even though
each person would have a different name for what they were experiencing. No matter your faith, God can be
anywhere. We may not be able to put a
name to what we’re experiencing, though we’ve been using the term “God”
throughout this blog simply from habit or lack of a better term at the present
time or because of the comfort that familiarity brings. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large; line-height: 107%;">Perhaps the most fascinating piece of our evening was
Rabbi Rami’s discussion on goddesses and femininity in the Bible and religion
in general. In the original Hebrew text, the Holy Spirit is feminine. Just another thing we lost in translation. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large; line-height: 107%;">Mary could be said to be a type of goddess
particularly in the Catholic tradition.
Protestants tend to shy away from the existence of goddesses or
femininity in religion at all, even though Lady Wisdom appears in Proverbs 8: “Does
not wisdom call out?/ Does not understanding raise her voice?/At the highest
point along the way,/where the paths meet, she takes her stand” (Proverbs 8:1-2
NIV). The masculine cannot exist without
the feminine. The creative energies of
both the masculine and feminine are needed to maintain balance. More importantly, when the presence of the
feminine is acknowledged it must not be with the attributes of soft, delicate,
and nurturing only. In fact, even in
Proverbs the feminine is strong calling her people to understand their own
failings. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large; line-height: 107%;">Students crave meaningful interfaith conversations
that are honest. Surely not everyone shares Rabbi Rami’s interreligious
approach, but we all wanted to learn from him, as this was our best attended
Wednesday night discussion to date. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Join us next week for a discussion of Islam with Dr.
Wali Kharif. </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12051454581533304614noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2986309230965908220.post-46054629293314699722015-09-12T15:55:00.001-05:002015-09-15T15:50:38.869-05:00What is White Privilege?<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">This week at Wake-Up Wednesday, we welcomed Dr. Troy Smith of the history
department here at TTU. He joined us to discuss the topic of white privilege, and what follows are some of our insights from the evening's discussion. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">So what
is white privilege? Many people
associate white privilege with prejudice, but it’s not exactly the same
thing. While prejudice can be handed down
as a learned behavior from family members, it is ultimately a choice one makes
to be prejudiced towards a certain group of people based on their race. White privilege refers to the cultural privileges white people are born into in this society and have no choice in. Some aren’t even aware that it’s something
they have. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">To
better explain white privilege, Dr. Smith spoke about the concept of
whiteness. White people did not always
identify themselves as white. In fact,
the concept of whiteness only came along when white people began interacting
with other races who happened to have darker skin colors. Shortly after this
interaction began, a social hierarchy developed placing white Anglo-Saxons at
the top and other races at the bottom.
This hierarchy and concept of whiteness became the backbone of the slave
industry. White people had to believe
that black people were inferior to them in order to justify slavery.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Slavery
left the hierarchy permanently ingrained in everyone. W.E.B DuBois said that black Americans had a
double consciousness meaning that they not only had to see themselves as how
they truly were but also had to be aware of how they appear to white
people. White people do not have to have
this awareness. White people in the United States seem to possess an ingrained fear of black men.
This fear traces back to our ancestors who feared slave rebellions of
black men during the antebellum period.
It doesn’t mean that these people are racist though they may be; it only
means that the race hierarchy put in place by our ancestors still plays an
important role in today’s society.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">In 1954
when <i>Brown v. Board </i>was brought to
the Supreme Court, psychologist Kenneth Clark and his wife Mamie Clark designed
an experiment to show the psychological effect of segregation on school
children. Black and white children were
given dolls that ranged in skin tone from white to black. They were then asked questions like which
doll would be the good doll and which one would be the bad one. Both black and white children responded that
the white doll would be the good doll and the black one would be the bad one. This study was replicated ten years ago with
similar results. This is just another
example of how white privilege and social hierarchy have leaked down into the
generations.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">So now
that we’re aware of white privilege, what can we do about it? Can we do anything about it? How do we use it to everyone’s advantage? As white allies, we can change the system
from the inside. As unfortunate as it
is, one white person is generally more likely to listen to another white person
especially on race issues. This is a
prime example of white privilege. If we
use that privilege by speaking to people about the issues of groups other than
our own and becoming a support group within activist groups, we can change the
white privilege system from the inside out.
We must, however, remember to come with a sense of humility as we offer
our support. - Chelsea Mathes and Andrew Smith of the Tree House, commenting on our conversation with Troy Smith <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Join us
next week as we begin an interfaith journey with Rabbi Rami with a talk titled
“Heart of Judaism”. http://www.rabbirami.com/</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12051454581533304614noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2986309230965908220.post-29398072295350372032015-09-11T10:43:00.000-05:002015-09-11T10:43:58.237-05:00What is Wake-Up Wednesday?<div class="MsoNormal">
Welcome to our Wake-Up Wednesday Blog! Wake-Up Wednesday is a program hosted by Andrew
Smith, Faculty Head in the Tree House the learning village in New Hall North at
Tennessee Tech, along with the Academic Peer Mentors of the building. Guest speakers join us every Wednesday at 7 pm
in our residence hall to facilitate discussions over current controversial
topics. Please feel free to join us and learn about the important topics going on in the world today. New blogs with information from the previous discussion will be posted weekly. Thanks for reading!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12051454581533304614noreply@blogger.com0