REACH Across Dayton
Realizing Ethnic Awareness and Cultural Heritage Across Dayton
Sinclair Community College – Building 12
Friday, February 26, 2010: 8:30 a.m.- 4:30 p.m.
The Public is Invited
Seventeenth Annual Studies Conference
"In The Spirit of Going Home"
8:00 – 8:45 AM Registration and Coffee
8:45 – 9:20 AM Opening Session: Welcome and Morning Son
The Miami Valley: A Global Family Willis“Bing” Davis, Artist, Educator and REACH Co-coordinator
9:20 – 10:20 AM Keynote Address – In the Spirit of Coming Home
Eduardo de Soignie, artist. Where is home? This presentation explores the influential periods in his life and the perils of creating a new home. Born and raised in Cuba until the age of eighteen, Soignie received his initial art education and was exposed to the madness and kindness of a Socialist State; the first of its kind in Latin America and the Third World. Socialism was, among many other things, the attempt of a third world nation to become a modern country politically, economically and socially. The second part of his life was Miami, a port of entry to the United States, and his initiation into American society. During his brief stay in the Sunshine-State, Soignie became acutely aware of the advantages and disadvantages inherent within the human range of skin tones. Chicago is the first place he has called home in this country. It was his introduction to an all-American urban center, a cosmopolitan city and the place where he fully experienced the kindness and madness of a classical capitalist society. Chicago is a city of contrasts, summer and winter, north and south, east and west. Perhaps due to its dual nature, it is in Chicago where Soignie feels the most Cuban that he has ever felt, while, simultaneously, feeling the closest to becoming a full-fledged American. Chicago has been his platform from which he has explored the world. Alas, whenever the airplane approaches O’Hare on his way back, there is that uncertain feeling of coming home.
10:35 – 11:40 AM The Search for Home
Panel facilitated by Dr. Kathy Rowell, Director, Center for Teaching and Learning, Sinclair Community College. Participants: Dr. Khurshid Ahmad, Professor Emeritus, Insurance and Real Estate, Wright State University; Michael Chougehgligi Hoffa Vice President and Co-founder of the Miami Valley Council for Native Americans; Phillip Obermiller, Independent Scholar, Dr. Boikai Twe Professor, Psychology, SCC; Dr. Yufeng Wang, Professor, American History, SCC
11:40 – 12:00 Looking for Cuba Inside
Juan-Sí González, Multimedia Artist, will present a video of a street performance in Cuba and a power point presentation of a work in progress in which he is documenting sixteen towns named Cuba that are scattered around the United States. In his presentation Gonzalez explores the creation of a new territory—his own psychological territory—circumscribed by these places in his adopted country that have appropriated the name of his country of origin.
12:15 - 1:00 p.m. Lunch - Great Hall
1:00 – 2:00 p.m. Breakout Session
Art Workshop – Build a Table Top Alter or Shrine
Led by artist Willis “Bing” Davis - a hands-on art activity using recycled materials to create a small personal table-top alter (quiet space) for reflecting on one of the following themes of: PEACE, HAPPINESS, CHILDREN, THE ELDERLY, UNEMPLOYMENT, HUNGER, THE HOMELESS, or AGAPE. All materials are provided.
Chinese Family: Concepts and Reality
Yufeng Wang, Professor, American History, SCC.
Journeys of a Delaware
Michael Chougehgligi Hoffa, Vice-President and Co-Founder of the Miami Valley Council for Native Americans. Michael will share the story of his life journey; from the lessons learned as child from his Grandfather about the culture and traditions of the Delaware Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma until the time that he made Dayton, Ohio home and help start the Miami Valley Council for Native Americans.
"El Retorno Eterno / The Eternal Return"
Dr. Derek Petrey, Director, Honors Program, SCC. The concept of coming home in Latin American culture has been explored in music, poetry, and popular media. We will look at Spanish-language concepts of home and hearth, the sorrow of being forced to leave home due to economic or political exile and the tragedy of returning to a home you no longer recognize as your own. We will also look at the celebration of home and connection to community.
Appalachian Stories
Phillip Obermiller, Independent Scholar
Can You Go Back Home Again? Our Bicultural Experiences and Stories
Dr. Khurshid Ahmad, Professor Emeritus of Finance, Wright State University and Mary Joyce Ahmad, M.A., Teacher of Spanish (retired), Stebbins High School.
The Burnell Roberts Triangle Gallery Artist talk by Juan Si Gonzalez
Multimedia installation: America at Home.
2:15 – 3:15 Breakout Sessions
Guatemala: Going “Home” Two Years Later Presenters: Cecilia Bidigare, Assistant Professor, Nursing, and Dr. Kathy Rowell, Director, Center for Teaching and Learning, Benjamin Lewis, SCC student and James Ryan, SCC alumni. You are invited to hear the experiences of how four travelers have witnessed how globalization has change San Andres, Guatemala in two years time. Presenters will discuss how globalization is changing the landscape and culture of the Mayan people.
Going Home to Liberia Dr. Boikai Twe, Professor, Psychology, SCC. This presentation will highlight my Trip to Liberia by way of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and Accra, Ghana in 2007 to facilitate my mother's return to Liberia. It will highlight the lessons learned and the memories of the trip.
Home By Another Way
Rev. Dr. Michael D. Castle, Pastor, Cross Creek Community Church, United Church of Christ. Dr. Castle will share the story of his coming out as a gay, Christian minister and how he found his way home by affirming his sexual orientation and by being more fully the human being he was created to be. His embrace of his gay sexual orientation was also the serendipitous occasion for a renewed and energized life in God as a follower of the Jesus...a journey that took him home by another way. Robert Coates, SCC, Art Department, facilitator
Appalachian Music Takes Us Home
Kathy Queen Hayes; Adjunct Faculty, History, SCC, Sarah Zidorodff and children Brady, Cari and Kaitlynn Zidoroff; and the Bluegrass Pickers. Music has been preserved and handed down through the oral culture of the Appalachian region. History of the music and how it takes us home will be presented. Performances of traditional and bluegrass music will be presented as part of the program.
Making Autobiography: Exploring Identity Through Performance
Louise Smith, actor, writer, past chair of the Antioch Theatre Department and therapist at South Community Behavioral Health Center. We all have a life story. This session explores identity through performative means in order to further connect to our authentic selves. We will use storytelling, movement and creative writing to assemble a piece of our lives.
The Role of Language and Identity
Barhar Hartmann Associate Professor, Modern Languages, SCC. What role does French play in our global world? Hartmann will discuss how language plays an important role in ethnic awareness and understanding global issues.
The Dayton International Peace Museum: Building a Peaceful Global Home
William J. “Bill” Meers, Museum Member and Donor Support Volunteer. Review the history, ideals, and vision of the Dayton International Peace Museum, a new Dayton gem, devoted to creating a "Space for Peace" in our lives and world. Participants will be encouraged to share their vision of a peaceful "home" and how their experiences of "home" inspires them to be peacemakers.
Art = Life Presenter: Eduardo de Soignie, artist. In this informal session Soignie will generate an exchange of ideas on how young artist can bring their life into the art that they are making. He will talk about how life experiences such as travels, art symposiums and moving through the country has influenced his work. He is curious to see and hear how such experiences might have affected their work. The artist will show samples of sketchbooks, artbooks, photographs, and other materials he uses as references for his work.
3:30 – 4:30 PM CLOSING SESSION
Percussion and World Music Ensemble led by Dr. Lennard V. Moses, Director of Percussion and World Music Studies at Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio. The ensemble encourages audience participation and features rhythmic influences from Africa, India, Latin and African American and Caribbean Music. Hand Drumming, Steel band, and Classical percussion instruments are also featured in performance.
Closing Remarks Tess Little, Willis “Bing” Davis and Jane A. Black
