The House of Ash

There they are... a few of my favorite people from the Pace University sociology/anthropology department (alumni) at Left Forum this past weekend. I chaired a panel called "Creating Lasting Change through Radical Theatre"on Saturday that featured some fierce speakers and wonderful performances. Every year I look forward to the energy and ideas I get at Left Forum. Looking forward to 2011!

"If one cannot state a matter clearly enough so that even an intelligent twelve-year-old can understand it, one should remain within the cloistered walls of the university and laboratory until one gets a better grasp of one's subject matter".

"What people say, what people do, and what they say they do are entirely different things".

"Sooner or later I'm going to die, but I'm not going to retire".

"One of the oldest human needs is having someone to wonder where you are when you don't come home at night".

From: http://womenshistory.about.com/cs/quotes/a/qu_margaretmead.htm

I can't have a polygamous relationship with theatre and anthropology while in a PhD program. Granted the privilege, I wouldn't waste the opportunity by having my plate full of anything other than the work at hand. So, the decision came down to whether I want to spend the next 7-10 years studying someone else's work or continue doing my own...

I can't stop now.

I won't.

No apologies.

While I'm happy to know I can always return to it ( it - being the academy). I think that the way anthropology informs my work is far more important than some letters after my name. In that sense I will always be a perpetual student.

Am I an artist who does anthropology or an anthropologist who does art?

Because "I like them both", "'Cause I feel like it" and "How is it any of your business if I had 14 liberal arts/humanities majors in undergrad?" are no longer valid answers (and most definitely won't be on my PhD applications), today I will finally attempt to tackle my personal relationship with anthropology and theatre, and the relationship that they have to each other in my twisted Utopian head...

Throughout undergrad and graduate school, I struggled with the fact that according to various experts in the field(s), I was too "anthropology" for theatre and/or too "theatre” for anthropology. Boiled down, what they were attempting to say is they don’ t believe I’m “commercial” enough for many theatrical projects, and I'm too "mainstream" to appeal to many academic audiences.

Like theatre, it is the art of storytelling that draws me to anthropology, and makes me want to pursue higher education in the field. I want to tell stories. I want to read other’s stories, learn about other people’s stories. I want to create my own story.

I refuse to list here the many benefits of a degree in anthropology because it's obvious and easy to see this relationship from an artist’s perspective. After all, having extensive knowledge in anything outside the craft potentially can inform my work. I could also list the benefits of a background in the performing/visual arts for an anthropologist, but once again, there are plenty of articles and websites that already do that, and it seems that also would be a waste of time.

On the most elementary level theatre is about becoming the "other" and/or telling the “other’s” story, whereas anthropology is about studying the "other" and/or telling the “other’s story” (yes, “other” is a problematic term, I know…) but through that lens, the lines between "us" and "them" blurr and eventually disappear. Engaging in the arts also helps us gain a better understanding of our own culture and identity. My involvement in academia, community organizing and activism has led me to question how information, personal agency and awareness of my own community’s struggles are being transmitted to the broader society which may not be as familiar with these issues. Where can an evangelical Christian housewife and transgender street performer find a common connection? Through what methods can we seek discourse between a Palestinian farmer and Israeli school teacher? Through theatre. Theatre is an imperative starting point for new dialogue and giving us hope. This is what theatre and the arts potentially can do. Nothing has informed my theatrical work more than what I've done as an anthropologist. Granted, I'm still young in the field - I'm thankful to have had an incredible mentor who has given me the opportunity to have experiences one would most probably find in graduate school.I look forward to working more on bridging these disciplines.

The things that make me reconsider academia are as follows: I have no desire to be - a pretentious egghead, someone who is so out of touch with the world that they can’t communicate beyond the ivory towers. While there is nothing wrong with this, it’s not me. It never will be. I refuse to lose sight of reality or how what I’m studying can positively affect the real world. Nor do I want to spend the rest of my life in a library regurgitating other people’s theories. I’m not particularly interested in academic publishing as I am in writing for the general public. In fact, every time the anthropology news magazine comes in the mail, it makes me a little sad to know that the amazing information inside will only be seen by people in the field. I definitely think I could do something to change that.

Why I do want to get a PhD: I've been invested in working with the group that I'm proposing to write my dissertation on since undergrad. Though I'm not posting details on my topic up here yet because I'm still working everything out, it deals with theatre in conflict zones. It’s clear that I want to do applied anthropology (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Applied_anthropology ) and that I want to attempt this using theatre and the arts. I want to eventually teach college and publish because I think it's important to empower the next generation of artists/scholars.

I don’t know if these are good enough reasons for wanting to pursue a PhD, I guess in a few months that will be determined. I’m a little frazzled over finding time to take the GRE with all my other projects happening (which, to clarify, I didn’t need to take for my Master’s at NYU because I was in Tisch and they’re too progressive for standardized tests). I once had a professor tell me that PhD’s were for people who can’t sing and dance. I think about this comment often, and while I agree (especially in the context of what we were discussing at the moment) I hope to be the exception to the rule, without sacrificing one for the other.

San Francisco in Photographs...




Golden Gate Bridge

Golden Gate Park

Pier 39 (This picture is dedicated to my mother and her fondness of seagulls and sea lions... arf arf arf)

Golden Gate Bridge at dusk

More will be on the photoblog soon...

I just returned from a wonderful week in San Francisco where I presented on a panel called "Radical Theatre and its Cultural Interventions" at the 107th American Anthropological Association meeting (http://www.aaanet.org/). I did an excerpt of my piece "What to do in Case you Miss the Rapture". It was a fantastic week that really helped solidify how I want anthropology and theatre to work in my life. The other anthropologists on the panel were absolutely phenomenal. It was a fantastic opportunity to network with individuals who are doing like minded work. I'm super inspired now and am looking forward to working on developing a PhD project and applying to anthropology programs. I also had the chance to catch up with my mentor from undergrad and see her as a discussant on a panel on Israel/Palestine. So much fun getting to see her in action again (it's been awhile). Although we're always in touch, I haven't been with her in an academic setting in a few years.

Elizabeth and I are in the process of organizing our next round of GirlPower. She came up with some ground breaking ideas for how to expand the program and really make it part of the community. We're aiming to finish up our grant proposal this weekend and submit it to MTS. In the meantime, we're starting a blog for the girls to connect with each other during down time and keep up their writing. The address of the blog is http://www.girlpowermts.blogspot.com/ . It's a little dead right now, but I guarantee it will pick up within the next few weeks when everyone gets hooked up to it.

On the Co-Op Theatre East front... We're going to launch an official website soon (that's not our blog). We have "Cascando" coming up on December 18th, Robby's new play in February and "My Name is Rachel Corrie" in the spring. More on everything coming soon...