[PeDAGoG] A shout out to Melanie Bush

Sat May 28 16:56:36 CEST 2022

Melanie, me too!  It sounds like a perfect exercise for my Alternative
Education, Alternative Development course!  Thanks Pallavi for sharing the
experience!
Best,
Steve

Steven J. Klees

Former President and Honorary Fellow, Comparative and International
Education Society

University Distinguished Scholar-Teacher

Professor, International Education Policy Program

Affiliate Faculty, Harriet Tubman Department of Women, Gender, and
Sexuality Studies

Affiliate Faculty, Latin American Studies Center

Affiliate Faculty, Consortium on Race, Gender & Ethnicity

College of Education

University of Maryland

College Park, MD 20742

301-405-2212

*https://www.education.umd.edu/directory/steven-klees
<https://www.education.umd.edu/directory/steven-klees>*

Recent Book:  *The Conscience of a Progressive*

Blog:  https://blog.umd.edu/stevenklees/

Co-founder: https://www.thealternativesproject.org/

On Sat, May 28, 2022 at 6:39 AM Melanie Bush <melanie.e.l.bush at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Of course! Perhaps we can both share with you so you see our approaches.
> Ok Pallavi?
>
> Any one interested just email us…
>
> On Sat, May 28, 2022 at 12:14 PM <singhvan at rcn.com> wrote:
>
>> Thanks for this fascinating discussion, Pallavi and Melanie - would you
>> be willing to share details about this assignment?  I'd be interested in
>> trying it out with my students.
>> Best,
>> Vandana
>>
>> ------------------------------
>> *From: *"Melanie Bush" <melanie.e.l.bush at gmail.com>
>> *To: *"PeDAGoG" <gta-pedagog at lists.ourproject.org>
>> *Cc: *"Global Tapestry of Alternatives" <gta at lists.riseup.net>
>> *Sent: *Saturday, May 28, 2022 5:42:05 AM
>>
>> *Subject: *Re: [PeDAGoG] A shout out to Melanie Bush
>>
>> Pallavi, I am moved by your experience and your generosity.  Every time I
>> use this assignment the students go from being extremely skeptical -
>> including saying things like what do I have to offer and how could one hour
>> matter - to being opened to affirmations of worth and possibility.
>> Perhaps we might do a joint essay?
>>
>> We've already begun exploring how we might match our students with each
>> other in a future time bank experience.  I feel certain we'll figure out
>> how to do that for an extraordinary experience.
>>
>> I'll also report that from the PeDaGoG network, Sayan and I connected.
>> One of his colleagues at WITS CDS spoke with my Ethnicity class this spring
>> (as did Devika btw), and I spoke with folks at the center yesterday and
>> we'll be meeting up again later today. Also met with Patrick Bond
>> yesterday, Ashish, who I believe you know well.
>>
>> Building forward with inspiration from all of you. Thank you Ashish and
>> the GTA core team for all your efforts in pulling us together.   Very
>> grateful to be a part of this initiative.
>>
>> Blessings all,
>> Melanie
>>
>> On Sat, May 28, 2022 at 11:31 AM Ashish Kothari <ashishkothari at riseup.net>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> That's amazing and inspiring, Pallavi! And thanks Melanie! This is so
>>> much the essence of this kind of forum and network ... and it probably
>>> happens every once in a while but is not always reported back. In the
>>> Vikalp Sangam process we get such news occasionally, of bilateral or
>>> multilateral linkages made at the Sangam confluences or online, resulting
>>> in some wonderful collaborations and actions, and it then all seems worth
>>> the constant emailing, phoning, and following up! :)
>>>
>>> It would be great to get one or more of the students to write about this
>>> experience, which we can carry on vikalp sangam website .. and perhaps they
>>> can also publish in one of the youth magazines? And/or you writing about it
>>> ... with a bit more elaboration on what they tried, how they were
>>> transformed etc ?
>>>
>>> (I am copying in here also the GTA core team to let them know of this).
>>>
>>> ashish
>>>
>>> New, for post-COVID dignified livelihoods in India! Vikalp Sutra
>>> <https://sutra.vikalpsangam.org/>
>>>
>>> FREE DOWNLOAD! Pluriverse: A Post-Development Dictionary
>>> <https://radicalecologicaldemocracy.org/pluriverse>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Ashish Kothari
>>>
>>> Kalpavriksh
>>>
>>> Apt 5 Shree Datta Krupa
>>>
>>> 908 Deccan Gymkhana
>>> <https://www.google.com/maps/search/908%0D%0A++++++++++++Deccan+Gymkhana+%0D%0A+++++++++Pune%0D%0A++++++++++++411004,+India?entry=gmail&source=g>
>>>
>>> Pune 411004, India
>>> <https://www.google.com/maps/search/908%0D%0A++++++++++++Deccan+Gymkhana+%0D%0A+++++++++Pune%0D%0A++++++++++++411004,+India?entry=gmail&source=g>
>>>
>>> Tel:
>>> <https://www.google.com/maps/search/908%0D%0A++++++++++++Deccan+Gymkhana+%0D%0A+++++++++Pune%0D%0A++++++++++++411004,+India?entry=gmail&source=g>
>>> 91-20-25654239; 91-20-25675450
>>>
>>> Kalpavriksh <https://kalpavriksh.org/>
>>>
>>> Vikalp Sangam <http://vikalpsangam.org/>
>>>
>>> Radical Ecological Democracy
>>> <http://www.radicalecologicaldemocracy.org/>
>>>
>>> Global Tapestry of Alternatives
>>> <http://www.globaltapestryofalternatives.org/>
>>>
>>> https://ashishkothari51.blogspot.com
>>>
>>> Twitter <https://twitter.com/chikikothari> LinkedIn
>>> <http://www.linkedin.com/in/ashishkothari1961> Instagram
>>> <https://www.instagram.com/ashishkotharivikalp/> Facebook
>>> <https://www.facebook.com/ashish.kothari.1297>
>>>
>>>
>>> On 28/05/22 1:09 pm, Pallavi Varma Patil wrote:
>>>
>>> Dear PeDAGoG Members,
>>>
>>> I wanted to share a recent interesting and meaningful experience that
>>> came about directly as a result of this network.
>>>
>>> You are aware (mostly thanks to my own emails) that Sujit and I offered
>>> the first session in the new webinar series called 'Learnings for
>>> Alternative Futures' (designed in collaboration with several valuable
>>> networks)  by presenting our initiative, 'Living Utopias' on April 1,
>>> 2022.  It was a session with a small group and we had a very useful
>>> conversation amongst the participants. One of them , Melanie Bush (more on
>>> her in our google sheet <https://bit.ly/3MWczsB> ) reached out to us in
>>> the following week and we had a lovely conversation about pedagogies and
>>> experiential learning- making abstract values more tangible.
>>>
>>> And so I learnt from Melanie (with her generous sharing of ideas ) how
>>> to set up an assignment around a Time Bank in a classroom space . I was
>>> skeptical but my students in an Indian University (36 of them) rose to the
>>> occasion and exceeded the brief and more. They paired up on their own and
>>> shared their skills and gifts. So from bike rides to coffee evenings to
>>> cooking, a lake walk, a photoshoot, braiding hair,  to watching a film
>>> together, playing childhood games - they completed their time sharing tasks
>>> in  myriad ways.
>>>
>>> And just like that my University class transformed like magic . We had a
>>> whole unit on Solidarity Economics with the usual reading list but now each
>>> one of them came back to class with a different mind set towards learning.
>>> They were so much more engaged as participants in ideas around Living
>>> Utopias.  Without ANY exception I had 36 reflections that spoke about the
>>> huge impact a small assignment made on the possibilities that friendships
>>> and connections bring,
>>>
>>> It was difficult to read their sensitive reflections without tearing up.
>>> These students are in the age group of 22-27 years. Coming out of COVID
>>> closures, and increased polarisation in the world around them,  several are
>>> struggling to make and maintain real physical comradeship and friendships.
>>> Many are also very despondent about the future.
>>> In this context, thanks to such a  simple assignment, I got to connect
>>> with my students in a very different and humane way.
>>>
>>> I wanted to publicly thank Melanie in this forum for this impromptu
>>> collaboration.  Following our webinar was Dan Baron's fantastic session and
>>> a 3rd webinar in the series is on its way. I hope what is now set rolling
>>> continues and we do not stop soon.
>>>
>>> Because look how New York affected  Bangalore!.
>>>
>>> Best,
>>> Pallavi
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> https://naitaleem.wordpress.com/
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> https://naitaleem.wordpress.com/
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> GTA-PeDAGoG mailing listGTA-PeDAGoG at lists.ourproject.orghttp://lists.ourproject.org/mailman/listinfo/gta-pedagog
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> GTA-PeDAGoG mailing list
>>> GTA-PeDAGoG at lists.ourproject.org
>>> http://lists.ourproject.org/mailman/listinfo/gta-pedagog
>>>
>>
>>
>> --
>>
>> .............................................
>> Rod Bush: Lessons from a Radical Black Scholar on Liberation, Love, and
>> Justice
>> Open access download for teaching purposes
>> <https://www.okcir.com/product/rod-bush-lessons-from-a-radical-black-scholar-on-liberation-love-and-justice/>
>> https://rodbush.org/
>>
>> ***********************************************************************
>> Tensions in the American Dream: Rhetoric, Reverie or Reality
>> <http://tupress.temple.edu/book/0399>
>> Free with audible trial:
>> https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07F44CBLK?ref=adbl_mfpdp_owns
>> Author proceeds go to Cooperation Jackson
>> <https://cooperationjackson.org/>
>>
>> ..........................................
>>
>> Everyday Forms of Whiteness: Understanding Race in a "Post-Racial" World
>> <https://rowman.com/ISBN/9780742599994/Everyday-Forms-of-Whiteness-Understanding-Race-in-a-'Post-Racial'-World-Second-Edition>
>>
>>
>> *Eternal and infinite love for you, yours & the ongoing struggle *
>>
>> *for dignity, justice, wisdom and peace.*
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> GTA-PeDAGoG mailing list
>> GTA-PeDAGoG at lists.ourproject.org
>> http://lists.ourproject.org/mailman/listinfo/gta-pedagog
>> _______________________________________________
>> GTA-PeDAGoG mailing list
>> GTA-PeDAGoG at lists.ourproject.org
>> http://lists.ourproject.org/mailman/listinfo/gta-pedagog
>>
> --
>
> .............................................
> Rod Bush: Lessons from a Radical Black Scholar on Liberation, Love, and
> Justice
> Open access download for teaching purposes
> <https://www.okcir.com/product/rod-bush-lessons-from-a-radical-black-scholar-on-liberation-love-and-justice/>
> https://rodbush.org/
>
> ***********************************************************************
> Tensions in the American Dream: Rhetoric, Reverie or Reality
> <http://tupress.temple.edu/book/0399>
> Free with audible trial:
> https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07F44CBLK?ref=adbl_mfpdp_owns
> Author proceeds go to Cooperation Jackson
> <https://cooperationjackson.org/>
>
> ..........................................
>
> Everyday Forms of Whiteness: Understanding Race in a "Post-Racial" World
> <https://rowman.com/ISBN/9780742599994/Everyday-Forms-of-Whiteness-Understanding-Race-in-a-'Post-Racial'-World-Second-Edition>
>
>
> *Eternal and infinite love for you, yours & the ongoing struggle *
>
> *for dignity, justice, wisdom and peace.*
> _______________________________________________
> GTA-PeDAGoG mailing list
> GTA-PeDAGoG at lists.ourproject.org
> http://lists.ourproject.org/mailman/listinfo/gta-pedagog
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://lists.ourproject.org/pipermail/gta-pedagog/attachments/20220528/d6cfa4e7/attachment-0001.html>