Mapping Our Comfort Zones RAP Session Reflection
In the Mapping Our Comfort Zones session we discussed how we want to expand our understanding of PLACE (specific, personal, geographic locations) to see SPACE (the abstract, the general). We thought about places in context of forces such as history, time of day, relative location, the 5 senses, etc in order to start to get at this larger idea of "space." We also looked as absolute, relative, and relational space.
With our discussions in mind, please respond to the following prompt with a paragraph of writing:
Show how the PLACE where you do your community work is actually SPACE. (think about any connections to your "comfort zone").
We would also like you to include a visual with your post (a picture, or drawing, etc). Please include the visual in an email to cesp (at) umn.edu since posting the picture in a comment can be difficult without knowledge of HTML code.
Comments
I recently volunteered as a mentor at the 2009 fall Peace Jam Slam. I am also going to start volunteering at Nellie Stone Johnson elementary school working in the Spanish classrooms. Using the Peace Jam as my example the physical place was Northrop Auditorium. The place symbolized so much more than just a building to hold all of the participants/mentors and somewhere that usefully accommodated all of the activities that went on. The place symbolized a space for inspiration and motivation. The whole purpose of the Peace Jam was to get youth from a variety of Minnesotan regions excited to contribute and make a difference in their different communities. The space represented the bonding between the mentors and the Peace Jam participants and all of the energy that fueled the entire event. Yes Northrop was a large and sensible place to hold the Jam but it wasn’t about the physical building of Northrop. Behind the bricks was an atmosphere full of workshops and ice breaker activities all that strode to emphasis how young people have a huge voice in their communities and lives. The atmosphere and all of the vibes that it sent out held a repetitive message that violence doesn’t have to rule somebody’s life. You don’t have to be a grown adult to have a significant effect on the place that you live and the people that you live around.
Posted by: Amelia Kaderabek | November 5, 2009 9:52 PM