A dictionary is a tool that has the power to connect cultures and civilizations by weakening the restraints of the very things that make it up, words. A specific word that professor McCoy mentioned in relation to ‘Zulus’ and dictionaries was the term: Abecedarian. We discussed in class that this meant that something was arranged in alphabetical order. However, by practicing the concept of repetition to gain more insight, I researched this term again. The online resource, dictionary.com confirms this definition but also adds something that screamed ‘Zulus!’ right at me.
Expectations of the Mother Ion
The effects of being introduced to the concept of Interdisciplinarity are best defined as haunting revolutions. The thrill that is experienced when I notice the obvious interaction between two seemingly polar fields permeates my mind and truly allows me to embrace the subject with a newly found appreciation knowing it depends on another field for its own foundation. These connections between subjects can sometimes be noticed easily, but what about when subjects converse with social and cultural realities? I found myself questioning the interdisciplinary relationship the world has with different fields of study through how the interpretations and implications that ordinary tasks (like conjugating a verb, understanding a scientific theory or ambiguous metaphors hidden in a text) converse with the world around us. This was the beginning of how an organic chemistry class taught me about motherhood. Continue reading “Expectations of the Mother Ion”
Open The Box!
Open the Box!
Thinking about the specific words and the order in which to place them for this blog post was something that seemed to haunt me these past couple days. Reading Meridian by Alice Walker put me in the center of a labyrinth in my mind and forces me to try to find a safe way out. I soon realize that safety and comfort isn’t a mode through which this journey can be traveled rather discomfort and uneasiness is embraced and encouraged as an escape.
The Red Dirt Road
In his work Interdisciplinarity Moran mentions that, “There is a sense in which the contemporary field of ‘cultural studies’ could be said to be synonymous with interdisciplinarity itself….” (45). At first reading this I didn’t quite understand how my specific cultural experience could impact how I approached a discipline or interpreted a text. Jean Toomer quickly proved me wrong through the mention of a simple object in the short story titled “Fern”.
This transformative yet highly simplistic object that built a cultural bridge between interpretation and experience, was dirt. That’s right, red dirt. Continue reading “The Red Dirt Road”
The Proven Sound of Interdisciplinarity
“Is music an art or a science?”
This was the question my music professor asked during class this morning. Silence wafted in the air but I could tell that a general consensus had already been made. Finally a brave voice says, “Art.”
My professor then asks, “Is there anyone here that can define art?” Silence arises again.
“No.” Someone else responds.
My professor smiles then stands behind the grand piano in the room and asks our class to sing the musical patterns that he played. We hummed, sang short and long notes with different stresses and volumes all while receiving instructions on how best to perform these tasks. I began to pay special attention to the word choice in my professor’s instruction and explanation on the purpose of our recitations. They sounded like this, “More air suggests more volume.” and “Changing the shape of the mouth changes the tone quality [of the note].”
Almost instantly I was reminded of how academic disciplines can intertwine in ways that may not seem obvious at first, but hold significance to the discipline itself. In his Interdisciplinarity, Joe Moran expresses that, “…interdisciplinarity is always transformative in some way producing new forms of knowledge in its engagement with discrete disciplines.” (15). Sitting in my music class and watching my professor take a physiological approach to the “art” of music and musical performance proved Moran right. The difficulty in placing an exact definition on this term wasn’t something I understood until just then while hearing how science and art compliment each other to create music.
My professor goes on to explain how the vibration of strings affects the sound of a note, some moving as fast as 400 vibrations a second. After this fact he walks from behind the piano and says, “To [me,]a performing musician that’s not science, that’s art.”.