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Ariella Lang
Associate Dean of Academic Affairs, Director of Undergraduate Research and Fellowships, Columbia University
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This LIA experience sounds remarkable considering you found it yourself. I wonder if it has made you change your mind in any way about post-grad education.
Post #2
How do you interact with community members, and what kind of conversations are you having? How do you connect with this community of people, and what common cause do you find?
(I am uploading some posts I had prepared for previous weeks now.)
I am typically interacting with people who work in libraries, museums, or the arts. For example, I got to meet a former member of the Beijing Opera Troupe -- our conversation was largely about his experiences with opera, though after I asked him about young people and their experiences with Beijing Opera, he was curious about my experiences in New York. He asked if young people learned about Chinese Opera as part of a core college education, and seemed surprised when I told him it wasn't very common, at least at Columbia. I shared that my supervisor had found a rich history of Columbia students participating in Chinese Opera in the past, however, something that I've also continued to delve into through the Teachers College Digital Collections. He responded that certain traditions of Chinese Opera were listed as UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Masterpieces in the past, and so he was expecting more young people overseas to be familiar with it. I'm hopeful that my project can bring more light to this part of Chinese history, especially Chinese American history, that is not often talked about.
Even outside of these fields, I find that many community members are excited to hear about how my research connects to America, particularly Chinese Americans. I'm learning that Chinese Opera was a big aspect of cultural exchange in the early 1920s and 1930s -- for example, Mei Lanfang, the virtuosic Beijing Opera performer, performed at numerous New York venues in 1927, and was even accompanied by a "cultural interpreter" who was a Columbia Teachers College student: Soo Yong! Her job was to commentate on Mei's performances and provide context to a primarily non-Chinese audience. Sharing what I've learned with community members here has been a fulfilling part of my time abroad -- I just had a conversation in a tea house with someone who is also studying literature, like me, and we bonded over the importance of cultural studies in sharing experiences and traditions with people who might not be familiar with the history or significance of Chinese Opera.
Hey Ari! I enjoyed reading about how people living in China were just as curious about your experiences in America, as you were about theirs. I think these interactions are essential to ensure that you give such as you take from the region/field you are placed in.
Hey Kelly! I appreciate your sensitivity to the voices your work is amplifying. I love that you are centering the people most affect by the conversation or have lived through the the social phenomena you are studying!
Hey Joe! I loved how you spoke so highly about the collaborative work done by the various stakeholders in your project. It goes to show how multifaceted AI and media are, and how it takes diverse voices to shape it.
Hey Kira! Your projects and events sound so exciting and engaging! I looked into the book you mentioned 'We Slaves of Surimane' because as I am working in South Africa, it is hard to ignore the still present effects of Dutch settler colonization. I cannot wait to hear more about what else you get up to in Utrecht.
Some of the challenges I have faced were mostly related access to quality sources. My research is framed around a recent legal rule that has very little literature written about it. This forced me to be creative and take an unconventional approach by redefining my scope and establishing new parameters. I also had to read court cases that can easily be overwhelming due to the new jargon and terminology. At the end though, I found it very interesting to read court transcripts which revealed a more human side to legal proceedings.
When it comes to resources my librarian and mentor were very helping and often guided me towards very useful information. I also heavily depended on Nexus for any law adjacent texts and literature.
1. For my research, I am still currently conducting fieldwork, especially because ethnography is generally conducted over a long period of time. Because of this, my immediate expectations are to continue taking observational notes, talking to community members, and reading more articles about history pedagogy and PBATs. I am currently writing an annotated bibliography with the readings that I’ve been doing to supplement my understanding of PBATs and how social studies and history are taught in schools. This will provide more background and context that will supplement what I’ve been observing during my fieldwork research.
2. Especially given the little amount of literature out there about PBATs and especially, the use of different kinds of assessments and educational equity for immigrant students, I hope that the contribution and research I conduct can add to this field of increasing equity in education for immigrant students. Specifically, I am interested in the way history PBATs affect immigrant students’ understanding of US history, as the students add a critical cultural significance to the classroom with the perspectives and experiences that they bring in. Additionally, given the current political climate and discourses over what should and shouldn’t be included in history education, I am also interested in the way history education has evolved throughout the years in the United States.
I am interested to hear more about your research Karen! I think it is very time sensitive considering all the discourse in media about what ought to be taught in schools. I wonder if public opinion and discourse tied to your research could possibly influence your results in anyway and if there are ways your team in navigating that (I’ve never done field work so I’m not sure of the protocol)
1. My research excited me mostly because it is very topical and is part of the larger conversation of the future of advocacy, criminal reform, discrimination and recidivism. As a human rights major this is a subject I hope explore more in my academic exploration. I hope to write a thesis for my major and this research might inspire that venture.
2. My research matters because the world is slowly transitioning into openly having conversations about structures that perpetuate injustices. I believe intersectionality and it’s role in the legal system is emblematic of the larger issues that exist in most social, political and economic spaces and the nuance it will take to overcome them. I would like to contribute to the larger movement of acknowledging discrimination in its multiple facets.