|
|
|
Welcome to
Our
E-newsletter
Minds in Motion
How do we tell our stories? That question sits at the center of the Free
Minds Fall 2010 curriculum. In upcoming newsletters we'll tell you how we're exploring that
question in the stories we encounter in American history, literature,
humanities, and in our own writing.
In the
meantime, we have a few stories to share with you today. Read about our new
class, new space, and new programming for alumni. And
take a minute to applaud the generous people who helped us get books into the
hands of our students this semester. We're off to a great start!
|
|
Free Minds Welcomes Class of 2011
 After months of recruitment and interviews, we are thrilled to welcome the class of 2011! This year Free Minds enrolled eighteen women and two men whose ages span four decades. The class includes city and state employees, a former ski instructor, students from Sweden, Belize, and Mexico, writers and artists, mothers and great-grandmothers. We are excited to discover where the year will take us!
The students and their children all met for the first time on Monday, August 16, for the Free Minds orientation at the Austin Can! Academy. We discussed the books and the syllabus, introduced key staff, and started the process of getting students registered at Austin Community College with the help of the Mobile Go van parked outside the school.
All the faculty were present to kick off the semester on Monday, August 23. Students and faculty squeezed together around the seminar table and shared stories about something very near to the hearts of everyone involved in the Free Minds Project: education. Responding to a reading from educator and author Mike Rose and a prompt put forward by Project Director Vivé Griffith - "What did you used to believe about education and what do you believe now?" - students and faculty introduced themselves to the class as thinkers and learners, and everyone left excited about the months to come. |
Free Minds Partners with the Austin Can!
AcademyIf you
come to visit a Free Minds class this year, you'll find us set up on Rosewood
Avenue at the Austin Can! Academy. Austin Can!
has opened its doors to Free Minds, offering us a
seminar space for our adult class as well as a classroom and outdoor space for the
Camp Fire USA program for children. Austin Can!
is a charter high school whose mission is "to provide
a second chance for at-risk youth and their families to achieve economic
independence and hope for a better life through relationship-based education
and training." Its students complete
their high school education and receive support to help them transition to
college. Austin Can! is also a learning environment where the larger
community is welcomed and valued. "Austin Can!
Academy is committed to partnering with community organizations, especially
those of such high quality as Free Minds," says Principal Dr. Joe E. Gonzalez. Free Minds is excited about this new
partnership and grateful to the administration and staff at Austin Can!
who made it possible. |
Graduates - Help Us Plan Alumni Events!
L-R: Grace Adams '09, Michelle Faires '07, Vivé Griffith, Charmaine Nichols '09, Margo Walker-Brown '08
 | It's our
hope that the Free Minds experience doesn't end with a student's May graduation
ceremony. We're committed to maintaining an extended intellectual community for
our alumni, who now number nearly fifty. Last year, two ACC classes were offered
exclusively for Free Minds alumni - Introduction to Theater in the
fall and Introduction to Sociology in the spring - and alumni staged a
performance and committed dozens of hours to community service. This year a planning committee made up of Free Minds alumni will organize alumni events, including a series of master classes. We're seeking enthusiastic alumni to join the committee, which held its first meeting last week. Contact the Free Minds office to get involved. And remember: alumni
are always welcome to visit Free Minds classes and join us for events,
including our trip to see A Midsummer
Night's Dream with the Actors from the London Stage on September 30. |
|
|
|
|
Special Thanks
Last month we put out a call for book donations for the fall 2010 semester. We saw a wonderful show of support from Free Minds fans from coast to coast - Texas, California, Pennsylvania, New York, Missouri, Indiana. We received more than a third of the books we needed! Special thanks go to: Eileen Abrahams, Schenectady, NY. Jon Anderson, Austin, TX. Meagan Brown, Austin, TX. Chris Cavello, Austin, TX. Monica Dacosta, Brooklyn, NY. Kathie Hannahs, Pflugerville, TX. Mary Ellen Isaacs, Austin, TX. Julie Jigour, San Jose, CA Jacquelyn Kirsch, Port Jefferson Station, NY. Steve Meosky, Austin, TX. Amrita Chakrabarti Myers, Bloomington, IN. Denise Galarza Sepúlveda, Easton, PA. Monique Schlichtman, San Diego, CA. Karen Traylor, Columbia, MO. Jennifer Wilks, Austin, TX.
as well as
TG Public Benefit Program
and
W. W. Norton & Co.
If you are interested in supporting Free Minds, you can find more information on our website. |
|
 
Minds in Motion Archives
June 2010
Read about our 2010-11 faculty and collaboration with Camp Fire USA
July 2010
Book donations, summer reading, Plato, and more
|
|
Michelle Faires at LOVE, the Beatles-inspired Cirque du Soleil show, July 2010
 |
The Final Word
Michelle Faires on Coming Together
This summer I had the opportunity to see the Beatles LOVE Cirque du Soleil show as well as Sir Paul McCartney himself in concert. For all you alumni out there who took last fall's theater class, you'll recall Vivé's "goal index cards." Experiencing the music of the Beatles performed live was one of my top cards! In fact that card was tucked ever so carefully into my jeans pocket as I jumped up and down, screaming like a teenager!
I had a profound realization while examining the meaning of the song "Come Together." Yoko Ono, John Lennon's widow, once vehemently disagreed with a theatrical production of "Come Together" because she felt it was too sexualized. She explained to the producer that John's intention in writing the song was to convey that people of all walks of life could come together to see the possibilities, to do revolutionary things, things some people may have deemed impossible. It's about people coming together to create community, celebrate oneness and diversity all at the same time.
In the last few weeks, I found myself searching for ways to reconnect with Free Minds and give back to my community. I was thrilled to be included in the planning aspect of the alumni master class for September. Additionally, I am excited that the planning is open to all alumni and will even include a mentoring class for current students. I see alumni activites as a perfect way to "come together" with my community of former students and celebrate education in and out of the classroom. This kind of involvement serves as a reminder to me to continue my own personal growth and development, a lesson learned in my Free Minds experience.
Michelle Faires (Free Minds '07) is working toward her associate's degree at Austin Community College.
|
A program of the UT Division of Diversity and Community Engagement, in partnership with the UT Humanities Institute, Austin Community College, and Foundation Communities, Free Minds offers a two-semester college course in the humanities for Central Texas adults who want to fulfill their intellectual potential and begin a new chapter in their lives.
Free Minds Project
Community Engagement Center
1009 East 11th Street, #218
Austin TX 78702
Ph: 512-232-6093 F: 512-236-1729
www.utexas.edu/diversity/ddce/freeminds
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
