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Welcome to our e-newsletter
Minds in Motion
This month's newsletter brings writing into the community. Read about our creative writing workshops and a visit from a prize-winning author. Also: save the date for a very special upcoming event!
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Pulitzer Prize-Winning Author Visits Free Minds
 "I believe in the power of stories," said author Lawrence Wright, sitting around a table with Free Minds students on March 28th. "People like me go out and collect stories, try to understand them, and frame them so others can understand."
This was his explanation for what drove him to write his Pulitzer Prize-winning history of Al-Qaeda, The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11. Wright, a staff writer for The New Yorker and the Cline Visiting Professor at the UT Humanities Institute, told students that he started writing The Looming Tower "basically on 9/11." In order to understand what had happened, he had to find the human stories behind the catastrophe. "I wanted to answer the question: what happened to us and who are we as a result of that?"
This required extensive research at home and abroad. He interviewed 600 people, including Osama bin Laden's son and his best childhood friend, as well as many "fixers" - local journalists who knew sources and acted as translators.
Students asked Wright how he kept all 600 of his sources straight (his answer: lots of note cards). The conversation around the table shifted from conspiracy theories to Wikileaks and the ethics of sharing potentially dangerous information.
In the end, students gave Wright a round of applause, and he returned the compliment. "I have much respect for adult students," he said. "Learning continues all through life."
Thanks to Humanities Institute director, Dr. Pauline Strong, for organizing Wright's visit to Free Minds. |
Writing Workshop Wraps Up
Jennifer Furl, a freelance writer and editor, became interested in community writing organizations while pursuing studies in Folklore. This spring, she volunteered with Free Minds to help start up an eight-week writing workshop, offered for free to adults who typically don't have access to writing in community.In the past two months, I had the privilege of facilitating a writing workshop piloted by Free Minds at Foundation Communities' Trails at Vintage Creek apartments. A dozen or so writers gathered every Monday evening for eight weeks to write together, share work, and offer feedback to one another. Through our collective writing, we were transported to Pluto, Bangladesh, New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, a yard in East Austin, and the 1990s. We heard about losing hair, leaving Chicago, gathering eggs, and reading by candlelight. And we wrote about writing -- how it can make an impact and how some of us just can't stop. The Free Minds writing workshop was based on those offered by Write Around Portland in Oregon. As an intern and volunteer workshop facilitator with Write Around Portland, I witnessed how something magical happens when people write and share together -- especially when these kinds of opportunities are not often available. The workshops are a place where people can express themselves and where others listen to what they have to say. I hope that the Free Minds writers gained something from this workshop experience, whether it was a writing technique, inspiration for a writing project, or a new understanding of another perspective. See this week's "Final Word" for a student's take on the workshop.
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Save the Date! Free Minds Class of 2011 Graduation Ceremony Monday, May 23rd 7:00 pm Prothro Theater Harry Ransom Center The University of Texas at Austin |
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Special Thanks
This month we send out a big thank you to the Austin Can! Academy for inviting us to hold our adult classes and Camp Fire USA program on its campus this year. For two nights a week since August, the Can! Academy has generously shared its cafeteria, classrooms, gym, and outdoor space and gardens with our students and their children. We are grateful for the opportunity to partner with another organization that believes in making quality education accessible to all.
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Schuronda Cruel, Free Minds '11, discusses war and peace with Lawrence Wright
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Minds in Motion Archive March 2011 Read about our college fair, Camp Fire USA, and things that go boom in the night. February 2011 Literary, theatrical, and social events galore! Plus, a revealing look at the program's impact. January 2011 Ancient Arabic literature, contemporary American art, and a brand-new writing workshop. December 2010 Staff, students, and an alumna offer thanks for a successful semester and a dream job.
November 2010 Meet a student, a former faculty member, a volunteer and her grill pan
Visit the complete archive on our
website.
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The Final Word
Cheryl Turner on the Free Minds Writing Workshop
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Cheryl Turner and son Matthew, 16, participated in the inaugural Free Minds writing workshop.
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I was diagnosed with Degenerative Joint Disease in November 2008, declared disabled and was no longer able to perform physical labor. I decided I needed to go back to school to update my education and job skills. When I first heard about Free Minds I was just finishing up a computer and job readiness certificate program at the Austin Academy. I figured if I could get accepted into Free Minds, I could find out if I was really college material. I've always been told that I don't give myself enough credit so when I submitted my essay and was interviewed and accepted into the program in July 2010, it blew my mind. It gave me confidence and a sense of pride that I hadn't had in myself in a long time. As luck would have it, my doctor finally set me a surgery date after almost two years for a long-awaited hip replacement, and recovery time would be long. I was heartbroken that I would have to resign my spot in the program before ever getting started. Vivé and Hana invited me to come sit in on some of the classes once I'd recovered, and in February I decided to call to see if the offer was still open. I was told about the eight-week writing workshop in the process of starting up. I was thrilled at the idea and decided it would be great for my 16-year-old son Matthew as well, since he loves to write. Since then, I've been introduced to very talented minds, a variety of people with different thoughts, opinions, styles of writing, each with their own unique personalities, all sharing and giving critical feedback on each other's writings in a judgment-free atmosphere. I've also learned a lot about my son through his writings, which have bought us even closer. I've always known that words can be very powerful weapons, but what I never knew was that words are also a way of hope and healing and building bridges and bonds. I've learned to be open and honest when I write, to go deeper into detail. I start classes at ACC this summer, and I plan to major in business. Thanks Free Minds for freeing me from my shell and giving me the privilege to freely express myself.
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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
Project Director: Vive Griffith Project Assistant/AmeriCorps VISTA: Hana Silverstein
Ph: 512-232-6093 F: 512-236-1729
www.utexas.edu/diversity/ddce/freeminds |
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