Class Description
Using found objects and/or quotes, personal ephemera and more, this writing workshop asks participants to consider the ephemeral and ephemera from their lives as sources of inspiration, inquiry, and reflection. Participants can consider that ephemera as a piece of art, and enter their writing through ekphrasis. Questions to consider are: What do these artifacts of living say about who I am and/or have been? What memories are held in their material form? Through this workshop and participants own archive of ephemera, a variety of writings will be created, from life writing to the poetic. This workshop is for anyone interested in the ways we navigate, remember, reflect upon and share everyday experiences, whether seemingly minor or grand. Join for reflection, dialogue, and a little joy.
All virtual classes are recorded and made available to participants registered in the class. These recordings are password-protected and available for up to two weeks after the class ends.
Shanita Alvarez is a poet, educator, and collector of everyday objects. Engaged in the arts and writing from an early age, she has retained that connection through her work and life, whether researching, teaching, or writing. Those collected objects aid in reflecting upon, complicating, and celebrating lived experience.
What to Expect
Format: Virtual
Class Capacity: 12
Class Style: Workshop; participation- and assignment-based
Materials List
Required
- Instructor-Distributed Materials
- During workshop sessions, students will have access to short reading/listening excerpts and brief videos. (e.g., Art21 shorts).
A Brief Syllabus
- Introductions
- The Soul is Complicated
- Finding our Sources
- The Archive of Me
Cost and Registration
4 Sessions, $200 ($180 for Newberry members, seniors, and students). Learn about becoming a member.
We offer our classes at three different price options: Regular ($200), Community Supported ($185), and Sponsor ($215). Following the models of other institutions, we want to ensure that our classes are accessible to a wider audience while continuing to support our instructors. You may choose the price that best fits your situation when registering through Learning Stream.
To register multiple people for this class, please go through the course calendar in Learning Stream, our registration platform. When you select the course and register, you’ll be prompted to add another registrant.
Having trouble signing up? Take a look at our step-by-step guide to registration by clicking here.
RegisterThe views and opinions expressed in this class and/or by the instructor are not necessarily representative of the Newberry. We aim to ensure that in our classes, participants can have respectful disagreement to foster critical thinking. This is a space to challenge and expand our own worldviews to work towards better understanding and appreciating humanity.
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