2 Student Quotes Prior to Beginning
Prior to, during, and after the completion of the collaborative virtual arts festival, students were asked to reflect on expectations, outcomes, and lessons learned. These are provided to facilitate stronger future collaborations.
When asked about their expectations going into this collaborative project, some of their responses included:
“I think that working with an organization that isn’t based in America is exciting. Lately, especially with Covid-19, I feel like I’ve been too focused on what happens to me directly without taking a step back and looking at the world through a different lens. “
“I would like to walk away with the ability to create conversations that benefit both parties, whether through music or art and be able to connect with others no matter their views or opinions. I think that we often get defensive when people disagree with us and I want to be able to see through a new perspective. “
“…..I would also like to learn how the quality of mindfulness can be useful to understanding another individual’s purpose and perspective when viewing the meaning behind their art piece. “
“I want to walk away being proud that I contributed to something that’s important to me that also impacts my community. This opportunity gives me the chance to research the issues in our country and then also apply it in an art form I’m passionate about. Also, I simply want to learn about different cultures and different places from around the world. There’s probably more than we think we have in common, but there’s also a lot that we can learn from each other and the issues we deal with in our nations.”
“The most challenging aspect of the project I think will be the fact that all the work will be done remotely and with a project like this that requires tons of cooperation I think the remote side of it can cause major challenges that wouldn’t be an issue if this was done in person.”
“I would like to walk away from this knowing I contributed to something creative and artistic, as well as the hope that this opens up my understandings of the issues people of my age face from across cultures to further understand each other especially from opposing or differing backgrounds.”
“I would want to walk away from this experience knowing that we all contributed to a significant event; walking away with gratitude having us all work together through difficult times and seeing how our creativity flows and come together. “
“The most exciting thing for me is how much freedom we have in creating the festival as we are making it from scratch.”
“ I feel like the most challenging thing will be making it run well as it seems there are a lot of moving parts that need to be sorted out.”
“ I believe the most exciting aspect of the festival is the freedom we were giving as a class to choose the kind of art we wanted to do and we even get to choose the issue we want to focus on for our festival. “
“I would like to walk away knowing something about the people we worked with as well as learning something about myself and/or society. I want to see if we can have an impact on people and what that impact looks like”
“I’m most excited to meet other people from India and see their side, how they live, and what their culture is like compared to ours. I’m also excited to learn from them and see what they can teach us about growing and learning about our own community.”
“I originally thought that this project would be much more planned out, such as having dedicated prompts and themes. However, after learning more about the festival in class, it seems much more open-ended than I imagined. For example, on the discussion post last week there were a wide variety of topics that everyone was considering for the festival. I think it will be interesting to see how my classmates and I will be able to put our own thoughts and personalities into this festival in terms of planning and organization. I haven’t done any type of project like this, much less with such a large group, and so I feel optimistic that it will be a good learning experience both logistically (through communicating and planning a project) and socially (by learning about other people’s experiences and thoughts about social issues).”
“The most exciting aspect of this festival is how much control we as a class have over the final product. I think that even though we don’t have a homogeneous opinion on social issues, we as a class of university students in America believe in the importance of discussing and learning about those social issues. In contrast with the larger political/social sphere, we can focus in on issues important to us, and can reflect this in the arts festival. Another exciting aspect of this project is how we have some control over what we contribute to the project and can therefore utilize skills which we are interested or experienced in. For example, I have very little experience in social media management, but it is something that I would like to learn more about or gain experience in. So, this project allows people to gain experience in a variety of communication and planning skills.”
“I feel like the most challenging aspect would probably be reliability. I feel like if we were on campus, students would be more engaged with this idea. However, since we are remotely learning, most of us are going to be at home either in bed or on a desk. In other words, the comfort of our own space can either diminish our attentiveness and passion or promote them, towards the festival. Regardless, I think this will be a learning process for all of us. “
“I really want to walk away with a sense of deep understanding for our partners. Not only do I want skills that pertain to everyday life, but I also want this to boost my mentality on self love and shared love.”
“ I would like to walk away from this experience knowing that I have made the world a little brighter with my positive interactions and creating a fun space for people to hang out within the virtual festival. I would have a better understanding of what it is like to socialize with people that I’m very unfamiliar with. I would like to learn what it is like to understand and see other’s perspectives or beliefs/ intentions. I feel like the festival project is a way for me to open up my creative energy and to be able to network with others while learning despite this covid pandemic.”