HGSE Presents Monday Night REMIX

Mondays will be even more interesting at the Ed School this year thanks to a new weekly program from Steve Seidel, faculty chair of the Arts in Education Program. Called “Monday Night REMIX,” the event will be an experiment in creating a space for conversation around the arts, culture, society, and education. The entire HGSE community is encouraged to join.

While AIE Program has hosted a variety of art related events throughout the years, Seidel felt frustrated at the fact that these offerings were not done on a regular basis. He also worried that if events were about the arts, people would think they were only for AIE students.

“I knew that, way beyond the AIE Program, in every other HGSE program, there are people who are artists, people who love the arts, and people who are fascinated by questions about the arts, culture, education, and society,” Seidel says. “I wanted to invite anyone who wants to spend an hour and a half with other people looking at and living in life at the intersections of arts and culture and education to join us on Monday evenings.”

The REMIX will take place every Monday from 7–8:30 p.m. this year, except when university holidays are observed. The location will change each week, at least for the start, but Seidel is simply happy that he now has a permanent day and time to announce programs to the entire campus. 

Events will range from panel discussions to workshops, films, performances, and more. So far REMIX has presented the film OT: Our Town, which documented a Compton, California high school’s production of the American stage classic, Our Town; and has hosted a conversation about hip-hop in education, and the ways it can be used as a tool in classrooms to address issues of literacy, race, and social justice.  A broad range of topics, Seidel believes, will help continue the conversation around some important educational issues.

“A really healthy and thriving community has various ways to talk about the things it needs to talk about,” Seidel says. “Race, racism, and equity in education can be challenging topics for many educators. We need as many ways as possible to explore multiple dimensions of those issues, especially the living human experiences at the heart of those issues. Art and artists can help us do that.” 

REMIX events will purposefully be picked to cross several disciplines and attract students, faculty, and staff from across all HGSE programs. It will be featured as part of the Teaching and Learning Week, and Seidel hopes it will contribute to Dean James Ryan’s Fulfilling the Promise of Diversity initiative.

“When I was thinking about REMIX last spring, I knew the dean was intending to continue the Fulfilling the Promise [of Diversity] initiative and I thought that any number of these Monday night sessions would align with those questions and themes,” Seidel says.  “There are so many artists and works of art that look at issues related to identity, diverse perspectives, culture, values, and ask if the world is really as it could and should be.” 

The next REMIX on October 5 will feature members of the Silk Road Ensemble, the musical group founded by cellist Yo-Yo Ma which brings together composers and performers from around the world. Four members of the Ensemble will discuss the theme of “Cultural Navigation.” They will look at issues of meaning, identity, and interpretation amongst musicians of diverse backgrounds, and the ways these challenging yet profound experiences mirror what often happens in public school classrooms.  

“So many artists are concerned with the world as it is and the world as they would like it to be, and explore that in really powerful ways,” Seidel said.  “There are also many artists who teach, and who use their work to teach.  REMIX is a space where we can all learn from their experiences.”