Music and Language Education
Music and Language Education
Vocalist - Spanish & English
The Graduate Center, City University of New York
My first year at the Graduate Center has been an intense and exhilarating experience! Most recently, I enjoyed an afternoon observing a video shoot at the Calabar Gallery in Harlem. This generous invitation came from the staff ethnomusicologist at the Center for Traditional Music and Dance. The shoot lasted several hours and featured a traditional Ghanaian drum and dance group who performed and gave historical narratives and descriptions. Being surrounded by beautiful works by native artisans at this gallery definitely warrants a return visit.
Back at the Graduate Center, over two semesters, one highlight includes my attending the SEM conference, held virtually last fall, as well as local seminars: Ethnomusicology, Sounds in Society, Music In/On the Internet, Analyzing African Rhythm, and Analysis of Musics of the World, under the guidance of notable scholars in the field. The seminars have instigated provocative questions, critical thinking and discourse about sonic and acoustic environments as well as norms in music-making among a variety of cultural and semiotic contexts.
Collaborative work with my cohorts are ongoing, and I look forward to becoming further immersed in my research toward the healing and unifying benefits of music and dance.
Throwback: 1st year teaching at an institution of higher learning - St. John's University, 2014
The image to the left dates back to 2014, my first year teaching under the auspices of the Office of International Education at St. John's University where I worked with students from Kokushikan University in Japan. While studying English in America, they were immersed in various aspects of American culture, and visited several tourist attractions as depicted here at the Empire State Building.
Teaching abroad: language and song - Havana, Cuba
In 2011-2012 in La Habana, Cuba during a cultural exchange and immersion music, dance and education, I am pictured here with teenage girls during an English "singing" workshop. While I dictated the lyrics to the "Do-Re-Mi" song, the girls transcribed them into English. Questions were asked during the lesson. At the end of the workshop, the girls performed the song for an audience having utilized four learning domains (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) during the course.
Looking forward to further development of this page together with updates in blogs, research and other future projects.
Thank you for stopping by!