Richmond Home

Engage E-Newsletter

November 2016

From the Director

Sylvia GaleRecently, I visited postdoctoral fellow in public humanities Jordana Cox’s “Humanities, Rhetoric, and Social Change” class for a discussion about Martha Nussbaum’s commencement speech on the links between liberal education and democratic citizenship, David Scobey’s lecture on “Putting the Academy in Its Place,” and a brochure the Bonner Center for Civic Engagement (CCE) created to highlight the “Engaged Humanities” here at UR. The students in Dr. Cox’s class appreciated Nussbaum’s idea of the “narrative imagination”—the ability to see the world “from the point of view of groups we typically try not to see” and a capacity Nussbaum names as fundamental to democracy. They connected this capacity to Scobey’s notion that “putting the university in its place” means “unprivileging some of its habits and relationships and creating new habits and relationships outside it.”

This brought us right to the cover of the CCE’s brochure, which features a striking image of a woman walking an overgrown path in a neglected graveyard. In the image, the woman’s face and body are blurry. Through her, you can see the leaves and trees, the indistinct path. The students began to construct an elegant visual reading of the image in the context of our discussion. “She is alone,” one said, “but when we think of civic engagement we often see pictures of people together, with shovels, people getting things done.” “The focus here is on the place, not the people,” another added. “She is getting immersed in her environment, almost as if she is ‘unselfing,’” said a third, referring to an idea (from Iris Murdoch via Elaine Scarry) that the class had encountered earlier, that we can experience a kind of de-centering in response to literature or other forms of beauty in which our own preoccupations fall away.

Immersed. Placed. Unselfed. Decentered. These words came to mind in a different context as I read the stories collected in this newsletter. Whether walking through Richmond’s neighborhoods for a Slow Journalism class, knocking on doors to find out how residents and businesses understand the need for public transportation, or mentoring the same elementary school student for two and a half years, responsible and responsive civic engagement starts with a desire to understand experiences that are not our own and a willingness to “unprivilege” familiar and comfortable ways of being. 

The woman in the photograph Dr. Cox’s students discussed together was actually walking in Richmond’s East End Cemetery, a historically African American cemetery established in 1897 and long neglected. The photograph was captured by adjunct professor and veteran photojournalist Brian Palmer whose work was featured in a stunning exhibition at UR Downtown last year. Multiple UR classes have joined the volunteer restoration efforts at East End Cemetery, and the Biology Department recently collaborated with UR’s Spatial Analysis Lab to develop a data collection app that is mapping undocumented grave stones, contributing to a larger community effort to remember the histories and stories of those buried there. 

Connections and commitments to people and place matter. Sometimes, especially in such a bitterly divided election season like the one we've just endured, it is difficult to stay hopeful, to imagine how our own small contributions can add up to the change we want to see in the world. Yet, as Liz Nigro, the UR senior who has been volunteering at Overby-Sheppard Elementary School for almost her whole time in college, reminds us in this newsletter, “It takes time to build relationships. I want to focus on reciprocity and be open to listening, not talking. It’s important to keep coming back.”

When we do immerse ourselves openly and authentically, when we are willing to be “unselfed,” change really can happen.

Dr. Sylvia Gale, Director of the Bonner Center for Civic Engagement

Stories

Exploring Black Richmond
Every semester, the Bonner Center for Civic Engagement hosts an themed excursion for faculty to explore connections in the city. In one excursion, two professors led an exploration of race, slavery, and urban development.

Why I Vote

What We're Reading Now

The Bonner Center for Civic Engagement lifts up colleagues at universities across the country and leaders in our Richmond community who are raising critical issues and sharing ground-breaking ideas and new data through their publications. Here are some of our favorite recent provocations. 

Upcoming Events

View more events