Yiddish Returns: Language, Intergenerational Gifts, and Jewish Devotion.

This dissertation explores the political economy of Yiddish culture work in the contemporary U.S. Specifically, it tracks the creation and transformation of Yiddish spaces as language devotees negotiate their relationship with American Jewish donors, philanthropists, and foundations. On a theoretical level, it brings together scholarship that challenges ideologies of linguistic and cultural authenticity, with debates in anthropology about kinship, inheritance, and reproduction in the “new economy.” I ground this analysis within two cultural organizations: the Yiddish Book Center in Amherst, Massachusetts and Yiddish Farm in Goshen, New York. Departing from the Book Center, I explore how the emergence of a wealthy donor class has transformed social relationships of ethno-religious identity making and Jewish cultural transmission. Most Jews outside Ultra-Orthodox communities lack Yiddish proficiencies. Yet, by funding programs designed to promote Yiddish among college-aged and twenty-something students, donors address relationships of intergenerational transmission ideologically associated with families, by facilitating their management under non-profit auspices. Focusing ethnographically on the discourse, practice and form of these exchange relationships, I theorize them as strategies by which American Jews confront the perceived absence of cultural heirs by utilizing non-profits to produce these subjects in the abstract. In the case of Yiddish Farm, an organization emerging in part from networks of philanthropically subsidized Jewish youth programs, I show how elements of these exchange relationships are taking shape within, and helping to produce, this new Yiddish space. These dynamics reverberate throughout American Jewish culture work more generally, and reflect developments extending beyond the American Jewish community alone. On the one hand, they crosscut an array of subsidized programs aimed at Jewish youth. On the other, their means of production reflect broader, postindustrial shifts in the U.S. economy, as well as related policy developments systematically accommodating non-profits and incentivizing charitable giving. Historically grounded, this analysis accounts for the role of these political and economic transformations in shaping the social conditions of Yiddish culture work in New York City—the traditional center of Yiddish activism in the U.S. Taken together, the ethnography offers an opportunity to analyze the articulation between American political economy, ethno-religious politics, and cultural production.PhDAnthropologyUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/113588/1/friejosh_1.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/113588/2/friejosh_2.pd

The Book of Acoustics

The Book of Acoustics was created in collaboration with leading acousticians, neuroscientists and designers. It explores the science of sound and provides guidance for designing with acoustics. Complete with facts, figures, diagrams and expert insight, it is the ideal starting point for architectural and interior design projects and sheds light on the interplay between engineering and aesthetics

Place-based outdoor learning enriching curriculum : a case study in an Australian primary school

Childhood is the most influential time to foster an affinity to the natural world. At this stage of development children need to be provided with immersive experiences within their local places. However, nature disconnection is now common across all aspects of children’s lives. An increasing awareness of the nature disconnect has led to the implementation of outdoor learning programs in schools around the world. Significant examples are: udeskole in Denmark, Forest Schools in the United Kingdom and the promotion of the outdoors in the Scottish Curriculum for Excellence. Utilising place-based educational theory has also been proven to increase environmental connection for children. Academic, social, emotional and physical gains are reported benefits of the existing programs. Pertaining to the related literature and existing outdoor learning models, a placebased outdoor learning (PBOL) was devised for pragmatic application in Australian primary schools. Contributing learning theories guiding the curriculum framework were drawn from constructivist pedagogy, specifically social constructivist theory, authentic learning, experiential education and place-based learning. Core to all activities was the direct and immersive experiences in localised learning environments, which emphasised place-responsiveness. A case study methodology was chosen to guide the collection, analysis and interpretation of data. The mixed method convergent design organised the quantitative and qualitative data for evaluation. Researcher reflexivity was pivotal due to the authors dual roles in the case study, one as a part time teacher of the class as well as a researcher. Notably, I was not the teacher who delivered the PBOL sessions. A Year One class of 27 children, n = 14 girls and n = 13 boys, participated in the study. The children were five or six years old at the commencement of the study. Whole class data collection included academic results, behavioural records, a connection to nature survey and general observations. In addition, eight focus children were involved in further research tasks to ensure a depth of understanding. These methods included: semi formal interviews, visual methods, photographs, photo elicitation, structured observations, which utilised body worn GoPro cameras and the collection of work samples. The PBOL program was delivered over the duration of one school year and sessions occurred in the school grounds and local area for a whole or half day each week. Core subjects included in the outdoor learning program were: English, Science, Human Society and Its Environment/Geography, Science and Personal Development, Health and Physical Education. Data was collected throughout the sessions and arranged into three emergent themes: curriculum and engagement, wellbeing and making connections. Findings suggest that, PBOL effectively utilised constructivist and place-based pedagogy to advance learning. Paramount curriculum stimulated by outdoor learning includes: vocabulary development, motivation for learning, engagement to tasks, working scientifically skills, proficiency using geography fieldwork tools, a transfer of knowledge to written work, fine and gross motor skill development and creativity completing artworks. Children’s overall wellbeing also benefitted namely their positive relationships, self-regulation, independence, responsibility and resilience. Making connections to their past experiences, background knowledge, Indigenous culture and environment increased the children’s connection to place. The impact of this study covered multiple aspects of the participating children lives. Findings promote that the PBOL program was a success at connecting children to nature within a curriculum model, stimulating academic learning and contributing to overall wellbeing. The conclusions and recommendations can be utilised to drive future outdoor learning policy and application within an Australian context and additionally may also be of interest and relevance to a global audience

Rethinking Pedagogy: Exploring the Potential of Digital Technology in Achieving Quality Education

(First Paragraph) The Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development (MGIEP) is UNESCO’s Category 1 education Institute in the Asia-Pacific region devoted to education for peace and sustainable development, as enshrined in SDG Target 4.7. UNESCO MGIEP promotes the use of digital learning platforms where teachers and students can co-create and share a highly interactive learning experience. With the rise of the internet, there has been a proliferation of online content and digital resources intended to support teaching and learning, albeit widely varying in quality. Digital education media and resources, if carefully designed and implemented, have a significant potential to be mobilized on a massive scale to support transformative learning for building sustainable, flourishing societies

Assessing creativity in TV studio production

This paper will seek to gauge how media production can be taught within Higher Educational Institutions to inspire the next generation of programme makers to create original student led productions, rather than replicating content. Brown and Duthie ask how media educators and teachers of film and television production courses assess creativity and discuss innovative approaches to learning, teaching and assessment in the academy and ask how we can encourage risk taking in a risk averse environment. This paper considers whether contemporary global TV formats can be the catalyst for new ideas and content and how to encourage students to be film and TV making pioneers

My Story. Digital Storytelling across Europe for Social Cohesion

‘My Story’ (Mysty) is a pan-European, Erasmus+ funded Digital Storytelling project focused on intercultural competency. It has eight partners (HE, secondary schools and NGOs) across four countries (Austria, Italy, Hungary and the UK) and involves the collection, editing and uploading of digital stories to a shared ‘toolbox’. These stories focus on ‘food’, ‘family’ and ‘festival’ and act as a platform for diversity awareness and digital upskilling. The project is driven by the principle that innovative teaching resources form part of broader pedagogic strategies that can actively help tackle issues of diversity common across the EU. The paper discusses the process the project went through, some of its challenges and its results and, on the basis of these, looks at the role digital storytelling as a way of expressing different ethical, cultural or personal issues

Object narratives, imaginings and multilingual communities: young people’s digital stories in the making

This paper draws on research from a global 5-year project, Critical Connections: Multilingual Digital Storytelling (2012-2017), which links language and intercultural learning with literacy, active citizenship and the arts. A critical ethnographic approach was adopted in the research project and the multilingual digital stories were an integral part of the research process. With the project’s focus on multilingualism and creation of bilingual digital texts, young people had to imagine how to use language in new contexts, uncover narratives around objects, and negotiate interfaces between different cultural landscapes. The research findings revealed the complexity of multilingual digital storytelling and how young people (aged 6-18 years old) learnt to become meaning makers discovering their own voices in unfamiliar contexts. Through these digital stories the young people forged strong links with the past and created new multilingual communities

Nordic Childhoods in the Digital Age

"This book adds to the international research literature on contemporary Nordic childhoods in the context of fast-evolving technologies. It draws on the workshop program of the Nordic Research Network on Digital Childhoods funded by the Joint Committee for Nordic research councils in the Humanities and Social Sciences (NOS-HS) during the years 2019–2021. Bringing together researchers from Finland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Iceland, the book addresses pressing issues around children’s communication, learning and education in the digital age. The volume sheds light on cultural values, educational policies and conceptions of children and childhood, and child–media relationships inherent in Nordic societies. The book argues for the importance of understanding local cultures, values and communication practices that make up contemporary digital childhoods and extends current discourses on children’s screen time to bring in new insights about the nature of children’s digital engagement. This book will appeal to researchers, graduate students, educators and policy makers in the fields of childhood education, educational technology and communication.