Another Celebration of @FairfieldUAM ‏and Opportunities They Provide Faculty & Students

I am waking up this morning applauding the Fairfield University Art Museum once again, especially their collaboration with #UNLOAD: Guns in the Hands of Artists. For the last few years, their exhibits have been marvelous for the teachers, youth, undergraduates and graduate students I work with. Their selection of artists and artwork has been thought-provoking, original, and important.

Last night, 16 graduate students and I visited the exhibition and looked very close at the pieces selected for the show. My students are reading Jason Reynold's Long Way Down in preparation of his visit for the Saugatuck Story Fest and last semester my graduate student's read Nic Stone's Dear Martin. Both texts take place in urban settings where gun violence has occurred.

Last week I had the humbling pleasure to listen to Rev. Anthony L. Bennett, pastor of Mount Aery Baptist Church in Bridgeport, CT, Brent Peterkin, Statewide Coordinator for Project Longevity, and Jeremy Stein, Executive Director of Connecticut Against Gun Violence. They were brought to Fairfield University to broaden the conversation. This Thursday, I will be attending another talk with Congressman Jim Himes, Dr. Patrick Kelly, Founder on Global Violence Prevention, and Dr. Bradley Stolbach, Healing Hurt People - Chicago. The art initiatives the dialogue and the guests broaden our understanding of what we think we know.

Last night, my pre- and in-service teachers looked at all the art, but honed in on pieces that spoke to them. They did an activity to think critically about the art and to guess what the artist was trying to communicate. They also shared stories from their own experiences and agreed on statements that they all could write about (if I chose to assign this - which I'm not).

• Guns are controversial,
• Guns are permanent,
• Guns are political,
• Guns are cultural,
• Guns are historical, 
• Art can be reactionary (prompting critical thinking),
• When, or how, might our relationship with guns get better?

These are educators preparing for instruction in multiple disciplines, making the conversation richer than what a traditional literature course provides. As we read Jason Reynolds (and last semester we read Nic Stone) we're able to come to a social issue from multiple angles, stimulating new knowledges for us all.

As an educator, it simply makes my classroom instruction richer when there are community events, exhibitions, and gatherings such as these to help shape curriculum.

I wish I could say we've uncovered, unraveled or even #unloaded an answer to all that was discussed, but we only began to scratch the service. Now, to put pens in the hands of graduate students.