Sunday, February 10, 2008

Student Experiences in OTR, Part I:  Curt Sparks, Bleeding Heart Liberals, and Hippy Shit

Posted by The Dean of Cincinnati

Photo courtesy of here.

Miami University’s Center for Community Engagement’s Residency Program in Over-The-Rhine continues to be an exemplary model that integrates community engagement and active citizenship. Students are transformed by this program in powerful and long-lasting ways. As students live in the “school of social life” they experience the spectrum of “community service” from charity to social change. They come to see their privilege as a barrier that must be overcome in order to open their hearts and minds to the experiences swirling around them. They learn the skills to analyze current reality, welcome complexity, and to engage in productive conversations, all of which are vital to a theory of citizenship that fronts the questions, citizenship for what? Whose interests matter? And what value-laden theories of society do forms of community engagement presuppose?

This year eleven students immersed their academics in the full experience to live and work in Over-the-Rhine. Five were architecture/interior design majors and the others came from business, teacher education, family studies and social work, and interdisciplinary studies.

As I did last year, I asked the students to reflect upon their experiences in Over-the-Rhine in light of the course readings. I wanted to know how the reading material came to explain their experiences, if it did at all. Again the responses were powerful. What follows are excerpts from those final papers.

—Thomas Dutton, Director

Curt Sparks

Wow! My whole Over-the-Rhine experience was not at all what I expected. When I first heard about the Over-the-Rhine Residency Program, my attention was drawn to the design-build aspect of the experience. I thought that I was coming down here to get some practical experience learning how my designs would become reality. I knew that the apartment we were working on was somehow connected to a non-profit agency that was working with low-income people in the neighborhood. This looked like a win-win situation for everyone involved. I would get experience, the non-profit would get free design work and free labor, an Over-the-Rhine resident would get a cool place to live, and I would get my “thematic sequence” knocked out in one semester! I had no idea what I was in for.

I probably should have investigated the Thematic Sequence courses before signing up for them, but if I had I may have changed my mind. You see, these courses are much more than history courses. You don’t simply learn about the subjects by reading books and having classroom discussion. You are forced to interact with the community and learn through first-hand experiences. You are forced to look beyond the surface of the issues that face the urban poor in America. You are forced to delve into the underlying factors that shape today’s urban culture. As you do this you want to get involved. Once you are involved, you begin to question everything you thought you already knew about life. This is what I was not prepared for.

I am not your average college student. I am in my mid 30’s. I’m married and have a teen-age daughter. At this point in my life, my belief system was pretty well set.

I’m not going to tell you that all of my beliefs have changed. I am not going to tell you that I am now 100% politically correct. I will tell you that this semester has caused me to look at many issues from a different perspective. It has caused me to realize that my point of view was formed by my experiences and my life circumstances.

My time in OTR has given me a brief glimpse into the daily lives of people whose circumstances and environment are much more foreign than I would have ever imagined. Low-income, urban America is much different than the America I thought I knew. I have seen how little value we place on poor people. I have learned that racism still lives. I have seen how public policy (billed as helping people) can cause more harm than good. I’ve learned that I didn’t know the whole story.

I started by saying that I should have investigated the classes here better before I signed up for this program. I’m glad I didn’t. If you would have told me four months ago that I would write a paper such as this, I would have laughed at you. I would have told you that this was a bunch of “bleeding-heart, liberal, hippy shit.” Throughout the semester I, in fact, often thought that. I would have not knowingly and voluntarily set myself up to deal with all this hippy crap. Had I known what I was getting into, I would not have signed up for what has turned out to be the most meaningful time I have spent in school. My eyes have been opened to new perspectives on life. I have been given knowledge that can help me to become a better designer. I have been given knowledge that can help me become a better person. But as some hippy once told me, knowledge alone means nothing. I am now challenged to couple my knowledge with action. I am challenged to incorporate my new awareness into what I do in my everyday life.

Throughout my college career, I’ve had many classes that once they were over, I forgot about them. This semester does not fall into that category. The things I have learned here will be a part my future designs, my future career choices, my future life. I’ve learned more than I thought possible in one semester.

• Share This Article!
Listen to this article

Socializer!

Username

Password

Auto-login on future visits

Show my name in the online users list

Forgot your password?

Register

Anonymous comments are allowed, but you can create an account above to stamp your name and to avoid typing the anti-spam code.

If you are not familiar with our rules for leaving comments, click here! The Cincinnati Beacon is not responsible for the contents of any comments. Comments do not represent the views of the moderators of The Cincinnati Beacon.

.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) says:
10 Feb 2008  at  09:38 am | #

This Fall I was afforded the opportunity to work with students from the residence program as well as 8 others from NKU in a persuasive writing course. I can tell you that many of these students came in with the typical pre-packaged notions about OTR which they acquired through various media outlets and family members alike. It could be argued that, of the entire class, the two Miami students who lived and engaged in the community on a daily basis were impacted more deeply by their experiences in OTR. While I agree in many respects, I’m not sure this assertion is totally fair to the NKU students who, by the end of the course, had all admitted their biases in the beginning only to leave with a different, more positive perspective of OTR’s rich history and active citizenry. 

Now before you begin with the “yeah, they wanted a good grade,” or “this is how academics push their political agenda on students,” or “how many of these students will bother to go back to OTR,” I’ll offer that this is not my point. Through interaction with members of the community they were able to (as Bonnie Neumeier aptly puts it)“break down the walls” that divide us and begin to see each other as fellow human beings, and not just OTR as an impoverished and homeless, or drug-addicted, (and whatever other stereotypes that many of you level against it without any experiential credibility) place that exists in the middle of Cincinnati.

Is it likely that every student who participates in the Miami University residency program or off-campus NKU and Xavier courses will be affected enough to dedicate their lives to fighting inequality in places like OTR? Certainly not. However, I will almost guarantee that each student will have a slightly altered worldview that prompts them to critically think about why it is that such stark inequalities exist in the “richest” country in the world. Armed with that ever so slight change in ideology these students have already begun to make a difference in the world.

Keep up the good work guys!

JFD says:
11 Feb 2008  at  08:48 am | #

I’m sure glad that Cincinnati keeps a neighborhood crappy enough for these young suburbanites to come and learn a life lesson or two.  It’s a damn shame they can’t learn this happy hippy shit in the familiar surroundings of their own neighborhoods.  Let’s keep OTR the way it is; for the children who don’t live there.

.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) says:
12 Feb 2008  at  12:04 am | #

I agree with JFD’s sentiment that it is a shame that suburbanites can’t learn more in their own neighborhoods. It is a shame that suburban kids don’t grow up with a more accurate picture of the obstacles that face our urban poor. It is a shame that our society is so culturally & socially exclusive that we don’t learn more about others whose life experiences may be different from ours. It is a shame that we feel the need to perpetuate this by using terms like “their own neighborhood” & “children who don’t live there.” It would seem that programs (like the ones Miami, NKU & Xavier are participating in) wouldn’t be as necessary if we used more terms like “our city,” &  “our community.” Maybe if we start by speaking in inclusive terms, we can start thinking in inclusive ways & acting as an inclusive society. Yeah, I know, that sounds like “happy hippy shit,” but wouldn’t it be a noble goal?

I also agree that OTR should be left the way it is. It should be a community with a rich history, a community with strong family ties, a community with diverse cultures, a community that is accepting regardless of your income (or lack there of) level, a community with small businesses and social organizations that serve the residents.

Hopefully JFD acts as strongly as he/she writes. Hopefully JFD works to help suburban communities better understand the inequities that their neighbors in communities like OTR face. Hopefully he/she is fighting to make sure that the “revitalization” that’s going on in OTR does as much to help those already living in there as its doing to help get “suburbanites” to move in.

Yes, it has occurred to me that JFD may have been being sarcastic, but it also occurred to me that he/she was making some valid points…if read exactly as written.

Lastly, I understand that people may have a visceral response to hearing about the great experiences that suburban (read white) college students have while visiting this foreign place known as the ghetto. After all, shouldn’t we be more concerned with the experiences of the people who live full-time in OTR? I would argue yes! But if the experience we are talking about is change, the bigger question might be, “Who needs to change?” I would argue that suburban college students need to change their perspective as much (if not more) than our urban poor if we are to become a more inclusive, equitable society.

Name:

Email:

Location:

URL:

Smileys

<b>

<del>

<i>

quote

code

@

<a>

Close Tags

Remember my personal information

Notify me of follow-up comments?

Submit the word you see below: