Story by Dianne Burch

Although only a small nucleus of students live in the Writers’ House, their creative channels carry across the university and into the surrounding community. “The students who live here serve as the engine of literary production for the entire campus,” says Director Johnna Schmidt, who delights in how the students take leadership and ownership of all initiatives.

Programming emphasizes creative writing in cross-cultural, interdisciplinary dimensions, which fits well with the university’s desire to become a leader in cross-cultural studies and understanding.

Weekly Terpoets sessions attract a diverse crowd and connect students from a variety of disciplines.

When Henry Aristides Mills transferred from Montgomery College in fall 2006, he couldn’t find a venue for student-led poetry. First Look Fair offered an opportunity to advertise the new venture he had in mind—Terpoets. Now, the Tuesday sessions regularly draw 60 to100 people and more than 270 people turn to the group’s Facebook presence.

At the heart of Terpoets is community building—bringing together those who have a desire to write no matter their field of study. “They come because it is a non-threatening, nonjudgmental setting where people feel free to express their ideas,” says Writers’ House resident Jenna Brager ’10. Since rules limit mic time to five minutes for performing two pieces maximum, any stage jitters promise to be short-lived.

Schmidt finds that a wide range of literary figures and styles—everything from form-driven classical literature to experimental cutups and hip-hop artists—influences today’s student writers. “It is so exhilarating to give [someone] permission to be an artist,” says senior Andrew Ortuzar, creative director of Stylus, the annual Writers’ House journal of literature and art, which has expanded considerably in scope and production quality.

This past fall Terpoets and the Pride Alliance presented the first Queer Poetry Series, co-sponsored by the Writers’ House and the Asian American Student Union. And Writers’ House residents continue their quest for new alliances. Says Savannah Renehan ’08, “When you collaborate with other groups that bring passions with them, the result is a tinderbox of creativity.”

World Wise Ways
Collaboration can spark creativity among fellow artists as well as inspire students, scientists and researchers to think beyond their disciplines.

Recently, Department of Dance students performed a WPA federal theater project from 1937 depicting the difficult life of Southern cotton pickers as well as the landmark Scottsboro Trials. Artist-in-Residence Dianne McIntyre auditioned performers last spring and as summer vacation was drawing to a close, 16 undergraduates spent 10 days straight, studying under her direction from early morning to well into the evening.

Dance Professor Meriam Rosen expected the students to learn far more than the precise, controlled movements required in the 30-minute piece. She had each student research aspects of the time period to gain a better understanding of how these issues are applicable today in our diverse society.

“Many departments in arts and humanities have a very strong intellectual interest in issues of diversity, whether it is diversity seen historically or seen in and across contemporary cultures,” says Elizabeth Loizeaux, associate dean of the College of Arts and Humanities. Frequently, however, issues of global culture and globalization tend to be couched in economic terms. “We realized that the knowledge that enables people to go out into the world—a lot of it comes from our college and from our disciplines.”

So was born the faculty-generated idea for “World Wise: The Arts and Humanities in the 21st Century,” a series of themed public roundtables to explore the links between humanities and other disciplines. Last April’s first forum, “Arts as Creative Catalyst,” was tied to the college’s new artist-in-residence program. In November, “Fables and Formulas” offered a conversation among a physicist, a biochemist, an English professor and an artist who combines biology and art, with Artist-In-Residence Liz Lerman, choreographer and MacArthur fellow, serving as moderator.

Among the near-capacity audience in the Dance Theatre were many students. Roundtable participant Jordan Goodman ’73, M.S. ’75, Ph. D. ’78, professor of physics, hopes the students observed that it doesn’t matter if you are in arts or science—creativity and synthesis are critical components of what we do and what we expect them to do. “Even though we come at the world from different perspectives,” says Goodman, “both groups strive to develop a representation of the world around us.”

In late February, a third public forum will focus on rethinking citizenship in a global century.

Melding Word, Page and Stage
As the semester draws to a close this May, students from Northwestern High School in Hyattsville will head to campus for this year’s publication of Postcards from my Country. Featuring the work of students in the English as a second language program, it was coupled with an on-stage reading at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center.

Teacher Rebecca Roberts had been working on her own with the students because she saw self-expression as a means to ­­break down barriers among students who come from as many as 20 different countries. Upon learning of her effort last year, Schmidt offered the support of mentors from the Writers’ House. The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center’s Office of Community Engagement and the Hyattsville Community Development Corporation collaborated, as well. With a dozen mentors now involved, Schmidt believes they will likely reach 50 students this year.

Roberts recalls matching a mentor with a student from Africa who had spent his childhood homeless and parentless in the streets of his country—catching and eating raw fish to survive. “I could see the mentor was shaken by the experience and I wondered if I had done the right thing for both,” she says. “It turned out to be a very clarifying experience for the mentor and my student.” TERP

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