About
Let's set the stage:
SIXTEEN University of Washington students; TEN weeks spent studying Tahitian oral traditions and knowledge in French Polynesia; and ONE digital media storyteller with a passion for sharing our experience with the world...
There’s a photograph set as my computer wallpaper of our Summer 2013 Tahiti group gathered around the table in the yard at Mama and Papa’s. The guitars and ukuleles are playing, the girls along the back wall are singing, the local guys from the paddling club are swapping stories, and the sun is setting over the ocean behind us. The photo itself is a bit out of focus, and it’s not a particularly flattering shot of any of us (as we’re all captured mid-sentence or mid-laugh). The moment it attempts to capture, however, holds a different kind of significance, separate from the aesthetic. There’s something happening here between this odd collection of individuals: young and not-so-young, Tahitian and American, students and teachers. Our Tahitian language instructor and friend, Mana, told us once that culture wasn’t something that could be taught, but rather something to be shared. In the smiling faces and the memory of the songs and stories, I can see in this photo a glimpse of what it looks like to share culture. I can see what it looks like to build together a community story that not only conveys information, but reflects a unique way of life.
This coming January, I will be returning to Tahiti, along with 15 other University of Washington graduate and undergraduate students, to continue this pursuit on a 10-week study abroad in French Polynesia. In addition to studying Tahitian oral traditions and knowledge systems, will we be learning and living out the cultural values and priorities we encounter. We'll be exploring the natural environment, meeting with local community leaders, participating in significant cultural events, and pushing our limits in as many ways as possible (think everything from learning Tahitian dance, to jumping off waterfalls into beautiful lagoons, to cutting through the ocean swells in a traditional Tahitian sailing canoe, to exploring religious sites rich with history and tradition, to swimming with sting rays and reef sharks).
My hope as a Communications Leadership graduate student will be to document the transformation of our perspective as Americans studying in a new culture, where an entirely different knowledge system shapes cultural identity, as well as to demonstrate the significant role that storytelling plays in Tahitian culture. Unique experiences, personal testimonies, collective stories, and lessons learned from the study of Tahitian oral tradition and culture will be shared through a variety of forms of creative content, in particular, video, essays, and photographs.
“...an exploration into the power of story to transform, to communicate, and to connect.”
This site will be, in essence, a running narrative of who we are and how we are learning to relate to the world around, reinventing our personal narrative to connect with the new unique culture and communities around us---an exploration into the power of story to transform, to communicate, and to connect.