You might want to check out the play “Take Off the Mask,” performed by visiting youth from Vinterveldt, South Africa on Friday, February 3rd at 7:30pm in Betts.  They’re here thanks to a very cool program — go support their work and see their skills!  For more information, keep reading. 

Please join me on Feb. 3^rd for the performance by youth from the Bokamoso Youth Centre, in Winterveldt, South Africa. It is the culmination of their week-long residency at GW.

Celebrate with us the ninth year of this cultural exchange between GW and the Centre staff and youth, as we premiere the new play we created in Summer 2011, titled Take Off the Mask, in the Marvin Center Betts Theatre at 7:30 p.m. The youth will also perform some of their poetry and traditional African song and dance, with a special guest appearance by the GW Troubadours.

I hope very much to see you there.

Warmly,

Leslie

Background

Accompanied each summer by my colleague, Roy Barber, a faculty member from St. Andrews Episcopal School, and by several GW students often funded by undergraduate research fellowships, I have journeyed to Winterveldt to work with the youth from the Bokamoso Youth Centre for the past nine years. All of us together have developed plays and songs that address issues and challenges in their community.  In the summer of 2011, we were joined by 10 Masters students in the GW Art Therapy Program and Program Director, Heidi Bardot. Since 2004, youth from the Bokamoso Youth Centre have traveled to the U.S., living with DC families for the first 3 weeks, and staying with GW students for their final five days, attending classes, and performing at the Dorothy Betts Marvin Theatre of the George Washington University, to benefit the Centre and its scholarship program. They are staying at GW this year from Jan. 30th through Feb.3rd.

Created under the Apartheid regime in the early 1950’s, and situated about 30 miles northwest of Pretoria, this sprawling rural township (population of over 700,000) is plagued with many of the challenges of extreme poverty, including a 60% unemployment rate and 25% HIV/AIDS infection rate; family violence; teen pregnancy; and lack of educational opportunity. Yet despite these problems, the community is actively working to heal and restore its population, with contributions from various civic and religious organizations and private individuals. One of the most effective community organizations, the Bokamoso Youth Centre, works with at-risk youth to bring focus and hope to their lives, and to get them into school and training programs.

Heritage, Tourism, and Development on China’s Ethnic Frontiers

June 10^th – July 1^st, 2012

This summer, Professor Shepherd will accompany GW students into the field to experience firsthand the development challenges faced by state authorities, community leaders, and regular citizens in predominantly Tibetan areas of Southwest China. The program begins in Beijing, with visits to historic sites, group discussions, and meetings at the National Minorities University and Beijing International Studies University. Following this, we will travel 1,200 miles west by train to Lanzhou, capital of Gansu province, and then continue on by bus to Labrang (Chinese Xiahe), the most important Tibetan Buddhist monastic community outside of central Tibet. From Labrang we will journey to the monastery town of Taksen Lhamo (Chinese Langmusi), located along the Gansu-Sichuan border on the edge of the Tibetan plateau, and then to Jiuzhaigou National Park, in Northern Sichuan province. From Jiuzhaigou we will fly to Xian, the former capital of the Tang Dynasty and site of the Terra-Cotta warrior archeological site. Our trip will conclude with a return journey to Beijing by train.

This three-week field study provides three anthropology credits and costs approximately $5,300. This covers GWU tuition, train (soft sleeper class) and air travel within China, all accommodation, site visit, and admission fees, travel insurance and most meals. Parts of this journey will be at elevations of 3,000 to 3,500 meters (10,000-12,000 feet), so good health is a must!

For more information, contact Professor Shepherd at rshepher@gwu.edu.

Hastings RA Job Announcement 2012

That means YOU if you plan to:

• Do a course conversion,
• Internship for Honors credit,
• Undergraduate Research,
• Research Assistantship,
• Senior Thesis

Get the RTF-EZ here and the Contract Form here.  Don’t forget your proposal!

You’ve got until COB Friday, February 3, 2012.

Confused? Attend walk-in hours through Friday, January 27th.  Other wise,  make an appointment.

Register today for the Center for Student Engagement’s 7^th Annual Student Leadership Symposium

February 24^th, 2012
10:00 am- 4:30 pm
1957 E Street, Seventh Floor

All events are FREE! Featuring keynote speaker, John Cavanagh,
the Global Economy Fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies,
who will address activism and leadership

Explore different leadership skills and technologies.
Network with students of DC-area schools.
Be a better leader.

For more information, visit us at :

http://gwired.gwu.edu/sac/LeadershipDevelopment/2012SLS/

The Student Leadership Symposium is a yearly event that brings college students from all across the DC areas to the GWU campus to network, learn about leadership skills, and become better leaders themselves. There will be several educational seminars throughout the day on leadership technology, activism, and how leadership impacts others.

For more information on the program and the internship, click here (PDF).

———

A reminder that our first spring information session for those who wish to join DYEP will be TONIGHT, Wednesday, January 25th from 6:30 to 7:30 PM in the Multicultural Services Student Center (2127 G Street) in Room 104. Be sure to tell your friends to come!

Also, our first General Body Meeting for members of DYEP will be on Monday, January 30th from 6:30 to 7:30 PM in the
Multicultural Services Student Center (2127 G Street) in Room 104. We will be discussing future events and programming, as well as making Valentine’s Day cards that will be given to kids at both schools that we volunteer at. Food will be served!

Be sure to email us at gwdyep@gmail.com with any questions!

See you tomorrow!

Jewish Cultural Arts MA @ GW