In Let’s Learn!, anyone anywhere can take workshops designed to spark creativity and foster cross-cultural understanding.
“Everyone has something to learn; everyone has something to teach.” That is the founding principle of Let’s Learn! The World as Classroom, a volunteer-based project that brings together teachers and learners from all over the world through the internet.
The program, now in its third semester, is run by UNCG’s Lloyd International Honors College in collaboration with the East Side Institute in New York City. It was the brainchild of longtime friends and colleagues Dr. Omar Ali, dean of the Lloyd College, and Dr. Dan Friedman, a community organizer and theater professional with the East Side Institute.
“When the pandemic locked everything down, we were looking for a way to engage with ordinary people that was creative and fun, something that would reignite their creativity,” says Friedman, who is project manager.
“I want to regenerate love of learning and curiosity among people whose curiosity has been put out by the necessities of life,” he says. “Public schools play a role but are more like prisons or factories. We wanted to create another way, something freer and more playful.”
The first courses were offered in Fall 2021. Eight to ten courses, all new, are presented each semester. Most are workshops that meet only once or twice. Some are conversations, storytelling gatherings, poetry and song sharing events, and performances. All are open to anyone anywhere with access to the internet. There are no applications, no prerequisites, no grades, no certificates. Students simply register online.
All the teachers are volunteers, and they come from all over the world. Not all are academics. Some are chefs, poets, doctors, nurses, scientists, gardeners, and musicians, among others. Friedman says anyone can propose a topic they’d like to teach.
A recent class, titled Science in Your Kitchen, brought together historian and master cook Purvi Sanghvi, a graduate student at Georgia State University, with Dr. Nicholas Gross, senior research scientist at Boston University, to team teach. Sanghvi prepared traditional family recipes from India, while Gross explained the scientific role of each ingredient in creating the finished dish.
Friedman says that what is most gratifying to him about Let’s Learn! is “cross-fertilization, getting people from different cultures learning from each other. The world is one world with rich cultural diversity. We don’t want to lose that.”
Some of the remaining workshops this semester show the wide range of topics and cultures and include:
(Re-Imagining) Education: How Do We Go About it?
Dr. Jaime E Martinez, associate professor of Interdisciplinary Studies Sciences at the New York Institute of Technology, will lead this participatory workshop where teams explore educational needs and new ways of engaging them. October 20, 1:00 pm–2:30 pm.
REGISTER HERE
Arts into Acts
Elena Boukouvala, drama therapist, performance activist, and action researcher, will host young refugees who will share the ways in which their arts have enabled them to connect and create community. October 22, 11:00 am to12:30 pm.
REGISTER HERE
Resistance & Imagination: The Role of the Arts, Creativity and Play in Activism
Alex Sutherland, the Coordinator of Creativity in Activist Education and Acting Head of Programs at the Tshisimani Center for Activist Education in Cape Town, South Africa, will lead an exploration of the role of creativity and imagination in political and social activism. October 29, 1:00 pm–2:30 pm.
REGISTER HERE
Laptops in the Village
At Daffodil International University in Dhaka, Bangladesh, each student receives a laptop in order fully participate in current education and connect with the wider world. When the pandemic forced students to return home in 2020, they were assigned to take their laptops and use them to generate curiosity and learning in their villages. Dr. Syed Mizabur Rahman, Director of the General Education Department at Daffodil, will lead this discussion with returning students as they describe how the experience impacted them and their communities. November 4, 9:00–10:00 am.
REGISTER HERE
Political Theatre in Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe has a history of creative and combative political theatre stretching back to its War of Liberation in the 1970s. Daniel Maposa is the founder and leader of the Savanna Trust, one Zimbabwe’s most impactful political theatres. Join Maposa in conversation with Dan Friedman, author of Performance Activism and Artistic Director Emeritus of New York’s Castillo Theatre, for a conversation about Zimbabwe’s political theatre—past, present and future.
REGISTER HERE
Story by Mary Daily for Manning Words, Inc.
Photograph courtesy of Savanna Trust
