My mentee for the year, Alicia Akins, continues her thinking on diversity with this guest blog post. Don't miss her first post, and continue the conversation in the comments below.
What if museums looked to recruit staff who themselves were diverse and had broad exposure to different cultures and ideas rather than just those that would make their hallways a more colorful place but otherwise fit the same profile as the rest of the staff? Because of personal experience, I don’t assume that just because someone is a minority that they are diverse. I look at their friends.
While the furor over the need to diversify the arts
continues, it remains unclear exactly who we need to target, and how we will
know when we’ve gotten it right.
Even the question of how to go about it is shrouded in mystery and
approached with apprehension. Is the golden ticket the mere presence of more
people of color? If we can just
identify and recruit underrepresented people to join our institutions and
charge them with the task of increasing diversity will we have begun to find
our way? Unfortunately, it takes
more than a one-man diversity and inclusion department to build a culture of
true openness. It cannot be a
contrivance to win funding or increase numbers, where “others” get brain space
during work hours and then we return home to our monochromatic neighborhoods
and friend circles.
I recently came across the post “White, Low Affect, Respectful” and was shocked by the suggestion that
perhaps if the symphony ran on CP time, it might attract more
African-Americans. I was also
immediately put off by the "respect" label, because of the
implications for non-white groups—our mores are not less respectful, simply
different in a way that members of the majority may find disrespectful or
uncomfortable. There are dangers to changing the essence of the cultural experience
to draw a different demographic.
As a classically trained musician who loves attending the symphony,
making them as Ms. Lee suggests would dampen the experience for me as well.
But at the same time, I never know when to applaud or cheer at street battles,
in opera (which I've played in pit orchestras) its okay to have intermittent
applause. Education is critical. The education shouldn't merely be
focused on cultural connoisseurship, as one of the comments on my previous post
suggested, however. It should be based on early wide exposure and careful,
unbiased explanation of the proper conduct for different occasions.
Language is critical here though so we don't end up raising cultural
snobs who think elitism is ok (a point I will get back to). This is not simply
about being politically correct either. In describing classical music concert
requirements where one must come on time and not disturb others by talking, it
sets up the alternatives already as lesser. Those are experiences, by contrast,
where "lateness" (a negative) is ok as is “disruptive” (another
negative) behavior. But instead, if you are taught that at classical
concerts its important to show up at the beginning to get the full experience,
but at other kinds of events you can show up whenever you would like or that at
classical concerts outside sound competes with the music whereas at a jazz show
or a gospel concert participation enhances the experience and is not rude, but
expected, then you honor the traditions of each. I'm sure everyone has
had that concert experience where a person (usually white in my experience)
starts clapping between movements, or even worse before the end of the piece
and it comes from unfamiliarity and lack of education (which **gasp** afflicts
white people as well). But the solution is not just to teach young people
how to behave at the opera, but to present both the full range of behaviors
acceptable at varying events and to present the full range of artistic
complexity and expression found in many kinds of arts not just the elite
Western ones.
Javanese music obeys laws of counterpoint that make Palestrina seem like child’s play and if one listens to it without being prejudiced by one’s European ears, one will find a percussive charm that forces one to admit that our own music is not much more than a barbarous kind of noise more fit for a traveling circus.
Claude Debussy
And how might something like
that happen? With great difficulty given that most music education and
arts education programs require only one non-Western course requirement.
If students are required to go to concerts (as I was) or exhibits, they
usually seek out what is familiar already, not something new and difficult to
understand. If future teachers shy away from learning about arts of different
cultures and classes then their students don't stand a chance. If teachers
don't know about gamelan or about jazz or about funk—or mixing beats—then how
will they teach it? Professional credit is given for attending courses and
conferences for teachers, but are they encouraged or even required and given
credit for learning about the full spectrum of arts represented within their
communities? Do most teachers feel that if there are no minorities in
their classes they can skip doing the whole diversity thing since they don't
have to worry about anyone feeling left out?
This comes back to a point I made in my previous post: white people need their understanding of the arts to be diversified as much as minorities or other underrepresented groups. White people (and even black people as well) feel cultured enough if they can parrot off a list of famous European artists or composers. There is much greatness missing from that list, much of the human experience not found in their canon, and many important voices silenced. Greatness unobserved does not cease to be great. The Traditionalist commented on the need to recognize and not dilute greatness and I couldn't agree more, but to imply that one must simply look to the high arts to find it is both arrogant and egregious in my opinion. High art in many cases is designated as such by those in a privileged position. I agree fully with the second commenter that the arts are human which is why they cannot possibly be restricted to the European works (and others based on the European aesthetic) which a privileged minority have declared exceptional. Greatness, in my opinion, lies in complexity and inspiration, and I've been fortunate enough to find it in street battles, black spirituals, and Bruckner. Education certainly is needed to those who would argue that the Golden Gate of Kiev is more inspiring than an individual’s search for eternity. In my own experience, my appreciation for music from all times and places has not diminished my appreciation of classical music only strengthened my appreciation for music in general. And despite finding myself working in a museum now, I have spent considerable time thinking about how an interest in one might feed the other.
This comes back to a point I made in my previous post: white people need their understanding of the arts to be diversified as much as minorities or other underrepresented groups. White people (and even black people as well) feel cultured enough if they can parrot off a list of famous European artists or composers. There is much greatness missing from that list, much of the human experience not found in their canon, and many important voices silenced. Greatness unobserved does not cease to be great. The Traditionalist commented on the need to recognize and not dilute greatness and I couldn't agree more, but to imply that one must simply look to the high arts to find it is both arrogant and egregious in my opinion. High art in many cases is designated as such by those in a privileged position. I agree fully with the second commenter that the arts are human which is why they cannot possibly be restricted to the European works (and others based on the European aesthetic) which a privileged minority have declared exceptional. Greatness, in my opinion, lies in complexity and inspiration, and I've been fortunate enough to find it in street battles, black spirituals, and Bruckner. Education certainly is needed to those who would argue that the Golden Gate of Kiev is more inspiring than an individual’s search for eternity. In my own experience, my appreciation for music from all times and places has not diminished my appreciation of classical music only strengthened my appreciation for music in general. And despite finding myself working in a museum now, I have spent considerable time thinking about how an interest in one might feed the other.
How might we go about making the changes, personal and
institutional, needed to orient ourselves to changing demographics and the
threat of irrelevance?
In many ways, learning to diversify is like learning a new
language. There’s dissonance, misunderstandings, and it's a process of minor continual
improvements with the understanding that you won’t ever really get it perfect
just better. You can express more and be better understood. Your words will
always be yours, you’ll just be able to direct them toward more people.
Trial and error: Everything is hard in the beginning.
Not everything will come out right. But with each attempt, you hopefully improve. For example, my roommate has been in
Laos for half as long as I have but is far more comfortable speaking with
people than I am. She arrived and
started using everything she knew, even if it wasn’t perfect. I, on the other hand, refrained from
speaking until I was certain that I had it right. She made far more mistakes
than I did, but also learned far more quickly. Diversity is likely to be an
issue we will stumble through, but one that my kids will have gotten a handle
on and my grandkids will take for granted. Change takes time and happens in
small steps.
Change of thinking: It
would be nice if in any language all I had to do was learn the new words and
plug them in to sentences in place of their English equivalents, but this isn’t
true. Its not just about getting the vocabulary right, there’s a system that
dictates what words go where and the correct timing and register of words. These systems have deep roots that you
may not understand, but can still adapt to. In Japanese, it kills me to put off talking action until the
end of a sentence, but Japanese grammar does not allow for anything else. What dynamics are at play—particularly
ones of power—that may work against the words you’re saying? Your message
doesn’t exist in a vacuum, think about systems at work, too.
Improves with quality
of relationships: People can tell when you’re being fake with them. I remember when I was living in China,
I had learned a few Chinese “oldies” that I could sing at karaoke with friends
and also took lessons on a traditional Chinese instrument. I had done both of those things simply
out of genuine curiosity but the fact that I had taken the time to go beyond
talking points in my knowledge of China earned me a lot of respect. Learning new cultures and forms of
expression is never easy. But the
same cultural dissonance you feel when you enter the worlds of people whose
education, opportunities, and culture have led them to a set of interests
different than your own is the same dissonance that you’re asking them to
overcome. If the cultural distance seems uncomfortably far for you, chances are
its uncomfortably far for them, too.
Immersion works best:
When I learned Chinese, from the second day of class on instruction was in
Chinese and as expected in the beginning I understood nothing. But I learned far more quickly than
those who tried to learn from the comfort of their own home environment. One of
my best friends is one of the most diverse people I know which incidentally has
made me more diverse. When I talk
to her about things from black culture, I’m often surprised that she knows even
more about them than I do even though she’s Asian American. She learned from having a diverse group
of friends she met during a summer spent living with other minorities as part
of a program for future diplomats.
Where does diversity come from?
Diversity isn’t icing on the cake, you can’t throw it on top
of a finished product. It must be worked in early in the process. You also don’t necessarily get a more
diverse organization just by diversifying the kinds of people working there or
visiting, but by having people with a diversity of experiences that can more
easily tease out latent connections between people, ideas, and cultures. Both the
personnel and the programming need to be intrinsically and inherently diverse.
What if museums looked to recruit staff who themselves were diverse and had broad exposure to different cultures and ideas rather than just those that would make their hallways a more colorful place but otherwise fit the same profile as the rest of the staff? Because of personal experience, I don’t assume that just because someone is a minority that they are diverse. I look at their friends.
What does success look like?
I think the answer to how diverse is diverse enough depends
in part on the organization. How will we know when we have got it right? I offer a few suggestions on ways
organizations may be able to gauge if they moving in the right direction.
- Diversity should be organic. There should be less resistance and resentment over the need to be more inclusive coming from within the organization and there should be widespread buy-in. Initial changes should be internal, not just in the recruiting of underrepresented staff or adding new programming. Ideas should come from across the institution not just from diversity and inclusion departments.
- When businesses want to be truly innovative they have policies that support that. There should be increasing institutional support for diversity education for all staff. Whether that means sending them to different kinds of conferences, giving all staff 10% of their work time to investigate a new culture outside the mainstream, or forming strategic partnerships where everyone must be involved, policies—not just staff and programming—should support the goal of being more diverse.
- Do your research. If you have an event or program where you’re reaching out to a certain group, be sure to talk to them about why they came, what they thought and what connections they made. Have dedicated evaluators get rich feedback that can be used to improve future planning. Understanding the real barriers is key to overcoming them.
- Think long term with partnerships. No high culture hit and runs. Follow up and realize that engagement is a two way street.
- Build advocates not just audience. Who is your target audience already listening to and influenced by how can you build a relationship with them?
- Learn—not just about how to do the diversity thing to stay afloat, but about being diverse.
2 comments:
Well said Linda. The field of arts management is filled with terminology like: engagement, diversity, participation, community, and placemaking, coupled with vague definitions and applications of these terms. This is a result of neo-liberal politics that aims to control cultural production or at the very least remove all public support for it and change the focus of art from artists, art, and the aesthetic experience to some extended ideal of social and economic good.
INTERNATIONAL CONCEPT OF WORK FROM HOME
Work from home theory is fast gaining popularity because of the freedom and flexibility that comes with it. Since one is not bound by fixed working hours, they can schedule their work at the time when they feel most productive and convenient to them. Women & Men benefit a lot from this concept of work since they can balance their home and work perfectly. People mostly find that in this situation, their productivity is higher and stress levels lower. Those who like isolation and a tranquil work environment also tend to prefer this way of working. Today, with the kind of communication networks available, millions of people worldwide are considering this option.
Women & Men who want to be independent but cannot afford to leave their responsibilities at home aside will benefit a lot from this concept of work. It makes it easier to maintain a healthy balance between home and work. The family doesn't get neglected and you can get your work done too. You can thus effectively juggle home responsibilities with your career. Working from home is definitely a viable option but it also needs a lot of hard work and discipline. You have to make a time schedule for yourself and stick to it. There will be a time frame of course for any job you take up and you have to fulfill that project within that time frame.
There are many things that can be done working from home. A few of them is listed below that will give you a general idea about the benefits of this concept.
Baby-sitting
This is the most common and highly preferred job that Women & Men like doing. Since in today's competitive world both the parents have to work they need a secure place to leave behind their children who will take care of them and parents can also relax without being worried all the time. In this job you don't require any degree or qualifications. You only have to know how to take care of children. Parents are happy to pay handsome salary and you can also earn a lot without putting too much of an effort.
Nursery
For those who have a garden or an open space at your disposal and are also interested in gardening can go for this method of earning money. If given proper time and efforts nursery business can flourish very well and you will earn handsomely. But just as all jobs establishing it will be a bit difficult but the end results are outstanding.
Freelance
Freelance can be in different wings. Either you can be a freelance reporter or a freelance photographer. You can also do designing or be in the advertising field doing project on your own. Being independent and working independently will depend on your field of work and the availability of its worth in the market. If you like doing jewellery designing you can do that at home totally independently. You can also work on freelancing as a marketing executive working from home. Wanna know more, email us on workfromhome.otr214422@gmail.com and we will send you information on how you can actually work as a marketing freelancer.
Internet related work
This is a very vast field and here sky is the limit. All you need is a computer and Internet facility. Whatever field you are into work at home is perfect match in the software field. You can match your time according to your convenience and complete whatever projects you get. To learn more about how to work from home, contact us today on workfromhome.otr214422@gmail.comand our team will get you started on some excellent work from home projects.
Diet food
Since now a days Women & Men are more conscious of the food that they eat hence they prefer to have homemade low cal food and if you can start supplying low cal food to various offices then it will be a very good source of income and not too much of efforts. You can hire a few ladies who will help you out and this can be a good business.
Thus think over this concept and go ahead.
Post a Comment