The Joan Rosen Fellowship Program

On Saturday, March 5th, Rosen Fellow Aundreah Walenski spoke at the Oakland University/Pontiac Partnership Town Hall Meeting.  Dr. Kanako Taku and Aundreah Walenski’s Multitude of Events Project has been recognized as one of 25 initiative projects that aim to equally benefit Oakland University and the Pontiac community.

Our research is centered on the key word "posttraumatic growth" (PTG). PTG refers to the positive changes experienced as a result of the psychological struggle with stressful life events. Our project has two specific aims: (1) to gather empirical data about PTG from people who might have experienced more than two stressful life events within the online community and in high schools and (2) to provide a psycho-educational program that provides an opportunity for youth to think and talk about the meanings of their personal experiences and how they can help others in their community by applying their knowledge of PTG.

At the meeting, Aundreah Walenski spoke about the mutual benefits of the project and their future plans to collect data, analyze data, and conduct a brief psycho-educational intervention in the Pontiac community at the end of the month. Fellows, including lab member Lauren Harrison, also engaged in break-out sessions to discuss ways in which to assess the needs of the Pontiac community, engage parents, and promote initiatives.

At the close of the town hall meeting, Glenn McIntosh, OU Vice President for Student Affairs, discussed the need to fulfill the projects’ promise to engage in the community. In Mr. McIntosh’s closing words, he proposed a mantra, “I can, I will, I must.” Dr. Taku, Aundreah, and researchers in the PTG lab at Oakland University are excited to examine how PTG could occur by experiencing multiple life events and disseminate the results of their project, believing they can make a difference, will make a difference, and most importantly that they must. Understanding that positive changes following life stressors are possible may provide youth who are going through tough times the knowledge to help others and help themselves.

In the upcoming months, Rosen Fellow Aundreah Walenski, researchers in the PTG lab, and Dr. Kanako Taku will be analyzing the data, conducting the intervention program, disseminating results at local and international conferences, publishing manuscripts, and are planning on updating the OU/Pontiac Partnership at next year’s annual town hall meeting.

For more information about what it means to be a member of the Oakland University Pontiac Initiave, there is an informative video on Professor Kanako Taku's website

In this post, Professor Annette Gilson and Jenny Taggart share their experience in the OU Prison Arts Creative Writing Program at the Thumb Correctional Facility, where they recently held their first session alongside students Lindsay and Nate:

We had a terrific session. Everyone introduced themselves, and we had with us Frank, Stephen, Terrel, Kevin, Jammal-hassan, Dario, and Johnnie. Jammal-hassan arrived late so he didn't get to introduce himself with the rest of us, but he more than made up for that because he'd brought some of his writing and read aloud two pieces over the course of the class. He'd also participated in a Shakespeare class, so he has experience with a similar program.

All 7 men were respectful, interested, eager to learn and share, and fully engaged in the classroom dynamic.

The students, Jenny, Lindsay, and Nate, (JLN from here on out) were amazing. They'd sent to Wendy three different pieces they read aloud during our session (though the Sanders piece Terrel volunteered to read aloud). In addition to Saunders, there was an excerpt from Vonnegut's Sirens and "The Art of Losing" by Bishop.

Inmates really love poetry. A few mentioned fiction, creative nonfiction, and comics. I think providing them with a wide array of different pieces will work well - JLN are thinking about what to bring in next time. Johnnie really wanted to read "The Lottery" by Jackson and the other inmates were excited about this, so that sounds like a good thing to send to Wendy.

JLN had a great series of prompts. Everyone wrote the "I am" exercise and shared it, and there were many nods and affirmative responses throughout the readings. We then wrote the dialogue exercise; I don't think everyone shared it, but those who did seemed pleased with the experiment.

JLN gave the inmates (I'll use "folks" from here on out) some writing assignments for next time and the folks asked follow-up questions to make sure they understood the rules and purposes of the assignments. We also had an extended discussion of the difference between poetry that's written to be published and read aloud from the page vs spoken word (some of which is memorized, some not). That was really interesting to all of us; L talked about the ancient role of the poet as historian and the way in which rhyming helped people to remember their lines, as well as created a hypnotic rhythm for listeners. (I don't know if we actually talked about that second part in class, I just was thinking about it.)

JLN want to send Wendy their documents by Tuesday night; I will email her and see if that's OK with her. We also need to find out if there will be a prison-wide reading on 4/8.

It was so exciting and rewarding. What a great day, and what an amazing job JLN did.

From Jenny Taggart:

I was very impressed by the enthusiasm and passion that every inmate brought into the workshop. Everyone was extremely respectful and receptive. The "I am" activity worked well as an introductory exercise to create an open and creative space. It was amazing to see how the prompt was interpreted by each person, and I was thrilled by the unique and creative responses. It was inspiring that even in the first workshop, everyone was open and willing to share. The readings were received well, as well as the dialogue activity, and everyone seemed engaged in the prompts we assigned. I am excited to see what will be shared next week!

*end post*

Finally, Professor Gilson asked me to share a wonderful opportunity that has been afforded to the folks with whom she is working:
 

PEN's Prison Writing Contest accepts contest submission between January 1 and September 1 of each year. See more at: http://www.pen.org/literature/annual-prison-writing-contest#sthash.G0QgMSG5.dpuf