Trustees Without Borders: Recent Episodes
Andy Morikawa
Trustees Without Borders (TWB) is a podcast series produced by the Virginia Tech Institute for Policy and Governance (IPG) and the Community Change Collaborative (CCC). TWB features leading practitioners, thinkers, and designers working to reframe and strengthen communities, doing so without borders or limits on their ideas and aspirations, without borders on what they think is possible, without borders concerning with whom they will work and without constraints on their dreams for a more just and inclusive community.
Podcast Interview with Dr. Ariel Otruba
In this episode, we talk with Dr. Ariel Otruba about her work that centers around peacebuilding, borders, and the politics of displacement. She discusses her photovoice exhibit "Violent Infrastructure: Ecologies of Decay & Displacement," which captures the feelings and experiences of internally displaced people (IDPs) in the Republic of Georgia. Along the way, she shares about the politics of Georgia and displacement more broadly. Lastly, Dr. Otruba delves into her approach to qualitative research and how she thinks about what it is that she is doing.
Ariel Otruba, PhD is a feminist political geographer and conflict resolution practitioner, who specializes in the study of violent geographies in the South Caucasus. Her research interests include critical geopolitics, border and migration studies, and posthumanist approaches to political ecology. She currently teaches in the International Peace and Conflict Resolution program at Arcadia University. Prior to this role, she was the InFocus War and Peace Scholar-in-Residence at Moravian University. Her publications have appeared in several edited volumes and Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space.
Interviewers: Amin Farzaneh & Brad Stephens, PhD Students in Planning, Governance, and Globalization
Made possible with the support of the Institute for Policy and Governance, the Center for European Union, Transatlantic, and Trans-European Space Studies, the Center for Refugee, Migrant, and Displacement Studies, and the Community Change Collaborative in partnership with Newman Library.
Podcast Interview with Khishi Enkhbayer
In this episode, Khishi Enkhbayer shares her experiences working to empower the young people of Mongolia and build the capacity for international collaboration. She shares how she has navigated and come to understand working in Mongolia's unique context and why she is drawn to this youth-driven work so important. She also talks about leadership more broadly and how she understands the role of international NGOs.
Khishigjargal (Khishi) Enkhbayar is a consultant on youth engagement at UNICEF in Mongolia. Previously, Khishi was a desk officer at the Office of the President of Mongolia, working on environmental issues. She co-founded the United Nations Association of Mongolia, which conducts various programs for youth empowerment. She is also engaged in the United Nations Futures dialogues on Northeast Asian peace and security as part of the co-design team and has co-authored several articles on the subject, including a policy brief on regional narrative building. Khishi graduated from Tsinghua University with a Masters in Global Affairs and was a UNESCO Research Fellow at the National University of Singapore.
Interviewers: Yugasha Bakshi, Ph.D. student in Planning, Governance, and Globalization; Brad Stephens, Ph.D. student in Planning, Governance, and Globalization.
Podcast Interview with Doug Jackson, Virginia DHCD & City of Roanoke
On this episode, Doug talks about how he approaches facilitation and how it can play an essential role in building community capacity. He makes it clear that establishing good processes in a community can go a long way to building efficacy and improving outcomes. He goes on to discuss the connection he sees between his work with the arts and process facilitation, highlighting the way these seemingly disparate fields work are closer than we might think.
Doug is a capacity development specialist with the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD), where he provides facilitation and strategic support to Virginia communities and their placemaking partners. Additionally, for the past 15 years, he has served in leadership roles with Roanoke, virginia’s Arts Commission and co-chaired that community’s first arts and cultural plan. He currently serves as the City of Roanoke’s arts and culture coordinator, providing staff support and leadership for civic arts initiatives, including the City’s public art program, creative placemaking strategies, and municipal arts funding.
Interviewers: Brad Stephens, Ph.D. Student in Planning, Governance, & Globablization
Podcast Interview with Mark Valdez, Mixed Blood Theater
As the problems facing our communities grow bigger, our collective imagination for solutions seems to only get smaller. This is where art and creativity come into play. On this episode of Trustees Without Borders, Mark Valdez explores his work sparking civic imagination with the communities in which he works to support people in seeing solutions and success.
Mark Valdez is a director, writer, and cultural organizer who partners with communities, organizations, civic institutions, and others, using theater and creative tools to address community needs and to lift up community voices and stories. His work has been seen at community venues and professional theaters across California, from a tomato field in Grayson to a de-commissioned Catholic cathedral in downtown LA; from the stages in La Pena Cultural Center in Berkeley to the stages of the Ricardo Montalban Theater/CTG in Hollywood.
Interviewers:Sarah E. Plummer, a recovering journalist, a proud Appalachian, and a PhD candidate at Virginia Tech researching the way Bread and Puppet Theater mobilizes performing objects within their performance styles and spaces, and C. Meranda Flachs-Surmanek, artist, cultural organizer, and master’s degree candidate at Virginia Tech in the Urban & Regional Planning and Theatre: Directing & Public Dialogue programs.
In partnership with the Virginia Tech School of Performing Arts.
Podcast Interview with Dr. Michelle Ramos, Alternate ROOTS
Dr. Michelle Ramos, Executive Director and Vision Keeper of Alternate ROOTS, discusses the legacy of activism that energizes her work, and shares tangible examples of her work disrupting long standing white supremacist structures and systems.
Dr. Michelle Ramos, Executive Director of Alternate ROOTS and founder of Ramos Coaching. Dr. Michelle Ramos applies critical race theory and lived experiences to disrupt long standing white supremacist structures and systems. A licensed attorney with a PhD in Psychology, she has significant organizing experience and has committed her career to serving communities and individuals adversely impacted by issues of race, gender, disability, class, socioeconomics, inequitable laws and systemic oppression. She has consulted for over 20 years nationally and internationally with expertise in non-profit consulting, DEI work and mediation.
Interviewers: Nicole Nunoo, a PhD candidate in Virginia Tech’s Department of Agricultural Leadership and Community Education, a food justice enthusiast by heart and a community development analyst by profession, and C. Meranda Flachs-Surmanek, an artist, cultural organizer, and master’s degree candidate in Virginia Tech’s Urban & Regional Planning and Theatre’s: Directing & Public Dialogue programs
In partnership with the Virginia Tech School of Performing Arts.
Podcast Interview with Michael Carter, Jr. (Carter Farms) & Josephus Thompson III (The Poetry Project)
On this episode of Trustees Without Borders we are joined by Josephus Thompson III, poet and creator of the Poetry Cafe, and Michael Carter Jr., 11th generation farmer and owner of Carter Farms in Orange, Virginia. Josephus and Michael discuss creativity, the rhythm of poetry, and nature as embedded in liberation work.
As a teacher and lecturer, Josephus Thompson founded, The Poetry Project, where he works in the educational and corporate setting focusing on “Education through Correlation”. Josephus uses poetry as a catalyst for literacy, leadership, and service. The Host of 90.1FM’s The Poetry Café, his voice is heard weekly over the airwaves as he showcases talented artists from all over the world in the genres of poetry, hip-hop, and R&B to name a few. He has performed for Oprah, opened for Kanye West and Floetry, shared stages with The Last Poets, traveled to Australia, London, Seoul, and South Africa as well as back and forth across the United States sharing his gift.
Michael Carter Jr. is an 11th-generation American/farmer and is the 5th generation to farm on, Carter Farms, his family's century farm in Orange County, Virginia where he gives workshops on how to grow and market ethnic vegetables. With Virginia State University, he is the Small Farm Resource Center Coordinator for the Small Farm Outreach Program. As a cliometrician, curriculum developer, and program coordinator for his educational, cultural, and vocational platforms, Hen Asem (Our Story) and Africulture, he teaches and expounds on the contributions of Africans and African Americans to agriculture worldwide and trains students, educators, and professionals in African cultural understanding, empathy, and implicit bias recognition.
Interviewers: Justice Madden, community architect, graduate student in Virginia Tech’s Department of Agricultural Leadership, and C. Meranda Flachs-Surmanek, an artist, cultural organizer, and master’s degree candidate in Virginia Tech’s Urban & Regional Planning and Theatre’s: Directing & Public Dialogue programs
In Partnership with the Center for Food Systems & Community Transformation at Virginia Tech
In this episode we talk with Jiang Nengjie, a Chinese filmmaker whose work includes four documentaries about the millions of children left-behind in villages by their parents seeking employment in China’s sprawling cities. When he was a child, Jiang Nengjie’s parents left him behind in their Hunan village when they went to find work in Guangdong province. Now, he’s a filmmaker who’s made four documentaries about left-behind children. Unaccustomed to the fast pace of city life, Jiang, 32, lives in his home town and splits his time between making films and taking care of three village libraries he established in the county for left-behind children.
Hi and welcome, you’re listening to Trustees Without Borders, a podcast production of the Virginia Tech Institute for Policy and Governance. I’m your host Andy Morikawa andymorikawa@vt.edu at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg. Today’s program features Jiang Nengjie. Jiang Nengjie was a member of China’s first generation left behind by parents looking for work in cities. He is a Hunan-based documentary film maker. His documentaries include frank and revealing aspects of life in China. Of his work he says, “Making documentaries is my way of pursuing freedom of expression. But it’s not worth being imprisoned because of your work.”
Joining me are the interviewers for today’s show Neda Moayerian, Kim Felix kfelix@vt.edu, and Yezi Yang yezi@vt.edu
In our interview with Jiang Nengjie, since he is more comfortable speaking in Mandarin, Yezi Yang will serve as our interpreter.
Podcast Interview with Sage Crump
On this episode of Trustees Without Borders, Sage discusses her work incorporating complex sciences, emergent strategy, and creative practice to imagine the world we want to live in and to build strategies and practices that will get us there.
Sage Crump is an artist, culture strategist, and facilitator who supports cultural workers and arts organizations involved in social justice to build social movements. She believes in leveraging art, creative practice, and the cultural sector to transform systemic oppressions.
Interviewers: C. Meranda Flachs-Surmanek, an artist, cultural organizer, and master’s degree candidate in Virginia Tech’s Urban & Regional Planning and Theatre’s: Directing & Public Dialogue programs, Gabe Velazquez, a theatre producer, performer, and Masters Candidate in Virginia Tech’s Theatre: Arts Leadership Program, and Molly Todd, a PhD student in the interdisciplinary ASPECT program, who works at the intersection of politics and culture
In Partnership with The School of Performing Arts at Virginia Tech
Podcast Interview with Alia Malek, International Reporting Program
On this episode of Trustees Without Borders, we consider what replaces the very idea of home when home itself becomes unattainable and its permanence illusory. Alia Malek discusses the meaning of home, as well as relevant local, national, and international policies and programs, positive and negative, that affect refugees.
Alia Malek is the author of A Country Called Amreeka: US History Re-Told Through Arab American Lives (Simon & Schuster, 2009) and editor of Patriot Acts: Narratives of Post 9/11 Injustices (McSweeney's 2011). With collaborators the Magnum Foundation and Al Liquidoi, Alia edited and co-conceived EUROPA: An Illustrated Introduction to Europe for Migrants and Refugees, released in Europe in 2016. Her narrative nonfiction book, The Home That Was Our Country: A Memoir of Syria, was released in 2017. Her reporting has appeared in The New York Times, Foreign Policy, NewYorker.com, the Nation, the Christian Science Monitor, Jadaliyya, McSweeney’s, Guernica, and other publications.
Interviewers: Neda Moayerian, Post-Doctoral Research Associate at Virginia Tech at the Institute for Policy and Governance, and Molly Todd, a PhD student in the interdisciplinary ASPECT program at Virginia Tech, who works at the intersection of politics and culture
In Partnership with Virginia Tech's Center for Refugee, Migrant, and Displacement Studies and the Center for Rhetoric in Society at Virginia Tech.
Podcast Interview with Lily Yeh, Barefoot Artists
Lily Yeh is an unconventional changemaker for cities guided by abundant hope. In this episode of Trustees Without Borders, Lily Yeh speaks from the heart, sharing approaches she has taken across her career to build community through art, learning, land transformation, and economic development.
Lily Yeh is an artist whose work has taken her to communities throughout the world. As founder and executive director of The Village of Arts and Humanities in North Philadelphia from 1968 to 2004, she helped create a national model in creative place-making and community building through the arts. In 2002, Yeh pursued her work internationally, founding Barefoot Artists, Inc. to bring the transformative power of art to impoverished communities around the globe through participatory, multifaceted projects that foster community empowerment, improve the physical environment, promote economic development and preserve indigenous art and culture. In addition to the United States, she has carried out projects in several other countries.
Interviewers: Lydia Gilmer, Master of Urban and Regional Planning Candidate at Virginia Tech, and Small Business Solutions Specialist for Pulaski County, VA, and C. Meranda Flachs-Surmanek, an artist, cultural organizer, and master’s degree candidate in Virginia Tech’s Urban & Regional Planning and Theatre’s: Directing & Public Dialogue programs
In Partnership with the Virginia Tech School of Visual Arts
Podcast Interview with Brandi & Carlton Turner, Sipp Culture
On this episode of Trustees Without Borders, Brandi and Carlton Turner speak about their use of the arts and agriculture to support rural community, cultural, and economic development in their hometown, Utica, MS.
Carlton Turner, Lead Artist and Director of Sipp Culture, works across the country as a performing artist, arts advocate, policy shaper, lecturer, consultant and facilitator. Brandi Turner, Program and Events Manager of Sipp Culture, was born in Michigan and raised in New Orleans, LA and Oxford, Mississippi. Brandi works as co-owner and Managing Director of TWA Consulting, a firm that provides services in creative consulting for organizations looking to strengthen their work in arts and culture. The Mississippi Center for Cultural Production (Sipp Culture) is honoring the history and building the future of Utica, MS. Their work weaves together research, development and local agricultural initiatives with contemporary media and storytelling to share the legacy and vision of Utica. Sipp Cultures’ place-based model program promotes economic empowerment and self-sufficiency of low-and moderate-income people through education, technical assistance, training and mentoring in agribusiness.
Interviewers: Neda Moayerian, Post-Doctoral Research Associate at Virginia Tech at the Institute for Policy and Governance, Sarah Lyon-Hill, Associate Director for Research Development at the Virginia Tech Office of Economic Development, and C. Meranda Flachs-Surmanek, an artist, cultural organizer, and master’s degree candidate in Virginia Tech’s Urban & Regional Planning and Theatre’s: Directing & Public Dialogue programs
In Partnership With: Virginia Tech School of Performing Arts; Blacksburg Public Library; Virginia Tech’s Women and Minority Artists and Scholars Lecture Series; Center for Food Systems and Community Transformation in the Department of Agricultural, Leadership, and Community Education at Virginia Tech; The Center for Communicating Science; The Christiansburg Institute, Inc
Friends of Fulbright Argentina Student Exchange Program students left to right: Facundo Arredondo, Miguel Angel Deriane, Camila Barbeito, Valentina Boretti, Mariana Giacone, Miguel Cervantes Schamun
NOTE: Translation by Desiree Poets, PhD. We learned a lot in the "making of" this episode, e.g. how to make a podcast through translation. In an attempt to give the listener as faithful a translation as possible, we recorded the interview on one day, and the translations afterwards. We hope the reader forgives any "awkward" moments. Photo Left to Right: Courtney Surmanek, Molly Todd, Andreza Jorge and Henrique Gomes da Silva.
Today’s program features Dr. Monica White. Dr. White is an associate professor of Environmental Justice with a joint appointment in the Gaylord Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies and the Department of Community and Environmental Sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is the first Black woman to earn tenure in both the College of Agricultural Life Sciences (1989) and the Nelson Institute (1970) at UW-Madison. Her research investigates Black, Latinx, and Indigenous grassroots organizations that are engaged in the development of sustainable, community-based food systems as a strategy to respond to issues of hunger and food inaccessibility. As the founding director of the Office of Environmental Justice and Engagement (OEJE) at UW-Madison, she works to bridge the gap between the community and the university and its resources by connecting community-based organizations that are working on areas of environmental/food/land justice to faculty and students. Her first book, Freedom Farmers: Agricultural Resistance and the Black Freedom Movement, published with University of North Carolina Press, was released January 2019. It received the 2019 Eduardo Bonilla Silva Outstanding Book Award from the Division of Race and Ethnic Minorities Section of the Society for the Study of Social Problems. Photo left to right: Dr. Monica White, Nicole Nunoo, and Lara Nagle
Podcast Interview with Todd London
In this podcast episode, Todd London reflects on conflict and communion in society and the values of art as a core element for building strong communities.
Todd London has worked in the American theatre for more than thirty years, supporting the flourishing of individual artists, advocating for best practices, creating connections between independent artists and producing theatres, and documenting the evolving field. His service has taken many shapes: artistic director, educator, arts journalist and essayist, public speaker, and theater historian. He is also a novelist, and his second novel, If You See Him, Let Me Know, was published in February 2020 (Austin Macauley). Todd is currently Director of Theatre Relations for the Dramatists Guild, Head of MFA Playwriting at the New School, and Founding Director of The Third Bohemia, an interdisciplinary retreat for artists. He received an honorary doctorate from DePaul University’s schools of Theatre and Music in 2016.
Interviewers: Yvonne Chang, Master's student in Virginia Tech's MFA in Theatre program, Sarah Lyon-Hill, Associate Director for Research Development at the Virginia Tech Office of Economic Development, and C. Meranda Flachs-Surmanek, an artist, cultural organizer, and Master's student in Virginia Tech’s Urban & Regional Planning and Theatre: Directing & Public Dialogue programs
Presented In Partnership With Virginia Tech School of Performing Arts, Blacksburg Public Library, Virginia Tech’s Women and Minority Artists and Scholars Lecture Series, the Center for Food Systems and Community Transformation in the Department of Agricultural, Leadership, and Community Education at Virginia Tech, the Center for Communicating Science, and and Christiansburg Institute, Inc
Podcast Interview with Julia Dinsmore
By sharing her first-hand account of dealing with poverty, Julia Dinsmore teaches her audience about socio-economic inequality while empowering people to be part of the solution. She invites listeners to think critically about the actual and imagined divides that alienate people experiencing poverty in society; in particular, she speaks about the weaponization of the sacred knowledge shared through "oral culture,” which she contrasts with "print culture,” and the dehumanization that can result from hoarding too much wealth.
Julia Dinsmore is an author, poet, singer-songwriter, and poverty abolitionist who is best known for her poem, “My Name is Not Those People.” Julia uses creative voice and storytelling to talk about the one thing we too often ignore – class and poverty in America. From church basements to the halls of congress, Julia has presented in her edu-performance style, calling those who listen to join the work of creating a just world for those experiencing poverty and marginalization. She is a teacher for students in high schools and ivy leagues. She has taught students at Stanford University, Brown, Duke Divinity, Swarthmore, and Amherst College, among others. She is most well known for her classes in neighborhood “porch sitting” which she calls an alternative to service-learning.
Interviewers: Lara Nagle, Community-Based Learning Projects Manager, Virginia Tech Institute for Policy and Governance, and Steven T. Licardi, LMSW, a spoken word poet, mental health advocate, and therapist with New River Valley Community Services
Presented in partnership with Virginia Tech University Libraries, Center for Humanities at Virginia Tech, and the Office for Inclusion and Diversity Advancing the Human Condition Symposium at Virginia Tech.
Back L-R: Aisha Tariq, Humaira Zafar,Azka Kiran, Alice Dong Front L-R: Rahil Akhtar, Raj Kumar, Samiullah These interview guests are six of the 28 scholar educators from Pakistan on campus at Virginia Tech who are participating in the Virginia Tech Teaching Excellence and Achievement Program for Pakistan, a program of the Virginia Tech Language and Culture Institute. The Teaching Excellence and Achievement (TEA) Program for Pakistan provides Pakistani secondary school English teachers from government and foundation schools with the opportunity to develop expertise in their subject area, enhance their teaching skills and English proficiency, and increase their knowledge about the United States. Funding for this program is provided by the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad.
Podcast Interview with Alexander Wendt
In this episode of Trustees Without Borders, Dr. Alexander Wendt discusses the possibility of using quantum tools for refining empirical and theoretical social science, rethinking topics such as international relations and game theory, and enhancing our understanding of human agency, relational identity and entanglement. The interview compares quantum and classical systems regarding the conceptualization of consciousness and the mind-body relationship, material and quantum constructs, and how quantum models could help to overcome the divisions between the natural and social sciences. Dr. Wendt explains how more work is needed to quantize social science research to determine if quantum is, indeed, a revolutionary opportunity.
Alexander Wendt is Mershon Professor of International Security and Professor of Political Science at The Ohio State University. He received his PhD in 1989 from the University of Minnesota, and before coming to OSU in 2004 had taught previously at Yale University, Dartmouth College, and the University of Chicago. Wendt is interested in philosophical aspects of social science, with special reference to international relations. He is the author of several well-known journal articles, as well as Social Theory of International Politics (Cambridge, 1999), which in 2006 received the International Studies Association award for “Best Book of the Decade” in the field. In the 2013 TRIP survey of 1400 International Relations scholars he was named as the most influential scholar in the field over the past 20 years. Wendt's recent book, Quantum Mind and Social Science (Cambridge, 2015), explores the implications for social science of the possibility that consciousness is a macroscopic quantum mechanical phenomenon – in effect, that human beings are walking wave functions.
Interviewers: Nada Berrada, Ph.D. candidate in ASPECT; Linea Cutter, Ph.D. student in ASPECT; and Molly Todd, Ph.D. student in ASPECT at Virginia Tech
Podcast Interview with Elizabeth LaPrelle
Elizabeth LaPrelle explores timeless truths about people and community through music. On this episode of Trustees Without Borders, LaPrelle discusses her creative practice of animating archival materials and the legacy of old-time music.
Elizabeth LaPrelle has been performing Appalachian ballads and old-time songs since she was eleven. Raised in Rural Retreat, VA, Elizabeth attended old-time fiddlers’ conventions and sang harmonies with her family, who taught her traditional singing styles and encouraged her to sing their favorite American folk music. She has developed her repertoire from neighbors like Jim Lloyd, under the tutelage of powerful female ballad singers like Ginny Hawker and Sheila Kay Adams, and from a wealth of field recordings of legendary singers from the mountains. Elizabeth received her undergraduate degree from the College of William and Mary with a major in Southern Appalachian Traditional Performance, and now tours the U.S. regularly, both performing and teaching.
Interviewers: C. Meranda Flachs-Surmanek, an artist, cultural organizer, and master’s degree candidate in Virginia Tech’s Urban & Regional Planning and Theatre’s: Directing & Public Dialogue programs, and Garland Mason, a PhD student in Agricultural Leadership, Community, and Education
Podcast Interview with Andrea Brunais
In this episode of Trustees Without Borders, author Andrea Brunais reflects on her new book, Hillbilly Drug Baby: The Story, a nonfiction account of the relationship that she and her husband, Hal, built with a young man named Jesse-Ray who had aged out of foster care and was struggling with substance use disorder. As Andrea and Hal learned more about Jesse-Ray’s abusive past, they served as mentors and friends hoping to cultivate his writing talents and support his recovery. Such a task proved challenging, and Andrea reflects on the experience and key insights gained.
Andrea Brunais is the Director of Communications for the Office of Outreach and International Affairs at Virginia Tech. She is also an award-winning author and editor with freelance work published in outlets such as the Christian Science Monitor, TravelPulse.com, DuPont Registry, and Appalachian Voice. Her most recent book is Hillbilly Drug Baby: The Story, chronicling the relationship that she and her husband, Hal, developed with a 19-year-old named Jesse-Ray who stayed in their “safe house” for about 6 months.
Interviewers: Lara Nagle, Community-Based Learning Projects Manager, and Laura Nelson, Ph.D. Candidate in Human Development and Family Science, both with the Virginia Tech Institute for Policy and Governance
Community Voices: Brad Stephens and Carolyn Zelikow Roundtable 2017-11-06 by Andy Morikawa
Podcast Interview with Wornie Reed
In this episode of Trustees without Borders, Sociology Professor Wornie Reed discusses the state of racism in the country, especially in the wake of President Trump's 2016 campaign victory, and how to improve current methods of activism.
Dr. Wornie Reed, Professor Emeritus and a professor of sociology and Africana Studies at Virginia Tech, is also director of the Race and Social Policy Research Center in the Department of Sociology. He teaches courses in health and medical care, criminal justice, and Africana Studies.
Interviewers: Mary Ryan, Editorial Board, Community Change, Doctoral Candidate in the ASPECT Program; Jake Keyel, Ph.D. Candidate in Planning, Governance, and Globalization Program, Editorial Board for Community Change
Presented in partnership with the Race and Social Policy Research Center at Virginia Tech
Left to right: Phyllis Albritton, Kim Niewolny, Max Stephenson, Vera Smirnov, Neda Moayerian, Amy Brooks. At the Graduate Life Center at Virginia Tech.
Podcast Interview with Amy Brooks
What is the story we are called upon to tell about ourselves, our community, and our future? This is the question Amy Brooks holds when making intercultural rural-urban performance. On this episode of Trustees Without Borders, Amy discusses arts and culture as a catalyst for equitable development across real and perceived divides.
Amy Brooks is the former Program Director and Dramaturg for Roadside Theater, the theater wing of Appalachian grassroots arts and media center Appalshop. A West Virginia-New York cultural hybrid who returned to Appalachia just before the 2016 election cycle, Amy investigates the confluence of dramatic narrative (“What is the story we choose to tell onstage?”) and public narrative (“What is the story we are called upon to tell about ourselves, our community, and our future?”) in intercultural rural-urban performance. Amy holds a BFA in acting from West Virginia University and an MFA in dramaturgy from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where she co-founded and produced the first two seasons of the UMass New Play Lab.
Interviewers: Neda Moayerian, PhD candidate in Virginia Tech's Planning, Governance & Globalization program, and Vanessa Guerra, PhD candidate in Virginia Tech's Environmental Design and Planning program
Presented in partnership with the Department of Agricultural, Leadership, and Community Education at Virginia Tech
Francesco Manca, Independent political analyst. Former Deputy Director for the Political and Civil Affairs Office of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon. He held political and managerial posts in a number of UN peacekeeping missions in Central America, the Balkans, Tajikistan, East Timor, Sierra Leone and in the Middle East.
Podcast Interview with Francesco Manca
Francesco Manca discusses his international civil service career and the definition of democracy as a context-free concept.
Francesco Manca is an independent political analyst and former deputy director for the political and civil affairs office of the United Nations in Lebanon. He has assumed many roles at the UN addressing economic development, human rights, peacemaking, and peacekeeping.
Interviewers: Neda Moayerian, 2nd year PhD candidate in planning, governance, and globalization; Vera Smirnova, PhD candidate in planning governance, and globalization
Kim Niewolny, left, and Jeanette Abi-Nader at Community Voices about to begin their roundtable held in the Graduate Life Center at Virginia Tech.
Anna Erwin introduces Ramon Zepeda to the evening gathering at the Virginia Tech Graduate Life Center.
After the interview, Patricia Parera reflected with the students on the insights gained from answering several of the questions.
Podcast Interview with Nicolas Antonio Vecchioli, Lara Azul Fumarola, Emmanuel Murano, Roberto Enrique Fairhurst Agosta, and Gabriela Yanina Valles
In this episode of Trustees Without Borders, the Fulbright scholars reflect on the opportunities and challenges of study abroad programs, the similarities and differences between academic and personal life in Argentina and the U.S., and what they've gained during their time at Virginia Tech.
This podcast's guests are all students from Argentina that have visited Virginia Tech through the Friends of Fulbright cultural exchange program.
Interviewer: Andy Morikawa, Senior Fellow, Virginia Tech Institute for Policy and Governance
Presented in partnership with the VT Language and Culture Institute
Mohair Zeynalov, left, and Hamid Bilici spoke and engaged with students and faculty in a conference room at the Graduate Life Center.
Podcast Interview with Hamid Bilici and Mahir Zeynalov
In this episode of Trustees Without Borders, Mahir Zeynalov and Hamid Bilici share insights and information about the state of journalism in Turkey; they explore the monumental shift from democracy to autocracy that occurred in that country in just a few short years and about the geopolitical cultural and social factors that contributed to this change. They speak from direct experience regarding the role of deteriorating media freedoms during Turkey's drift from its democratic principles.
Mahir Zeynalov is a Turkish journalist and analyst based in Washington, DC. He is the first journalist in Turkey asked to be imprisoned by Erdogan, and also the first journalist to be deported from Turkey. Hamid Bilici is a former Turkish newspaper executive and editor in chief. He frequently writes and shares views regarding Turkish foreign policy.
Interviewers: Mario Khreiche, PhD candidate in ASPECT and co-editor of SPECTRA; Alex Stubberfield, 2nd year ASPECT student and editor elect of SPECTRA.
L-R: Hamid Bilici, Mahir Zeynalov in conference room studio at the Institute for Policy and Governance at Virginia Tech.
Podcast Interview with Jeanette Abi-Nader
Jeanette Abi-Nader discusses exploring home measures for community food systems and how they can serve as a tool for communities to share their stories.
Jeanette Abi-Nader is the Executive Director of City Schoolyard Garden in Charlottesville. She is a former evaluation, training, and capacity-building director at the internationally recognized Community Food Security Coalition. During her time at the latter she authored a number of publications related to evaluation and training including "The Whole Measures for Community Systems." She is also an experienced farmer.
Interviewers: Pallavi Raonka, Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Sociology; Lorien McAuley, Ph.D. student in Agricultural Leadership and Community Education; Heather Lyne, Masters student in the School of Public & International Affairs
Left to right: Fulbright Argentina students Lara Fumarola, Emmanuel Murano, Montana Manselle Cocco, Nicolas Vechiolli, Dr. Wafa Al-Daily, Program Assistant Coordinator, Ariel Coscia, and Dr. Patricia Parera, Academic Director Fulbright Argentina Undergraduate Student Exchange Program
Podcast Interview with Ramon Zepeda
In this episode of Trustees Without Borders, Ramon Zepeda profiles Student Action with Farmworkers (SAF) and how they engage with the farmworker community.
Ramon Zepeda joined Student Action with Farmworkers (SAF) as the Youth Organizer in 2011. He has experience as a union organizer and has worked with campaigns such as the Justice at Smithfield Campaign in solidarity with workers in a North Carolina pork processing plant, and a Wage Theft Campaign, in solidarity with day laborers in Washington DC. He is now the program director of the theatre program within SAF.
Interviewers: Anna Erwin, PhD student in Planning, Governance, and Globalization; Vanessa Guerra, PhD candidate in Virginia Tech's Environmental Design and Planning program; and Lorien MacAuley
Podcast Interview with Nate May and Andrew Munn
In this episode of Trustees Without Borders, composer Nate May and bass vocalist Andrew Munn combine contemporary opera and passions for environmental economic justice in Appalachia in a live performance of "Dust in the Bottomland."
Nate May is a professional composer who has a passion for making music that engages with social reality. Much of his work stems from a "fascination, love, and respect for the people" of Appalachia. Andrew Munn is a bass vocalist with previous experience working as a community organizer in Appalachia that informs his ongoing work as a musician. Andrew sings opera, classical music cannons, and new music collaborations like "Dust in the Bottomland".
Interviewers: Cheryl Montgomery, PhD student in Planning Governance, and Globalization, Jordan Laney, PhD student in the ASPECT program, Dana Hogg, Master's student in agricultural, leadership, and community education
Podcast interview with Amanda Zehner, owner and founder of Living Threads Co., Preserving artisan traditions and improving livelihoods while providing high quality handmade textiles. A graduate of Virginia Tech, Amanda Zehner shares lessons learned and her vision of social enterprise.