News and Events

MARJiS Workshop:

The University of Maryland’s
Mid-Atlantic Region Japan in the Schools (MARJiS) Program
with the support of the Embassy of Japan
announces an Educator Workshop:

In coordination with the Clarice Smith Center for the Performing Arts and the Music Education Department, University of Maryland College Park, this workshop was centered around a performance of “The Kenny Endo Taiko Ensemble ” in the Clarice Smith Center. We explored the ways in which Japanese music and musical traditions have emerged on the contemporary stage. Participants learned about the history and sound of koto and drum music, obtained instructional materials for integrating music into the classroom, and enjoyed performances of traditional and contemporary music.

MARJiS Workshop:

The University of Maryland’s
Mid-Atlantic Region Japan in the Schools (MARJiS) Program with the support of the Embassy of Japan
announces an Educator Workshop:

Re-Inventing Performance: Tradition and Change in Bunraku Puppetry
October 29, 2005

In coordination with the Clarice Smith Center for the Performing Arts and the Music Education Department, University of Maryland College Park, this workshop centered around a performance of “The Hiroshima Maiden,” at the Clarice Smith Center. We explored the ways in which traditional Bunraku puppetry has been adapted to reflect changing historical circumstances and provided teachers with cultural knowledge, activities, and modeled instructional materials focused around Japanese performing arts and the teaching of war in schools.

Barbara Finkelstein awarded the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rossette
Barbara Finkelstein, director of ICTE, received the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette award at the Japanese Embassy in Washington, D.C. on June 25, 2004. The award, confered by Japan's Emperor Heisei, recognizes Japanese and foreign nationals for their contributions to promoting knowledge of Japan culture througout the world. As the Director of ICTE's Mid-Atlantic Region Japan in the Schools (MARJiS) Program, Barbara Finkelstein is recognized for her work with hundreds and educators over the past twenty years, contrubiting to mutual understanding betweeb Japan and the United States in the classrooms of both nations. Please click here to view an invitation letter from the event.

The International Center for Transcultural Education
and
The David C. Driskell Center for the Study of the African Diaspora

Presents
AFRICA IN THE SCHOOLS 2004 LECTURE SERIES

“Garifuna Music in the Central American Nation of Belize”
A Presentation by Thomas Stanley

On March 18th, University of Maryland doctoral candidate and Music Ethnomusicologist, Thomas Stanley offered the second lecture in the Africa in the Schools Spring 2004 Lecture Series entitled “Garifuna Music in the Central American Nation of Belize”. The Garinagu are a unique ethnic group embodying a fusion of African and AmerIndian characteristics. Their story is one of migration, adaptation and survival. Their language, Garifuna, is related to languages spoken by indigenous people in the Caribbean at the time of Columbus' incursion into that region. Garifuna music has fueled a cultural revival movement in Belize; elsewhere in Central America where the Garifuna reside; as well as within the sizeable Garifuna diaspora concentrated in urban centers of North America. Mr. Stanley explored the principle Garifuna musical genres (punta and paranda) and their cultural context within contemporary Belizean society.

Thomas Stanley is a doctoral student in the Ethnomusicology program of the University of Maryland, College Park. He is the author of George Clinton and P-Funk: An Oral History as well as a body of journalism exploring the music of the African diaspora. His research and advocacy have tended to focus on musical communication in improvised and experimental settings. During the 1990s, Mr. Stanley made three trips to Central America where he documented the music and hybrid culture of the Garinagu. In 2002, Mr. Stanley returned to Belize with the assistance of a David C. Driskell Center travel grant to continue his work with Garifuna musicians.

“Teaching African History in Brazilian Schools”
A Presentation by Dr. Keila Grinberg

On March 30th, visiting Brazilian scholar, Dr. Keila Grinberg, addressed a group of graduate students, university faculty, and educators at the third lecture in the Africa in the Schools 2004 Lecture Series on “Teaching African History in Brazilian Schools”.
The discussion concentrated on the problems and promising lines for teaching African History in Brazilian schools. The presentation began with an informative survey of the history of Africans and people of African descent in Brazil. Then, a close examination of the curriculum recently adopted by the public educational system in the country followed.

Dr. Keila Grinberg, a historian of comparative slavery and emancipation, is Associate Professor of History at the Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro (UNIRIO) and at the Candido Mendes University and researcher at the African-Asian Studies Center, at the Candido Mendes University.

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