TCK's Mission Poem

To those who need color and form as they need food we say,
feast with us.

: who simmer in melody daylong, in hallways, in class, in private
      moments, we say,
you can stand the heat – let’s set the house on fire.

: who spool out words like honeysilk, follow that succulent thread with
       their eyes, their mouths, we say,
stroll with us in paper gardens, toward the great labyrinth’s heart.

: who, stalled in English, chafe against the walls of a solitary tongue, we
      say,
Bienvenidos: Les parfums, les couleurs et les sons… ayant l'expansion des
choses infinies.

: who track, in the duff of history, ideas, cultures, the soul of a person, of
      a people, of a place, we say,
the woods are wider than you know – run with us.

: who have bodies, who love the fine motions of the face and limbs, that
       liquid articulation, we say,
our stage is set and wants only your touch.

: who have searched and still search, in the breath, the eye, the hand, in
       the sweet-and-sour spaces between people, for the meaning-
      of-human, asking how beauty? and why feeling? and where
      truth? we say,
you’re home.

Notes From Feb. 25th Meeting

INTENDED / LIKELY AUDIENCE:
Students (current, prospective)
Us (Humanities Faculty / Staff / College employees)
The whole world (www)
Potential faculty
Parents
Peer review / colleagues
Advisors

Purposes of mission statement:
Clarify who we are, what we do, what we believe in
Characterize our unique contribution
What we all share
(Need to make this clear to ourselves first, then transmit to
students)

WHO ARE WE?
­Students of human experience
­Stewards of Humanities ­
Culture/Diversity/Memory/Tradition
­Sharers of ideas / mores
­Poets, writers, artists, etc.
­Teachers
­Seekers of the universal
­Community of learners
­Human experience / expression
­Lovers of art (amator ­ Latin)

WHAT DO WE DO?
­Express poetically
­Reflect
­Question
­Prompt thought and critical thinking
­Judge / Evaluate
­Value
­Make things
­Discover
­Collaborate
­Listen
­Empathize / Encourage
­Emancipate self and students from oppression
­Research
­Play

HOW DO WE PRESENT OUR STATEMENT?
­Need to offer variety of format: visual, written, symbolic, musical, etc.


WHAT RESONATES WITH US IN TCK'S POEM?
­ Home
­ Hunger (for...)
­ Act of questioning
­ Self­actualization
­ Companionship
­ Community
­ Acknowledgement
­ Inward sense of aesthetics / beauty
­ Beauty
­ Emotional expression
­ Liminal space
­ Crossing boundaries
­ What do we find?
­ What do we search for?
­ Joy and invitation
­

WHAT IS OUR UNIQUE CONTRIBUTION?
­ Individual and group creativity
­ Interpret what it means to be human
­ Expression, understanding, and appreciation of human experience
­ Passion
­ Avenues to empathy
­ Foster sense of self, place and time
­ Other places/people/times
­ Inhabit the other/ understand
­ Show / wear (place, time, self)
­ Recognizing the artificiality of boxes (disciplines / fields)

WHAT DO WE SHARE?
­ A common question: what does it mean to be human?
(Study of how others have answered the question, as
well as the individual's search for an answer.)

Humanities Current Mission

Beauty in articulation,
the aesthetics of the human condition,
a synthesis of eroticism and Foucault.
Curious, the rhythm of risk and irrationality,
the spiritual romance of reason,
that sensual gesticulation of the senses,
that dialectic of hidden narrative,
that pursuit of truth.


Further text in another page on the website has this:
Welcome

The Humanities are where the arts, language, and culture come together to define who we are as a community, a nation, and ultimately our legacy as inhabitants of this world. Our faculty strive to infuse creative critical thought into all aspects of learning while simultaneously inspiring a love and appreciation for the disciplines. Whether you are playing a sax, mixing paints, reading Whitman, or studying Buddhism, the Humanities are where the seeds of inspiration are allowed to bloom.

Our division

coordinates degree programs in American and international studies, art, dance, English, music and theater
offers English language classes for speakers of foreign languages (contact Kit Carpenter, carpenter@gcc.mass.edu, 413-775-1226, for more information
offers advanced art classes jointly with Massachusetts College of Art
partners with arts-related organizations in the Pioneer Valley to grow the creative economy through our Fostering Art & Culture project
If you are interested in any of our courses, have questions, or would just like to explore what we have to offer, please come and visit the Humanities Office .

Thanks,
Leo Hwang-Carlos, Associate Dean of Humanities