The Brief – October
OCTOBER 2021 CONTENT To Be Human The Forum, featuring Clinical Psychologist Allison Bickett, Ph.D. SenseMaker® Update 5 Questions with Educator and New Team Member Jennifer Dow A Word JULY 2021 To Be Human Earlier this month, the Charlotte Center hosted a Wisdom Wednesday discussion on Artificial Intelligence (AI). Rob Slee, the featured speaker, spoke about his foray into AI as an entrepreneur, the vast possibilities for AI to enhance our lives, and his grave concerns. Once only science fiction, the advent of AI is transforming how we interact and our futures in identifiable and unfathomable ways.
By some accounts, AI is an existential threat to our humanity. A concept mentioned in the discussion is that AI will stand in relation to humans the way humans stand in relation to chimpanzees. While that may be an oversimplistic analogy, it does arouse questions on what it means to be human. What are defining aspects of humanness and humaneness? Are we at risk of losing essential qualities? Are there limitations to these machines? Have we rendered ourselves redundant?
Exponential changes in the world make the humanities—exploration of society, culture, humanness and our inner dimensions and scaffolding—all-the-more crucial. The Charlotte Center is providing space for local people to delve into the issues of our time, while drawing on wisdom of the ages. In this issue’s 5 Questions interview with Jennifer Dow, she gives voice to the power of the humanities in transforming her life, offering a glimpse into what may be among our human superpowers in an impenetrable, exclusive domain. The Charlotte Center looks forward to continuing engagement and illumination of possibilities for us, as leaders, educators and creators and as a sentient community of humans.
“Human behavior flows from three main sources: desire, emotion, and knowledge.”
— Plato, Ancient Greek philosopher Join Us at the Bechtler Museum! We'll explore how medical education is incorporating the humanities to increase empathy, awareness, and sensitivity in patient care. We will consider how Visual Thinking Strategies can help everyone expand their creativity, flexible thinking, and personal resiliency. 
SenseMaker® Update The Charlotte Center is happy to announce the November 4th launch of our project Belonging in Charlotte. In this project we are using SenseMaker, a tool that transforms the stories and lived experiences of participants into quantitative data. An alternative to traditional surveys, SenseMaker® offers the ability to elevate initiatives and policies that participants find beneficial, while identifying improvement opportunities that may otherwise go unheard.
We are excited to partner with the City of Charlotte on Belonging in Charlotte along the city's Corridors of Opportunity that will allow us to collect and map the stories of over 1,000 residents.
Angela Gala, who manages the project, states, "I am excited to be a part of this effort. It has been a gift to work with Nicole Storey and her Community Engagement team at the City of Charlotte. Through this project, I have experienced firsthand how much Nicole and her colleagues care about the neighborhoods they serve and the people who live here.” 
5 Questions • Jennifer Dow An interview with educator, entrepreneur, and newest member of the Charlotte Center’s team.
BY VALAIDA FULLWOOD
Jennifer Dow is founder and CEO of The Paideia Fellowship, an organization devoted to coaching educators on how to teach the classical liberal arts. She has helped thousands of teachers and educational leaders recover a humane, holistic, and inclusive approach to education through her research, writing, speaking, and training programs. At the Charlotte Center, Jennifer leads marketing and communications strategies.
How did you come to know you wanted to be an educator?
I never wanted to be one for a long time. My mother was an educator, and I resisted it. Then one day I found myself unhappy with what was going on at my kids’ school. Our only solution was to home school because we weren’t financed for private school education. It was either take the reins into our own hands or not. I took myself to task to learn what I needed to learn and began homeschooling my children. And that’s how I got into education.
Once I got started, I realized this is what I was meant to do my whole life. I began getting more formal training and mentorship around it and began teaching in other capacities.
What drew you to the humanities?
The teacher training program I went through was specifically oriented around the classics and the classical liberal arts. The curriculum was the classics and humanities. There was Homer and Plato, Shakespeare and Virgil, manifestos and essays about human nature and philosophy. I thought I’d died and gone to heaven! I had found my people. I felt at home.
Not only did I learn how to teach through this experience I became a better mother, friend, worker and human. I found love in these pages, in addition to all the skills I needed for teaching and leading.
You’re obviously passionate about the humanities, what do you strive for people to understand about the humanities.
I strive for people to understand that the humanities are the great common ground where we all can stand. It belongs to everyone. We live in a society that has cultural norms for the various groups we’re in and are a part of our identity. There is a lot of tension around what belongs to who and resistance around participating in things perceived to belong to another group. One thing the humanities offer is truly neutral ground. That’s because the humanities encompass the ideas we all wrestle with—the common human experience.
It brings to life our fear, love, hate, forgiveness, loss, tragedy and joy. And brings it to us in ways that we think, “Oh wow, I’ve struggled with that too. Oh, gosh, I have felt what that person wrote in that essay or novel. I’m not alone.” Healing is possible in that. These human experiences belong to everyone, regardless of race, gender, socioeconomics. It is open to everyone. It’s the human experience: the great come-as-you-are.
What’s your happy place and why?
I have two answers: a physical happy place and an immaterial one. One is my balcony, which overlooks a bunch of trees and is beautiful, filled with all the bohemian fare and décor I love. When the candles are lit, a glass of red wine, good conversation, and soul-stirring music create an environment of centeredness for my true happy place. That place is inside myself. Grounded and connected to myself, accepting myself knowing that I am enough. I find those two places are actually connected. What happens in one affects the other.
What excites you about the Charlotte Center for the Humanities and Civic Imagination?
First and foremost, when I heard about the Charlotte Center I immediately saw it as the citywide, or next level expression of what I’ve been working on with Paideia Fellowship. I work in a small niche with 7th to 12th grade students and classical teachers. The more I coach these teachers and students the more I realize this is a solution for our society. To learn the skills of reading this way, to learn the skills of discussing and discourse this way, to learn how to come outside of yourself to hear another’s viewpoint, and genuinely want to understand it, this is the work that will change our world. This is the work that will save our world.
When I met with Mark (Peres) and he described his vision, I thought “Oh my gosh, the Center is doing the work I do, but at a citywide level and reaching broader audiences, beyond the K-12 and collegiate environments.” The Charlotte Center can take Charlotte there with the humanities. It’s not just for educators, it’s for everyone. Follow Jennifer Dow!
About The Charlotte Center WHERE THE CURIOUS ENGAGE FOR GOOD.
Centered in the humanities (poetry, literature, history, religion, philosophy, the arts), our programs deepen human connection and strengthen personal and civic agency.
The more we know about ourselves, the wiser we are in what we do.
OUR FUTURE DEPENDS ON IT. gratitude to our sponsors 
The Charlotte Center operates with support from financial donors and generous sponsors such as those listed above and you. A WORD 
The greatness of humanity is not in being human, but in being humane.
MAHATMA GANDHI 
Spread the Word Please share this email with your friends, family, and colleagues who may want to join our journey of wondering, learning, and striving.
Our Contact Information The Charlotte Center is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization.
Word to the Wise is compiled and edited monthly by Valaida Fullwood Design by Goldenrod Design Co. |
