On Thursday, April 5, members of Black Paint went on a walk with students from the Advanced Curriculum Design course. It was cold. We saw raccoons, cats, and squirrels in Morningside Park. We stopped at the Harriet Tubman statue to talk about the design. 125th was packed, so we couldn't stop much. We did stop at the Hotel Theresa, where one of the students from the class works. At 125th and Malcolm X, we stopped in front of the new Whole Foods, which is across the street from the now demolished Lenox Lounge. We walked south from the formal and informal vendors of 125th street to the Malcolm Shabazz Harlem Market on 116th street, which was part of Guiliani's plan to eradicate informal vendors on 125th street. Despite the distance from 125th street, the market still bustled with shoppers.
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We went on a self-propelled walking tour of Harlem, partially informed by our reading of Stoller's Sensuous Scholarship (1997). After meeting at the train station at Frederick Douglass and 125th, we walked east down 125th, south on Malcolm X, west on 116th back to Frederick Douglass. Along the walk, we stopped at different points to note observations, make connections, choose wigs, and walk through the Malcolm Shabazz Harlem Market. After the walk, we discussed the experience at a coffee shop. How do you walk differently in different places? We started planning a curriculum walk in Harlem. What would be our stops? What would be important methods of documentation? Like any walk, we don't know exactly what we will find on the curriculum walk. We might hear about the use of soft cheese in idiosyncratic breakfasts or find a hidden lumber supplier in Harlem. On March 8, Black Paint met with the Jackie's Advanced Curriculum course. Nancy discussed the department's background in curriculum design. While there is a widening interest in curriculum design, the Black Paint approach is different from other approaches in that it is theoretically-engaged. Through our collaboration with the students in this course, Black Paint plans to grow curriculum design expertise while working in and beyond K-12 schools, responding to particular demands and needs. Black Paint is an experimental space to complicate curriculum and its design, and we hope to engage with engage with public curricula of public spaces to promote dialogue about curriculum. Black Paint is a place to experiment with design work. |
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November 2021
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