BD450
Black Dandelion Hive Life
(In partnership with The Flint Institute of Arts Department of Education)
Matthew Osmon, Director of Education
1
Time
6 hours (divided between the classroom, art creation, and a possible instructive visit from beekeepers)
2
Skill Reinforcement
reading/comprehension interpretation, collaborative learning/writing, critical thinking, art creation, introspection, Social Emotional Learning, Ecology of Bees/animal science, life mapping
3
Utilization
Vocational Centers, English Language Arts, Social Rehabilitation Facilities
4
Education Levels
High School & Up
5
Description
"Bees celebrated the return of the dandelions in a skirt of twirling yellow bliss." -Semaj Brown from the poem “Black Dandelion”
This course is centered around the above quote. Participants are guided through an exciting, interactive discussion prompted by a PowerPoint which engages metaphors and deeper meanings, and themes within the poem. Students will navigate the creation of a collaborative writing, a poem. Once the navigation exercise is ignited, we strategically move like busy bees, exploring "Black Dandelion" turbulence, recognizing the geosocial barriers to flight or success for bees, and /or humans who are contained in marginalized communities.
How do bees fly despite turbulence? How do bees secure and maintain their hives? We look to nature for strategies, and we find many applications to our real-world life. The bees struggle: humans struggle. Movement is a theme returned to many times. How will you move, roll, crawl or fly through the winds of your environment? What type of hive or house will you build?
We utilize digital or manual manipulations of portraiture as an expressive creative tool to reflect, correct, redirect and rewrite a positive course of direction. This course contains a vocational option where real beekeepers visit and present all things bee, including those uniforms and the sweet taste of honey! What fun!
6
Insight
"As part of our trademark studies, my students experienced “Branded: The Buying, Frying, Making, Baking of African American Domestic Stereotypes,” a riveting presentation … from Semaj Brown. She brought history, science, psychology, anthropology, and economics to bear … We will never look … the same way again."
Professor Susan M. Kornfield, J.D.
University of Michigan – Law School