Category Archives: Sarah Lyon-Hill

In my continuing endeavor to understand how the arts, specifically theater, may promote collaboration and more inclusive community development, I partnered with my roommate to study the effects of two intergenerational theater programs on participant perceptions. Neda Norouzi is a … Continue reading →

This is definitely a reflection: pretty short, hopefully sweet. I have been considering the way we position ourselves in academia, our research and our writing. Like many undergraduate and graduate students, I am currently reading a book for a class … Continue reading →

On September 3, Paul Smith, Director of the British Council in the USA and Cultural Counselor at the British Embassy in Washington, DC came to the Virginia Tech Blacksburg campus, thanks to the efforts of the Virginia Tech Language and … Continue reading →

Consider these two scenarios.

Scenario One: President Obama has just finished his inaugural address, discussing the need for citizens to engage in their government. A poll on one of the major broadcasting network websites asks:

Is [President] Obama’s address a call to collective support in society consistent with the foundations of the country?

A) Yes, this country works better when citizens work together through government

B) No, the country was built on a system of individual responsibility

C) There has to be a happy medium

Scenario Two: A local branch of a national nonprofit wants to apply for a federal grant. Because the focus of the aid program is local partnerships and place-based development, the nonprofit works eagerly to forge as many local partnerships and procure as many letters of support as possible. As the grant writing proceeds, however, most partners do not see or seem to care to see the grant or its components. What happens when/if the grant is awarded and these supposed collaborators have to sit down to implement the plan with which they are only vaguely familiar? Continue reading →