Jamie A. Thomas
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#languagestory blog

Video & perspectives on communication, intercultural learning & the impact of anthropological research.

Breaking the Silence During a Quaker Meeting

1/11/2016

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By Elise Riley & Miki Gilmore

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A Quaker #languagestory

"Quakerism is opposed to the statement of strong emotion.
​Quakerism is also opposed to strong emotion." - Community stakeholder
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Moved By the Spirit.

On Sunday, November 8, 2015, 10:30 AM, we attended the Germantown Monthly Meeting. The community gathers every Sunday for Meeting for Worship, a religious service that is conducted in silence and is open to anyone. During Meeting for Worship, community members stand and speak when they feel moved by the spirit of God.

Passionately Confronting Racial Disparities.

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Midway through the scheduled gathering,  a woman stood up to speak about the racial disparities in Philadelphia's K-12 schools. She specifically made mention of the prestigious Germantown Friends School and another local school, Kelly Elementary School. Compared to the Friends school, Kelly Elementary is in a very poor state.

​The woman at the Quaker Meeting was noticeably upset while talking, and continued her speech for over ten minutes. In the midst of this woman speaking, another person stood up silently. Then, sensing her time was coming to a close, the very same woman addressed the room thus: “Does anyone hear me?” Another person replied, “We hear you, we hear you”. This person and the one who stood up while the woman was talking were performing an act called eldering, which is when a longstanding member of the community expresses their disapproval of somebody’s behavior.
 


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Problematizing the Meaning of 'Asian'

1/8/2016

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By Christine Lee & Emma Remy

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Bamboo Bistro: Americanized Asian Cuisine #languagestory

Representing Asian Cuisine in Greater Philadelphia.

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​We were interested in Bamboo Bistro as the only representative of Asian cuisine in the Swarthmore borough. Christine had eaten at Bamboo before, while Emma had yet to. We were expecting to find some Asian community that congregated at Bamboo, either comprising Asian students of Swarthmore College or residents of Swarthmore town. However, we discovered that, as a result of the demographics and expectations of the Swarthmore community, Bamboo is incredibly Americanized.
 
When we first approached Bamboo, the restaurant was empty because it was a mid-afternoon on a Sunday. Several employees were sitting near the entrance, on their phones or chatting in (presumably) Mandarin. After asking for an interview, two of the employees squabbled over whose English was better until Tim agreed to his voice being recorded. We were surprised to discover that, while the employees of Bamboo were from the Philadelphia Chinatown area, the restaurant was intended to present Americanized-Asian food and atmosphere.

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Putting the 'Soul' in Sustainable Community

1/7/2016

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By Sophia Zaia, Tinuke Akintayo, & Lekey Leidecker

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Serenity House Language Story #languagestory

"Once you step just a layer below the skin, what you end up with is a nervous system. Black people have nervous systems. So do White people.
​It's amazing how similar we are on that level!" - O, community leader

One of the Poorest Ghettos in Philadelphia.

Listen to the wind chimes, and you can hear the peaceful wavelength of this community. This video is about Serenity House, a North Philadelphia community center, and home for homeless youth and recovering substance abusers. The residential center is operated by Arch Street United Methodist Church. We interviewed O, a resident and caretaker of Serenity House since 2010. She talked with us about the mission of Serenity House and her work creating a calm and peaceful environment in a neighborhood which has been described as “one of the poorest ghettos in Philadelphia.” Spending time at the hospitality home operated by Serenity House, we experienced a beautiful and welcoming community environment.
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Sophia talks with community leader, O (left), on site at Serenity House.

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Why We Love Our Neighborhood Coffeehouse

1/5/2016

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By Emma Kates-Shaw & Allie Drabinsky
"I really like the atmosphere, and the way that you can come, grab a coffee and sit for hours at a time surrounded by people, and the noise is really comforting." - Coffeehouse goer

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The Atmosphere of Hobbs Coffee #languagestory

Background to the Project: Talking Over a Good Cuppa.

Together, we worked in our sociolinguistics course this semester to investigate the meaning of "atmosphere" in the coffeehouse Hobbs, which is located just off of Swarthmore's college campus. This video project began with a few hours spent talking over coffee, discussing with one another what stood out to us as linguistic markers in the space.

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North Philly Mural on Suicide Fosters Discursive Healing

1/3/2016

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By Claudia Romano, Dana Leonard, & Elizabeth Teerlink

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Background: Researching This Video Project.

As we made the journey from Swarthmore to North Philadelphia to meet with James Burns, we discussed our expectations, or lack thereof, for this interview. We had done a MuralArts tour through our sociolinguistics course a couple of weeks prior that had inspired us to center our final project around murals in Philly. But on that train ride, we realized that we didn’t really know where we were going with this project’s narrative. We walked out of the train station into North Philly and found ourselves in an alleyway after following the directions James had given us. We called James, unable to find the studio he was working in, and it all became clear from there.

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    Main Author

    Jamie A. Thomas is a linguistic anthropologist and digital media producer. Her forthcoming book Zombies Speak Swahili is all about the undead, videogames, and viral Black language. She teaches at Santa Monica College.

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