Category: Video

Speaking Halal in Philadelphia

12/23/2017

by Kyle Martin and Arielle Pinto

Kyle is a senior at Strath Haven High School looking forward to choosing a college major in the coming year. Arielle is a junior at Haverford College, where she is a Philosophy major. Listen to their #LanguageStory here, which includes a contribution from Swarthmore College junior Erick Gutierrez.

Listen: Arabic in Center City.

Arabic is the fastest growing language in the United States. According to a recent study by the Pew Research Center, “the number of people ages 5 and older who speak Arabic at home has grown by 29% between 2010 and 2014 to 1.1 million speakers, making it the seventh most commonly spoken non-English language in the U.S”[1]. Indeed, the presence of the Arabic language is palpable in the streets of Philadelphia, particularly in Center City, where Halal food trucks adorned with some Arabic signage are widely dispersed.

What began as an attempt to research the semiotic landscape created by these trucks turned into an investigation of the use of the Arabic language in Philadelphia, following an interview with Mr. Amine Helali (an operator of one such truck). From here, we spoke with Professor Benjamin Smith, an Arabic professor at Swarthmore College. We asked them questions about the languages they use in different contexts, and they told us about what they gathered from their own experiences. From both of these interviews, it seemed to us that English has a considerable importance in this community.

Amine Helali is an Algerian food truck vendor who works on the Avenue of the Arts, a largely cosmopolitan, dynamic and artistic neighborhood in Center City. After reading about the French street artist JR’s mural of Ibrahim Shah, a Pakistani food truck vendor, whose image formerly stood on one of the facades of the Graham Building in Center City[2], one of us got inspiration, and decided to further investigate the people working in this business. Amine told us about his multilingual background in Arabic, French, Spanish and English. In his work, he uses all of those languages, but for different purposes...

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Haverbros, Mawrters, Scripsies, and SPUdents

12/22/2017

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by Juhyae Kim and Anya Slepyan

Juhyae is a junior linguistics major and education minor at Swarthmore College. Anya is a freshman and potential major in Russian, also at Swarthmore College. Watch their video essay below.

College Campuses as Speech Communities.

Watch the Video.

In our #LanguageStory project, we set out to explore the semiotic landscapes of various college campuses to see how certain speech communities and identities developed within them. We first had the idea for the project during fall break, when Anya visited a friend at a different college. Anya and her friend were discussing the school police at their various colleges and realized that though they served the same function, the emic terminology or nomenclature differed from school to school. What Anya called “pub safe” (abbreviated from Public Safety), her friend referred to as “camp sec” (Campus Security).

While this difference may seem insignificant, it made her think about the variations in language across college campuses, and how the unique slang and language varieties helped build campus identities. As a freshman, Anya was especially aware of the fact that she had entered Swarthmore knowing none of the appropriate and community-specific language, but had quickly picked the slang and jargon necessary to navigate the specific semiotic landscape of our college campus. This made her curious to explore the different school-specific language used on various colleges, and to explore how language use may differ at schools of different sizes, types, and geographic locations. At the conclusion of our research together, we found that the existence of campus-specific vocabulary results in unique speech communities on each campus, which is an essential factor that forms campus identity...

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Voces - Voices from Havana and Santiago de Cuba

9/28/2017

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Watch the Video.

"I got to do an entire interview with [a local artist] in Spanish, and that was a huge confidence booster. I was like, yeah! I can do this! My Spanish is alright!"
- Student reflecting on our AfroCuba research and experiential learning course

There's so much to be learned from listening to the voices of others. This past semester and summer, I was fortunate enough to have been part of an interdisciplinary team that prepared 17 undergraduate students for field research in Cuba. For nearly all of us, this was our first time to the island. For some of us, this was our first experience on an airplane, or outside of the U.S. Together, we represented studies in anthropology, Black Studies, linguistics, cultural studies, economics, environmental studies, Spanish, sociology, and visual and performance arts. This was a tremendous experience in intercultural learning and bilingual communication.

All throughout our 10-day research and study trip, I conducted intermittent video interviews with students, my teaching partners at Swarthmore College--a team of faculty and administrative leadership. I created this video to chronicle our individual and connected reflections on multiple dimensions of our field experiences.

An Experience of Firsts.

Touring a cigar factory in Havana, Cuba.

Biggest of all, this was our students' first experience speaking with Cuban people in Cuba about the enduring importance of the Cuban Revolution, the history of African enslavement in the Caribbean, the transformation of economic, education, and medical sectors, and the continuing traditions of African religion, dance, philosophy, and values across the island nation.

By speaking with Cuban professionals, mothers, doctors, museum directors, proprietors, artists, community activists, and makers of all kinds, students learned how to formulate meaningful and localized questions, connect with speakers of Cuban Spanish, and challenge their own assumptions about what is universally important to cultures other than their own.

Our trip was generously sponsored through support from several partner organizations and departments across the College, and we are grateful!

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Sharing Clothes, Making Community, Saving Lives

1/5/2017

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by Hayden Kesterson, Jessica Lewis, and Will Marchese

"I have arrived."

Laura greeted us at the door with her display of knitted earmuffs and head-warmers. Three words described her emotional journey of finding a community of HIV and AIDS awareness and support: "I have arrived."

Language followed us wherever we went after that. Exclamations about unique finds, instructions from senior volunteers and employees to newer co-workers, transactional exchanges, song lyrics from an in-house soundtrack, and casual small-talk between friends.

Everyone we approached was eager to share the story of how they ended up coming to the space. Our general questions were nearly always met with a mention of how a common vocabulary of HIV testing and AIDS awareness, and social practice of sharing, giving, health, and survival was important to the collective space of Philly AIDS Thrift.

Watch the Video.

More on How the Interviews Came Together.

L to R: Hayden, Will, and Jessica.

We were there simply to learn, at a place we had only heard mentioned by various friends. Having studied sociolinguistics all semester, we were especially interested in how language use can produce locality and build community in Philadelphia.

Located just off of South Street in center city, Philly AIDS Thrift is equal parts thrift store, philanthropic organization, and community center. Founded in 2005, the space sprawls over two floors, each crammed with donated clothing, furniture, toys, books, and most anything else one could imagine. Meandering through this eclectic assortment is a constant flow of local shoppers and volunteers.

The three of us visited on a Sunday, their busiest day of the week, with a limited set of questions, a videocamera, and a stack of release forms. Without any prior contact with store personnel, we had set out to boldly improvise in our field research. In the end, we discovered that a flexible method of participant observation and interviewing worked wonders. Exploring the store for ourselves at first, our initial questions became more specific as we looked through the dizzying array of merchandise and decorations.

The Local Power of Giving Back.

Philly AIDS Thrift fundraising success to-date.

Across our interview conversations, as well as printed signs adorning the walls, a common theme emerged: everyone was there, in whatever capacity they could, to give back to the Philadelphia community.

The store is as effective in its mission of giving back, as it is zany in its decor. Being a thrift store, the affordability of the items is highlighted, though some rooms such as the vintage room offer a slightly more expensive selection. Because of this wide pricing, people of vastly different income levels are able to shop, with an estimated 95% of profit redirected to a panoply of Philadelphia organizations that assist those affected by HIV and AIDS.

A Monument to Community.

Language informs and shapes Philly AIDS Thrift both as fun shopping destination and as philanthropic organization. On the most basic level, language is informative – here are the men’s shirts, here is the $1 room – but, going further than that, it is what undergirds the sense of local community shared by those in the space.

As we headed home from Philly AIDS Thrift, the many words of our volunteers and shoppers rang in our heads, encouraging us reflect on how we came to interact with the space. Our video essay is, ultimately, a product of this – what our interlocutors shared, and what we gleaned from our own observations, all through the lens of how language is used in this downtown Philadelphia monument to community.

About the Authors.

Hayden Kesterson is a Haverford College sophomore with plans to major in Linguistics and minor in Anthropology & Sociology.
Jessica Lewis, a sophomore at Swarthmore College, plans to major in Neuroscience.
Will Marchese is in his first year at Swarthmore College, where he plans to double-major in History and Anthropology & Sociology.

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@Space1026: Creative Community-building Online and IRL

12/15/2016

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by Amanda Izes, Melanie Kleid, Elyse O'Bannon, and Ryan Sheehan
Watch their exciting video essay below.

A Culture of Creation and Exchange.

In center city Philadelphia, down 11th and Arch Street and to the right of a small doorway, a string hangs connected to a rusted bell and a sign that reads “Please close le door.” At the top of a steep flight of stairs, the scent of just-painted walls lingers in the air. The sound of footsteps crossing creaky wooden floors echoes through the narrow hall. Within these vibrantly abstract walls, the inhabitants of Space 1026 quietly wind down for the night.

Space 1026 is an artistic community defined by its creative and linguistic richness, opportunity for collaboration, and connectedness. During our November 29th visit we had the opportunity to speak to both old and new members of Space 1026, or “Space,” for short. Through interviews, these community members described what Philadelphia and its art culture means to them as creators. Our short documentary provides a look into the real and imagined communities of Philadelphia’s art scene as detailed by local creators.

Watch the Video.

More than a Gallery or Studio.

Artists Justin Cipa and Troy Taylor helped us understand that Space 1026 is much more than just a second-floor gallery/studio complex, an art supply storage space, or a 9-to-5-internship opportunity. Rather, Space is a fluid collective of artists and audiences, a community of sharing, inspiring, and listening. As illustrated by the drawings, stickers, and hand-written phrases that decorate its walls, Space is a constantly evolving art project representing each and every voice of its participants.

It is a physical place, but it is also an imagined community and social network of connectedness among people of all identities from all parts of the city. It is not only an enclosed studio but also a starting point for ideas and projects to expand into new places. What happens at Space doesn’t stay at Space.

Space 1026 members suggest that social media, particularly Instagram (@Space1026), is among the most impactful and useful tools in their growth as artists and their exposure to the creative world around them. The ease of tagging a creator in a post, sending a message, searching a username, and scrolling through hundreds of images and clips of others’ artwork makes social media outlets--even the Google images page--incredibly beneficial to developing artists looking for inspiration, constructive criticism, or simply a place to visibly document their progress.

Physically and virtually, Space 1026 provides a platform for community-building and a safe place for self-expression. Space is also constantly opening new doors for its members and audiences to explore Philadelphia’s creative culture.

Thank you for watching!

About the Authors.

Amanda Izes is a sophomore from Ambler, Pennsylvania. She plans to study Linguistics and Peace and Conflict Studies at Swarthmore College.
Melanie Kleid is a sophomore from Litchfield, Connecticut. She plans to major in Sociolinguistics at Swarthmore College.
Elyse O’Bannon is a freshman from Dallas, Texas. She is a prospective Political Science major at Swarthmore College and enjoys producing films in her spare time.
Ryan Sheehan is a senior at Strath Haven High School. Ryan hails from Wallingford, Pennsylvania, enjoys computer science, and is thinking about pursuing it in college.

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#languagestory blog

Speaking Halal in Philadelphia

Listen: Arabic in Center City.

Haverbros, Mawrters, Scripsies, and SPUdents

College Campuses as Speech Communities.

Watch the Video.

Voces - Voices from Havana and Santiago de Cuba

Watch the Video.

An Experience of Firsts.

Sharing Clothes, Making Community, Saving Lives

"I have arrived."

Watch the Video.

More on How the Interviews Came Together.

The Local Power of Giving Back.

A Monument to Community.

About the Authors.

@Space1026: Creative Community-building Online and IRL

A Culture of Creation and Exchange.

Watch the Video.

More than a Gallery or Studio.

About the Authors.

Main Author

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