Columbia College Chicago

About: Columbia College Chicago is a education organization based out in Chicago, Illinois, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Dance & Higher education. The organization has 180 authors who have published 296 publications receiving 2700 citations.

Follow the Directions

Abstract: IHAD READ the first sentence on page 58 of the Big Book: "Rarely have we seen a person fail who has thoroughly followed our path." Yet I took no action, for I had no understanding. I was without a drink from my first AA meeting on, but it took me twenty-seven months to begin my first attempt at Steps Four and Five. I realized at the completion of these Steps, ten months later, that they were written for a defiant, grandiose, sensitive, childish, stupid, and stubborn drunk like me. Having skipped these Steps for so long, I almost picked up that first drink. I even had it poured out into a glass. I had read, reread, and underlined the Big Book and the "Twelve and Twelve," yet at that crucial moment, I could remember not one spiritual principle they contained. I had memorized a few passages of the Big Book so I could grandstand my great memorizing ability. I showed off in some of my entertaining pitches at the meetings in Hollywood and on skid row downtown. I was a comedian who almost got drunk because of my grandiosity, while at the same time feeling inferior. I forgot I was the drunken mailman who lost a U.S. mail truck at Christmastime. But I did remember one thing when I was about to take that first drink: I had been told at my first AA meeting, "Get phone numbers. Call someone before you drink the drink." I had Bob's phone number and called him. He told me to read pages 58 through 76 of the Big Book and said, "Follow the clear-cut directions." He did not waste time and words with me. He said goodbye and hung up quickly. I was peeved no little! But I poured the drink back into the bottle and began on the AA path. It's nine years and some now without a drink. That drink was going to be a "deliberate drink" aimed at my wife. We had been separated eight years. At the end of the first year of my sobriety, we were reunited. After a three-month second honeymoon, "the stuff hit the fan." Fortunately, my wife is in Al-Anon. "But for the Grace of God," AA, and Al-Anon, we could not have made it this far. Had I thoroughly followed the AA path in the beginning, I could have saved both of us much mental and emotional stress and strain. It grieves me to hear more experienced members of AA tell newcomers they need not hurry along the AA path of the Twelve Steps. I sometimes hear statements to new people like "Take your time," "God will tell you when," "Don't let your sponsor rush you." Hell, when I first came through the doors of AA, I knew it was time to do something — and quickly! ("Quick" and "quickly" are used many times in the Big Book, "Twelve and Twelve," and other AA literature.) But in those days, I was often guilty of telling the new prospect he or she did not have to hurry. Being a rationalizer, justifier, and qualifier, also a manager, arranger, and regulator, I couldn't see that I was a liar, cheat, and thief — an alcoholic affected spiritually, mentally, and emotionally by the disease of alcoholism. I was in no shape to lead a prospect onto the true path of AA. To know a principle of the AA path, but not realize what it means and fail to take action, can be disastrous for a recovering alcoholic like me. The words know, realize, and understand embodied in the principles of AA are very meaningful to me and my growth in sobriety. They tell me that my Higher Power, God as I understand Him, works in a mysterious way performing wonders among us in our Fellowship. All I need do, one day at a time, is to follow the AA path quickly and thoroughly. F.C., Hawthorne, Calif. Copyright © The AA Grapevine, Inc.

Teaching about power and empathy in multicultural societies

Abstract: This essay describes the sequence of three activities (from one U.S. university course) that aimed to (1) increase students’ awareness about social injustices, (2) help them develop their empathy to see the complexity of these injustices, and (3) consider ways to change the social system through civic dialogue. The first activity was designed to explore the dynamics of cultural appropriation using principles of media literacy education and the concept of power. The second activity complicated the picture by encouraging students to reflect on the importance of empathy. Students discussed how empathy can substitute blame in conversations about cultural appropriation. The third activity connected empathy to practices of nonviolent communication (developed by Marshall Rosenberg) and Kingian nonviolence. As a result, students were able to discuss how these principles can be applied to cultural appropriation, especially when media technologies are involved.

A Mother/Daughter Distance Dance

Abstract: Anchored within the Arizona State University Art Museum, A Mother/Daughter Distance Dance engaged inmate mothers at Estrella Jail in Phoenix, Arizona and their daughters in a participatory, creative endeavour that virtually connected the estranged mothers and daughters through images, words, and the ineffable experience of movement.

Polymedia Design for Network Metadata Monitoring

Abstract: The design of a realtime monitor for an organization’s digital network can produce several significant design challenges, both from the technical and human operational perspectives. One challenge is how to capture network data with minimal impact on the network itself. Also, from an operational perspective, sounds need to perform en suite over long periods of time while producing only minimal listener fatigue. This chapter describes two related network data sonification projects which resulted in a set of audiovisual “concert” compositions (Corpo Real), an immersive installation, and a perceptual monitoring tool (Netson). This tool uses both sonification and visualization to present monitoring humans with features of data flow that allow them to experience selectable operational network characteristics. In doing so, it can be used to assist in the peripheral monitoring of a network for improved operational performance.