This week, Portland State students and members of the community have hosted discussions, workshops, performances and skill-shares during Chiron Studies’ Teach Out event in the Park Blocks.
Chiron’s Teach Out brings learning to Park Blocks
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This week, Portland State students and members of the community have hosted discussions, workshops, performances and skill-shares during Chiron Studies’ Teach Out event in the Park Blocks.
The event is free and open to the public and runs through Friday with topics like: “Bigfoots, DB Cooper and UFOs over McMinnville: Myth and History Mash Ups in Oregon,” “Intro to Bioregionalism: Pathway to Community Resilience,” and “Kalelujah!” (think vegetable).
Elona Troga and Felipe Ferreira taught “Intro to Bioregionalism: Pathway to Community Resilience” not only to get the word out about bioregionalism but also in preparation for a full-blown Chiron Studies class on bioregionalism that they have submitted.
“I was really excited to just share information around bioregionalism and participate in other people’s information-sharing classes that aren’t available through the regular curriculum,” Troga said.
Presenting at the Teach Out was not limited to PSU students or Chiron instructors. Members of the community were also invited to present.
Doug Kenck-Crispin, a public historian and co-producer of the Kick Ass Oregon History podcast, hosted “Bigfoots, DB Cooper and UFOs over McMinnville: Myth and History Mash Ups in Oregon” on Tuesday.
“It’s an awesome opportunity to come out into the Park Blocks and democratize education,” Kenck-Crispin said. “No one has to pay for anything. You can come and learn and listen to some cutting-edge concepts that people are presenting that maybe you wouldn’t hear within the walls of the academy.”
The Food Action Collective hosted “Kalelujah!” on Monday.
“We taught about kale and its many uses. We focused on the heartiness of the vegetable [and the fact] that it’s very nutritious and…can be cooked in a lot of different ways,” said Kelsey Hoffman, co-chair of the collective.
Hoffman said “Kalelujah!” was a chance for the FAC to give PSU students a complete introduction to kale, as if they had bought it for the first time.
“In that aspect we wanted to have samples and recipes for students,” Hoffman said. “But then we also wanted students to feel like they had this role in planting their own kale…and being able to see it grow from a seed to a plant.”
The FAC has its roots in the Chiron Studies program, which grew out of a course called “Food Affairs: System, Society and Sustainability,” taught by Carolyn White.
White, who now serves as a member of the Chiron Studies Committee, said the Teach Out was an idea generated by the committee. White said the Teach Out serves the dual purpose of creating a public dialogue with students about what Chiron Studies does while raising awareness for the program’s current funding situation.
White said Chiron Studies had its funding revoked last year.
“Before that we had an operating budget that allowed us to compensate instructors for teaching and also fund the work of a Chiron Studies coordinator,” White said.
“Since then we’ve lost funding to be able to support Chiron instructors and the coordinator,” White said. “In that way it makes it an entirely volunteer program [that’s] still collecting quite a huge profit for the university.”
Rozzell Medina confirmed that he has been acting as Chiron Studies coordinator for the last five months without pay, primarily because of his passion for the program.
Medina said that when he first got word that the funding for Chiron Studies had been pulled, it felt as though the proverbial rug had been pulled out from under him.
“Every reason that they’ve given us has had to do with finances,” Medina said. “We don’t really see much logic in that. The memo we received from the former provost, Roy Koch, said that they are prioritizing regular instruction in a climate of budgetary constraint.”
Medina said students pay just as much to take a Chiron Studies class as they would any other class.
“So we don’t see how a program that is making tens of thousands of dollars a year for the university is not economically viable,” Medina said.
Medina said that the Chiron Studies leadership will have a meeting on Thursday, May 16, and the program’s future funding is on the agenda. Medina remains hopeful.
“With the Teach Out we wanted to do something really positive,” Medina said. “We wanted to give students an opportunity to come together in a unique way, because that’s what Chiron Studies is all about.”
