Category:Essays

Reduced: (She/Her) Why I Struggle With My Pronouns

Natashia Deón

Essays Guest Artists
In this present moment, the courthouses where I argue for my criminal clients, offices where I practice mental health as a therapist, and universities where I teach (or attend), have not completely returned to pre-pandemic functioning since COVID-19 began. For…

Well, What Would Lincoln Do?

John Burt

Essays Guest Artists
Of course, nobody really knows, and there are many reasons why. In the first place, nobody knows how Lincoln would have understood the century and half of political and social change since his own day. In the second place, Lincoln’s…

Bella’s World

Montserrat Turriza

Essays
Bella’s most prized possession, a Mozart doll, lays in the center of her bed, surrounded by a small herd of Build-A-Bear stuffed plushies, American Girl dolls, and stuffed zoo animals. He lays stiff and unyielding in the throng of plastic and plush, wearing a sponge-like grey wig, and a red suit with white ruffles. When his key is turned, he plays Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, translated as “A Little Night Music.” And though intended as a light-hearted serenade, not a lullaby, its playful notes comfort Bella. ...

Gardens and Psychedelia

Pat Pattison

Essays
I’ve just started my 45th year teaching at Berklee, and, with 50 years in front of classrooms (earlier teaching stints at Indiana University and the University of Notre Dame) someone might ask, “Isn’t that enough? When are you going to…

What’s in a Landscape?

Wayne Wild

Essays
Since the spring of 2017, I have been developing a Liberal Arts course that I call, “Interior and Exterior Landscapes: Identity and Expression.” I added the “Identity and Expression” at the urging of my students, who thoroughly enjoyed the discoveries…