Speaker 5: Todd Wayne Saurman (Asia SIL Ethnomusicology Coordinator and Mainland Southeast Asia Group Ethnomusicology Consultant SIL International)
Todd Saurman has a BS in Music Therapy, an MA in Intercultural Studies/Ethnomusicology, and completed a Ph.D. in Social Science at Chiang Mai University in Chiang Mai, Thailand. He has worked in Asia with SIL International for the last 22 years as an advocate for the music and arts of ethnic minority groups. In Thailand, he works for Mahidol University in Bangkok Thailand and trains others as catalysts for the creation of culturally relevant arts throughout Asia.
"EthnoArts in MLE" Workshop
Language and Arts are found in every culture and both are communication mechanisms. Art is one of the fundamental elements of any cultural system, and reflects the heart concerns and responses of a culture. Many traditions house their library of cultural and value-centered information, not in buildings, but in their songs, poems, dances, dramas, stories, visual arts,and other expressive mediums. Just as use of mother-tongue language can assist students in learning with more ease and depth, so use of cultural art forms and local wisdom can assist in effective bridging to new knowledge and life-skills.
This workshop is designed to offer a basic overview of practical ways to develop and integrate culturally relevant ethnic art forms into MLE and literacy programs. At the end of the training, the participants should have an increased awareness of how Arts function within their working/living context, some tools for steps in research techniques related to local arts, and some basic helps in specific ways that ethnic art forms can be applied appropriately to their developing or existing MLE and literacy programs.
Workshop Facilitators
Mary Elizabeth Saurman (International Ethnomusicology and Arts Consultant – SIL International., 2009 until present)
Mary Saurman has a BS in Music Therapy, an MA in Intercultural studies/Ethnomusicology, and is a Ph.D Candidate at University of Bern in Bern, Switzerland with a focus of ethnomusicology and arts combined in multilingual education. She has worked in Asia with SIL International for the last 22 years as an advocate for the music and arts of ethnic minority groups. In Thailand, she is a guest lecturer at Mahidol University in Bangkok Thailand and trains others as catalysts for the creation of culturally relevant arts throughout Asia.
Todd Wayne Saurman (Asia SIL Ethnomusicology Coordinator and Mainland Southeast Asia Group Ethnomusicology Consultant SIL International)
Todd Saurman has a BS in Music Therapy, an MA in Intercultural Studies/Ethnomusicology, and a Ph.D. in Social Science at Chiang Mai University in Chiang Mai, Thailand. He has worked in Asia with SIL International for the last 22 years as an advocate for the music and arts of ethnic minority groups. In Thailand, he is a guest lecturer at Mahidol University in Bangkok Thailand and trains others as catalysts for the creation of culturally relevant arts throughout Asia.
