By Kristian Beverly, Visual Arts Editor
Everyone at Penn State Harrisburg has walked passed a panel discussion before. The doors are open, and inside is a table full of catered food to draw in stragglers. A person stands at the door offering smiles and they’re so nice that you stop. Or maybe you don’t. Most likely you don’t because panels are often sparsely filled with students (unless you’re one of the outliers, which I pat you on the back for).
But what is a panel? Panels are a special beast. They seem daunting until you sit at one and absorb the discussion around you. It isn’t a lecture. There’s no set course to end up at by the end of it. Instead, there’s a set topic and the vibes from the attendees determine how it goes. It’s a dialogue instead of a monologue.
On February 6, 2017, visiting poet Michelle Burke participated in a panel discussion along with two professors at Penn State Harrisburg. She came from Massachusetts to attend literary events on campus that day. The conversation evolved and changed during the short panel but the main theme was feminism and applying it to life in the current world we live in. Burke read from her poetry collection, Animal Purpose, reading to us about her various experiences from having an internship on a farm to dealing with her sick cat. Her poems were themed around animals but with layers to dissect. She explained how her perspective on feminism changed after six months on a working farm, with thirty-year-old Sarah was in charge, not Sarah’s father. She talked about the lack of fair maternity leave for families. She talked about teaching creative writing to children who fight to conform instead of ask questions. I really enjoyed her talk because she put complex ideas into words.
As writers, we write truth. Our truth may be messy and nonlinear, but it digs deep into the human soul. Burke talked about her experiences of working at different schools. On was non-diverse in cultures, so she felt responsible to bringing in other voices. The power of stories and books is that they allow the human experience to go from a mirror to a window. Instead of viewing stories that reflect his or her experience, students or people in generally can read stories that reflect a different experience. And it is all safe, but the reader undergoes the emotions through the eyes of someone he or she will never be. Stories expose readers to cultures they may never encounter physically. It reminds us all that we all bleed red even if we come from different lands or look different from each other. And that is important now as it always has been. Once we forget the people around us and that each life has different plot points, we limit our lens to empathize.
Burke said she felt needed as a teacher more than ever. The world around us is changing and those at the front of being able to fix it are teachers. They foster and craft the next generation. Sure, it takes a village to raise a child, but teachers are cemented as pinnacle participants. Teachers teach about the greats in history while explaining to students that their name can be placed amongst those greats. They teach students about the world of their great-great-great grandparents to remind them not to make the same mistake as them. The saying goes that those who refuse to learn history are doomed to repeat it. So, narratives of diverse voices and history are important. The ones crafting the future minds are also very important. Burke spoke about how important words are because they are how we communicate. She said you can’t separate thoughts, actions, and words. They all flow and intertwine with each other, because humans are complex. And the complexity of humankind can be our saving grace or our downfall. But I like to think it will lead us to great things instead of ripping us apart.
In conclusion, if you’ve never walked into a panel, go. You’ll enjoy it. Even if it’s something you aren’t familiar with. The art of being human is continually expanding our knowledge. Knowledge is power. Actions, thoughts and words are important. So be kind.