Dr Efi Spentzou, in collaboration with a group of third-year Classics students, has embarked on an exciting project for school children that attempts to provide a safe space to find our voices by engaging with the myth of Eurydice.
Dr Efi Spentzou and our third-year students at the first Eurydice workshop
Do you ever have a feeling that you have a story to tell but the world does not listen? Have you ever been walking down the street and seen something you wish you’d have spoken up about; or watched on as someone said something about your friend for whom you didn’t stand up and later wish you had? Have you ever wanted to intervene in people’s conversation but could not put aside your own inhibitions?
We, being Chloe, Daisy, Emma, Harriet, Sam, and Zoe (all third-year finalist students at the Department of Classics), and Dr Efi Spentzou, have embarked on an exciting project for school children that attempts to provide safe space for engagement with these feelings. We are creating a workshop called Discovering Your Voice With Eurydice. We use the ancient Greek myth of Eurydice and Orpheus which we see as a myth about silencing or muted voices. Using the characters and story, we provide an opportunity in a supportive environment for school children to play with and experience grappling with silencing and finding voice.
We had our first meeting in a bustling Boilerhouse café in the end of February to scope the project. Everyone was brimming with ideas. We had a date in May to play out the workshop and start creating supporting materials. In the meantime, the coronavirus emergency broke. But we won’t be silenced! Moving our May get together onto Zoom or Houseparty might even give us a better feel for the effort involved in making one’s voice heard.
We are hoping to have the workshop ready for rolling out to schools in the new school year. We have also hatched a plan for a broader Discovering your Voice at a University Enrichment Day, where we will test our workshop alongside events run by colleagues from the School of Humanities. This will be an aspirational day for school children who want to experience what role University can play in their self-development.
Watch this space: we are coming back!
