"Experiencing Stereotypes" Activity at Samovar

Since the Samovar Russian store (groceries, books, movies, etc.) moved from their former location on California & San Antonio to their current location on Independence Ave. (near Costco and REI), they now have an adjoining room, Samovar Hall. It's busy! Our event took place after a rehearsal for a local children's dance company and before a jazz band rehearsal.

We were very fortunate that AudioVision was able to describe "Silent Beats" for the visually impaired in the audience. If you haven't yet seen the film, click on the link to the right. Imagine "being the eyes" for someone else, trying to describe what you see without interpreting it so that the visually impaired person can self-interpret. It almost seems impossible! Several sighted people listened in to the description.

In the discussion that followed, people shared their reactions to the film, talked about the description, race relations, first impressions, the usefulness and drawbacks of stereotypes, and many other topics. The Chinese translator mentioned how translating the drop of sweat requires one to decide if it's from exertion, anxiety, or nervousness.

The planned "Who Am I?" game was introduced and we had a teaser of how it'd be played out, but we didn't have time to actually participate. The game was intended to draw out more discussion about rapid decision making and stereotypes, but there was more than enough that people wanted to talk about even without the game.