The Voice of All Things

Soha Al-Jurf

The Voice of All Things is an inquiry into the voice in both its literal and metaphorical forms. Topics range from opera and the arts to mysticism, soulwork, and the humanities, with an emphasis on women and women’s voices. Each episode explores the voice as a vehicle for beauty, power, visibility, and influence in both Western and non-Western cultures. read less

The Voice Through Fashion Design, with Robin Shumays
Sep 11 2022
The Voice Through Fashion Design, with Robin Shumays
Robin Shumays is an African-American fashion designer based in Queens NY. She has been featured at the Harlem Fashion Week, Africa Fashion Week, and Fashion Envie shows in New York City, and has been highlighted in the press for her unique flair for fusing color and unusual themes, with cultural textiles. Currently, she is refining her skills as a designer under the tutelage of Henry Smith, lead instructor at So Harlem. She has also worked professionally as a web developer, graphic designer, social media consultant, and model. She is currently employed as a full-time UX Designer for a major insurance firm. Robin is also co-director and dance performer with Zikrayat, an Arabic Music and Dance Ensemble that has performed at Lincoln Center, Brooklyn Museum, William and Mary College, and throughout the Northeast. In June of 2021, she presented a paper entitled “Punk, Paisleys and Polkadots” on Prince and his influence on fashion through the 1980s at the 78-88: PRINCE, THE FIRST DECADE: Interdisciplinary Conference. In March of 2022, she presented another paper on Prince entitled “Bedlah Bedlam: An Exploration of Orientalist Fantasy and Fashion via the lens of Prince Rogers Nelson” for the #SexyMF30 Virtual Symposium. Once upon a time, Robin held a short-lived dream job as an administrative assistant at Prince’s publishing label, Paisley Park Music, and in 2020 she produced and co-hosted a webinar podcast on Prince called The Purple Paradigm. Of all of this, she feels her greatest accomplishment to date is being a mom to her greatest inspiration, her daughter, Mehrunnisa.Robin's IG: @hennaflowercouture
The Voice of a Seasoned Opera Star, with Soprano Sheri Greenawald
Sep 26 2021
The Voice of a Seasoned Opera Star, with Soprano Sheri Greenawald
Sheri Greenawald has recently retired as San Francisco Opera Center Director. She has had a distinguished international operatic singing career as a soprano, noted in particular for her enormous range of roles. She has sung leading roles with (among others) San Francisco Opera, the Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Venice’s La Fenice, the Munich State Opera, Paris’s Châtelet Theater, Welsh National Opera, Seattle Opera Company, Houston Grand Opera, the Netherlands Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Naples’s Teatro San Carlos and Opera Theatre of St. Louis. She has worked with most of opera’s great conductors and directors, and she is featured on several recordings, including singing the role of Birdie in Blitztein’s Regina conducted by John Mauceri and recorded on Decca. A graduate of the University of Northern Iowa, Greenawald completed the Professional Studies Program at the Juilliard School of Music and has received a Rockefeller Grant, NEA Grant, and was Seattle Opera Association’s Artist of the Year in 1998. She has taught privately, was a visiting artist at the University of Charleston, an Artist in Residence at the University of Northern Iowa, was the vocal coach of the Santa Fe Apprentice Program in 1999 and opera director for the program in 2000, and has given master classes the Opera Theatre of St. Louis. She was engaged in 2000/2001 as a professor of voice and opera at the Boston Conservatory, with a full vocal studio, coursework on English and American Song Repertory, and directed for the Opera Studio. From May 2002 to December, 2020, she was the Director of the San Francisco Opera Center and Artistic Director for the Merola Opera Program, both of which are distinguished young artist training programs.  Set Me as a Seal: Sheri Greenawald on Leonard Bernstein's The Americans, The Complete Recordings on Deutsche Grammaphon: https://open.spotify.com/track/3eTOJz4MiKpoNfHl1rP32u?si=acbde1c55ae34b73Galaxy Song from Monty Python: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buqtdpuZxvkThe Soul's Code: In Search of Character and Calling, by James Hillman
The Voice of the Unconscious in Arts-Based Research, w/Louise Austin
Sep 5 2021
The Voice of the Unconscious in Arts-Based Research, w/Louise Austin
Louise Austin is a 3rd year PhD student in the Department of Psychosocial and Psychoanalytic Studies in the University of Essex under the supervision of Kevin Lu.  Her collaborative and arts-based inquiry investigates the psychodynamics of the educator/learner relationship through a Jungian and intersubjective lens.  Louise has worked in the field of personal growth and adult education for 30 years and has trained as an integrative arts psychotherapist. She is currently course director at the Institute for Arts in Therapy and Education.  Her research interests challenge the emphasis on rational ways of knowing and the lack of attention paid to the role the unconscious plays in experiences of personal transformation.  Her research aims to balance mythos (imaginal and affective ways of knowing) with logos (rational and conceptual ways of knowing).  Louise is contributing to the nascent field of Jungian arts-based research with her collaborative imaginative engagement method and has recently set up the Jungian Arts Based Research forum with fellow PhD student Briony Clarke. Scholars/publications mentioned in today's episode: Susan Rowland, author of Jungian Arts-Based Research and "The Nuclear Enchantment of New Mexico," co-authored with Joel Weishaus Mary Watkins, author of Waking Dreams, Invisible Guests: The Development of Imaginal DialoguesSafron Rossi, author of The Kore Goddess: A Mythology and Psychology; Editor of Joseph Campbell’s Goddesses: Mysteries of the Feminine Divine Joy Schaverien, author of The Revealing Image https://www.joyschaverien.comGisela Labouvie-Vief, author of Psyche & Eros
Listening to the Voices of Teen Girls, with Shae Fenton & Annabelle Villafuerte
Aug 29 2021
Listening to the Voices of Teen Girls, with Shae Fenton & Annabelle Villafuerte
Teen girls in Western culture have been sexualized, vilified, disrespected, and often abused. But who are these young women, and how do we support their voices to be heard? Join me for a candid conversation with Shae Fenton and Annabelle Villafuerte, 15-yr-old "soulmate best friends" based in Tucson, Arizona. We talk about mental health, sex and gender dynamics, and what it's like to navigate the complex and complicated journey through adolescence into adulthood. Article mentioned: I highly recommend this BRILLIANT article on vox.com, written by Constance Grady, titled: Who Runs the World? Not Teen Girls https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/22352860/teenage-girls-pop-culture-tiktok-olivia-rodrigo-addison-raeAdditional Resources for Teens (adapted from pbs.org. For complete list of resources, please visithttps://www.pbs.org/wnet/cryforhelp/featured/resources-hotlines-and-web-sites-for-teens/11/):HOTLINES:National Suicide Hotline: 1-800-SUICIDE (784-2433) or the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-TALK (8255)Safe Place: 1-888-290-7233Project Safe Place provides access to immediate help and supportive resources for young people in crisis through a network of qualified agencies, trained volunteers and businesses in 32 states. Call the hotline to find out if the program operates in your state, or look online.The Trevor Project: 866-4-U-TREVORThe Trevor Project operates the only nationwide, around-the-clock crisis and suicide prevention helpline for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) youth. The Trevor Helpline is available as a resource to parents, family members and friends of young people as well. Visit www.TheTrevorProject.org for more information and resources for young people, including “Dear Trevor,” an online Q&A forum for non-time sensitive questions.https://www.jedfoundation.orgThe Jed Foundation works to reduce the stigma students feel about having or seeking treatment for emotional problems. It provides safe, accessible resources for students to help themselves or a friend.