transdisciplinary research – Helena Hildur W.

the Praxis group at work in Løgumkloster Folkehøjskole, Denmark; photo credit Laura Hellsten

Early August, and I’m landing home after attending the 2024 Summer Session of the Nordic Summer University; after yet another week of working together with the Praxis group (or, more formally: Circle 3, The Praxis of Social Imaginaries. Cosmologies, Othering and Liminality – one out of ten ongoing study circles within the NSU)… Our focal point this time has been A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies by Dominican friar Bartolomé de las Casas – a fiery document from the 16th century, intended to alert the Spanish king to innumerable atrocities committed by his conquistadores in the Americas.

Seventeen people came together for this occasion, bringing perspectives from Peru, the US, South Africa, Nigeria, Bangladesh, India, Germany, Portugal, Denmark, Finland and Sweden… Over and over, I feel such a great gratitude for being part of this group – diverse, experienced, and creative as it is; acting together as an instrument for processing the text, even when the subject matter touches on possible conflict lines such as religion, race, or the legacies of colonial history; finding out, along the way, how community research could be conducted in a transdisciplinary setting.

Ever since the study circle began in 2023, co-facilitators Lindsey Drury and Laura Hellsten have offered multiple approaches to the text. This time, participants were actively invited to take the lead for a morning or afternoon class – resulting in reading sessions and workshops staged from very diverse fields of professional experience: for instance, highlighting the text sections about legal structures, or experiences of ‘the first encounter’; introducing complementary texts and imagery from early encyclopedic efforts to document indigenous culture* – thus inviting the group to visual and performative interpretations – as well as movement and mindfulness exercises; not to forget the practises of reading aloud, listening, talking, and writing….

It should also be mentioned, that the Nordic Summer University is open to parents bringing their kids – there’s always a Children’s Circle welcoming the young ones. However, our circle of adults had the great joy of hosting little J. (two years and a half) who preferred staying around his parent. His gentle presence, communicative skills and stunning dance moves gracefully gave us a model for human interplay.

above: dance historian Lindsey Drury presenting documents from the early encounters between the Mesoamericans and the Europeans, along with later and contemporary pictures of mestizo dance cultures;
below: local micro-examples of 20th and 21st century Danish culture