Small Sounds in Familiar Places

A Poetic-Visual Inquiry on the Gravity and Synchrony of Love in Pandemic Times

Authors

  • Lauren Michelle Levesque Saint Paul University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18432/ari29670

Keywords:

sound, place, love, slow scholarship, poetry, cellphone photography

Abstract

In this article, the movement between the gravity and synchrony of love in pandemic times as revealed through the creative practices of poetry and cellphone photography is addressed. Informed by literature on slow scholarship published prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic, the author explores the ways in which listening to and caring for the small sounds of a familiar place–here a rural backyard–can act as a generative theoretical space to reconsider the meaning of love and its implications for academic work. The principal questions include: how can the practice of writing poems and taking photographs foster the intentionality of slow time? How can immersing oneself in this time provide insight into perhaps worn-out conceptualizations of what is considered precious? What implications, if any, can these insights have for understandings of love and the need for slow scholarship post-pandemic?

Author Biography

Lauren Michelle Levesque, Saint Paul University

Lauren Michelle Levesque is an assistant professor in the Providence School of Transformative Leadership and Spirituality at Saint Paul University in Ottawa, Canada. Her current research interests include engaged scholarship, spatial approaches to local peacebuilding, and nonviolent social change. She is co-founder of the Research Group on Imagination, Storytelling, and Spaces (https://imaginestories.space). Lauren Michelle regularly contributes to community-facing projects using arts for social change as well as to scholarly conferences and peer-reviewed publications on music, practice, and peace. 

Theoretical Musings Cover Image: Darlene St. Georges

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Published

2022-12-04

How to Cite

Levesque, L. M. (2022). Small Sounds in Familiar Places: A Poetic-Visual Inquiry on the Gravity and Synchrony of Love in Pandemic Times. Art/Research/International:/A/Transdisciplinary/Journal, 7(2), 327–350. https://doi.org/10.18432/ari29670