Dr. Rachel Epp Buller’s artistic (and personal) practice in recent years has centered on listening, and on helping others experience its value for themselves.
Buller is professor of visual arts and design at Bethel College. Her latest project is a speaker series open to the public that will culminate in a one-day seminar at Bethel on April 27.
The Faculty Speaker Series begins Jan. 26 and will take place on six more Fridays through April 19 in Kidron Hall (the new chapel and meeting area) at Kidron Bethel Village in North Newton.
“Walking the Talk: Listening in our Disciplines,” will feature eight different faculty speaking on various aspects of listening in disciplines from biology to social work.
Lectures are from 11 a.m. to noon and are free and open to everyone.
Buller is the first presenter, on Jan. 26, with “Walking and Listening as Artistic Practice.” She will “share a bit about how and why those themes show up in my current work, and how some other artists explore them, too.”
See bethelks.edu and Bethel social media for more information about dates, speakers and topics.
Buller says she has several goals for the series.
One is “for faculty to have a chance to think together and share ideas together. Years ago, there [were] different forums where faculty would share their research but those haven’t happened recently, and I’m interested in hearing what my colleagues are researching and thinking about.
“I put out a call [for speakers] at a faculty meeting last fall. Some people took me up on the invitation, and in other cases, I tapped shoulders of people whose work I thought would connect well. I’m very excited about the range of topics and disciplines we have represented.”
The series description notes that Bethel faculty from a range of disciplines will consider ways that listening informs their teaching and research.
“Faculty will discuss how listening – whether manifested as the development of aural skills, interpersonal connections or attunement with our surroundings – opens up opportunities for learning as well as pathways for building, renewing and repairing relationships.”
The speakers include two from English/creative writing and one each from visual arts, biology, music, social work, Bible and religion and communication arts.
Another of Buller’s goals is “to extend some of the themes of my Slow Art for Fast Times course beyond the borders of the classroom.
“Walking and listening are two of the primary themes this semester. Students will explore a range of walking and listening activities, but I’m excited for them to learn from other Bethel professors as well [as visiting artists], since these are topics studied in many fields.”
A final goal is to connect to research Buller is doing with a colleague, Dr. Sheena Wilson at the University of Alberta in Canada, “about how walking facilitates listening and learning in the context of climate change.”
The final lecture in the series will be on April 19, and a week later, on Saturday, April 27, Bethel will host “Walking the Talk: Listening Relationships in a Changing Climate,” a free day-long interdisciplinary symposium with invited presenters in Krehbiel Auditorium.
Bethel is a four-year liberal arts college founded in 1887 and is the oldest Mennonite college in North America. Bethel ranks at #23 in the U.S. News & World Report rankings of “Best Regional Colleges Midwest” for 2023-24. Bethel was the first Kansas college or university to be named a Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation (TRHT) Campus Center, in 2021. For more information, see https://www.bethelks.edu
