Georgetown Lombardi Arts and Humanities Online Classes Build Communities Across the Globe

Posted in Media  |  Tagged Julia Langley, Media 2022

Early on in the pandemic, Julia Langley, director of the Georgetown Lombardi Arts & Humanities Program, decided to experiment with moving some of the AHP classes online via Zoom and providing free tickets through Eventbrite. They became popular fast, attracting participants from a wide geographic spread, including 22 states, 23 countries and six continents.

The AHP has offered more than 65 online courses, and in the winter 2022 classes, over 225 people participated each week. “The most exciting thing to me is building out the Lombardi community by offering these healing classes,” Langley said. “I think what keeps many students coming back is the high quality of the instruction.” One of these courses is the “Unite in Rest: Gentle Yoga for Every Body,” taught by Movement Artist-in-Residence Alison Waldman, with some sessions including live cello music played by an AHP Musician in Residence:

Other popular classes include “Creativity Jumpstart: De-Stress with Art”, taught by AHP mixed-media Artist-in-Residence Jennifer Wilkin Penick, and the Virtual Expressive Writing workshop taught by Michelle Berberet, a Word Artist-in-Residence at the AHP and expressive writing teacher:

“I know from personal experience that writing our thoughts and feelings on paper can help improve our well-being,” said Berberet, herself a breast cancer survivor. “The page accepts what we write without judgment. In my Expressive Writing Workshops, many participants choose to share the poems they have written because the workshops’ members have become a safe, supportive community.”

Read the story at the Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center website.