Socialization of our memories is our Collaborative Doing activity aiming for positive community health impacts (perhaps by reducing loneliness or cultivating new friendships or helping achieving both goals and much more at the same time?)

Our Singing-Memories (see also Healing through Musicality in Parks: Singing Nooks as Social Innovation in Urban Planning) programs were featured in the Humanities Iowa January 2023 Voices from the Prairie Newsletter and at the October 2022 Aspirations Gathering. Simple questions (e.g., What does Music mean to you? What’s your favorite song?) guided our program development whereby we shared songs in different languages and styles and around different objects to cultivate new patterns of conversations across strangers and friends alike.

Our Food-Memories program was piloted in June 2024, with two new CARTHA Fellows. Simple questions (e.g., What is a childhood memory of food that you’d like to share? What is a favorite food or ingredient?) guided our one-hour interviews and 10-minute filming of Carthans in Iowa City. These films were then posted on social media and gatherings were held.

From 2024 to 2027, we are launching a new programming series around Musically-Infused, Caregiver-Centric Approaches to Understanding Pain, Palliative Care, and Coping Skills. With palliative care physicians as our advisors, we want to collaboratively design Glocalizers and Fellowships that are complementary to whatever formal medical and public health infrastructure can (and cannot) do in these realms.