Bill LeVasseur San Miguel Mask Museum Audio Lesson

Description

Are you seeking a powerful and fresh resource to bring alive important social studies lessons for your students? People Are Culture’s 12-episode podcast interview series offers insightful and heartfelt personal stories that give students a first-hand perspective on different dimensions of culture. Each interview is conducted by Meg Pier and features a fascinating narrative from a real person on topics as varied as refugees, arts, music, folk art, artisan, dance, crafts, archeology, anthropology, festivals, gardens, cultural heritage, and museums.

Podcasts are becoming popular in the classroom because they engage students in storytelling and provide an accessible and effective way for students to learn. Podcast lessons offer a dynamic and engaging educational tool for the classroom, providing students with an immersive and auditory learning experience. The storytelling format of podcasts captures attention from students, which creates a deeper understanding of complex subjects through real-life narratives and personal perspectives. Additionally, podcasts encourage critical thinking and active listening skills. This is the perfect podcast series for teaching cultural lessons inside the classroom.

WHAT’S INSIDE?

• Inspirational podcast story from the Editor of the Bradshaw Foundation
• 5 thought-provoking podcast discussion questions
• A podcast summary sheet with 3 questions about rock art

Mayan masks are featured at Another Face of Mexico, a folk art gallery and mask museum founded by Bill LeVasseur in San Miguel de Allende.

Originally from Maine, Bill worked from 1968 to 1970 as a professional musician, singer, and recording artist with Decca Records. He then joined an advertising agency, launching a career that lasted 30 years. He was assigned to the international division of his company that took his family to Mexico City from 1974 to 1978, and Brussels from 1978 to 1983. He returned to Mexico City on assignment in 1994. In 1997 he retired from the advertising business and moved to San Miguel de Allende.

Mayan masks are of extreme cultural importance to the people of Mexico. Masking started in the hunter/gatherer societies, with hunters believing if they dressed and acted like the animal they were pursuing, they would be more successful. Hence came the masking tradition that remains as a sign of a strong sense of community, cultural identity, and cultural cohesion. The masks are also significant in celebrations, such as the reenactment of the dance of the Conquest, or the Day of the Dead dancing to send the dead on the road to heaven. As Bill said it best masks are “really a community’s expression of its cultural roots.”

Bill has been collecting Mexican ceremonial masks for as long as he has been in Mexico and still travels extensively to see and film dance ceremonies and acquire masks. His mask-collecting hobby has now become an avocation to document and share the indigenous ceremonial customs with mask museum visitors, college audiences and Mexican school children. The museum opened to the public in February 2006.

This lesson takes students on a journey, using storytelling to promote engagement, critical thinking, and literacy skills. Buy it now to download a lesson sure to engage your learner!