MIND * BODY * COMMUNITY * SPIRIT

About Word. Sound. Life.

Word. Sound. Life. hosts transformative convergences that bring together speakers, artists, scholars, practitioners and educators across various media and disciplines to build a movement to develop and share strategies and tools for sustainable community building and wellness. This mission highlights the key and vital role that creativity and mindfulness can have on our personal lives and communities, through consistent practice. In an increasingly virtual and isolating world, we seek to re-ignite our vital relationships to nature, culture and community which enable our capacity to live healthy and vibrant lives.

About this event

This year's Wellness Forum features two-days of conversations, presentations, performances and interactive exhibits, featuring the inspiring work of Northeastern students alongside multi-disciplinary community voices, including unsung Hip Hop pioneer and emcee "Daddy-O" from the legendary group Stetsasonic. Join us in affirming the transformative power of voice, rhythm and movement as healing agents.

ARTG6310 Final Showcase

ARTG6310 Design for Behavior and Experience is a graduate level course that examines the concept of rhythmic activity system as an analytic lens and design medium for human-computer interaction and computer-mediated communication. For the final showcase, the students will share highlights from their co-design process and interdisciplinary projects at the intersection of design, music, education, psychology and health. Featuring works by:

Cansu Canca, Zihan Wang, and Cathy Zhang

The MIND WALK project is about building an app that helps individuals who are in creative, desk-based jobs to use walking as a trigger for creative thinking. We aim to re-create and enable the experience of contemplative walking, which has been shown to encourage creativity by allowing the mind to wander. By doing the exact opposite of "focusing", this wandering – both as a "wandering mind" and as physical "wandering" – helps individuals focus better, overcome their "writer's block", and find more creative solutions

Erin Valoroso, Mariana Toumazou and Alina Carrillo

PT in 3D - Physical therapy (PT) has become a prevalent practice in many people's lives, many of whom share similar experiences with common injuries and surgeries and struggle to learn, practice, and incorporate PT exercises into their everyday routine. The problem we seek to address with PT in 3D is threefold: 1) the accessibility of PT, 2) expanding the ways in which people practice PT by incorporating other modes of accountability outside the PT office and 3) bring the practice of PT out from the flattened, 2D experience of paper-/screen-based instructions.

Eunju Pak, Preet Singh and Yuti Vora

EMOTIONAL CONNECTION - In many universities across the United States today, instructors and institutions have recognized the importance of the holistic well-being of students. Despite this recent shift, however, there remains a long history of prioritizing academic achievement over the emotional or personal aspects of learning. Research has shown that students’ emotions can play a critical role in shaping their academic experiences, from engaging with material, to interacting with peers, to navigating the challenges of university. Absence of emotional expression and connection in class not only detracts from students’ personal development, but also leads to a scarcity of inclusive and empathetic learning environments. This intervention seeks to fill this gap by enabling students to communicate their emotional states in a non-verbal, intuitive manner by way of a digital tool that utilizes music as a medium for non-verbal expression and communication.

Zheng Cao, Mithra Gramathil, Jasper Chen and Ivy Xu

HEALING GARDEN - Natural space is beneficial for human mental health, a fact confirmed by a large body of research findings. This benefit has significance for university students who are at a critical stage of development of their bodies and minds, and often face different stressful situations and preoccupations. In this project, we focus on the use of plants in the healing garden and using the concept of Horticulture Therapy to enhance the campus landscape and create outdoor spaces that help students relieve stress. Our study explores whether participation in a gamified horticulture therapy program reduces perceived stress levels among college students.

Featured Speakers, Facilitators and Panelists

• Nomadik (DJ) - Nomadik started on radio WERS 88.9fm (Emerson College) and has been a pillar of the Hip Hop scene in Boston since. She is currently DJing at venues in the Boston area under her own management company - EventKore.
• Glenn "Daddy-O" Bolton
- Daddy-O is an American rapper and record producer from Brooklyn, NY. He began his career in 1981 by founding the group that later became known as Hip Hop's first band - Stetsasonic - recently celebrated in TV One's latest episode of Unsung.
• Corey "Reks" Christie - Corey Isiah Christie, better known as Reks, is an American rapper. Reks emerged from Lawrence, Massachusetts' underground rap scene. Reks has worked with producers DJ Premier, Styles P, Alchemist, Hi-Tek, and many others
• Kyara Andrade-Howell - also known as DJ TROY Frost is an artist, educator, and event curator from Dorchester and Roxbury, currently working on growing Purple Produce, an event series focused on Hip Hop, wellness community collaboration.
• Daneja
• Just Jill Cambridge Hip-Hop Artist and Organizer for the Bridgeside Cypher
• Brandi Blaze - Brandie Blaze is a hip hop artist from Boston, Massachusetts. An activist and self proclaimed trap feminist, Blaze's mission is to celebrate people that identify as women and femmes through the language of hip hop.
• Michael "Mad Mike" Daugherty ( (Co-Founder)
The Floor Lords was established in 1981 at the adolescence of the Hip Hop movement. Members of the group have spent years working with the inner city youth in a positive way throughout Massachusetts and the world. Their efforts caught the attention of the former Mayor of Boston who awarded the group with a proclamation making August 6, official "Floor Lords Day" in the city.
• Alfonzo "Megatron" Hunt (Dancer, The Floor Lords)
• Aaron Myers (Co-Founder) - A Trike Called Funk is a Boston-based creative venture specializing in complementary types of music and dance, orchestrating participatory dance experiences around a customized cargo tricycle, which is equipped with its own portable dance floor, power source, DJ equipment, and sound system.
• Pierre-Valery "Akwerius" Tchetgen - Founder of Music Is Healing and Assistant Professor of Music and Art+Design at Northeastern University.

Locations

STILL TALKIN'
Raytheon Amphitheater
Wed 24th 6:30p-9:30p

WELLNESS FORUM
Center for Design
Thur 25th 2:00p-3:30p

Centennial Quad
Thur 25th 3:30p-5:00p

Agenda for Wednesday, April 24th

• 6p Doors open
• 6:15p Deejay / Mixer
• 6:45p Host Introduction
• 7p Panel Part I - The History
• 7:45p Intermission / Mixer
• 8p Panel Part II - The Path towards the Future
• 8:45p - Q&A / Mixer

Agenda for Thursday, April 25th

• 2p ARTG6310 Final Project Showcase (Center for Design)
• 3p Featured Speakers: The Floor Lords & A Trike Called Funk
• 3:45p Intermission/Mixer
• 4p Soul Sessions (Centennial Quad)

Don't miss out on this two-day transformative convergence of conversations and interactive sessions on a variety of topics covering the Four Pillars of Wellness (Mind, Body, Community, Spirit), skills share, media and more. RSVP to attend the panel. To participate, perform or present in Soul Sessions, please complete the questionnaire.

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Soul Sessions is an open invitation to share in Voice, Rhythm and Movement in a creative and supportive environment. No prior experience required. Bring your own instrument(s) :)