Just Listening: Experiments with Collective Memory

with Dr. Jordan Zalis

Thursday, February 5, 10 am – 12 pm

ImprovLab (MCKN 108)
University of Guelph

This interactive workshop invites you into the practice of just listening—an approach to storytelling and ethnographic engagement that centres care, attention, and the improvised encounters we create together. Through personal narratives about sports, games, and gaming, we’ll examine how play shapes our memories, identities, and communities.

The workshop unfolds in three movements: 1) a brief introduction to just listening as a practice with some simple listening exercises, 2) sharing stories about moments of play that stick with us, listening attentively to each other’s experiences, and then 3) playing together! We’re interested in the sensorial, the feelingful, and, of course, the relationships that emerge when we play, compete, watch, game, or recall—from our experiences playing pickup basketball to board game nights, from video game marathons to the World Cup.

Who should come? Everyone is welcome. We especially invite folks with strong connections to sports (basketball, hockey, soccer, etc.), games (chess, trivia, board games), or gaming (video games, e-sports, gambling). We aim to make these events as accessible as possible, and they are open to everyone regardless of age, ability, ethnicity, religion, language, sexual orientation, gender identity, political beliefs, or status. Folks with children are also welcome to bring them along and their participation will not be part of the study.

On workshop day, we all play!

Come ready to share a story, listen generously, and learn from each other.

To confirm participation and/or for more information, including about consent forms, please email sharon.engbrecht@uoguelph.ca.

If you decide to join us spontaneously, please do. Doors will be open 30 minutes before each event. Parking on campus is free after 5 p.m. for evening events.

Bios

Dr. Jordan Zalis (he/him) is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the International Institute for Critical Studies in Improvisation at the University of Guelph. He is an artist and ethnomusicologist fascinated by sounding and listening. His work asks how sports, games, and gaming provide space for individuals to practice the skills of living together—modelling improvisatory practices that transcend social differences. 

Dr. Sharon Engbrecht (they/them) comes from a background in theatre and visual arts, narrative theory, and critical studies in gender and sexuality. They have a knack for event planning and facilitating group events focused on storytelling and improvisation. Their research investigates questions of embodiment, identity, and relationality.

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