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We, The Ensemble!

en·sem·ble | änˈsämbəl | 

noun 

1 a group of musicians, actors, or dancers who perform together

2 a group of items viewed as a whole rather than individually1

Probably obviously, our group name, The Ensemble!, is a nod to musicality—something that is a part of Nashville, the site of our conference—and perhaps, a very sound name for the conference organizers of a conference in that location. We also love that ensemble can be any band of items—not just musical—that can be viewed together as a whole, instead of being viewed as a solo performance; we see this as an important part of our work together—working in tune with each other to amplify our reverberations. We are also inspired by Nordstrom (2019) who wrote about ensembles of life during her dissertation research on family genealogies: “The ensemble of life is a loose grouping of a person’s trajectories—or lines—formed by the objects (e.g., photographs, documents, and other artifacts) in their life, the sensations associated with those objects, and the virtual potential of the objects” (Nordstrom, 2019, p. 15). While our conference does not focus on family genealogies in an immediate sense, we all—conference organizers, presenters, and attendees alike—have our own individual genealogies and so does our field. Our field has a trajectory shaped by objects (e.g., books, articles, primary sources, tenure and promotion manuals, etc.) and sensations (e.g., values, fears, etc.) that can produce melodies in the field that we may rehearse and/or perform for one another, but which may also create dissonance when not handled with critical care and conscientiousness. We hope that “The open- ended and affirmative ensemble of life shifts understandings about [social studies education] and those who practice it into a space of becoming” (Nordstrom, 2019, p. 38)—not necessarily in harmony with each other, but in productive, moving, (re)new(ed) cacophony.

Reference:

Nordstrom, S. (2019). Ensembles of life: Developing an affirmative and intensive concept in educational research. Educational Research for Social Change, 8(1), 14-40.

Note:

1. Dictionary entries are excerpted from the Apple Dictionary tool which pulls from the New Oxford American Dictionary. Dictionary entries sometimes change or get updated; this definition for “ensemble” was pulled on February 27, 2023.