Culture Atlas has been developed by educators, for educators.

We’ve partnered with schools in Northeast Ohio and are actively looking to work with other middle and high schools and teachers across the globe. Learn more about these partnerships below. If you’re interested, please get in touch with us!

Email: [email protected].

Hawken School

In the fall of 2021, Dr. Nabila Irizarry and Chad Komocki of Hawken School (a nationally-ranked independent school in Northeast Ohio) developed a 15-day intensive course called Rhythms of Resistance: Afro-Caribbean Studies, an exploration of three Spanish-speaking Caribbean locales: Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico. The collaboration was fueled by Mr. Komocki’s involvement with the Amistad Caribbean Arts Camp and Dr. Irizarry’s love for her homeland, Puerto Rico. They designed their course with support from the Culture Atlas team.

Rhythms of Resistance was rooted in the development of the mind, heart, and hands. Students began each day with a bucket drumming session of African diaspora rhythms followed by readings and analyses of Caribbean poetry, learning historical, social, and cultural contexts that helped foster resistance. The class included intercultural exchange (via Zoom) with 15 students from Colegio Montessori de Puerto Rico, and the inclusion of local professionals with Caribbean ancestry in a culminating cultural celebration.

For their final projects, students created virtual cultural exhibitions on specific topics using Culture Atlas to discover themes of interest. The cultural celebration included local Latin percussion legends (and Amistad instructors) Sammy DeLeon and Ray Guzman, joined by Amistad Artistic Director Jackie Warren. Dancers Munirah Bomani and Lali Pichardo also participated as students played buckets and danced with the live music. The students involved with this initial pilot course enjoyed the many facets of the experience and offered positive feedback.

Culture Atlas was used to help the students engage in their research for the Rhythms of Resistance: Afro-Caribbean Studies.

“The Culture Atlas App was a great tool to help the students engage in their research for the Rhythms of Resistance: Afro-Caribbean Studies course at Hawken School. With easy access to articles, images, and videos, they quickly became interested in the culture of Puerto Rico, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic. It was both fun and easy to use the App—especially navigating through the world with a few touches on the IPad. The Culture Atlas App creates a unique visual portal for students to learn about cultures from around the globe and deepen their research-based projects.”

- Chad Komocki (Hawken School)

Culture Atlas and Amistad Caribbean Arts Camp

"Culture Atlas serves as an invaluable tool in teaching our Amistad students about the music and culture of the African Diaspora. Our music history classes feature a curriculum, videos, and bucket drumming lessons that are helping us transform the cultural and social perspectives of our students through this rich variety of content.”

- Dr. Felipe Brito (Amistad Development Director & Lead Instructor)

Amistad Caribbean Arts Camp

Over the past four years, the Culture Atlas team has worked with Open Tone Music (a NE Ohio non-profit) creating digital resources for OTM’s premier music education program: Amistad Caribbean Arts Camp. Amistad is a Cleveland-based musical and arts program focused on Afro-Caribbean, North American, and Latin American cultures. We have helped the OTM and Amistad team build three digital collections: