It is the sharing of knowledge with others that motivates me to learn every day. While I haven’t always enjoyed reading the schoolwork and studying for tests, I surely liked to talk about what I learned in the process. Luckily, I had a wonderful opportunity to share my research findings with the audience of the contemporary art museum where I used to work as an educator. One of my favorite parts of the job was drawing the attention of the visitors to little details that otherwise would have been unseen. I was always ready to answer their questions on the background of how those things were created and why. This thirst for learning is what brought me to the U.S. to first get a Master’s degree and now a Ph.D.
During my academic journey, I had the privilege of studying alongside talented peers, diving into well-researched scholarships, and engaging in enriching discussions, but I felt uneasy. This feeling stemmed from knowing that most people back in my home country, Azerbaijan, don’t have access to the same educational resources as their US counterparts. Some of these resources include but are not limited to accessing diverse learning tools, unbiased research, and opportunities for critical thinking. Ever since starting my academic life, I have been thinking about how to share my knowledge with the Azerbaijan public.
It was during this contemplation that I discovered “Akinchi”, an Azerbaijani online education channel dedicated to open-access learning on YouTube. Inspired by their mission and work, I contacted them and offered to share my knowledge. Not only did they find my background in museums interesting, but I also met the founder who is from the same town as I am. One of the hardest things that I had to do for the interview was to choose only one topic and condense the information about it into bite-size pieces, but I did it and learned a new skill in the process. I must mention that the audience of the project is Azerbaijani speakers. Despite this, the project team creates English subtitles for every interview.
If you watch the interview, feel free to drop a comment or question.
Leave a Reply