History

For more than 33 years Cynthia Haring has taught English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) in a variety of contexts to people of all ages and language levels from countries around the world.  World Nation® is the marriage of her ESOL training and teaching career, her work as a poet/singer-songwriter, and her music recording and performance career prior to World Nation. Musical periods include Cynthia Haring as solo artist, SHE, Destiny Quibble, and Scheherazade (1975-1990) and, since 1991, World Nation in various regions of the country.

At the time of its inception in 1991, the purpose of World Nation® was to uplift humanity by providing a positive outlet for the creative expression of talented, but often overlooked, young people.  Initially, World Nation worked with children ages 5 and older from multilingual, multicultural backgrounds based on referrals from music teachers and community members in the Iowa-Illinois Quad Cities and Muscatine, Iowa.  World Nation then partnered with Reverend Gene Augustine and a dedicated group of concerned citizens in Muscatine, Iowa known as “Reaching Across Divisions” (RAD). The shared goal was to bring together talented adults and children for a recording/performance endeavor. World Nation members included migrant and low-income families, students from ethnic minority backgrounds, and young people less likely to have creative and/or educational opportunities, as well as educators, artists, musicians, and community leaders.

As the producer-director of World Nation® and as a lifelong ESOL educator, Cynthia’s intention has always been (1) to promote knowledge and acceptance of others, despite differences, in and out of the classroom and (2) to encourage caring, respect, understanding, and peace within and across cultures, and between countries, religions, and regions.  This commitment has evolved naturally, as a result of her teaching experiences, Cynthia has taught students from diverse ethnic, linguistic, socio-cultural, historical, and religious backgrounds – often within a single classroom.  This diverse ESOL teaching experience was most pronounced when Cynthia taught refugees and immigrants at Truman College in Chicago (1981-1988) and Scott Community College in Iowa (1988-1992). From 1997 - 2015 Cynthia worked with ESOL students (K-12) in Hernando and Pasco counties in Florida.  She is currently teaching ESOL online to students in China.

The current focus of the group includes (1) production of World Nation recordings and (2) development of World Nation shows, website, and Youtube videos.  The goal is to use this site for photos, upcoming shows, news of studio work, CD and DVD releases, charitable outreach, and promotion of products by casinos reviews artists of all ages from around the world.

The three regions where Cynthia has taught ESOL and created World Nation groups over the past 25 years include: the Midwest, specifically the Iowa-Illinois Quad Cities (1991-1992); Parker, Arizona, within and around the Colorado River Indian Tribes reservation (1992-1996); and most recently Tampa Bay, Florida (since 1997).