This theory course will provide us with an opportunity to read together and develop a deep understanding of how community members use art as active agents to preserve community histories and identities, and further, to resist the status quo. In the first half of the class, I will provide theoretical inputs on community power and empowerment, co-creation, and relevant case studies. The second half of the class will consist of student presentations, where students will take charge of the classroom, choose book chapters from the following lists/sections, introduce them, and analyze the art forms mentioned in the books based on their own experiences and/or expertise. This shared leadership approach is grounded in the belief that our class has an empowering organizational setting, in which a peer-based information support system can be facilitated. The book chapters you can choose are categorized as follows:
Section I Grassroots Leadership and Cultural Activists Part 1: Performance Art
Section II Grassroots Leadership and Cultural Activists Part 2: Visual Art and Film
Section III Grassroots Leadership, Participatory Democracy, and the Role of the Arts in Social Movements in the United States
Section IV Theatre of the Oppressed as a Form of Grassroots Leadership
Those book chapters are in the book: Grassroots Leadership and the Arts For Social Change
Edited by Susan J. Erenrich and Jon F. Wergin
Book Download (please make sure you are connected with wifi eduroam) https://www.emerald.com/books/book-pdf/9004719/9781786356888.pdf
Or try this: https://www.emerald.com/books/edited-volume/12336/Grassroots-Leadership-and-the-Arts-for-Social
Apart from the aforementioned book chapters, the book ”Community Power and Empowerment“, used in the theory input sessions, provides insights into how community members gain social power and exert influence over their lives. Several reading materials then introduce how the co-creation of art can serve as a tactic to improve community resilience, organize for more participatory futures, and create spaces to imagine, learn, and act toward more just and sustainable futures. The recent book ”Beyond Molotovs - A Visual Handbook of Anti-Authoritarian Strategies“ collects a wide range of new aesthetics and alternative cultures led by local communities in protest. The valuable examples presented in the book can help guide us in our art-making practices. All the related books will be later uploaded in Microsoft Team channel.
Class language: English
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