Previous Offerings
FALL 2022
El Liderazgo a Través del ‘Activismo Performativo’
(Leadership Through Performance Activism)
Jorge Burciaga-Montoya, Miguel Cortes, Sandra Paola Lopez-Ramirez
Sabado/Saturday, Septiembre/September 10, 5:00 pm – 6:30 pm Hora del este EE.UU./ Eastern U.S. Time, 3:00 pm – 4:30 pm Ciudad Juarez-El Paso Time
VIEW RECORDING HERE
¿Ha oído hablar del ‘Activismo Performativo,’ el nuevo enfoque lúdico y performativo para abordar cuestiones sociales, culturales y políticas? ¿Le gustaría conocer a estos activistas y aprender sobre lo que hacen y cómo repercute en sus comunidades? Entonces ven a esta primera clase de ¡Aprendamos! en español, en la que tendrás la oportunidad de dialogar con algunos de los que están experimentando con esta nueva forma de activismo en diferentes regiones hispanohablantes del mundo. Compartirán cómo han creado espacios performativos fuera de las limitaciones institucionales del teatro donde pueden surgir la creatividad, el desarrollo personal y grupal y la transformación social. Quién sabe, quizá usted también quiere llevar el activismo performativo a tu comunidad.
Have you heard about Performance Activism, the new playful, performative approach to engaging social, cultural and political issues? Would you like to meet such activists and learn about what they do and how it impacts on their communities? Then come to this first ever Let’s Learn! class in Spanish where you will have the opportunity to dialogue with some of those experimenting with this new form of activism in different Spanish-speaking regions of the world. They will share how they have created performative spaces outside of the institutional constraints of the theatre where creativity, personal and group development and social transformation can emerge. Who knows, maybe you’ll want to bring performance activism to your community as well!
Performance Activism: A Reconstructive Approach to Social Activism and Generating Possibility
Dan Friedman, Ph.D.
Monday, September 12, 6:00 pm -7:30 pm, Eastern U.S. Time
VIEW RECORDING HERE
Dan Friedman, the Artistic Director Emeritus of the Castillo Theatre in New York City, has long been active in progressive political and community-based theatre. He will introduce us to a new way of exercising power that is emerging around the world: Performance Activism. Not over determined by what it’s against, Performance Activism is a reconstructive approach to changing the world. It allows us, through play and performance, to generate new ways of seeing, build new kinds of relationships, and imagine new social and political possibilities. Over the last three decades, performance activists have brought play and performance into classrooms, workplaces, community centers, hospitals, prisons, and onto the streets. Dr. Friedman will unpack how and why Performance Activism has emerged—and why it’s important in a world facing so many crises. There will be ample time for questions and conversation.
Monday Play!
Ethan Divon & Dr. Omar Ali
Monday, September 19, 12:15-1:00 pm Eastern U.S. Time/2:15 am-3:00 am Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea Time
Ok, so if you want to get better at playing basketball, what do you do? Play basketball! If you want to get better at having conversations, or become a better learner, improve your grades, get a new job, win the lottery, go to the moon, or fly like an eagle into the future … come to Monday Play! That’s right, we invite you to join one of our weekly open improv sessions co-led by Ethan Divon and Omar Ali of Lloyd International Honors College at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Come practice ‘yes, anding’ with others—that is, build on what others say or do, and create new possibilities together. Zero humor and/or related skills required, just a willingness to play.
The Great Bangla Poets
Qazi Abdur Rahman
Saturday, October 1, 10:00 am – 11:30 am Eastern U.S. Time/8:00 pm – 9:30 pm Dhaka Time
Longtime educator Qazi Abdur Rahman of the Oxford International School in Dhaka, Bangladesh, leads us on a discovery of some of the greatest Bangla poets of all time. He will open the class with a brief introduction to Bangla literature, going back to its origins 1,500 years ago and tracing it to its modernist flowering in the 20th Century. The life and impact of five Bangla poets will be introduced and a poem from each will be performed in the original Bangla by Rahman’s students from Oxford and in English translation by Let’s Learn! class participants. The readings will be followed by reflection and discussion.
(Re-Imagining) Education: How Do We Go About It?
Dr. Jaime E. Martinez
Thursday, October 20th, 1:00 pm-2:30 pm Eastern U.S. Time
View Recording Here
Let’s Learn! is all about bringing together people from all walks of life all over the world to share and create knowledge and culture together. Just how can we do that? This is a chance for students, teachers, and life-long learners of all sorts to get together and play with new possibilities for teaching and learning. Join Dr. Jaime E. Martinez, associate professor of Interdisciplinary Studies Sciences at the New York Institute of Technology, in this participatory workshop, inspired by teams working to explore educational needs and finding new ways of engaging them. No experience with formal education needed—just curiosity and a willingness to explore the unknown with others.
Arts Into Acts
Elena Boukouvala
Saturday, October 22, 11:00 am – 12:30 pm Eastern U.S. Time/4:00 pm – 5:30 pm London Time/6:00 pm – 7:30 pm Lesbos Time
The Greek island of Lesbos lies just 12 kilometers (7 miles) off the coast of Turkey. Since 2015, millions of refugees and asylum seekers, fleeing war, violence and political persecution have passed through the island seeking a better life. Thousands of people have lived in the Moria Refugee Camp, which Doctors Without Borders has called “the worst refugee camp in the world.” Initially many locals welcomed the refugees. However, in the years since, the political climate has grown divisive. Anti-migrant nationalism has grown and incidents of racism have become an everyday reality. At the same time, Mytilene, the capital city of Lesbos, has become a melting pot of cultures, languages, lives, and dreams. There young people have found ways to connect and create art and community. Through their art they responded to alienation, creating collective power and giving expression to a collective voice. Their arts became acts of solidarity and hope. During this session young people will share their arts and their acts, their journeys, and what inspired and maintained them. The session itself will become an act of support for their dreams. We will interweave conversation and performance, inviting the participants of the class to join us to co-create a world stage for their acts. The session will be hosted by Elena Boukouvala, dramatherapist, performance activist and action researcher who has worked and played in the camps and communities of Lesbos (and beyond) since 2016. The session is inspired by the action research project “Arts into Acts.”
Resistance & Imagination: The Role of the Arts, Creativity and Play in Activism
Alex Sutherland
Friday, June 21, 8:00 pm -9:30 pm, Eastern U.S. Time
Saturday, October 29, 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm Eastern U.S. Time/7:00 pm – 8:30 pm South African Time
View Recording Here
In this participatory workshop, Alex Sutherland, the Coordinator of Creativity in Activist Education and acting Head of Programs at the Tshisimani Center for Activist Education in Cape Town, South Africa, will lead an exploration of the ways in which creativity and imagination are key to political and social activism. We will look at case studies from around the world that have used play, humor and creativity to re-imagine another world while voicing resistance to the status quo. There will be a special focus on Africa where liberation struggles have consciously embraced arts and culture in organizing and campaigning. Workshop participants will engage in simple activities that can build an artistic activist repertoire of resistance and imagination.
Laptops in the Village
Dr. Syed Mizanur Rahman
Friday, November 4, 9:00 am – 10:00 am, Eastern U.S. Time/7:00 pm – 8:00 pm, Dhaka Time
View Recording Here
Daffodil International University in Dhaka, Bangladesh has a policy of “One Student, One Laptop.” Each student is provided with a laptop so they can fully participate in 21st Century education and connect with the wider world. When the pandemic lockdown struck in 2020 and students needed to return to their home villages, they were asked by the university to take their laptops with them and to use them to generate curiosity and learning back home. In this conversation led by Dr. Syed Mizabur Rahman, director of the General Education Department at Daffodil, a group of returning students share their experiences and how it impacted on them and on their communities.