Author: shawnlent (Page 2 of 17)

Shawn is a social practice dance artist and manager working internationally. Shawn is also the EducationUSA Advising Coordinator at AMIDEAST Cairo and teaches for the full-time professional program at Cairo Contemporary Dance Center. Formerly, Shawn was the Arts Integration Program Specialist at Columbia College Chicago, dance teacher for Performing Arts Limited, and has had the unique honors of being a 2012-2013 Fulbright Scholar (lecturing at the Academy of the Arts in Cairo, Egypt), member of the British Council’s Transatlantic Network 2020, and the UN Alliance of Civilizations International Fellowship Program. In May 2011, Shawn taught dance in Prijedor, Bosnia as part of the Most Mira Youth Festival. Shawn serves on the Associates Board of Lurie Children’s Hospital, Founding Board for Donna’s Good Things, and founded the Associates Board for Links Hall. Shawn holds a Masters degree in Arts Management, Arts in Youth and Community Development from Columbia College Chicago.

Why the Dance World Just Can’t Drop That GMA Thing

If you haven’t been plugged into the Good Morning America controversy, I’m guessing you’re not in the dance field. Those of us in the industry have been swimming in a mass of outrage and resistance since last Thursday, when Lara Spencer, along with her on-air colleagues and studio audience, shared a laugh at the notion of Prince George studying ballet and loving of the form. This was an instance of adults bullying a child and perpetuating destructive stigmas.

As Lara Spencer has been horrified to learn, if you come for our kids, we dancers snap back. A petition on Change.org, asking that the show produce a segment on the benefits of dance education, has been signed by nearly 35K as of today. Patricia Ward Kelly (Gene Kelly’s wife), Debbie Allen, Rosie O’Donnell, and stars from the ballet and Broadway worlds have posted personal calls to Spencer and/or their testimonies of growing up in a miseducated, unsupportive, and sometimes threatening environment as a dancer. As people continue to share, #ballet4boys and #mendancetoo have been two of the trending hashtags.

“More Ballet. Less Bullying.”

Debbie Allen

I am proud of our industry for garnering our energies. We are seizing this opportunity to have a national and international conversation on the critical importance of dance education and anti-bullying. I hope that we squeeze as much out of this opportunity as we possibly can for the benefit of the next generation of dance artists, audiences, and peers. We are holding media to account. We are speaking truth to power. We are doing whatever we can to hold the space for any dancer to come into the studio if they wish; more importantly, we are doing whatever we can so that when they go to their schools and neighborhoods, they can do so not only safely, but with a level of support and recognition for their contributions.

Spencer has apologized on Instagram with vague support of individual freedoms and using an image of a field of wild flowers. She was wrong and is starting to recognize the harm done, but her generic response came off as insincere and/or insufficient to most. Spencer received so much flack on her apology that she felt it best to disable comments. Think what you will about her post, an on-air apology would be much better.

That said, an on-air apology would just be a Bandaid approach to the situation. The issue is bigger than Spencer. What she might not fully understand is the depths of the toxicity that she and the producers/writers tapped into with that segment, her banter, and her condoning of the audience’s response. This transgression was egregious enough, and the opportunity big enough, that this moment has become a moment to re-educate the American masses. At least to try.

As the online petition author, my respected friend and peer Jeff Poulin, wrote,

“We do not simply call for an apology on behalf of Lara Spencer, Good Morning America, and ABC, but rather we wish to see a future segment focus be on the benefits of dance education on young people, especially men and boys.”

Jeff Poulin

The folks at Good Morning America seem to be listening. On tomorrow’s show, Spencer will talk to Travis Wall and perhaps the professional dancers planning a flashmob dance class (dance demonstration) in front of the GMA building. Rumor is Spencer will even take a dance class on air. I truly hope she doesn’t take the typical “oh, this is so much more difficult than I thought” route. Virtuosic athleticism (physical capacities in strength, stamina, grace, speed, and flexibility) represent just a fraction of what dance offers a person. The art form instills complex patterning and pattern recognition, full comprehension of the subject matter explored in the choreography, strong recall and memory, kinetic empathy and presence, compositional intention, self-trust and personal agency, layered non-verbal communication for an attended audience, honest personal expression, grit, storytelling, discipline, capacity to work across cultures and languages… with decades of research into those outcomes and more.

In addition, I hope that the show doesn’t push the narrative that it’s only okay if men dance if they take their shirts off or maintain a certain level of machismo. Some dancers are Swayze and Baryshnikov. Some dancers are gay, bisexual, or queer. Some transgender, gender non-conforming, or gender fluid. Some dancers specialize feminine roles and explore the multiplicities of femininity in their movement. Some dance masculine roles and explore the multiplicities of masculinity in their movement. While some dance as a loved embodiment of a powerful or an elegant woman, others dance to embody a “man” who can both bound in the air and support his lady. For some dancers, they long for the day when dance education, particularly in ballet, loses its archaic gendered-ness altogether.

A colleague wrote a post that put it very well,

“This is also on the dance community. At the basic level, classes are not marketed as gender-inclusive. We close-in the definition of what a dancer looks like and who a dancer is. I strongly encourage you to use some of these incredible dancers and groups as the springboard to your re-education on dance: BalletBoyz, AXIS Dance Company, Michaela DePrince, Kidd Pivot, Roberto Bolle… countless more. Let’s all try a little bit more educated.”

Julie Ferrell

Perhaps taking this opportunity for dance advocacy on a national platform will scratch at the surface of our harmful culture. I have lived years abroad in places such as Egypt, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and the U.K.; in these countries, society doesn’t question boys and girls, men and women studying ballet or dancing ballet professionally. Actually, the problem lies in ballet’s popularity stemming from the form’s perpetuation of classism and ablism, hetero-normative insistence, cultural violence and racism, and past/present acts of colonization. In the countries where I have lived, the question was not can boys dance ballet, as much as it was Can large children dance ballet? Yes. Can children with disabilities dance ballet? Yes. Can children with black or brown skin dance ballet? Of course. Can conservative Muslim, Hindu, Jewish children dance ballet? Yes. Is ballet better or more important than tap, footworking, or flamenco? Absolutely not.

So no, we dance educators shouldn’t just drop this GMA thing. This is a moment to seize, a wave to ride, a bandwagon to jump on. I recently met with the Trump-appointed new chair of the National Endowment for the Arts; I’m thinking that agency, along with Americans for the Arts and the National Dance Education Organization, can play a role this week. While we shouldn’t counter bullying with bullying, or ignorance with ignorance, we definitely can work with media allies to create change within our industry as well as out in the greater public. Good thing there are so many of us. I’ll be tuning in tomorrow, and let’s see where we go from there.

A New Project with and for Our New Neighbors

As an alumnus of a US Department of State exchange program, I was eligible to apply to attend the State Department’s Alumni Thematic International Exchange Seminars in Kansas City earlier this year on the theme of entrepreneurship. During that seminar week, there was a peer-vote pitch competition and although I had never participated before in something like that, I won! That motivated me to continue developing the idea I presented on a pilot project for and with migrant and refugee artists in Chicago.

Following that seminar week, I reached out to fellow alumni in order to collaborate on a proposal to the Alumni TIES small grant opportunity. We are grateful to have been awarded the full $10,000, but are well aware of the grant’s many restrictions. I and other project leads must volunteer our time and funds cannot support an organization.

The project, New Neighbor Arts Entrepreneurship (August 2019 to January 2020) is a pilot initiative designed to help new migrants and refugees integrate successfully into American society and find a place for themselves in their new neighborhoods through arts careers and entrepreneurism. This six-month pilot project is fully sponsored by the U.S. Department of State – Alumni TIES.

“I was so pleased to hear about the Dept of State -Alumni TIES pilot program utilizing the arts in Chicago to help new migrants and refugees find a place for themselves in their new neighborhoods.”

Mary Anne Carter, Chairman, National Endowment for the Arts

My fantastic project partner, Letitia Zwickert, is a U.S. Fulbright Specialist in Education 2017-2020 and U.S. Fulbright-Schuman Scholar 2016. My accountability partner, Peter Hoesing, is a Fulbright-Hays Program participant 2009-2010. The volunteer task force for the project is in development. Current members are Willyum LaBelja, Kim Carballo, Lizette Garza, Lisa Gonzales, Sami Ismat, Lauren Rose Milburn, Brian Shaw, Shayna Silverstein, Steph Vondell, Ryan Walters, and Nadia Zeeshan.

Article 27 of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states, “Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts.” Bryan Stevenson’s theorizes that positive social change has four elements: proximity to people and ideas, rewriting the narrative, hope, and discomfort/vulnerability. With those two concepts at its center, this project aims to empower new migrants to successfully integrate and establish a place for themselves in their new neighborhoods through artistic careers and entrepreneurship.

PROJECT OBJECTIVES:

1. Create, test, and refine an accessible and effective introductory “Arts Careers & Entrepreneurship” course specifically designed for migrant/refugee artists in the United States, translated into at least two languages.

2. Empower six trainers from refugee/migrant communities as workshop facilitators in order to increase their social confidence in English, mobility throughout the city, knowledge of arts entrepreneurial concepts, and cross-cultural collaborative capacities.

3. Help 30-80 migrant/refugee artists grow their awareness and understanding of arts careers and entrepreneurial capacities.

4. Establish and strengthen relationships between arts organizations and migrant artists.

AGREEMENTS FOR TASK FORCE MEMBERS AND PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS:
-I will bring my own joy and badassery.
-I will read the project e-mails and will let project leads know if I don’t understand something or if something is unclear.
-I will speak up if something is wrong, if something is off-track from our shared values and goals, or if I am experiencing something highly uncomfortable.
-I believe a power shift needs to be achieved towards migrant/refugee artists having more power, agency, and resources.
-Wherever possible, I will proactively protect against exploitation, re-traumatization, and re-victimization, especially in the context where someone else benefits.
-Among several other agreements…

MOTIVATIONS FOR THE PROJECT, written from my perspective:

Today’s world is highly volatile, with the highest number of forcibly displaced persons in modern history. Refugees and other migrants whom are resettled in urban America — like other communities developing in self-determined insularity — lack opportunity for intergroup contact, as they are not often met by a healthy ecology of trust and reciprocal engagement in their new neighborhoods. The process of “being resettled” itself lacks opportunity for agency; refugee and asylum-seeking families have little to no choice in if they will have a certain legal status and where/when they will be resettled. 

This distrust is intensified in the Midwest, where red and blue state policies and perspectives often collide, and thus these environments become either unwelcoming or overly patronizing as “charity” cases. Many refugees who have been resettled in Chicago have been placed in West Ridge, alongside Orthodox Jewish neighbors. As one of the few pockets in the city that voted for Trump in the 2016 Presidential Election, the West Ridge neighborhood has seen increased societal tensions. In 2016, 49% of the new refugees in Chicago came from the predominantly Muslim countries in the subsequent year’s travel ban. Gallup’s 2009 Religious Perceptions in America: With an In-Depth Analysis of U.S. Attitudes Toward Muslims and Islam report warned, “…more than 43% of Americans admit to feeling at least “a little” prejudice toward Muslims, 22% of Americans said they would not like to have a Muslim as a neighbor.” Improvement since then has been slow.

Several organizations are all doing great work in job readiness services for migrants/refugees but there has not been enough of a connection to the performing arts and new media. Resettlement and immigration case managers lack awareness of career opportunities in the local arts scene and artistic ventures, especially in the performing arts and new media. A majority of the existing arts entrepreneurship programs ignore or bypass the importance of the body in social integration. Rather than handcrafts, this program focuses on capacities in the performing arts and new media which contribute to peacebuilding by encouraging proximity and expression. In the performing arts and new media, individuals take up space, share physical and digital spaces in the neighborhood, and take the stage to be seen and applauded by their neighbors.

Contact me at [email protected] for more information on this project.


Which International Exchange Programs Are Looking for You?

During a recent AlumniTIES, I learned some interesting statistics. Over 1 million individuals, including 565 heads of state around the world, have participated in international exchange programs supported by the US Department of State. Annually, the number of people participating in these inbound and outbound programs — all funded by American tax payers — averages 55,000.

These government-funded exchange programs are designed for different types of individuals at different points in their career trajectories. Here are some examples. Each have their own specific designs and processes. Not all are currently open, so check back often.

  • American Arts Incubator: This program uses new media and/or mural arts as a means for engaging youth, artists, and underserved community members in overseas communities in Asia.
  • American Film Showcase: This program brings award-winning American documentaries, feature films, and animated shorts to audiences around the world.
  • American Music Abroad: These musical ambassadors reach beyond concert halls to interact with other musicians and citizens around the globe.
  • Arts Envoy: The Arts Envoy Program shares the best of the US arts community with the world to foster cross-cultural understanding and collaboration and to demonstrate shared values and aspirations. Artists should approach the US embassies abroad to explore possibilities. The budgets and foci will differ by mission.
  • Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange For Young Professionals: The Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange for Young Professionals is a full-year work-study fellowship program.
  • DanceMotion USA: DanceMotion USA sends American dance companies overseas to connect with audiences and communities through dance workshops, lecture demonstrations, public performances and other arts education activities. Artists are selected by DanceMotion USA.
  • Fulbright US Scholar: The Core Fulbright US Scholar Program sends approximately 800 American scholars and professionals per year to approximately 130 countries, where they lecture and/or conduct research in a wide variety of academic and professional fields. I previously wrote a post with advice for applying.
  • Fulbright Specialist Program: The Fulbright Specialist Program, a short-term complement to the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program, sends US faculty and professionals to serve as expert consultants on curriculum, faculty development, institutional planning and related subjects at overseas academic institutions for a period of 2 to 6 weeks.
  • Fulbright Teachers for Global Classrooms: The Fulbright Teachers for Global Classrooms Program (TGC) allows U.S. middle and high school teachers to participate in an online professional development course, two Washington, D.C.-based symposiums and a two-week professional development exchange.
  • Next Level: This unique arts-based exchange employs multi-disciplinary hip hop collaborations, and explores and addresses conflict resolution strategies by sending up to 20 American beat makers, DJs, B-Boys/B-Girls (or experts of other types of hip hop dance), or MCs in teams of 5 artists to lead four- to six-week exchange programs in various countries. 
  • Sports Envoy Program: Sports Envoys are athletes and coaches who travel overseas to lead programs that were developed by U.S. embassies and consulates.
  • Venice Architectural Biennale and Venice Art Biennale: These programs ensure that the excellence, vitality, and diversity of American arts are effectively showcased abroad and provides an opportunity to engage foreign audiences to increase mutual understanding.

There are also programs for students, both graduates and undergraduates as well as high school students.

  • Fulbright US Student Program: The Fulbright US Student Program offers fellowships for U.S. graduating college seniors, graduate students, young professionals and artists to study, conduct research or be an English teaching assistant abroad for one academic year.
  • Fulbright-mtvU Fellowship: A component of the Fulbright US Student Program, the Fulbright-mtvU Fellowship is a special opportunity for up to four U.S. students to pursue projects around an aspect of international contemporary or popular music as a cultural force for expression. Preference is given to creative projects that are conveyed in a dynamic fashion and are accompanied by a feasible plan.
  • Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program: The Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program provides scholarships to U.S. undergraduates with financial need for study abroad, including students from diverse backgrounds and students going to non-traditional study abroad destinations.
  • Fulbright Travel-Only Grants: Grants for international travel are available to Germany, Hungary and Italy to supplement other fellowships that do not include travel costs or to supplement a student’s own funds for study/research.

For a full list of opportunities, I suggest clicking here. Apply. Apply. Apply.

While the programs themselves are transformative for travelers and communities alike, the benefits continue well past the passport stamps. As an alumnus of a US Exchanges program, I have free lifetime access to several extensive databases of journals, research papers, news and periodical articles, and popular magazines and newspapers like the Economist, New York Times, The New Yorker, and Wall Street Journal. This access also includes curated collections such as the Diversity Studies Collection with nearly 5 million articles on cultural differences, influences, and contributions; a Gender Studies Collection; and a Small Business Collection with more than 10 million articles providing tips and strategies for successful entrepreneurship. In addition, the alumni services we have include career support, seminars, networking, and small grant opportunities.

I acknowledge being uneasy about being involved with the US government after 2016. Honestly, I feel a level disdain for the Trump Administration, a disdain that is intensified by policies announced by Trump himself including “a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States” and reducing the U.S. Department of State educational and cultural exchange programs by 75% in 2019.

The good news is that 64 members of the US Congress participated in these programs; Congress held the Exchanges budget this year. Now the same fight at hand for 2020 with a proposed White House budget less than half of what we have now. It’s a good time to make our voices heard on the Hill.

My 2019 Resources for Socially Engaged Artists

For the past three years, I have provided annual collections of resources and opportunities for artists who consider themselves socially engaged or engaged with social practice. This year is no different. Below, I offer some updates to the 2018 list, still focusing in dance and inter-group or international experiences.

No matter your background, you may find this following list of interest. Note that it is a hearty but not comprehensive list; you are invited to add additional links and resources in the reply section below.  I will offer resources in the following categories:

  • Undergraduate Programs
  • Graduate Degree, Professional and Certificate Programs
  • Fellowships, Jobs/Internships, Volunteer Opportunities and Residencies
  • Groups, Initiatives and Organizations
  • Readings, Videos, Webinars and MOOCs

Undergraduate Programs

Bachelor of Fine Arts in Socially Engaged Art at Goddard (low residency)

Performing Arts & Social Justice with a Dance Concentration at University of San Fransisco

Creativity, the Arts, and Social Transformation (CAST) interdisciplinary minor at Brandeis University

Community Arts BFA Major at California College of the Arts

Minor in Social Practice and Public Forms at California College of the Arts

Contextual Practice BFA Major at Carnegie Mellon University

Graduate Degree, Professional and Certificate Programs

MFA in Dance: Embodied Interdisciplinary Praxis at Duke University

Master of Education (M.Ed.) in Community Arts at Lesley University

Master of Arts (M.A.) in Teaching Artistry at Wayne State University (3 years, part-time, low-residency)

Educational Doctorate (EDd) in Equity Studies in Education at Simon Fraser University (Canada)

Master of Arts (M.A.) in Art, Education, and Community Practice at NYU Steinhart

Master of Fine Arts (M.FM.A., M.F.A., and Ph.D. in Performance as Public Practice or M.F.A. in Drama and Theatre for Youth and Communities at The University of Texas at Austin

Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A.) in Contemporary Art Practices (Art + Social Practice) at Portland State University

Master of Arts (M.A.) in Socially Engaged Art at NCAD in Dublin, Ireland

Socially Engaged Practice in Design and the Arts (Certificate) at Arizona State University

Master of Arts (M.A.) in Socially Engaged Art at University of IndianapolisP

Conferences, Institutes and Labs

Carnegie Mellon University’s Center for Arts in Society

Social Emotional Arts (SEA) Certificate at UCLA

The Dance + Social Justice Conference

Dance Exchange Summer InstituteI

Luna Dance Summer Institute

Social Practice Lab at Duke University’s Rubenstein Arts Center

Urban Bush Women’s Summer Leadership Institute

Fellowships, Jobs/Internships, Apprenticeship and Volunteer Opportunities and Residencies

Exchange Programs: The State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs offers a number of fully-funded international programs. Many of these opportunities are posted with little notice so check regularly.

(SPAN) Social Practice Artist Network

Common FieldDaniels Spectrum Artist-in-Residency for community-engaged professional artists

A Blade of Grass Fellowship for Socially Engaged Art

Imagining America Page Fellowship for graduate students

Artists Striving to End Poverty (ASTEP) volunteer opportunities

On-the-Move cultural mobility network’s list of residencies and other opportunities, many of which are in Europe

Idealist volunteer opportunities and job postings

BCorps Jobs Board openings at certified B Corps, companies that meet rigorous social and environmental standards 

Creative Time jobs, internships, fellowships, and volunteer opportunities

Peace and Collaborative Development Network’s PCDNETWORK professional opportunities (jobs, fellowships, internships, etc. in social change, which also provides the following links for job seekers.

  • UNJOBLIST jobs at UN agencies and other Intergovernmental Organizations
  • RELIEFWEB jobs in International non-profits 
  • Rework jobs in impact with companies working on social and cultural innovation
  • International Organization Careers Website employment opportunities in International Organizations (site sponsored by the US Department of State)
  • SKOLL WORLD FORUM JOB LIST– Job and Fellowship postings related to social entreprenuership, the social sector and corporate social responsibility.
  • The Posner Center for International Development Job Board – Is a coworking space based in Denver, Colorado with over 60 member organizations. Their job board lists openings at Posner and the center’s members.
  • Mission Investing Job Bank – shares career opportunities in mission investing at member foundations, affiliate member organizations and other organizations
  • Social Enterprise Alliance Job Board – Positions in the social enterprise sector.
  • Social Impact Jobs – List from Echoing Green, one of the leading orgs in the field.
  • OpenGov Hub Member Jobs – Job opportunities from organizations based at the OpenGov Hub in Washington, DC.
  • Be Social Change Jobs – Maintains a job board of positions and internships in key social change orgs.
  • Open Gov Jobs – Positions related to open government.
  • Impact Design Hub Jobs – Jobs at the intersection of public interest, social impact, humanitarian, and community design.
  • Jobscsr.com – positions worldwide in the following sectors Social, Environment, Economic, Health & Safety, Climate Change, Human Rights, Finance.
  • Give to get Jobs – Opportunities in the for profit sector that are involved in social change.
  • ICT4D Jobs – Opportunities in information and communication technology for development.
  • Young Professionals in Foreign Policy Job Board – Careers in international Affairs, largely NY and DC based positions.
  • Zebra Jobs – A leading online portal for jobs in Africa, many focused on development related issues.
  • JOBS FOR CHANGE – Useful resources and guides to careers in social change.
  • FOREIGN POLICY ASSOCIATION – Listing of Jobs at Key US nonprofits involved in international affairs.
  • JUSTMEANS – Jobs in Social Change and Environment.
  • FOREIGN AFFAIRS – Listing of jobs in International Affairs.
  • DEVNETJOBS – Listing of Many Positions in International Development and related fields.
  • Next City Jobs– Jobs focused on urban issues and innovation.
  • Jobs for Change – Wonderful resources on nonprofit jobs.
  • OneWorld Jobs – brings the latest jobs and volunteer positions from organisations working to create a better world.

Artslink international grants and fellowships

Mladi Info with lists of scholarships, fellowships, conferences etc. mostly in Europe

Alliance of Artists Communities case study residencies in social practice

U.S. Fulbright Scholar Program (for artists, faculty, researchers or staff) Deadline is September 16, 2019 – This is the program I did. Let me know if you have questions or want my help reviewing your application!

U.S. Fulbright Student Program (for current masters and PhD students, recent grads, and young professionals in the arts and other fields) Deadline is October 9, 2019.

Baba Chuck Davis Emerging Choreographer Fellowship travel to AfricaC

American Music Abroad international tour opportunities for students, adults and ensembles

Thomas R. Pickering Fellowship graduate study in any academic field relevant to the work of the Foreign Service 

Institute for Current World Affairs international fellowship for applicants under 36 years of age

Donald Payne Fellowship for graduate students

Humanity in Action Fellowships for graduate students and young professionals

UNAOC International Fellowship Open to participants between 25 to 35 years old, from the Middle East, North Africa, Europe and North America, with a strong interest in intercultural exchanges

Groups, Initiatives and Organizations

MindLeaps

The International Centre of Art for Social Change

Battery Dance – Dancing to Connect

DanceMotion USA

Dancing on the Edge

Move This World

Do-It-Yourself

Design your own volunteer or apprenticeship opportunities at your local children’s hospital, veterans’ affairs group, refugee center, homeless shelter, juvenile detention facility, or public or private religious school (insular or divided communities).

Readings, Webinars and MOOCs

US Department of Arts and Culture’s Imaginings: A DIY Guide to Arts-Based Community Dialogue and Art Became the Oxygen: An Artistic Response Guide

International Federation of Arts Councils and Cultural Agencies’ Artists, Displacement and Belonging

Dance at a Juvenile Detention Centerhttps://www.dance-teacher.com/empowering-students-with-dance-at-a-juvenile-detention-center-2634155474.html

UNESCO’s lists of Intangible Cultural Heritage

Performing Revolutionary: Art, Action, Activism by Nicole Garneau and Anne Cushwa

The Oxford Handbook of Dance and Politics

Americans for the Arts Social Change

“How art creates social change in 5 TED Talks” by Leigh Shulman

“Bringing the Arts to the Conversation on Social Change” by Claudia Juech and Carolina García Jayaram

Robert Battle: On dance and social justice

Facilitating Difficult Dialogues/OTFD Framework (PDF) – Presentation by Tasha Souza, PhD, Humboldt State University. Tools, strategies, and guidelines for having constructive conversations on challenging topics

Inclusive Practices for Managing Controversial Issues – Flinders University, Australia. Strategies and tips for using controversy constructively in the classroom and helping students find respectful and culturally inclusive ways of dealing with controversial issues.

PolicyLink https://www.policylink.org/resources-tools

Animating Democracy’s “Dance and Civic Engagement”

“The Scales of Socially Engaged Practice” by Hannah Hull

“What is Social Practice, Socially Engaged Art, and Civic Practice?” by Terrence Mosley

UNESCO’s Centre for Arts Research in Education, forum on dance and social justice with Bharata Natyamartist Kavitha Krishnan

“20 Change-Making US Artists You Should Track During 2018” by Shawn Lent

“30 International Artists You Should Track During 2018” by Shawn Lent

“Who Are the Key Figures in Socially Engaged Art Today?” by Patina Lee

Social Justice Funders webinar by Americans for the Arts

Bibliography listings and Glossary for the Duke MOOC on Public Art

Americans for the Arts’ On-Demand Webinars including Arts Deployed and Current Trends in Public Art & Social Practice

Creative Capital: Values-Based Goal Setting

4 Questions for Artists Working in Social Justice

On Social Practice and Performance by Andy Horwitz

Who Gets to Perform? The Ethics and Aesthetics of Social Practice by Simon Dove

Arts-based Conflict Resolution, an interview with Michelle le Baron

Acting Together documentary and toolkit (peacebuilding and theatre)

Dancing to Connect’s Cultural Diplomacy Toolkit

Imagining America publications, case studies, research, blog and Public journal

Dancer Citizen online scholarly journalA

50 Titles, 50 Perspectives: A Reader’s Guide to Art + Social Practice by Broken City Lab

Dance, Human Rights, and Social Justice: Dignity in Motion by Naomi JacksonM

Arts in the Public Interest Archives

Outside the Citadel, Social Practice Art Is Intended to Nurture by Randy Kennedy

How the Art of Social Practice is Changing the World, One Row House at a Time by Carolina A. Miranda

Alliance of Artists Communities resource list

Free PDF Books on Race, Gender, Sexuality, Class and Culture

Education is Performance Art

Am I a Dancer Who Gave Up? by Shawn Lent (Huffington Post)

Photo: “The promise of Spring” Johannesburg, South Africa, by Unsplash contributor, Zelda Gardner @enskye

How Social Practice Art Is Not Community-Based Art

The more I do guest lectures for colleges and universities, the more inspired I become by the next generation of artists.  Many young artists aspire to do good and are already active in the world in those pursuits. Increasingly so. Lacking, though, is an awareness of what’s already at play. What options currently exist and how are different arenas of this work differentiated?

What would seem most beneficial would be an overview of the field. So here is my interpretation, integrating elements of AFTA’s Arts + Social Impact Explorer tool. Hope it’s helpful.

Community-Based Artists
Currency: Development 
Commitment: Institutional mission, giving back, often focused on one group or geography
Common issues: Economic, workforce and community development; affordable housing, food equity, transportation, community safety, city planning; passed-down history, tradition and culture; shared identity; health and wellness; aging; public welfare; prisons and rehabilitation
Duration: Years and years, Decades and decades, One generation to another
Success: Sustainability and Leadership Succession
Metaphor: Gardener

A gardener is experienced in keeping a garden healthy and productive. They are often planting and maintaining a good environment by watering, fertilizing, and even weeding the area.

Social Practice Artists
Currency: Relevancy/Application 
Commitment: Intervention, project-based, often intergroup or crossing borders
Common issues: Peace building, community cohesion, political activation, immigration, diplomacy, military; diversity, access, and inclusion
Metaphor: Chemist 

A chemist is a scientist who researches and experiments with the properties of chemical substances. A chemist will usually work as part of a larger research team, and create useful compounds for use in a wide variety of practical applications..

Duration: As long as it takes, as short as it takes
Success: Project is no longer needed, participants and collaborators are running their own programs, environment of entrepreneurialism and trust, relationships are strengthened between other parties, healthier ecosystem, priorities shifting, spurring enough social change for other things to happen
Resources:
My 2018 List of Resources for Social Practice Artists

Teaching Artists
Currency: Student Learning 
Commitment: Arts Integration/Academic standards with art-making and social emotional growth
Metaphor: Beekeeper

A beekeeper is, in essence, a manager of bees. He or she maintains and monitors the hives. A beekeeper needs to maintain healthy bees and prepare colonies for production. Beekeepers also need to follow food safety guidelines when harvesting and processing the honey. 

Duration: Academic calendar
Success: Increases in student test scores, results evidenced by pre/post student assessments
Resources:
ArtsEdge – Kennedy Center
Edutopia
Project AIM
Eric Booth

Arts Educators
Currency: Student Learning 
Commitment: Discipline-specific arts standards, training
Success: Employability, Students’ post-program achievements, where they go with it
Resources:
Dance 
Music 
Theater 
Visual arts 
Writing 
Metaphor: Pilot

The most well-known pilots are those who work for an airline company, flying passengers who are commuting or vacationing. Their primary responsibility is to operate the aircraft, but their day consists of many hours performing other tasks. Pilots check the weather and confirm flight plans before departing.

Other arenas are led by phenomenal Arts Therapists and Movement Analysts who round out this field. What’s most beautiful is when there is a referral process between these actors, or when there’s collaboration.

I’m excited to see how the next generation of socially engaged artists rework these distinctions and move this world. Thoughts?

Photo: Dance Peace project | Credit: Mohamed Radwan

Why You Shouldn’t Do An “Insane” Dance for Halloween

I believe that today’s dance educators and choreographers should never do a “crazy/insane” dance number, even though it’s a common practice around Halloween and all-season-long on the competition circuit. I said it. Note, I’m not saying that mental illness should never be a central theme, driving idea or research material; I’m just saying that, as an industry, our usage of “crazy/insane” as a costume or character needs to stop. Articles on this topic go way back, even before the 2011 controversy of the Robert Morris University students pictured above.

When I posted this opinion today in an online group for dance educators, a majority of the nearly 200 comments were counter to my argument. If I distilled the virtual eye rolls, name-calling and comments from those who annoyed or angered by my post, I would say their accusations against my thinking fell into four categories:

    1. Infringing on artists’ First Amendment rights 
    2. Oversensitivity to a non-issue
    3. Ruining people’s good fun
    4. Wanting boring and bland choreography

So here are my counter arguments.

Every American has a right to free speech as long as it is not inciting violence. Violence comes in the three forms: direct, systems/institutional, and cultural. By perpetuating stereotypes and misrepresentations, artists often contribute to cultural violence without realizing it.

Even if we dismissed all that, we as educators have deeper responsibilities. For me, student education is paramount. I want my students to know and trust their diverse neighbors. I wish for them to have a balance between strong confidence and strong empathy (please note that I did not say sympathy). When our students are more aware and knowledgable than we are, that’s a huge sign of success. I love when they school us on issues.

It is important that we in this role of educating the next generation of artists and audiences keep trying to do better, be better. We must keep working toward cultural equity and allowing space for our students to be themselves publicly without fear or stigma. If they are trans or gay or have a mental illness, they should never feel shame. If my students ever performed a human stereotype or misrepresentation, they would embody that stereotype or misrepresentation. I know this because I experienced this myself when I decided to be “homeless” for Halloween as a kid or when my own dance teacher had me portray “African.” It’s difficult to get past the negative perceptions and stigmas we were raised with.

So if a student or artist wants to portray something fictional onstage or for a holiday (not a real person or event), I’m thinking there’s two choices: pick a non-human/fantasy/sci-fi costume or opt for an occupation (never an ethnicity, nationality, tribe or race). This is especially important when there’s not the time or need to an in-depth character exploration — like Halloween, and short dance numbers, and short dance numbers on Halloween. Imagine if we flipped the script on the characteristics often associated with our common costumes?
Police Officer portrayed as scary.
Firefighter portrayed as goofy.
An individual experiencing homelessness (not “hobo”) portrayed as a hero.
A person with mental illness (not “crazy/insane”) portrayed as courageous.

There’s a reason we don’t have a dancer without physical disability in a wheelchair onstage acting “scary.” It’s only mental disability that we treat this way. It’s not good and it’s easy to stop.

Never was I offended. Rather, I was disappointed. What others perceive as my oversensitivity might be awareness. I’m always looking for how we can improve. I know our sector can do better. It’s too important; we have no excuses. There’s plenty of fun to be had without perpetuating misrepresentations of our fellow humans.

Lastly, on being boring, I firmly argue back. Those who know me know my adventurous spirit. Always pushing against the cliche and the status quo. Ever an advocate for complex, thought-provoking, impact-making choreography and dance programming. We should hold ourselves to high standards. We are way too creative to be limiting ourselves to stereotypes.

Why We Need Active De-Victimization in the Arts, Right Now

Syrian and Burmese Rohingyan refugees. Children of Flint, MI. Terminally ill pediatric cancer patients and their families. LGBTQ+ teens who are experiencing homelessness. A predominantly Black preschool on the South Side of Chicago. Residents of a Section 8 housing facility. Young men in and out of the juvenile justice system. These are just some of the collaborators I’ve been fortunate to work for, with and beside in my career as a social practice artist.

I, like most artists, am prone to want to help groups and individuals who need help. Altruism and charity are natural cousins to the arts. We know this. And as identity politics become an ever increasing function of our divisive societies of The Left and The Right, marginalized communities play a major role in the work of artists on the left, and unfortunately are often played

Sometimes it feels as if we artists (of many races and backgrounds) suffer from own own version of The White Savior Industrial Complex. Our outreach and our “giving back” are designed with artists staying at the seat of power and program delivery. Everyone must want our arts programming; the problem is simply inequity of access, right?

Sometimes artists want to spread awareness and understanding, which are important. I was speaking to the director of a nearly all-white choir that was learning a song in Arabic. They wanted to do a Syrian song in tribute to “people who’ve lost everything.” Their intentions were good but I could tell from our early conversations that they held a conception of Syrians very much as victims. While in actuality, Syrians in Chicago could be their consultants, experts, partners, collaborators and leaders.

Even though many of the recently-resettled Syrians I know in Chicago are dealing with traumas from war and bureaucratic hell, and working below minimum wage, they don’t want people’s charity. Most are Muslim and give zakāt (2.5% of their own income) to “those less fortunate” in America and family back in the Middle East or Europe. They want opportunity. They want to learn. They want to contribute and thrive. 

But they need support, and time. They need to translate their skills. They need a little space as well as some opportunities for happiness during the struggles. In our program, refugee students and their siblings/parents help with costumes, carpools, translation, organizing and much more. As one Syrian refugee mother told me, “We just need help catching up.” They shouldn’t have to do that in isolation or insularity.  In today’s America, we certainly need each other. That’s one reason I go to every birthday party I’m invited to in their homes. Good friends are good friends. Good neighbors are good neighbors.

At first, me (a white American lady) offering a Western dance class (tap, jazz, ballet, contemporary) to Syrian refugees seemed absurd and counter to everything I’ve written here. Shouldn’t it be a Syrian cultural dance being taught by a Syrian? Turns out, when I listened to the refugee families and observed their behaviors, I noticed that while they had a robust system of support and cultural celebration within the Syrian-American community, they had little to no positive interaction with groups different from them, even refugees of different nationalities. They never met their Orthodox Jewish neighbors, who all attend private schools and live a very insular life. I noticed neighbors avoiding eye contact. Distrust is big around here. The refugee families told me they wanted their children to have this dance class as an opportunity for joy, confidence, knowledge, skills, English practice and new friends. I soon realized they wanted those same things for themselves and are gaining much from the magic of what happens in the lobby. When I gave them a choice of dance forms for this semester, they chose ballet and jazz. It’s a start. 

The program is made possible by partner organizations/case managers and volunteers, including a dance therapist and two teen apprentice teachers (one is a refugee herself) who are getting school credit. Eventually, the goal would be for more dance forms to be valued and shared, and for at least 50% of the faculty/artists to be from the refugee community — if that’s something they decided they wanted.

Co-support is key. When I collaborated on the Flint, MI site for Global Water Dances 2017, it was an honor that the project was eventually led by local artists and educators. I am from Mid-Michigan and have connections there, but I am not a Flint resident. I did not experience the water crisis first hand. Yet, there was definitely a contribution for me to make: to make something great happen. I was a catalyst and a support for the project. They clearly said they no longer wanted to be anybody’s victims. They took the leadership while I made connections and filled gaps. After some reflection, I realized that the fact that I only did little on the day of the event is, for me, a huge mark of success as a social practice artist.

I usually don’t focus on my role so much, but I’ve been thinking a lot about the role of an artist as a citizen, just like the sanitation worker or the physician of a community. What can we do as artists? Here are ten ideas.

  1. Push back against re-victimization wherever we see it, especially in the arts. 
  2. Use “we” as often and as authentically as possible. Know the difference being an arts program as social intervention and an arts program as social interference.
  3. If we are given an opportunity to lead, partner instead. Collaborate. Co-teach or train. Share the income or profits, when we can. Make sure the monetary and non-monetary benefits are reciprocal. 
  4. Hire or bring in experts from marginalized communities, better yet, a marginalized member of our own community. Get to a point of where marginalization and discrimination are nonexistent and we don’t have to use those terms. 
  5. Find out what’s happening in our neighborhood. Be a student. Take a lesson. Show up to other people’s classes and projects. I go to the local Chicago Steppin’ class at Marshall Field Garden Apartments on Tuesday evenings, but not as often as I should. This is a good reminder.
  6. Instead of trying to get “buy in” for our ideas, ask how we can contribute to other people’s ideas.
  7. Bring our unique gifts; don’t duplicate their offerings. Stay alert for artists acting as agents of gentrification.
  8. Know when to step up — and more importantly, when to step back. 
  9. Remain an active resident and friend. Accept invitations to birthday parties, town halls, candlelight vigils, political rallies and festivals.
  10. Care about more than the arts.

I have much to learn. And I am not yet living up to the standards I set for myself as a social practice artist. But I’m trying. Writing this post is part of that effort. Those are my ramblings for this evening. Tomorrow I’m taking a day off.

How Can We Get From #IDidntReport to Critical Social Change?

10 reasons why #Ididntreport:

  1. I didn’t know that my detailed memories, in and of themselves, could be evidence. I didn’t know about the “level of norepinephrine and epinephrine in the brain” and that “the neurotransmitter encodes memories into the hippocampus so that trauma-related experience is locked there, so other memories just drift.” Thank you, Dr. Ford.
  2. None of my friends knew that I had gone to a bar alone that night. And he had also been alone, a tourist in town for the weekend. No one really saw us.
  3. I was mortified and alone.
  4. For months after the assault — as I kept returning to his Facebook page and saw that profile picture of him obnoxiously eating a hoagie — I was overwhelmed by the disgust I felt by his existence and the memories of that night. I wanted those memories to go away. I wanted to recover. He and I had never exchanged phone numbers and he never tried to contact me in any way, so I simply deleted and blocked him online.
  5. After several years, I couldn’t even remember his name or when exactly this happened — but I never forgot the location of that hotel on Surf St. and the circumstances that led me there from Friar Tuck’s bar, me trying to impress him, his take-charge demeanor, a sense of paralysis from his weight on my back combined with my own inebriation, me desperately trying to find pockets of air inside the folds the pillow,  me distinctively saying “no” while he did his thing, the moment I realized what had just happened to me, the design pattern of the bathroom tile as I crouched and cried as quietly as I could, and the amber light from the street lights as I walked myself all the way home in gold high heels because I didn’t want to see anyone, not even a taxi driver.
  6. I had a feeling he would wake up and not consider any of it a crime at all. Perhaps this was just the type of sex he enjoyed and mistakenly thought I did too. Maybe my “no” hadn’t have been loud enough; if I had been too quiet, would that have made it consensual? Was it rape if I had gotten myself willingly into that bed? Did it matter how many times or how deeply he assaulted me during the incident? I thought the police wouldn’t even consider this case. Honestly, I didn’t even think about the police for at least a year.
  7. I didn’t understand that my drunkenness, flirtatiousness and short dress were not equal to his inability to hear my “no” or read my lack of consent in the moment. 
  8. I thought, “That’s what you get for putting yourself in that position, Shawn Lent. Stupid girl. Lesson learned. Never again will a man do that to you. Gain strength. Move on.”
  9. I had no idea that there was a National Sexual Assault Hotline: 1-800-656-4673 and online chat service, as well as local service organizations for rape and sexual assault survivors. 
  10. I felt deep shame in the idea that he would go back to Florida, advance in his military career, and attack more women — and that I had done nothing to prevent that all from happening.

 

From my failures, I hope other survivors can learn. I hope they flourish. I hope that the next generation is empowered and knowledgable.

If you’ve been sexually assaulted (meaning any nonconsensual sexual act), raped or sexually harassed, I urge you to do the following. 

  1. Record your detailed memories. Collect any evidence that you have. 
  2. Ask witnesses to record their testimonies and collect their contact information.
  3. Remind yourself that you’re going to be okay. You’re not alone. #MeToo, remember?
  4. Seek protection immediately if you need it. Seek medical help immediately if you need it. Seek therapy if you need it.
  5. Reflect on your good memories. Life is, overall, goodness.
  6. Read up on the laws regarding consent.
  7. Remember that your behavior didn’t cause this.
  8. Remember that you didn’t deserve this.
  9. Call the National Sexual Assault Hotline: 1-800-656-4673, use their online chat service, and/or reach out to a local service organizations for rape and sexual assault survivors.
  10. REPORT to family, friends, police and/or any appropriate authority. 

This Judge Kavanaugh hearing is an awful episode in our country’s history. It’s painfully so. But from pain, maybe we can create collective social change. Sexual assault is inexcusable. Sexual assault is criminal. Sexual assault is happening, a lot, and has been happening for centuries, across class and industry. Continued, rampant sexual assault in our midst is unacceptable. No one gets a pass.

We must educate potential perpetrators; they must understand what sexual assault is in order to prevent it. Our awareness of one another must grow. Our attunement to one another must be strengthened. We must build our consent literacies and stop hurting one another for sexual pleasure, for power. And we must hold all these folks accountable.  Toxic masculinity and rape culture be damned.

More than ever before, I understand the capacity of an upswell of loud survivors. We are amazing, especially together. Let’s do this.

The Phase of Life When We Lose Our Moms

My mother knew loss. At the beginning of her senior year of high school, her father died tragically in a motorcycle accident. Then when she was in her early 30’s, my mother lost her own mom to colon cancer. In all honesty, she had lost her mother in some capacity years prior, as my grandmother had struggled with depression since the death of her husband.

My mom Kaye (born Kay, but later added the ‘e’ herself) was the oldest kid of five. Through it all, she kept her hippie arms open for her brothers and sisters as well as for their kids and their kids. We became a much racially and religiously diverse family over time. She was there for us all.

She gave birth to me in 1978 and I had a birth defect, Craniosynostis. I was much to handle financially and emotionally. My mother tells the story of me going into skull surgery at 2-days-old without anesthesia, just a frozen pacifier, her holding much hope that I wouldn’t be brain damaged, or wouldn’t die. She was happy my surgeon had been on President Kennedy’s team in Texas. She was a great mom. And last week, she died.

As I grieve alongside my family, I know we are not alone. So many friends of mine have lost their mothers this year; I can count at least eight recently. With social media,  the phases of life intensify as we experience them more visibly alongside our peers. There was the dating and general worldly frustration phase. Then the career accomplishments phase. Then the “everybody is getting married” phase, followed by the “all my friends have kids” phase. Now, me and friends seem to be losing our mothers. In the vein of sharing, I want to share what it was like to lose mine. She loved when I blogged about our experiences, and she was sure that writing helped others out there. “Lose” seems both precise and inappropriate as a word. In any case, the world lost Kaye Ann Lent when she was 65 years old.

My mother was diagnosed with Atrial Fibrillation and breast cancer in 2012. She underwent a double mastectomy with lymph nodes removed, several rounds of chemotherapy, and radiation treatment. She had no evidence of disease for a year and a half. Then they found tumors on many of her bones (six at that point, I believe) including three on her back but she continued to rally every time. My dad and her remained jokesters. He nicknamed her “Boobs” and I have never known a stronger name.

One tumor in her leg broke her femur while she was standing at the ATM a couple years ago; she rallied back to walking just about two weeks after that surgery but was made to retire from work despite her not wanting to. The tumor behind her eye gave her double vision for awhile, but she rocked the eye patch. Her swelling and neuropathy remained very bad, but she rallied back into doing puzzles and crocheting. Her appetite was especially poor, but she forced herself to eat when she could. Her mobility was effected and the tumor in her hip was excruciatingly painful, but she wouldn’t let on. Her walker was her “little buddy” and she often lost track of where he was because she would walk so often unassisted.

In August 2017 the medical team stopped the chemotherapy treatments because it was effecting her heart. Since then, she had been doing a regular bone enhancement treatment. She was rushed to the hospital in early 2018 because she had a mild stroke and was been showing symptoms that seem like dementia. They did a CT scan and MRI, confirming the cancer was in her brain. She forgot our names, her passwords, and basic language. When my aunt suggested she name me because she had named me the first time, my aunt said, “What about Shawn?” Mom dismissed that as boring. We all laughed. And then she rallied. The palliative radiation brought relief and her memories and cognition back. Yet, we were told the cancer was moving into her organs. She went home and had a ride on the speedboat that she and my father had recently purchased.

In late July 2018, she was rushed to the hospital for the last time. Her blood pressure was 47/27. She said she was fine. Our family all came to sit with her, and she joked about hosting a party. Her humor and generous spirit were rock solid; she even had the chaplain who gave last rites laughing. When she seemed to be passing, we whispered in her ear that she could go now. We played “American Trilogy (Glory, Glory Hallelujah)” by Elvis, as she had requested. Unable to open her eyes, she gave us a sassy wave goodbye that brought the whole room into laughter. She never liked being told what to do.

We held her hand and cried into Nurse Dorothy’s arms in the hallway, on rotation all night long. Nurse Dorothy had lost her own mother just a couple months before. In the morning, mom rallied again. She sat up and continued her jokes about the cute Nurse Joe’s butt. Every time the medical staff asked about her pain, mom said 7. But when they asked about the level of the disgust in the food, she said 9. Then mom declined again. Once again, we held her hand on rotation all night long. We told her she could go and played her song, but she kept saying what sounded like “nah.”

She hid her pain gracefully. I thought she might be wanting to rally again and was looking for signs that this was the case. Yet the next day, she was only breathing and being, on her own time. Her eyes were crusting shut. We were disturbed by a faint gurgle that we were told was normal. I went to the parking lot to decide about at-home Hospice. They told me there was a chance the ambulance ride would be painful or that she might die en route. My dad suddenly decided he needed a haircut, and his (mom’s) car broke down on the way back.

When we all finally returned to the hospital around 5pm, mom and God had decided she was passing. The seemingly young Nurse Kayla sat with us this entire time and described what was happening, which turned out to be a much needed play-by-play full of grace.

Mom unexpectedly opened her eyes at that point, saw us, let out a single tear, then closed her eyes and died peacefully as dad and I held her hand. The room cried. I felt something that I thought was only true in movies. I felt her spirit leave her body, immediately sensing her strength, like I had a parachute lifting me up. Within seconds, I no longer felt her in the room or in her body. She was within us and everywhere at once. That’s the moment I lost my mother and gained something beyond words.

Her jokes continue past her death. When Dad (a die-hard University of Michigan fan) and I entered the funeral home with trepidation, she made sure the first thing we saw was a giant Michigan State coffin. We were laughing already. And when she knew Dad would need to keep busy in order to process losing the love of his life, she sent him a project in the form of that speedboat flooded under two feet of water.

They say she is in a better place, that she is no longer in pain. Those sentiments are hard for me to hear. She was 5’0″ with 11 tumors but even more will and humor. She loved her family and this world. Yet I know her pain-free disposition was mostly for our benefit. Now she is with her God, her parents, the babies we’ve lost in this family, and all of your parents who have passed.

Bereavement has begun for us. From release and relief, to a debilitating weight of sadness, it has already been an uncontrollable process. To all of you who have lost a parent, I am feeling you and sending much love. 

Speaking of love… Love you, Mom!

My 2018 Resources for Social Practice Artists

Opportunities and resources: we all need them.

Perhaps you are a high school student looking to go the direction of socially engaged art. Perhaps you are an artist early in your professional career. Or maybe you have been doing this work for decades and could teach us all a thing or two.

No matter your background, you may find this following list of interest. You will note that I work in social practice and community-engaged dance, with a focus in intercultural, inter-group and international projects. This resources list is skewed in those directions. My practice is an acknowledged departure from teaching artistry in both the fields of arts integration and community-based arts. I also do not consider my practice dance therapy and do not offer resources in those areas, but what I do offer here will hopefully be helpful to some of you out there.

It is a hearty but not completely comprehensive list so please feel free to add additional links and resources in the reply section below.  I will offer resources in the following categories:

  • Undergraduate Programs
  • Graduate Degree, Professional and Certificate Programs
  • Fellowships, Jobs/Internships, Volunteer Opportunities and Residencies
  • Groups, Initiatives and Organizations
  • Readings, Videos, Webinars and MOOCs

 

Undergraduate Programs

Bachelor of Fine Arts in Socially Engaged Art at Goddard (low residency)

Performing Arts & Social Justice with a Dance Concentration at University of San Fransisco

Creativity, the Arts, and Social Transformation (CAST) interdisciplinary minor at Brandeis University

Community Arts BFA Major at California College of the Arts

Minor in Social Practice and Public Forms at California College of the Arts

Contextual Practice BFA Major at Carnegie Mellon University

 

Graduate Degree, Professional and Certificate Programs

Master of Education (M.Ed.) in Community Arts at Lesley University

Master of Arts (M.A.) in Teaching Artistry at Wayne State University (3 years, part-time, low-residency)

Educational Doctorate (EDd) in Equity Studies in Education at Simon Fraser University (Canada)

Master of Arts (M.A.) in Art, Education, and Community Practice at NYU Steinhart

Master of Fine Arts (M.FM.A., M.F.A., and Ph.D. in Performance as Public Practice or M.F.A. in Drama and Theatre for Youth and Communities at The University of Texas at Austin

Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A.) in Contemporary Art Practices (Art + Social Practice) at Portland State University

Master of Arts (M.A.) in Socially Engaged Art at NCAD in Dublin, Ireland

Socially Engaged Practice in Design and the Arts (Certificate) at Arizona State University

Master of Arts (M.A.) in Socially Engaged Art at University of Indianapolis

Performance Art and Social Practice continuing education course at Seattle Central College

 

Conferences, Institutes and Labs

Carnegie Mellon University’s Center for Arts in Society

Social Emotional Arts (SEA) Certificate at UCLA

The Dance + Social Justice Conference

Dance Exchange Summer Institute

The Institute for Somatics and Social Justice

Intercultural Leadership Institute (ILI)

Luna Dance Summer Institute

Social Practice Lab at Duke University’s Rubenstein Arts Center

Urban Bush Women’s Summer Leadership Institute

 

Fellowships, Jobs/Internships, Apprenticeship and Volunteer Opportunities and Residencies

Exchange Programs: The State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs offers a number of fully-funded international programs. Many of these opportunities are posted with little notice so check regularly.

(SPAN) Social Practice Artist Network

Common Field

Daniels Spectrum Artist-in-Residency for community-engaged professional artists

A Blade of Grass Fellowship for Socially Engaged Art

Imagining America Page Fellowship for graduate students

Artists Striving to End Poverty (ASTEP) volunteer opportunities

On-the-Move cultural mobility network’s list of residencies and other opportunities, many of which are in Europe

Idealist volunteer opportunities and job postings

BCorps Jobs Board openings at certified B Corps, companies that meet rigorous social and environmental standards 

Creative Time jobs, internships, fellowships, and volunteer opportunities

Peace and Collaborative Development Network’s PCDNETWORK professional opportunities (jobs, fellowships, internships, etc. in social change, which also provides the following links for job seekers.

  • UNJOBLIST jobs at UN agencies and other Intergovernmental Organizations
  • RELIEFWEB jobs in International non-profits 
  • Rework jobs in impact with companies working on social and cultural innovation
  • International Organization Careers Website employment opportunities in International Organizations (site sponsored by the US Department of State)
  • SKOLL WORLD FORUM JOB LIST– Job and Fellowship postings related to social entreprenuership, the social sector and corporate social responsibility.
  • The Posner Center for International Development Job Board – Is a coworking space based in Denver, Colorado with over 60 member organizations. Their job board lists openings at Posner and the center’s members.
  • Mission Investing Job Bank – shares career opportunities in mission investing at member foundations, affiliate member organizations and other organizations
  • Social Enterprise Alliance Job Board – Positions in the social enterprise sector.
  • Social Impact Jobs – List from Echoing Green, one of the leading orgs in the field.
  • OpenGov Hub Member Jobs – Job opportunities from organizations based at the OpenGov Hub in Washington, DC.
  • Be Social Change Jobs – Maintains a job board of positions and internships in key social change orgs.
  • Open Gov Jobs – Positions related to open government.
  • Impact Design Hub Jobs – Jobs at the intersection of public interest, social impact, humanitarian, and community design.
  • Jobscsr.com – positions worldwide in the following sectors Social, Environment, Economic, Health & Safety, Climate Change, Human Rights, Finance.
  • Give to get Jobs – Opportunities in the for profit sector that are involved in social change.
  • ICT4D Jobs – Opportunities in information and communication technology for development.
  • Young Professionals in Foreign Policy Job Board – Careers in international Affairs, largely NY and DC based positions.
  • Zebra Jobs – A leading online portal for jobs in Africa, many focused on development related issues.
  • JOBS FOR CHANGE – Useful resources and guides to careers in social change.
  • FOREIGN POLICY ASSOCIATION – Listing of Jobs at Key US nonprofits involved in international affairs.
  • JUSTMEANS – Jobs in Social Change and Environment.
  • FOREIGN AFFAIRS – Listing of jobs in International Affairs.
  • DEVNETJOBS – Listing of Many Positions in International Development and related fields.
  • Next City Jobs– Jobs focused on urban issues and innovation.
  • Jobs for Change – Wonderful resources on nonprofit jobs.
  • OneWorld Jobs – brings the latest jobs and volunteer positions from organisations working to create a better world.

Artslink international grants and fellowships

Mladi Info with lists of scholarships, fellowships, conferences etc. mostly in Europe.

Alliance of Artists Communities case study residencies in social practice.

Surdna Foundation grants for artists engaging in social change 

U.S. Fulbright Scholar Program (for artists, faculty, researchers or staff) Deadline is August 1, 2018 – This is the program I did. Let me know if you have questions or want my help reviewing your application!

U.S. Fulbright Student Program (for current masters and PhD students, recent grads, and young professionals in the arts and other fields) Deadline is October 9, 2018.

Baba Chuck Davis Emerging Choreographer Fellowship travel to Africa

Charles B. Rangel Fellowship offers both a graduate fellowship and summer enrichment program

American Music Abroad international tour opportunities for students, adults and ensembles

Thomas R. Pickering Fellowship graduate study in any academic field relevant to the work of the Foreign Service 

Institute for Current World Affairs international fellowship for applicants under 36 years of age

Donald Payne Fellowship for graduate students

Diplomacy & Diversity Fellowship for graduate students and young professionals

UNAOC International Fellowship Open to participants between 25 to 35 years old, from the Middle East, North Africa, Europe and North America, with a strong interest in intercultural exchanges. The theme of the Fellowship 2018 being “Fostering youth resilience to prevent violent extremism and build sustainable peace.”Apply by April 8, 2018 for this year’s program.

 

Groups, Initiatives and Organizations

MindLeaps

The International Centre of Art for Social Change

ASC! (Art for Social Change) 

Battery Dance – Dancing to Connect

DanceMotion USA

Dancing on the Edge

Move This World

 

Do-It-Yourself

Design your own volunteer or apprenticeship opportunities at your local children’s hospital, veterans’ affairs group, refugee center, homeless shelter, juvenile detention facility, or public or private religious school (insular or divided communities).

 

Readings, Webinars and MOOCs

Performing Revolutionary: Art, Action, Activism by Nicole Garneau and Anne Cushwa

The Oxford Handbook of Dance and Politics

Americans for the Arts Social Change

“How art creates social change in 5 TED Talks” b

“Bringing the Arts to the Conversation on Social Change” by Claudia Juech and Carolina García Jayaram

Robert Battle: On dance and social justice

Animating Democracy’s “Dance and Civic Engagement”

“The Scales of Socially Engaged Practice” by Hannah Hull

“What is Social Practice, Socially Engaged Art, and Civic Practice?” b

UNESCO’s Centre for Arts Research in Education, forum on dance and social justice with Bharata Natyam artist Kavitha Krishnan

“20 Change-Making US Artists You Should Track During 2018” by Shawn Lent

“30 International Artists You Should Track During 2018” by Shawn Lent

“Who Are the Key Figures in Socially Engaged Art Today?” by Patina Lee

Social Justice Funders webinar by Americans for the Arts

Bibliography listings and Glossary for the Duke MOOC on Public Art

Americans for the Arts’ On-Demand Webinars including Arts Deployed and Current Trends in Public Art & Social Practice

Creative Capital: Values-Based Goal Setting

4 Questions for Artists Working in Social Justice

On Social Practice and Performance by Andy Horwitz

Free Body Project

Who Gets to Perform? The Ethics and Aesthetics of Social Practice by Simon Dove

Arts-based Conflict Resolution, an interview with Michelle le Baron

Acting Together documentary and toolkit (peacebuilding and theatre)

Dancing to Connect’s Cultural Diplomacy Toolkit

Imagining America publications, case studies, research, blog and Public journal

Dancer Citizen online scholarly journal

ASC! (Art for Social Change) resource articles and publications.

50 Titles, 50 Perspectives: A Reader’s Guide to Art + Social Practice by Broken City Lab

Dance, Human Rights, and Social Justice: Dignity in Motion by Naomi Jackson

Movement as Cultural Diplomacy at Battery Dance

Arts in the Public Interest Archives

Outside the Citadel, Social Practice Art Is Intended to Nurture by Randy Kennedy

How the Art of Social Practice is Changing the World, One Row House at a Time by Carolina A. Miranda

Alliance of Artists Communities resource list

Free PDF Books on Race, Gender, Sexuality, Class and Culture

Education is Performance Art

Am I a Dancer Who Gave Up? by Shawn Lent (Huffington Post)

 

Photo: “The promise of Spring” Johannesburg, South Africa, by Unsplash contributor, Zelda Gardner @enskye

 

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