ARTS OF CITIZENSHIP FRIDAY BREAKFAST SERIES
In the arts, humanities and design, public scholarship can be described as a practice of citizenship. Academic scholars gain an opportunity to engage in new cultural and creative work going on in communities across the country. In addition, the collaborative work that underlies public scholarship is a key strategy for bridging the gap between universities and publics who have felt distanced from the intellectual work taking place in institutions of higher education. Arts of Citizenship is the University of Michigan’s network of faculty, staff, and students invested in community partnerships and democratic engagement through the art and humanities.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 20
performing arts and activism
Arts of Citizenship Friday Breakfast Series
TIME: 9:00-10:30 AM
LOCATION: 2239 Lane Hall
The October 20th Friday Arts of Citizenship Breakfast, “Performing Arts and Activism” is oriented primarily towards students who are interested in integrating the arts into their community-building and social change work. Faculty from the Community Theater Program in the Residential College have invited Norma Bowles, Artistic Director of Fringe Benefits, a nonprofit educational theater company based in Los Angeles, to facilitate a workshop for students and faculty from across the university. The workshop will explore how to use theater to creatively engage, educate and mobilize people in addressing the social and economic issues they face in their communities.
The Community Theater Collaborative at the Residential College will offer an all-day follow-up workshop on Saturday, October 21 for undergraduate and graduate students interested in a more in-depth, experiential exercise in community-based collaborative theater. To learn more about the RC CTC: http://www-personal.umich.edu/~becaif/root/index.html.
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 8
developing an engagement requirement in the school of art and design
Arts of Citizenship Friday Breakfast Series
TIME: 9:00-10:30 AM
LOCATION: 2239 Lane Hall
In 2005, the School of Art and Design instituted an engagement requirement as part of the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. Today, over eight courses a year are taught by Art and Design faculty that involve collaborative projects with community partners. What has been the impact of an engagement requirement? What are some possible next steps to broaden and deepen the impact of this initiative? What lessons does this initiative have for other units seeking to promote sustainable models for engaged teaching and research? Faculty from the School of Art and Design will lead the discussion.
FRIDAY, MARCH 23
problems and possiblities of community-based learning and engaged scholarship: a Dean’s Perspective
with LSA Dean Terrence McDonald
Arts of Citizenship Friday Breakfast Series
TIME: 9:00-10:30 AM
LOCATION: 2239 Lane Hall
The premise of public scholarship in the arts, humanities and design is that imaginative power is an important piece of democratic and citizen-initiated changes in our society and that university-community collaborations offer opportunities to create public culture and promote dialogues essential to a robust democratic society. Despite the promise of public scholarship, key questions remain: How does collaborative work with community partners fit into a faculty member’s core obligations of teaching and research? How should a research university value public scholarship? What defines “public scholarship,” which has an academic value, as opposed to “community participation,” which is part of being an active citizen but doesn’t constitute legitimate scholarship?
Arts of Citizenship has invited Terrence McDonald, LSA Dean and Professor of History, to discuss questions of scholarship, legitimacy and the public good with faculty, staff, and students invested in community partnerships and democratic engagement through the art and humanities. All are invited to be part of this conversation.