On Tuesday, February 6th 2018 at Ryerson University the first event of The ARTivism Lab Speakers Series took place. The event was called Dreaming Big: A Teach-In on Media Panics, Academic Freedom, and the Intersectional University. The event as described on the hand out as “Activist thinkers from across the province on the politics of intersectionality, creativity, solidarity and fearlessness”. There were four main speakers; Dr. Audrey Hudson, Dr. Sandra Jeppesen, Dr. RM Kennedy, and Susanne Nyaga. These speakers spoke of their experiences in their area of work, challenging power in society, and community outreach. In this Public writing assignment I will not only be discussing what they are involved in but also, how their work relates to other concepts.
Dr. Audrey Hudson is an assistant professor at OCAD University. In our reading she states “I wanted to insert my voice into the curriculum, and have the stories of Black, Indigenous and artists of colour to be heard in the art/design world. My aim behind this course is to connect this subculture of post-modernity we call hip-hop, to design, media and education” (Audrey Hudson). She is using her work as an educator and speaker as a tool for decolonizing education and challenging the relations of power. She explained that her involvement in the community is through speaking at events such as this one and her motivational learning series. I think her way of teaching relates to Bruguera’s thoughts about art and education. She show cased her past students art work for class assignments and also a music video from A Tribe Called Red.
The next Speaker was Dr. RM Kennedy a professor at Centennial College. He talked about his experience and involvement during the academic strike and how he was fighting for academic freedom. He showed a short video of one of his peers video diary covering events from the academic strike. He challenged the relations of power in society by going on strike for the Ontario Labour Relations Board. He was fighting for job security for not only his community but for other non-full time employees all across the province.
After Dr. RM Kennedy the next speaker was Dr. Sandra Jeppesen. Dr. Sandra Jeppesen is an associate professor at Lakehead University where she is involved with intersectional media research in the neoliberal university. On the Lakehead University faculty and staff profiles it says she is interested in “Media activism; anarchist-feminism; alternative media; queer theory; political economies of media” (Lakehead University, Jeppesen). She is a feminist who participates in Slut Walks vs Rape Culture and also the #MeToo fight. By part taking in these events she is encouraging her community and challenging rape culture and the privilege some people have. One thing that she said that stuck with me is when she said that the silence has been broken and it cannot be unbroken. That was such a powerful statement that resonated with me and is very impactful upon my life.
The final speaker at this event was Susanne Nyaga. In an interview Susanne explains that “I am the Co-Chair of the Social Work Students’ Union, the President of United Black Students at Ryerson (UBSR), core organizer of the Ryerson Feminist Collective and Co-President of Ryerson Oxfam” (Campus Profile, Cornwall). She is very involved with her Community being Ryerson University and wants to unite everyone together. She is challenging Ryerson University for reform of the education system. She explained that she is trying to support students in navigating the Universitythat was initially built for White Cis males.
Every single one of these speakers is fighting for a cause. They are all challenging different sorts of powers like schools, government, and the privileged. They are all based at different colleges or Universities that have similar beliefs on art and education with Tania Bruguera. They all seemed to have an understanding of how art can perform as education with indigenous, black, and marginalized individuals. This was a very powerful event that inspired me to get more involved with my community being an mixed race, Indigenous, pansexual female. I look forward to Following these speakers and see what their work accomplishes.
Works Cited
“Audrey Hudson on: Hip Hop, Intersectionality & Education”Site SpecificBlog http://blog.ocad.ca/wordpress/site-specific/2014/04/audrey-hudson-on-hip-hop-intersectionality-and-education/?doing_wp_cron=1516116784.503276109695434570312
Cornwall, Zaira. “Campus Profile: RSU President Susanne Nyaga.” Her Campus, 7 Apr. 2017, http://www.hercampus.com/school/ryerson/campus-profile-rsu-president-susanne-nyaga. Accessed 7 Feb.
2018.
“Faculty & Staff Profiles.” Lakehead University, http://www.lakeheadu.ca/users/J/sjeppese/node/17471.
Accessed 7 Feb. 2018.
Jeppesen, Sandra (2016). Understanding Alternative Media Power: Mapping Content & Practice to Theory, Ideology, And Political Action, Democratic Communiqué, vol. 27. 2015/2016 pp.54-77.