In Search of New Methodologies: Coalition Building and Feminist Praxis in Art and Pedagogy

Lisi Raskin will speak about one artistic project and one pedagogical project that take up intersectional feminist practice to coalition build while supporting the development of critical literacy and new methodological practices within the fields of art and pedagogy. The first project is a story album entitled “Freedom Movement,” that Raskin wrote and recorded with her band Peeblz, a group composed of her former students. The album tells the tale of a group of friends of varying ages and identity markers who meander through their neighborhood learning about Queer, Latinx, and Black radical traditions and how they apply this learning to the formation of their values, ethics, and community relationships. The creation of the album was a way to model and practice intersectional feminist behavior within an affinity group in order to literally play out tangible action steps that can aid the formation of loving community, fostering the learning that must constantly take place to ensure our survival.

The second project is the pilot course for the Decolonial Teaching in Action Program at Rhode Island School of Design. In this radical initiative, twelve faculty studied together in a course designed by Raskin entitled In Practice: Decolonial Teaching and Learning. This semester long studio facilitated and supported an intensive study of the theoretical underpinnings and practices that comprise engaged and inclusive pedagogy. Participants built an in-depth understanding of discourses and methods that will help facilitate the decolonization of their respective fields of expertise and classroom cultures.