Teaching Artistic Activism
Great lessons inspire great projects. Changing culture and policy is a collective effort and there’s no need to work in isolation when sharing artistic activism methods in your community.
This repository includes curricula developed by the Center for Artistic Activism and alumni of our training.
Here’s an example, selected at random:
Stephen Duncombe Steve Lambert | 60 minutes
Beginning with a group memory exercise, basic principles of cognition are laid out: pattern recognition, associative … Read More strings, neural pathways, snap judgments, and bias confirmation; as well as activist strategies to work with and around these principles: making dry facts into good stories, listening to the stories people tell themselves and weaving your facts into their stories, and using the element of surprise to disrupt traditional narratives and create opportunities for new stories. We explain that how our minds — and brains — work influences how people make sense of the information they receive and the political choices they make. People aren’t necessarily wrong; they are thinking differently than us. If we want people to be more receptive to our messages we need to devise tactics and strategies that take into account human cognition. Creative interventions can be used to make challenging ideas more readily acceptable to those with seemingly opposing political beliefs, and also used to upset and re-map patterns of political belief.
Keywords – Psychology, Methods, Creativity
Feel free to use the lessons on this site – slideshows, text, and activities. We have offerings in French and English. These lessons are free to use and build upon All we ask is be sure to credit the Center for Artistic Activism and the author of the curriculum and re-submit any modifications.