Art and Education for Social Justice Symposium : February 21-23, 2020

Hosted by The University of Georgia’s Lamar Dodd School of Art and The School of Social Work (in partnership with Florida State University)

The University of Georgia’s Lamar Dodd School of Art and The School of Social Work (in partnership with Florida State University), are hosting the 10th annual Art and Education for Social Justice Symposium. This symposium follows an interdisciplinary approach into how art and education can support social justice. The goal of this symposium is to include and amplify voices that are often on the margins of academia and to share the methodologies and results of practices that strive to have a direct public impact. The encounter will focus on the guiding question: How are art and education inspiring, affecting, and promoting social change?

The symposium will be held in the Lamar Dodd School of Art Building at University Georgia February 21-23, 2020. The Lamar Dodd School of Art’s Main Building is located at 270 River Road, Athens, GA 30602.

Information on directions and parking can be found here.

Inspired by the work of critical theorists, many art and education initiatives develop strategies for social reconstruction. Current practices suggest that art can support the development of oppositional knowledge by inciting imaginative re-envisioning of the past, present and future. The creative work of acting and making in communities can turn art practice into public praxis, suggesting transformative ways of being together in the world.  This symposium provides an opportunity to gain insight into a range of practices aligned with social justice, and aims to start a conversation across disciplinary areas. This symposium embraces a perspective informed broadly by the notion of cultural pedagogies and looks forward to contributions from both in and outside the field of education. With this aim, this symposium seeks proposals that include but are not limited to the following thematic areas:

•    Past, present, and future re-imaginings
•    Artmaking: Praxis
•    Communities, coalitions, and collaborations
•    Spatial politics and liberation
•    Eco-justice, sustainability, and resilience
•    Unheard voices in community and academia

The symposium welcomes submissions from scholars, graduate students, community members, practitioners, educators, and artists. Proposals should be submitted under one of two broad categories: (1) Research (completed or in-progress), or (2) Practitioner-Based Artistic/Community Projects (completed or in-progress).  Learn more about proposals and guidelines here.

All inquiries regarding the symposium can be directed to the symposium
coordinator, Kihyun Nam (nam@uga.edu) or to Co-chairs of the AESJ Conference, Lynn Sanders-Bustle (bustle@uga.edu) or Llewellyn Cornelius (lcornel@uga.edu)