November 7th

1:30-2:45 pm (EDT)

Embracing New Perspectives on Research

Presented by Lenora Inez Brown and Sindy I. Castro

How do we welcome new perspectives on research? The session will begin with a conversation between Lenora Inez Brown and Sindy Isabel Castro on their experiences and perspectives on research in the field. How do we invite and welcome more diverse voices in research? What does that look like within already established publications like the Youth Theatre Journal? The second half of the session will invite participants to ask questions and engage in dialogue with fellow attendees based on their inquiries and ideas on how to move the field forward. 

2-3:15pm (EDT)

Your Play, Your Voice

Presented by: Alvaro Saar Rios

In this workshop, Alvaro will provide techniques used to write the AATE award-winning play Luchadora! and provide advice towards how playwrights can (and should) utilize adaptation to reflect their own unique voice.

Alvaro's bio can be found HERE.

Capacity Building 

Presented by: Brisa Areli Muñoz

How do we keep ourselves well during this time? How can we use our art as a vehicle to heal and nourish ourselves, and bolster relationships with our communities? This 75-minute session incorporates movement, poetry and music to explore what it means to stay well for ourselves and our communities. 

Brisa's bio can be found HERE.

3:45-5pm (EDT) 

How To Be You In White Spaces

Presented by: Chil Kong

A workshop on how to navigate an artistic and academic career in mostly white spaces and how to BUILD supportive BIPOC alliances and affinity spaces. This will include how to use code switching to your advantage and how to build a supportive network of mentors, mentees, career counselors and, most importantly, safe spaces to protect your mental health

Chil's bio can be found HERE.

Undoing Settler Colonialism

Presented by: Annalisa Dias and Tara Moses

As BIPOC we are keenly aware of white supremacy and how it manifests in the government, our workplaces, and our communities. Yet, we often struggle to see and understand how settler colonialism continues to pervade US culture including theatre-making and theatre education.  How can we recognize more deeply the ways that settler colonialism is seeded in our communities? In our lives? How might we understand the dynamics between various BIPOC communities and the ways we ourselves perpetuate settler colonialism? How do we start to undo the legacy of the settler-colonial US? This interactive workshop and discussion, facilitated by Tara Moses (Seminole) and Annalisa Dias both of Groundwater Arts, will not only define settler colonialism and provide examples of how that lateral violence manifests, but also will provide actionable steps to undo it in our communities. 

About Groundwater Arts:

Groundwater Arts shapes, stewards, and seeds a just* future through creative practice, consultation, and community building. *Climate justice = Racial justice = economic justice = a decolonized future www.groundwaterarts.com

Annalisa and Tara's bios can be found HERE.

November 14th

2-3:15pm (EDT)

Where My People At, or How to Win Friends and Influence Your World

Presented by Dawn M. Simmons

As organizations face down racism, supremacist culture and economic crisis, it’s more important than ever to coalesce and build a network of support in service of information sharing, advancement and strategic partnerships.  In 75 minutes, we’ll begin to unpack what it means to band together in good times and in crisis. How do we learn to see the diverse experience of others as an asset to decision making and coalition building? What do effective coalitions look like and how are they maintained? During this workshop we’ll define the words intersectionality and coalition and then discuss the different ways to build coalition and its benefits.

Dawn's bio can be found HERE.

Building A Pipeline

Presented by T. Oliver Reid