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Christi Jay WellsCSRD Race, Arts & Democracy Fellow |
How can bodies in motion help us to see and to feel the systems of power and institutional structures—often so omnipresent as to seem invisible—that alternately guide and facilitate or foreclose and restrain our personal, cultural, and political movements?
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Carolina Aranibar-FernándezCSRD Race, Arts & Democracy Fellow
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In my work I question systems of power that have been constructed to benefit some while purposefully marginalizing others. I seek to make visible the exploitation of land and labor. Extractivism, from the beginnings of colonialism--coloniality--which is deeply rooted in racism; to the contemporary extractive capitalist system--that continuously displaces people and other beings. |
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Assistant Director of the dance program and Associate Professor in the School of Music, Dance and Theatre. Notably, Thompson is one of the nation’s most distinguished dance artists and is recognized for his role with Trisha Brown Dance Company, his company dance Tactics, his collaborations with Herberger Institute Professor Liz Lerman, and shifting public vocabulary about dance.
I thrive by seeking out challenges of discovery that takes place within the moment, compositionally and conceptually. Complex articulation of multiple pathways through and between spaces are a main focus.
With a passionate investigation in dance and physical theater, I look to create a connection somewhere between abstraction and narrative within a global context for the viewer. This constant throughout my creative research aligns with The Center for the Study of Race and Democracy.
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Liz Lerman is a choreographer, performer, writer, educator and speaker, and the recipient of numerous honors, including a 2002 MacArthur Genius Grant, a 2011 United States Artists Ford Fellowship in Dance, and a Deutsch Fellow. A key aspect of her artistry is opening her process to various publics from shipbuilders to physicists, construction workers to ballerinas, resulting in bothresearch and outcomes that are participatory, relevant, urgent, and usable by others. She founded Liz Lerman Dance Exchange in 1976 and cultivated the company's unique multi-generational ensemble into a leading force in contemporary dance until 2011. She was an artist-in-residence and visiting lecturer at Harvard University in 2011, and her most recent work, "Healing Wars," toured across the US in 2014-15. Lerman conducts residencies on Critical Response Process, creative research, the intersection of art and science, and the building of narrative within dance performance at such institutions as Harvard University, Yale School of Drama, Wesleyan University, Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and the National Theatre Studio, among others. Her collection of essays, "Hiking the Horizontal: Field Notes from a Choreographer," was published in 2011 by Wesleyan University Press and released in paperback in 2014. In 2016, Lerman was named the first Institute Professor at the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts at Arizona State University, where she is building a new ensemble lab focused on creative research. |
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l plan to use this fellowship year to bring more awareness to the drivers of mass incarceration in Arizona, provide leadership opportunities to other formerly incarcerated individuals and expand entrepreneurial opportunities for individuals upon reentry. As a CSRD Community Fellow, I look forward to the opportunities for collaboration with CSRD on addressing laws, policies or practices that create inhumane conditions in communities of color. |
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I am committed to intensifying my efforts to reveal the hidden truths about African American genius and leadership in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. I am the founder and creator of “Did You Know?,” an exhibit-based program that is informed by my decades of experience in STEM. I will use my time as a CSRD Community Fellow to develop further my plans for educating young people about African American STEM innovators. I look forward to developing STEM workshops, interactive STEM materials for young people and multimedia resources for children. |
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I am a Clinical Assistant Professor of Humanities in the Languages and Cultures unit in the College of Integrative Sciences and Arts at Arizona State University. I write about Shakespeare, pedagogy, and issues of race and democracy (often all at once), teach courses in composition, film, gender studies, literature, philosophy, and religious studies. I develop and lead innovative and engaging community programs like "Words on Wheels" with the ASU's Center for the Study of Race and Democracy. |
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As a Communication Studies instructor, a Marine Corps-Gulf War Veteran, and the current Faculty Advisor for the Black Student Union (Downtown), my approach to teaching is student focused, with a strong commitment to the development of social consciousness. My teaching philosophy is to engage students and encourage them to communicate courageously, inspire them to be fearless in the face of adversity, and empower them to work collaboratively as members of a rapidly changing global community. My work aligns with the Center for the Study of Race and Democracy in that; my pedagogical goal involves guiding my community of practice toward a critical understanding of the importance of increasing student’s social awareness through cross-cultural communication, social awareness, and community action. This increased awareness will ultimately guide them to become architects of social change. |
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As an art producer, I support work that shapes wayward futures and builds bold imaginations. My work focuses on bridging artists with community organizers to connect ideas about identity, memory, and political change. I am particularly interested in working with willful and insurgent women artists who make visible the power and politics of living each day. In a historical moment demanding accountability, the arts and culture sector is reckoning with our own racial barriers and exclusions. I hope that during my time with The Center for the Study of Race and Democracy, we can open critical conversations to dismantle structural barriers built on white supremacy, to center the artistic leadership of Black, Indigenous, Latinx, LGBTQI, and women of color communities. |
