Performance
As critical scholars, many of us hold performance central to our work. Each year, a series of performances are held at The Empty Space featuring undergraduate, graduate, faculty, and community members. Check out some of our recent performances:
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Members of the I4C Collective have joined to create a Performance Retreat, providing an opportunity for members to experience performance outside of traditional classroom settings. Workshop/activities are developed by students and faculty. Regardless of your expertise performance, this is an excellent opportunity to further build community through movement, cooking, eating, and playing.
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A World Without Prisons
Organized by graduate students and faculty, A World Without Prisons is a monthly abolition working group that includes three moves: (1) critical reading and processing of abolitionist literature; (2) reflection on core values laid out by Mass Liberation AZ, derived from Black South Phoenician experience with the Arizonan police state, and (3) monthly praxiological commitments that move us toward the abolition of the prison industrial complex, as well as abolition-centered movements in our pedagogies. Check out our reading list here.
Storyscope
The Storyscope Project is a coalition of community-minded story circle facilitators. Each of us has experienced the power of personal stories through our work as storytellers, teachers, caregivers, ministers, poets, musicians, activists, and citizen artists.
The mission of the Storyscope Project is to:
- Foster inclusiveness and cultivate connections and compassion by facilitating story circle events in public and private settings.
- Extend training to others who are interested in the value of story circles.
Civil Dialogue
In a Civil Dialogue session, volunteer participants consider a provocative statement and have the opportunity to embody a position on the statement ranging from “agree strongly” to “disagree strongly.” Participants are asked to follow guidelines for civility that are explained by the facilitator. The dialogue is then extended to the broader audience who are encouraged to respond with their own opinions and questions. Civil Dialogue is informed by rhetorical criticism and theories of performance and provides an innovative tool for productive citizen communication.
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Critical (In)Coherencies
Critical (In)Coherencies is a zine produced by members and affiliates of the I-4C featuring radical thoughts, creative explorations, and incoherent ramblings. Critical (In)Coherencies is an annual publication, with volumes released fall of each year.
Holiday Card Writing Party
Each year, the I4C collective hosts an annual holiday card writing party, where folks are invited to color and draft a holiday note of love and affirmation to incarcerated BIPOC queer, trans, and two-spirit folks, who are largely held in solitary confinement “for their own protection.” For this event, we have collaborated with Black and Pink, which was founded by and is guided by currently and previously incarcerated queer, trans, and two-spirit identified people. The brunt of their work is relational and established through pen pal writing programs.
