MYTHOLOGIES & SCIENCE FICTION AS CONTEXTS TO EXPLORE

SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES

Joss French, Ph.D.!Kurt Love, Ph.D.!

Central Connecticut State University!

!!!

Photographs:!Kimberly Gill!

Sustainable Farm School Director

American Educational Studies Association !

Baltimore, Maryland!November 2, 2013

From the moment we are born, the world tends to have a

container already built for us to fit inside: A social security

number, a gender, a race, a profession or an I.Q. I ponder if we are more defined by the

container we are in, rather than what we are inside. Would we

recognize ourselves if we could expand beyond our bodies?

Would we still be able to exist if we were authentically

'un-contained'? Paige Bradley

“Expansion”

“Myth”

Myths are “stories” acting as banks that store cultural values, origins of thinking, rituals, and traditions that might otherwise be lost.

Myths can help to question dominant and privileged mindsets.

http://prezi.com/lsncossgvb3c/nine-worlds/

A Question For All You Tricksters, Avatars & Aliens

Out There

How Do We Transform Our Present Eco-Social Realities?

Where the roots of our domination over each other come from the same root of domination we feel over the earth. . .

Where when our biodiversity is threatened and so is our cultural diversity . . .

Where when dominant elites exploit the earth and subordinate peoples and beings for their own benefit. . .

Where when our very social justice, critical social theories, and multiculturalism are often anthropocentric (human over nature) . . .

How do we move toward . . . . . . A Vision

and to other Realities . . ?1. Where eco-racism is eliminated?!

2. Where we “revitalize the commons” to create a balance between market and non-market aspects of community life?!

3. Where we end the industrialized nations’ exploitation and cultural colonization of third-world nations?!

4. Where we ensure that the hubris and ideology of Western industrial culture does not diminish future generations’ ways of living and quality of life?!

5. Where we support an “Earth Democracy”--the right of nature to flourish rather than be contingent upon the demands of humans

Summary points of ecojustice theory!from ecojusticeeducation.org

. . . to want to (re)imagine sustainable eco-social communities?!

. . . to want to (re)create sustainable eco-social communities?!

. . . to want to expand or become (un)contained beyond ourselves?

How Do We Get There?

Steven: “Do you SEE Me, Do You

HEAR Me?”

Why Was Steven’s Voice Released?

“[Voice  is  released  when  the  teacher]  utilize[s]  aesthetic  methods  that  instill  trust  with  the  child.  .  .  [The  aesthetic  process  is]  reciprocal  in  that  as  the  student  asserts  his/her  power  and  who  they  are,  the  teacher  displays  to  the  student  how  that  power  of  choice  is  received  and  nurtured.  The  child  begins  to  de@ine  their  self-­‐knowledge  as  their  sense  of  self,  their  imaginative  independent  voice,  is  realized”  (Clark  &  French,  2013,  p.  4)  

Clark,  B.  A.  &  French,  J.J.  (May  2014,  in  press).  Hearts  and  minds  without  fear:  Unmasking  the  sacred  in  teacher  preparaHon.  In  B.L.  Reck,  (Ed.)  Center  of  Partnerships  for  Arts-­‐Integrated  Teaching  (Book  Series  Inaugural  Selec<on).  CharloMe,  NC:  InformaHon  Age  Publishing.

How Did this Happen? Seed of Unmasking

Creating a Compassionate Community Where Social Imagination Thrives With Endless Possibilities

Seed Of Unmasking: Hearts & Minds Without Fear (www.compassionateteaching.com)

!

Clark,  B.  A.  &  French,  J.J.  (May  2014,  in  press).  Hearts  and  minds  without  fear:  Unmasking  the  sacred  in  teacher  preparaHon.  In  B.L.  Reck,  (Ed.)  Center  of  Partnerships  for  Arts-­‐Integrated  Teaching  (Book  Series  Inaugural  Selec<on).  CharloMe,  NC:  InformaHon  Age  Publishing.

Seed of Unmasking: Hearts & Minds Without Fear

Mask Documentary: Echoes From A Child’s Soul

Clark, B. (2005). Moral imagination and art: Echoes from a child’s soul (Doctoral dissertation). University of Hartford, United States--Connecticut. Retrieved May 10, 2012, from Dissertations & Theses: Full Text. (Publication No. AAT 315 7797)

Becomes !

!

A Vision

Voice & Release

RealityBecomes

References

Clark, B. A. & French, J.J. (May 2014, in press). Hearts and minds without fear: Unmasking the sacred in teacher preparation. In B.L. Reck, (Ed.) Center of Partnerships for Arts-Integrated Teaching (Book Series Inaugural Selection). Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.

Hearts and Minds Without Fear: http://www.compassionateteaching.com

Echoes from a Child’s Soul: http://vimeo.com/34858804

Echoes Project:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spgeE5p-xeY

Images also from Adbusters magazine: adbusters.org