Stephen Duncombe and I led a think tank on creative activism called The College of Tactical Culture at Eyebeam’s Summer School this year.
Summer School is an annual workshop and public presentation series designed to encourage the creative use technologies for personal expression, activism, communication, and community involvement. The College of Tactical Culture was established within this context to create an opportunity for creative activists to get together within a focused period of time to discuss ideas and develop strategies.
The College of Tactical Culture (CTC) examined questions such as:
- How can we measure the impact of our work?
- What lessons can we learn from popular culture?
- How can we use humor to broach difficult content?
- How can we reach new audiences?
- How can we use new tools and technologies to organize and connect with audiences?
Participants in CTC were encouraged to draw from and build off of each other’s experiences to inform their practices, build new relationships, and create space for new projects and collaborations. The group met in close-door sessions twice per week over the course of three weeks (June 30 – July 16, 2009).
EYEBEAM’S COLLEGE OF TACTICAL CULTURE, CLASS OF SUMMER ’09
- Larry Bogad, Writer/Perfomer/Activist; Associate Professor of Theatre and Dance, University of California at Davis
- Andrew Boyd, DIY, BYOB, FtGPhD*; NYC
- Rebecca Bray & Britta Riley, Eyebeam Residents, Artists, NYC
- Ava Bromberg, Spacemaker, PhD Student @ UCLA Urban Planning Department; Los Angeles
- Anne Frederick, Executive Director, Hester Street Collaborative, NYC
- Packard Jennings, Artist, Oakland CA
- Kristin Horton, Freelance Director/Clinical Assistant Professor of Theater, NYU’s Gallatin School, NYC
- Aaron Hughes, Artist and Organizing Team Leader Iraq Veterans Against the War, Chicago, IL
- Laura MacCleery, Deputy Director, Democracy Program, Brennan Center for Justice, NYC
- Ricardo Miranda Zuniga, Artist, Associate Professor of Film and Media Studies, CUNY Hunter, NYC
- Eve Mosher, Artist, NYC
- Brooke Singer, Artist and Assistant Professor of New Media, Purchase College, NYC
- Ella Turenne, Artist, Activist & Educator, NYC
*Forgot to Get his PhD
