Reflection

By Rebecca Hosker

I attended the first panel session of day 2 of the symposium. This panel session featured talks by Olivia Shortt and Linda Zhang, two individuals that had much to say about the topics that were the primary focus of the symposium. Of all the insights shared by Olivia and Linda, those that interested me most touched on the importance of process to learning in an academic environment and how arts practice and academia clash. In relation to the former, it was Olivia’s talk that got me thinking about this. Olivia spoke about the work that they do before they actually start to collaborate on an artistic creation with other artists, as well as how much they appreciate when this type of preparatory work is part of the learning process in academic seminars.

Of particular interest to me was their assertion that it is important to make room in smaller academic classes for things other than what that space is traditionally seen as being used for; namely, the transmission of knowledge. More specifically, according to Olivia, time should be taken to ensure that the space that an academic seminar is held in is a safe space for everyone participating in that seminar; a space where compassion, kindness, and gentleness exist. They pointed out that this can be accomplished by simply taking time at the beginning of each seminar session to ease people into the classroom by being compassionate and checking in with people so that everyone knows how their classmates are doing and what each of their emotional needs might be on a given day. Olivia mentioned that in their experience, doing this can help everyone get the most out of a learning experience. Indeed, if someone has been able to express how they are truly feeling before the start of a seminar session, this can help them feel supported and comfortable, which in turn allows them to better focus on contributing to the topic(s) being discussed in the seminar that day.

The aforementioned comments made by Olivia really resonated with me because I struggled with intense anxiety when I was a graduate student; something that really hindered my ability to function effectively in that role. I always felt like I could not let my fellow classmates and my professors know how I was feeling because they would judge me and see me as someone who was not meant to be in a graduate program. Perhaps having check ins at the beginning of my graduate seminars would have mitigated some of the anxiety I was feeling. I might have felt more comfortable and thus been better able to focus on the material I was learning instead of worrying about how I was feeling and whether I should even be in that seminar.

As for how arts practice and academia clash, something Linda mentioned in her talk got me thinking about this. During her discussion, Linda spoke about an obstacle that her, her co-researchers, and the community members participating in their arts-based research project encountered; an obstacle made possible by the lack of flexibility within academia in relation to how honorariums are paid out to research participants. Linda pointed out that the requirements for paying honorariums to their research participants were very restrictive in that they required honorarium recipients to have a bank account. This made it very challenging for the marginalized members of the community they were working with, such as its unhoused, to participate in their research project; members whose participation in the project was important to its overall success.

This is highly problematic. People from all socioeconomic backgrounds are members of communities and should be able to participate in research projects that impact their lives and the spaces they spend time in. Unless this is acknowledged by the members of academic insitutions who are responsible for creating and maintaining institutional standards such as how honorariums are paid out to community members participating in research projects, I do not see how the gap that currently exists between academia and community is going to lessen.