Cases for Culture will feature collaborations among distinguished artists, humanists, policy makers, and entrepreneurs who promote the social contributions of creativity. The purpose is to multiply these contributions by generating HBS type cases that can inform new policy decisions. Brief narratives along with the measurable impact of creative interventions demonstrate  how and why participatory arts work to address “wicked” problems, transversal by definition. Climate change, economic development, public health, education, violence prevention, immigration, etc., all require collaboration among academic, political, and economic actors. Our conference will explore how the arts and humanities bridge diverse fields and diverse communities.

 Bios 

Register
*For online participants a Zoom Link will be provided 24hs before the conference by email. 



 

Fundamental Politics—Geo-poetics, 17th Istanbul Biennial

Ateş Alpar, “The Universal History of Stone,” performance, 2022 (courtesy the artist)

“As our communication channels turn into mere means of manipulation, we ask: What is left of public discussion, thinking aloud, a reading community, reading with others? If we all listen to the silence, can we rediscover our patience, humility, and weaknesses? Can we reinvigorate social expression and re-imagine crossroads, newsstands, coffee shops, tea shops, cinemas, independent publishers or neighborhood bookstores? Can other ways of thinking, speaking, writing, and doing—poetry, film, farming, and cooking—make us more equipped and sensitive to social thought?” This quotation corresponds to the curatorial text of the 17th Istanbul Biennial curated by Ute Meta Bauer, Amar Kanwar, and David Teh. The Biennial continues through November 20, 2022 at various locations in Istanbul, Turkey. More Interventions and Events

New from MIT: Climates. Habitats. Environments.

Modeling the curatorial as a method for uniting cultural production and science, Climates. Habitats. Environments. weaves together image and text to address the global climate crisis. Through exhibitions, artworks, and essays, artists and writers transcend disciplinary boundaries and linear histories to bring their knowledge and experience to bear on the fight for environmental justice. In doing so, they draw on the rich cultural heritage of the Asia-Pacific, in conversation with international discourse, to demonstrate transdisciplinary solution-seeking. Edited by Ute Meta Bauer. Find more Viewpoints in our PublicPlatform, YouAreHere

Sona Jobarteh, The Gambia Academy: The 60 Minutes Interview

Lesley Stahl reports on the kora, a centuries-old West African instrument, and the groundbreaking woman who’s mastered it, Sona Jobarteh. Visit our public platform, YouAreHere to learn more about Jona and her project The Gambia Academy.

Reflections on our Work in India

In February 2022 we started a new stage of Pre-Texts training and implementation in India. Since then, our facilitators have passed on the protocol to a large number of teachers and students. 

The Heritage School, Vasant Kunj

“Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success.” This famous quote attributed to Henry Ford and Edward Everett Hale remains as relevant as ever” said Sunita Swaraj, coordinator of the implementation of Pre-Texts at The Heritage School, Vasant Kunj. Follow-up days, or family nights, are held among trainees to share their implementation experiences. Teachers of Social Science, Numeracy, Languages, Economics, Natural Sciences and more used Pre-Texts in classrooms.  “The question “What did we do?” is often floated around wherein the learners consciously reflect on the process of learning and at the same time are mindful of their thoughts. Read Sunita Swaraj’s full report.
 

School to Lead foundation & InmerseGo

School To Lead Foundation & ImmerseGo are the two other implementation partners for Pre-Texts in India. This current project by Cultural Agents in alliance with Professor Yugank Goyal of FLAME University in Pune, has already been implemented among 27 teachers of Vivek Modern School and around 55 teachers of Andhra Education Society. Teachers who have been trained at Pre-Texts by Shruti Shukla and Shreyoshi Saha teach Math, English, Science, EVS, Social Science, Hindi & Sanskrit, among others, and will soon become part of our team of certified facilitators. 

Exploration at the Botanical Garden, Argentina

Photo by Marcelo Somma

Last Saturday, October 29th, we visited the Botanical Garden together with the children of Comedor Siempre Carrillo for a special workshop session with the author of the book Árboles de mi ciudad y mi país (Trees of my City and my Country), Marisa Pesavento. During the afternoon, we read outdoors and participated in the activities proposed by the Garden Library. Each participant took home a copy of the book to continue researching about their immediate natural environment. Click here to read more about this project

End of the Year Exhibition, Argentina

During this year 2022 at the Juegoteca Recreando Juntos del Barrio Mugica we worked together with the visual artist Marcela Cabutti in the development of artistic techniques during our Pre-Texts sessions. During this last month the text we worked on was Cosmos by Carl Sagan and the works produced were kites that will fly during the closing of the workshop next Thursday, November 24th. Join Us!



 

Our team from the Shamiri Institute in Kenya will facilitate Pre-Texts Training in collaboration with SHOFCO in December 2022. Teachers from Mathare and Kibera schools will participate in three full days of training. Shamiri has implemented Pre-Texts through a three-tier caregiving model where young people deliver it as an after-school program for high school students to reduce depression and anxiety symptoms in young people.Discover all our work in Kenya.

 

Join the next training workshop at Harvard University!
4/30-6.30 pm November 28, December 1, 5, 8
Coordinator: Deepak Ramola  
deepak@projectfuel.in

Check Pre-Texts Calendar for More Events and Opportunities
 

New Venture Competition

The HBS New Venture Competition provides a unique opportunity for students to put entrepreneurship principles into practice with an integrative learning experience. Students may participate in either the Business Track (for ventures whose economic returns drive substantial market impact) or in the Social  Enterprise Track (for ventures that drive social change using nonprofit, for-profit, or hybrid models).
December 1, 12:00 noon: Early deadline (deadline to apply for Early Stage Feedback for Business Track) 
February 1, 12:00 noon: Final deadline (Executive Summaries due for Social Enterprise Track)