landscape of hope
// Horizon Postdoctoral Fellowship, Concordia University, Montreal, 2021-2023 //
Landscape of Hope (LOH) is a collaborative research-creation project aimed at practicing innovative forms of social pedagogy that centre the voices of youth in order to collectively reimagine what hope sounds, feels and looks like in troubling times. Founded by Dr. Vivek Venkatesh (Art Education, Concordia University) and Dr. Owen Chapman (Communication Studies, Concordia University), the Landscape of Hope project was designed to introduce marginalized groups to critical digital literacy skills and offer opportunities to create counter-narratives through multimedia performances and installations.
As a Horizon Postdoctoral Fellow, I co-lead activities related to the LOH project, including working with co-conspirators and partners to develop and deliver programming, jamming with participants and artists on the team to create new artistic outputs and performances, and sharing what emerges in these experiments through publications, workshops and other public events.
project highlight
Landscape of Hope (LOH): LOHxBAM Youth Artist Residency + Immersive Listening Room, 2023
In October 2022, 11 high school students worked with Concordia artists and researchers over one week to create an immersive listening room at the Centre for the Study of Learning and Performance (CSLP). Led by Dr. Jessie Beier and Dr. Owen Chapman and inspired by the theme of “the unseen & the unheard,” the artist-researchers created an exhibition they titled Hidden Layers, which explored ideas related to intergenerational conversation, intersectionality and the power of listening to that which is, at first, difficult to hear.
related projects
Halka // Studio residency and two-nights of performances featuring the LoH team.
Landscape of Hate Summer Residency 2022 // A ten-day residency and series of performances featuring audiovisual experimentation between seven sound and image artists as they explore hope/less horizons and horizon/less hopes in our current landscape of hate.
Landscape of Hate // Landscape of Hate is an improvised multimedia project with the objective of promoting and favouring the public voice in framing pluralistic dialogues about how we negotiate various forms of hate in our society.
Concordia University’s Interdisciplinary Summer Institute 2018 (CUISI) // Led by Dr. Vivek Venkatesh and Dr. Brad Nelson. Beier was an Institute leader for this intensive week-long (3-credit) seminar for professionals and advanced graduate students, which focussed on developing sustainable means for countering, preventing and combating online hate speech.
Navigating Hate: A Primer for Educators // Designed for preservice and practicing teachers, these video primers support lesson plans and catalyze classroom conversation on hate and hate speech. Intro / Part 1 / Part 2 /Part 3