Towards A Politics of Multiplicity: Reimagining the Future of “Ensemble” in Art and Education

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Thursday 9:45 am

Session Type: Roundtable Session

Abstract

In a political climate rife with polarization, we urgently need new ways of learning with and across difference. As artist-scholars, we use this session to interrogate traditional understandings of “ensemble” as a homogeneous collective and re-configure ensemble learning (Ma & Hall, 2018) to deepen our commitments to multiplicity and dialogicality (Warren et al., 2020). In our session, we examine the potential of ensemble work to negotiate power, invite multiplicity, and foster ethical co-engagement. Our papers explore how engaging in this work positions learners to navigate complexity, attend to positionality, and build trust through collaborative sense-making. Ultimately, we suggest that “ensemble” offers a critical framework for reimagining educational spaces as sites of shared responsibility, interdependence, and creative possibility.

Sub Unit

• SIG-Arts and Inquiry in the Visual and Performing Arts in Education

Papers

• Rehearsing the Anthropocene: Devised Theatre Praxis for Collective Embodied Sensemaking - Lana Cosic, Vanderbilt University

• A Patchwork of Withness: More-Than-Human Ensembles - Anastasia Y. Goodwin, Vanderbilt University

• Rehearsing Alternative Futures for Sex Education: Embracing the Unknowing of Collaborative Meaning-Making - Amanda Harris, University of California - Los Angeles

• Creative Collaboration Across Differences: Ensemble Work for Abolition - Cassidy L. Martin, University of Southern California

Session Organizer

• Lana Cosic, Vanderbilt University

Discussant

• Lora Cawelti, University of Southern California