Staging knowledge mobilization: Performance as public engagement

• In Event: 2429 - Open Refereed Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable 100min: Roundtable 4

Abstract

Playwriting is mainly a means of entertainment or education. In this article I argue that playwriting and performance can act as a powerful form of activism that bridges academic work and public engagement. I focus on my experiences writing and producing a stage production based on my research about anti-racism and queer intersections in Toronto. This methodological discussion is contextualized within the current political moment of growing anti-intellectual sentiment that positions work in the humanities as irrelevant and elitist. Playwriting as a method of knowledge mobilization for findings from my research emerged from interviews with members of Toronto’s rainbow community, those who work with queer-focused organizations, and community organizers. I found through conversations with participants that academic forms of knowledge mobilization, such as publishing in peer-reviewed journals, would not necessarily be accessible to community members or appropriate for encouraging discussion and social action at the local level. Participants suggested a range of social action strategies in relation to linking anti-racism and queer social issues, most of their suggestions centered on increasing understanding through discussion and the value of the arts in their social organizing. I decided to meet the challenge of engaging in effective knowledge mobilization that would be in service to the rainbow community by developing a stage production called We without You that focuses on the opinions and experiences of participants. I found that producing a stage production based on academic research had powerful social effects that are not possible through tradition knowledge dissemination methods, such as publishing. This article encourages academics to engage with anti-intellectual sentiments and position their work as useful and relevant to social issues and publics.

Author

• Sylvia Grills, Queen's University