UNews - Candace Lewko

The Dance of Change

david.kirby — Fri, 22 Nov 2013 15:37:44 +0000

Lisa Doolittle once lived the life of a professional artist, drawing on the passion for her craft as a dancer and choreographer to create a shared experience with her audience.

That passion still burns inside Doolittle, only now the outlet is academia, where her research expertise and love for dance and theatre have come together to effect real change in the community.

Doolittle, a professor of theatre arts in the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge’s Faculty of Fine Arts, is the Teaching and Learning Research Coordinator for the Art for Social Change (ASC) project, a comprehensive five-year national research program that examines the effectiveness of using the arts as a means of community engagement and to encourage positive social change.

“This is the kind of collaborative research that can ignite new ideas, move people’s hearts and possibly change behaviours and communities.” - Lisa Doolittle (Photo by Leslie Ohene-Adjei)

“We’ve known for years that the arts are an effective form of initiating change,” says Doolittle. “There are countless examples throughout the country where arts programs are used as a way to connect and engage communities, but there has been very little evaluation of why and how these programs are effective.”

What exactly is Art for Social Change? It is the application of arts-based processes to address issues of social concern and to encourage social innovation. It is an artist acting as a facilitator to spark dialogue, new ideas and actions with members of communities who would not otherwise define themselves as artists.

Doolittle cites an exciting international program based in Quebec, known as Social Circus, where Cirque du Soleil is working with at-risk youth and teaching them circus skills.

“It sounds almost counterintuitive to be working with at-risk youth and teaching them what most people believe to be very risky and dangerous behaviours,” says Doolittle. “But when you think about it, circus work is all about trust and when you are flying off a trapeze and have to be caught by somebody else, you learn a lot about responsibility and trust.”

That is the essence of ASC, bringing together diverse groups and using the arts as a catalyst to open lines of communication, to create community awareness and inclusivity and to encourage engagement for the betterment of our communities.

For Doolittle, dance is a powerful vehicle for change. This new research program enables study of an ongoing project initiated by the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Calgary’s Anne Flynn (professor of dance) that involves residents of subsidized-housing complexes for senior citizens, many of which are first generation immigrants to Canada with varying degrees of English-language proficiency.

Doolittle and Flynn are also working with people who have been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, and, in partnership with Decidedly Jazz Danceworks, will study the impact of their participation in dance classes – not only looking at how dancing may assist in increasing independence and mitigating symptoms of the disease, but also how effective these classes are in creating a sense of community for an often-marginalized population.

“The arts bring people together,” says Doolittle. “The arts do not separate people – they are communal activities and when communities come together, big things can happen.”

The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) understands the potential value of ASC to Canadian communities. It is driving the national research program with $2.5 million in funding, allowing 20 collaborators, numerous national and local organizations and six partnering universities to come together for the first large-scale, systemic project of its kind in Canada.

Doolittle’s role as the teaching and learning coordinator is key for the project’s long-term sustainability. Its success will be dictated by the capacity that is built nationally between educational institutions, artists and both arts and non-arts community-based organizations.

“It’s so important that we are able to continue producing excellent practitioners who understand high quality artistic work as well as social-change work, and then are able to communicate with and bring together all different kinds of people,” she says, adding that the U of L could eventually become the site of a research institute that furthers the study and dissemination of ASC practices.

Doolittle will oversee the research and the eventual implementation of new teaching and learning practices, with considerable local support from Dr. Cynthia Chambers and Dr. Erika Hasebe-Ludt of the Faculty of Education, Ramona Big Head (BA ’96, BEd ’96, MEd ’09), Dr. Jean Harrowing (BSc ’78) of the Faculty of Health Sciences, Dr. Rachael Crowder (who teaches at the U of L for the Faculty of Social Work, ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Calgary) and the U of L’s Teaching Centre. Alumna Candace Lewko (BEd ’95, BFA ’95, MEd ’09) contributes an additional perspective from the context of her position as Curriculum Consultant, Educational Enhancement Team, at Lethbridge College.

“It seems like the time has come for this kind of work to get a higher profile,” says Doolittle. “This is the kind of collaborative research that can ignite new ideas, move people’s hearts and possibly change behaviours and communities. When people get together you can move mountains and I think that is the impact we will see in our communities – people will move mountains.”

Doolittle appointed teaching and learning research coordinator for national project

trevor.kenney — Tue, 10 Sep 2013 20:05:57 +0000

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge professor Lisa Doolittle will be the Teaching and Learning Research Coordinator for the Art for Social Change (ASC) project, a five-year national research program that will examine the effectiveness of using the arts as a means of community engagement and to encourage positive social change.

Lisa Doolittle says that art for social change is the application of arts-based processes to address issues of social concern and to encourage social innovation.

Doolittle, a professor of theatre in the Faculty of Fine Arts, will oversee the implementation, data-collection, analysis and reporting on the Teaching and Learning component of the project.

With $2.5 million dollars in funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) through its Partnership Program, Art for Social Change: A Research Partnership in Teaching, Evaluation and Capacity-Building, the research project is considered the first large-scale, systemic project of its kind in Canada.

“To be involved in this is an amazing opportunity for myself, my colleagues, research assistants and the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge, as well as community service organizations, and artists,” says Doolittle.

“We will have the opportunity to bring in at least two master’s students and one PhD candidate to assist with the research and because of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ’s emphasis on liberal education, and a commitment to community engagement in its strategic plan, we are in an ideal position to develop a hub for ASC Teaching and Learning.”

A total of 20 individual collaborators from six partnering universities, along with multiple community agencies and arts organizations are taking part in the five-year research program.

Art for social change is the application of arts-based processes to address issues of social concern and to encourage social innovation.

The current partnership is based on a long-standing relationship, formalized in 2007, when Judith Marcuse Projects (JMP), an arts organization with over 30 years of ASC experience, entered into a unique agreement with Simon Fraser ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ (SFU) to create the International Centre of Art for Social Change.

That partnership has now been extended to include students and community members from across the country, creating a breadth of data on ASC practice never before realized.

“We’ve known for years that the arts are an effective form of initiating change. There are countless examples throughout the country where arts programs are used as a way to connect and engage communities but there has been very little evaluation of why and how these programs are effective,” says Doolittle.

“With this project we want to first evaluate these successes and develop best practices for the implementation of art for social change programs, we want to build national capacity between educational institutions, community-based artists and arts organizations and non-arts organizations in the development and delivery of ASC and finally, we want to create and provide a range of accessible online resources for those working in ASC as well as others interested in learning about the field.”

Doolittle will oversee the research and the eventual implementation of new teaching and learning practices, with considerable campus support by Dr. Cynthia Chambers, Dr. Erika Hasebe-Ludt and Ramona Big Head of the Faculty of Education, Dr. Jean Harrowing of the Faculty of Health Sciences, Dr. Rachel Crowder who teaches at the U of L for the Faculty of Social Work, ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Calgary, and the on-campus Teaching Centre. U of L alumna (BFA, MEd) Candace Lewko contributes an additional perspective from the context of her position as curriculum consultant, Educational Enhancement Team, The Centre for Teaching, Learning & Innovation at Lethbridge College.

“It’s vitally important that once we do the research and collect the data, that we ensure this project is sustainable by properly teaching a new generation of educators, artists and community members about how to best administer ASC programs,” says Doolittle. “Only then will we see an ongoing benefit from this research and these programs.”

UNews - Candace Lewko

The Dance of Change

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