Ritual/Trauma/Social Change

Catalog description

Taught by PSR. In many movements for social change, trauma plays an important, if unacknowledged, role. Social, cultural, and personal trauma in particular can serve to motivate individual activism, provide both tools and constraints for activism, and construct narratives and frames of injustice or reconciliation that can sustain and shape activism on a large scale. What is more, those who work for social change often experience trauma in the process of their work. This seminar explores the connections between movements for social change and the dynamics of social and personal trauma. We will consider the role that ritual can and does play in uncovering and addressing trauma by drawing suffering into the process of reconstructing memory, giving expression to that which has been silenced, offering frames for making meaning, and embodying visions of transformation. Evaluation will be based on leadership of discussions, critical reflection papers, observation, and ritual design/analysis.