Rules for Rebels: Creative Forms for Resistance & Resilience

A Discovery Core Experience

May be taken as BCORE 104 (Arts & Humanities)

About This Course

This class will expand your ability to do two things: trace historical connections between the present and past, and respond creatively to big questions and contemporary issues. Together, we’ll study and share the social and political contexts of various rebel ancestors—artists, writers, and creative activists who resisted the atrocities of their time. We will also practice their creative methods and forms!

Some questions we’ll engage throughout the course: how might a self-portrait be an act of resistance? What does making and distributing zines have to do with creating resilient and engaged communities? How might play and absurdity be at the heart of collective survival?

We’ll do plenty of collaborative and creative work that centers process, experimentation, and community-building.

Why Should I Take This Class?

Perhaps you feel overwhelmed by how bad the world seems—endless war, climate catastrophe, authoritarianism, extreme wealth gaps, pandemics, and more. How do we get through this together?!

In times of deep unrest and uncertainty, we can ground ourselves in our purpose and strength by looking to our rebel ancestors who refused to let the world close in and instead opened new spaces for connection, expression, and survival. Whether you already have some rebel ancestors in mind who you’d like to study, or you’re searching for a way to respond creatively and connect in our chaotic world, this class is for you!

dana middleton (they/them/theirs)

School of Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences

About dana

Education:

  • MFA, Creative Writing and Poetics, University of Washington Bothell
  • BA, Literature, minor in Women’s and Gender studies, University of North Carolina Asheville

Contact