“OUT ART”: Reducing homophobia on college campuses through artistic intervention

Exploring the Potential of Participatory Theatre to Reduce Stigma and Promote Health Equity for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) People in Swaziland and Lesotho

“…Participatory Theatre-Interventions to reduce the general public's stigma towards LGBT people have been predominantly school-based and conducted in North America (D'Augelli, 2006;Fuoss, Kistenberg & Rosenfeld 1992;Goodman, 2005;Rye & Meaney, 2009;Wernick, Dessel, Kulick & Graham 2013). Participatory research approaches, focused on empowerment, social change and partnership with local communities (Cook, 2005), hold promise for addressing stigma and discrimination in Southern Africa and are congruent with a CBR framework.…”

Performance, Pedagogy, Potential: Utopian Performance as Community-based Education

“…In the quest to understand performance's more general capacity for transformation, performance practitioners have conducted quantitative research to find out what and how audience members learned from performance� For example, studies have indicated how audience members interpret, evaluate, and utilize performance in relation to the context in which those performances occur� These performances have assessed changes in audience members' perceptions, attitudes, and/or behaviors about social issues, including homophobia (Fuoss, Kistenberg, & Rosenfeld, 1992), step family issues (Miller Rassulo & Hecht, 1988), date rape (Mann, Hecht, & Valentine, 1988), drug abuse, marital problems, and HIV/AIDS (Howard, 2013;Jackson, 1993)� With its rich capacity for transformation, performance teaches us to examine our values and beliefs, to hone our ability to empathize, and to understand our connections to the larger world� Jill Dolan (2005) uses the term "utopian performances" to describe performances that depict visions of an improved world or those that create conditions that suggest the need for social reform (pp� 5-6)� However, that description barely describes the capacity of performance to generate transformation� Thus, although traditional drama has persistently pointed out the need for change or it has indicated that indeed a change has occurred, it has done so without teaching us how that change might take place� For example, audience members may be left to infer that had characters made different decisions, the story would end differently� We learn the moral of the story; however, we do not learn what specific action or behavior could have changed the outcome� We do not get a preview of the alternative decision-making process� We learn that problems have solutions, but we rarely learn what the solutions are, and more importantly, we do not obtain the opportunity to create and test those solutions� Thus, these performances stop short of exploring the specific actions a person can take to become an agent who can and will enact change� Interactive performance praxis, including the work of Augusto Boal (1985, 1995, 1998), Berenice Malka Fisher (1994), Jonathan Fox (1986), Michael Rohd (1998), and Jeff Wirth (1994, offers participants the opportunity to take action� In some instances, the work means practicing change; performance, then, becomes a rehearsal for life (Boal, 1985(Boal, , 1992� In other instances, however, performance can be the change� Wirth describes this function of interactive theater by explaining the difference between theater that is reactive and that which is proactive� Reactivity suggests responding and observing whereas proactivity entails collaborating with others� Interactive theater requires not just observing the action but living it, and not just suspending disbelief but investing in the belief with mind, body, and spirit (Wirth, 1994)�…”

Theater and Dialogue to Increase Youth’s Intentions to Advocate for LGBTQQ People

“…transphobic attitudes among students (Fuoss, Kistenberg, & Rosenfeld, 1992), decrease bullying behaviors (Graybill, Varjas, Meyers, & Watson, 2009;Toomey, Ryan, Diaz, & Russell, 2011), and increase anti-bullying intervention behaviors (Wernick, Dessel, et al, 2013), no research known to the authors has investigated how to increase student intentions to participate in and lead macro-level change efforts around LGBTQQ issues. Applied intervention research is needed in order to link knowledge to evidence-based practice with regard to macro-level changes addressing prejudice and negative school climate for LGBTQQ youth (Fraser, 2004;Fraser & Galinsky, 2010;Jenson, Dieterich, Brisson, Bender, & Powell, 2010;Kosciw, Palmer, Kull, & Greytak, 2013).…”