Mariela Acuña

This course frankly addresses a critical and underserved niche in professional development?the necessity for young women of color to be able to self-direct their goals, and fully achieve those goals, regardless of environment. Subverting marginalization while growing a career and visioning oneself as a leader, without silencing yourself or burning out, remains a challenging reality for so many women of color. This is an experience many encounter early on, but which can be reframed so that the education and career processes do not point toward assimilation, or invisibility, or the anxiety of always being on guard. These concerns about combatting marginalization, which are shared among Latinx, Black American, Asian American, and international students at SAIC, have been brought privately to trusted faculty here and at art schools nationwide. In this class, we will work together to develop strategies for conquering these issues.

Course work will include readings from authors such as the following: Jhumpa Lahiri, bell hooks, Ifeona Fulani, Lisa Jones, Hettie Jones, Ana Castillo, Nicola Yoon, Suheir Hammad, Staceyann Chin, Erika L. Sanchez, Suzan-Lori Parks, Zadie Smith, ZZ Packer, Melba Pattillo Beals, Yuri Kochiyama, Deepa Mehta, Gina Prince-Bythewood, Barry Jenkins, Jon Chu, Caryl Phillips. Each student will produce a memoir as a key element of this class, responding to the readings and analyzing their own experiences as well as senior colleagues,? continuing to develop and trust their voice.

In addition to the memoir, each student will produce and develop an individual arts leadership project, or deepening of a specific skill set; and will work with classmates on a publication or resource that documents the group?s conversations with invited guests.