Pre-Texts News
Pre-Texts in Kenya with Tom Osborn
Depression and anxiety are common worldwide, disproportionately among poor adolescents. Therefore, design and delivery of effective interventions is a global public health priority. By consensus, traditional psychotherapy presents structural barriers while advances in psychological sciences note that effective approaches support wellness. Our interdisciplinary research explores how a non-clinical art-based intervention can improve adolescents’ clinical profile of self-esteem to generate positive cascading effects on their mental health.
Click here to see a video of Sing Ngugi’s Birth of a Dream Weaver – Pre-Texts Workshop by Tom Osborn.
 Oficina Pre-Texts in Sergipe, Brazil
Matheus Batalha, a Brazilian facilitator of Pre-Texts, published an article called The Raspberry Pie in the City Journal in Aracajú, Brazil. The article describes the experience of the Oficina Pre-Texts in Sergipe. You can enjoy the full article here.
 New Pre-Texts Facilitators
We welcome the new Digital Pre-Texts facilitators who completed their training remotely from all different countries around the world. During the pandemic, we had the opportunity to meet and train together despite not knowing each other personally. We played with texts and made art together in different time zones.
 Pre-Texts in Buenos Aires
Our team in Argentina will continue for the third consecutive year with Pre-Texts workshops in the Mugica and Carrillo neighborhoods. Thanks to the support of Mecenazgo, we will continue with the activities both remotely and face-to-face.
Pre-Texts Summer Workshop with United Somali Youth
This summer we will be partnering with United Somali Youth to facilitate a Pre-Texts workshop. The workshop will take place in Boston from July 6th to August 27th with the participation of 15 Boston Public Schools high school students. Justin Hu, a Harvard intern, will be the facilitator.
June Pre-Texts Training for Interns and Collaborators
This past week, we completed a 15-hour Pre-Texts training for all of our summer interns, as well as several other collaborators, who will be launching new projects in Brazil, China, Kenya, Colombia, Mexico, Germany, Paraguay, and the U.S.. Working with Foucault’s “Discipline and Punish,” experienced educators and new ones taught and learned from one another as they recognized Pre-Texts to be a protocol for democracy as well as close reading and research skills.
Testimonies from Pre-Texts Workshop in Mannheim, Germany
After the conclusion of the Pre-Texts workshop in Mannheim, participants shared their insights by sharing testimonies:
“Pre-Texts for me is a completely new approach to work with texts. From school and university, you just learn to fight your way through a text and not how to have fun with it – so the creative part is so interesting and refreshing!”
“Pre-Texts gave me many ideas on how to actively, creatively work with texts. The various sessions gave me a feeling for how to structure a session myself and what’s important (e. g. “What did we just do?”, having everyone say something, the ritual of asking for questions and recommendations, the tangents, etc.). It also made me realize that it is just as important to go off on a tangent than to stay very close to the text, which is something that in my opinion is barely being done at school.”
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