Archive

Newsletter, March 2023

Mental Health By All Means

Join us on March 22nd at 3:30 PM ET, in the SOCH Cinema for a panel on Mental health featuring Ricardo Araya, Fawwaz Habbal, Mario Valdivia, and Vikram Patel. Moderated by Dr. Farrah Sheriff. Following the panel we will hold a reception. Please RSVP.
Cultural Agents 17

We are excited to announce that Cultural Agents has found an ally in 17, Instituto De Estudios Criticos. For the past two decades, Institute 17 has been committed to examining questions and problems that are often neglected by other institutions. As a post-university, their work is oriented towards writing, symbolic materialization, and performativity, with the goal of generating new ways of thinking and acting in the world. This collaboration promises to bring new and innovative perspectives to the forefront of our work.

Call to Action: Frontiers in Sociology

As a reminder, Cultural Agents is preparing a special issue of Frontiers in Sociology titled “Boredom: The Elephant in the Room.”  If you’re interested in contributing please note that the initial due date of March 31st has been extended to April 29th, 2023. You can submit your manuscript through the Research Topic Page.

Carla Fernandez’s Return to the Isabella Stewart

On the occasion of the visit to Boston of Mexican artist and designer Carla Fernández, for the organization of her next step at the Isabel Steward museum, Cultural Agents hosted a meeting with friends and colleagues to discuss past and future collaborations. From left to right. Doris Sommer, Carla Fernandez, Ana Maria Reyes, Pieranna Cavalchini and Virginia Lebermann. Oluwaseye Olusa, Sankara Iwelu, Doris Sommer, Carla Fernandez, Shaka Maidoh and Amor Díaz-Campos.

Activities Begin in the Neighborhoods of Buenos Aires, Argentina

Our team in Argentina begin their activities this month in the Comedor Siempre Carrillo and in the Juegoteca Recreando Juntos of the Complejo Habitacional Padre Mugica. In addition, during the month of April a training program for neighborhood leaders, teachers and artists will be developed. This year we will work around the axis of ecology, healthy eating and our relationship with our immediate environment with multidisciplinary artists such as Vanina Grossi and Marcela Cabutti. To learn more about our work in Argentina, click here.

New Mentors. Universidad Mayor, Chile

During the second half of 2022, a team of 17 scholars from the Medicine and Health Sciences Faculty at Universidad Mayor, Chile, was trained and certified on the Pre-Texts methodology, our educational model that brings together teaching, innovation and reading in the classroom, under the wings of Cultural Agents. Here you can find more details on their workshops and what is next for the new Pre-Texts mentors.

Read the full article and testimonies published in Diario Mayor.

Teachers and Students Feedback, India
During this year we will extend our alliance with School to Lead Foundation to continue training elementary school teachers. After landing Pre-Texts in the classrooms, students were consulted and it was found that about 80% of students were participating actively in class. Also the students wished for more activities involving music and dance and the “Lectores” activity on regular basis. The students shared that some of their friends had started participating more and became more confident in their responses. To know more about this project, click here.

Ongoing: Training Workshop at Pescara, Italy

The University of Annuzio, Pescara, is currently developing a workshop to train artists, teachers, school leaders, and professionals, in innovative forms of cultural interventions with high social impact. The participants will be certificated as ‘’Pre-Texts Protocol Trainers’’.

Training in Bogotá


Professors Maria Mena and Alberto Vargas from Universidad Tadeo, Bogotá, Colombia, will offer a five-session workshop to train artists, teachers, and professionals in the Pre-Texts protocol. Here you can find more information on our work in Colombia.

A training workshop will begin this Saturday, March 18. In addition, our program will run on-site for 7 weeks from June 5 to July 28, with a remote pre-orientation and training session one week in advance (May 30 – June 3). If you want to know more, please contact culturalagents@gmail.com

We invite you to visit our Calendar to check out our upcoming events.

Improving Mental Health: High Impact Coalition

We are thrilled to update you on the progress of our high-impact coalition aimed at improving access and quality of mental healthcare in Chile. The coalition has expanded its reach and is now working with two municipalities, Maipú and Peñalolén, to create real change on the ground. Recently, the coalition returned to Chile from January 8th – January 18th, after an initial trip last August. During this visit, the coalition had the privilege of meeting with both the Mayor of Maipú, the Mayoress of Peñalolén, community organizers and families to discuss interventions to mental healthcare in the region.

Arts and Leadership Dinner Series, France 

The Harvard Club of France launched a new program that aims to be a platform for dialogue on the intersection between arts and leadership. The first event featured a presentation by Harvard Professor Doris Sommer and her colleague Rainer Kern, artistic director of Enjoy Jazz, Germany.

Prison Education Initiative, Colombia

Still from the documentary “Redemption: MIT’s Prison Education Program” winner of an Emmy Award

The Educational Justice Institute in collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Acción Interna Foundation, founded by Colombian actress Johana Bahamón, cordially invites students from all disciplines to participate in the inaugural short-term summer course beginning on July 31, 2023, set to be taught within a penal institution in Bogotá, Colombia. Colombia is renowned for its efforts in achieving peace, and its correctional facilities are the stage of an impactful cultural and social accord. In line with this perspective, Professor Lee Perlman, the founder of the Prison Education Initiative, will be conducting an adaptation of the Authenticity course. The course will be offered to a class comprising of inside students (prisoners) and Spanish-speaking students from MIT and Harvard Universities.
Application deadline: April 15, 2023 More Info

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Caminos por Cases for Culture Cultural Agents Opportunities Partners Pre-Texts Rennaisance Now
Archive
March 16, 2023
by Rodriguez