Episode 11: Cultural Humility and Social Change with Carrie MacLeod

Cultural Humility and Social Change with Carrie MacLeodIn the eleventh episode of our 30th-anniversary series, we hear from Carrie MacLeod, an expressive arts practitioner who has been connected to the European Graduate School (EGS) community for two decades. Originally arriving as a student, she later co-created the Arts and Social Change program alongside Ellen Levine and currently teaches in the Master’s program for Conflict Transformation and Peacebuilding within the Arts, Health and Society Division.In this deeply thought-provoking episode, listeners will explore:How the EGS environment encourages questions to evolve into "living inquiries" that invite diverse voices and perspectives.The vital importance of bringing a social justice lens to the expressive arts, allowing other disciplines—like law, immigration, and humanitarian work—to inform our creative practice.How art-based methods can access the "unspeakable and the unformed," giving form to the silent and sidelined voices in marginalized communities.A fascinating reflection on "ecotones"—spaces where two biological communities meet and create new, vital life—as a metaphor for the multicultural, cross-disciplinary community at EGS.Why the practice of expressive arts is, at its core, a practice of "cultural humility," demanding that we listen carefully to what is arising rather than imposing preconceived agendas.Join us for this powerful conversation about using the expressive arts to navigate conflict, ecological crisis, and the complexities of our deeply fractured world.