Symposium (5)
Restor(y)ing women’s preferred futures through arts-infused, gamified metaphors and myths
Christine Boyko-Head
Mohawk College of Applied Arts and Technology, ON Canada
Individuals identifying as girls and women are more heavily impacted by COVID-19, climate change and social disruption than their male counterparts (McKinsey, 2020). According to the UN, achieving gender equality and women’s empowerment is integral to each of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (Venkatash, 2020). Women face threats daily, but their stability and growth are imperative to the health, wellness and sustainability of our global home. If we are to live in a more equitable, ethical, inclusive and sustainable world we need to change the systems we live in currently and think critically about the future worlds we want to live in ten years from now and beyond. But, envisioning positive future possibilities can be difficult for those who identify as female and the organizations that support them. Mainly, because the stories that propel people into the future follows a story-arc that may not reflect the realities of everyone, especially girls and women.
This energetic, arts-based session shares the practices and findings of a research project and immerses participants in a brief exploration of metaphors and myths, archetypes and aims in order to (re)story possible futures in a way that is relevant, meaningful and transformative. Based on a SSHRC-funded research project (2023-24), this session shares findings, invites new partnerships and challenges the boundaries between research, researcher and researched as everyone enters the world of story as a threshold to possible futures.