Exploring the role of Arts and Humanities in Youth Empowerment
“I do not want ART for a few any more than education for a few, or freedom for a few.”
-William Morris
There’s no doubt that children learn, develop critical skills, and have fun when provided the opportunity for creative, artistic expression- activities such as painting, storytelling, coloring, etc. Why is it then the case that be it the curriculum or community activities in general for older kids and the youth are steering away from creativity and forms of self-expression?
Given the rapid increase of STEM awareness and education, every other day there are programs like ‘Girls Who Code’, ‘K-12 robotics clubs’, etc. I myself lead several programs like this, and can’t possibly refute the importance of exposing children, particularly young women to various technologies, thus, uprooting the fear of technology. However, there has also been a notable decline in the awareness of career options in arts and humanities, or more simply, the exposure to these fields. We must observe that another angle to empowerment is allowing them to explore the world through another lens. This could be achieved through after-school programs in cinematography, history, literature studies, public speaking, theatre, gender studies, archaeology, paleontology, etc. These vast arrays of different tools and opportunities kickstart their journey into exploring their passion. Some programs such as YEAH have successfully helped several passionate young people connect with each other and follow their interests. Another interesting program by Dr. Jennifer Oliver explores dance as a medium of youth empowerment. Another wonderful story is that of the Child protection hub for South East Europe where they have deployed a pilot project to build resilience for the ones affected by migration and conflicts in Iraq and Eygpt, through artistic projects
The true essence of empowerment is being able to express emotions, openness, and understanding in a way. More importantly, empowerment allows the youth to be able to ‘put themselves in other’s shoes’, be more empathetic to others, and positively contribute to the community. I believe arts and humanities would be interesting tools to help achieve inculcate this understanding among the youth. Humanities education through culture and history is a broad and multidisciplinary arena that enables everyone to reflect on events in the past, identifying and relating to certain incidences, and carry these values to the future. Humanities help communicate an awareness of various individual stories and perspectives which can provide transformative learning experiences that cultivate self-confidence and expand people’s consciousness of their surrounding environment, sparking new ideas and tangible outcomes.
This article gives an overview of some of the great ways of enabling youth artists to change the world. One of the ways that struck me was that of youth apprenticeships. While technical internships are commonplace among undergraduate students and seniors, they are not well-known among younger students and in non-technical fields. Although conventional in many of the Arts, apprenticeships can take on a new form when performed as inclusive youth/adult partnerships. Suddenly, young people may gain powerful new insights when educating adults about the importance, place, and sense of their art. Working together with adults to co-create artistic works will allow young people to work across age divides and differences to create solidarity, community, and empowerment for everyone concerned. Youth/adult partnerships can inspire everyone to create and share what is in their hearts and minds, particularly when they are focusing on the Arts. This project by Reimagine Learning is a great example of a success story of youth sharing their opinions through art.
While not exhaustive, I hope this short article is a starting point for all mentors, curriculum developers, teachers, etc. to consider innovative ways of incorporating elements across arts and humanities into your course plans, summer schools, or after-school programs. Another interesting direction would be to get more creative and blend artistic elements into programming exercises, technical assignments, and homework- the possibilities are endless!
“Blessed are they who see beautiful things in humble places where other people see nothing.”
-Camille Pissarro
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