The International Centre of Art for Social Change is creating a unique integrated program of community engagement, academic research and training, professional development and international networking all aimed at advancing best practices in the field of art and social change.
The information below is a draft. As we create and implement our programs, we welcome your input.

Goals and Principles

The goals and principles which guide ICASC's programs will be posted here.

I. Key Overall Elements

Diploma program - Graduate level, also accessible to non-credit learners. Three semesters.
Professional development events and workshops
for those already working in the field

Networking
Events, symposia, web-based dialogues involving the local, provincial, national and global community of artist/practitioners

Inter-sectoral dialogues and workshops
Including hands-on experience of art practices for people working in other sectors, e.g., health, the justice system, environment, business

Research

II. Program and Course Content

Overviews

History of the field, and its sub-fields, to the present.

Includes overviews of art in community; social change theory and practice; economic globalization; human rights; First Peoples’ perspectives

Some of these areas will be core subjects of the diploma curriculum

Some art, political and social theory with a perspective shaped by a concern to put theory into practice

Relational theory and skills

Dialogue techniques, facilitation skills

Active listening and critical-response techniques

Therapeutic group process theory and techniques, attachment theory

Building community partnerships

Working with specific groups, e.g., youth, elders, new immigrant populations, hospital patients and staff members, prisoners

Taught by academics and professionals from other sectors paired with artist/practitioners

Pedagogical techniques

Co-taught by academics and artists in the field
Arts discipline-specific skills

Includes performance arts, visual and media arts as well as inter-arts and inter-cultural work

Taught by visiting artists from the field

Mentorship

A mentored internship with organizations in the field is part of the middle semester of the diploma curriculum

Ethics

To include issues of “ownership,” stewardship, safe practices, post-project sustainability, self-care, etc.

“The Business”

Includes project management, funding, new media and other communications/marketing techniques

How to translate the work into other sectoral “languages”

Taught by people in the field and by academics

Evaluation techniques

Documentation techniques

Research

Literature reviews and syntheses

Original research including topic areas of evaluation; partnerships between arts organizations, universities and with for-profit CSR businesses; comparisons of cross-cultural work.