9. Back to Classroom: Learning from Practitioners Working in the Real World for Changes (28 Feb & 16 Apr 2024)

There were also two talks by guest speakers in this course. For me, the major learning and reflection therein are about how to make changes in the world…a world that is…far from ideal…especially regarding justice. The take-away from the first talk (by Diego Rotman; 28 Feb 2024) was: Yes, the situation is crazy, and changes are hard, or even seems unlikely…BUT we still can try out something and start from doing something—no matter how small! Creativity means…thinking out of the box to envision how we can make use of things and conditions in the present circumstance and context to create something, and to bring an experience of co-operation and collaboration in this process, from which new communication and connection may emerge.

My takeaway from the second talk (by Drs. Helena Nassif & Samar Kanafani; 16 Apr 2024) was: Start with creating a space, in which new creations, new collaboration, new communication and new collection can happen, and the history/memories of the process of creating a space can become a ground for creating another space even if a space may not last forever because of all sorts of factors. That is hope, charged with creativity and anchored in actions.