SMART Perspectives on Diversity & Inclusion

Are you ready to address contemporary diversity-related issues in a creative way? Perform on stage and understand the impact of diversity and inclusion through arts.**** This minor challenge students to address contemporary diversity-related issues in an interdisciplinary knowledge and creative way. Lectures and workshops on diversity and inclusion will be provided from a historical, legal, social, economic, criminological perspective. To give students a coherent focus on complexities of diversity and inclusion, academic skills are combined with key values of arts and culture and performing art. Diversity and Inclusion will be approached from a variety of academic disciplines and will be combined with both academic and applied skills, resulting in an interactive performance by all students on stage. Students will work on the case study Salomeby Oscar Wilde. The art director of the Codarts Conservatory will collaborate with students in exploring the libretto of Salome by teaching the students to conceptualize the script and to perform on stage.
The minor is open to all students at Erasmus University, Leiden University and TU Delft and also to students of Codarts and Willem de Kooning Academy. In this way students gain a multidisciplinary – SMART - approach on Diversity and Inclusion.
In this minor social, cultural, historical, legal, economic and criminal aspects of diversity will be elaborated in seminars and workshops on locations in Rotterdam such as Museum Boijmans-Van Beuningen. SMART way to understand the impact and the positive and negative effects of diversity and inclusion is to relate them to arts and culture and creativity. Arts and creativity stimulate the empowerment of students and stimulate talents that help them in their professional careers after graduation. Until now, the EUR offers few opportunities to develop these tracks which incorporates them in an academic course. The minor uses the case-studies’ methodology, using a creative matrix based on performative arts (theater, musical, opera or related etc.) which is unraveled by the lectures and students in interactive workshops. The outcomes of these series of lectures and workshops will be used by the students to re-write their own performances and to perform their final project on stage*. The assignments are thus a combination of academic skills (written assignments) and creativity (theater performance). Different aspects of diversity and inclusion will be approached in an innovative and Erasmian way. Workshops will be given in collaboration with Codarts and the Depot of Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen.Students will be challenged to address contemporary diversity-related issues in an interdisciplinary knowledge and creative chain. Students will use theories and methodologies taken from the interdisciplinary lectures, including social-media analyses on diversity and inclusion (me-too, BLM, cancel culture). In creative and artistic workshops students are trained to apply these academic skills into practical case studies.The minor offers, therefore, academic and applied,knowledge with the opportunity to have practice on-stage experience in the cultural sector and the performing arts.
Oscar Wild’s Salome will serve as a common thread throughout the minor, encouraging students to develop:

• academic knowledge(the historical, legal, economic, sociological, criminological dimension, combined with the cultural perspective of the visual arts, music and theater).
• applied knowledge (concept development based on a script, making video presentations, working together in performing art, presenting on stage).

• If you have questions or concerns about performing before a group of people, please get in touch with the coordinators Prof.dr. Paul van de Laar (vandelaar@eshcc.eur.nl) or Mr.dr. Emese von Bόné (vonbone@law.eur.nl).

• to reflect on diversity by applying (historical) case studies on diversity and inclusion.
• to elaborate cases on discrimination, the consequences of discrimination and what is needed to reduce the effects of discrimination.
• to learn how legal systems are related to diversity.
• to enhance awareness on how to deal with dissabilities in a diverse society.
• to learn how to assess diversity in case studies by non-verban communication and creative tools.
• to learn how to contribute to an inclusive society and a safe public space.
• to learn how to give presentations (in groups) in a theater environment (on stage) and in a museum.

Lectures, seminars and (on-site) workshops.
The reading material will consist of book chapters, academic articles, public magazines, script.

A definitive reading list will be made available before the start of the minor.

Examination:
Essay based on the literature (individual)
A video-blog based on on-site workshop in museum setting (group assignment)
A theatre performance (group assignment)
Final paper (individual)

Composition of final grade:
Active participation: 10%
Individual essay 10%
Video-group assignment 20%
Theater group assignment 30%
Final paper 30%

Four assignments: two small individual applied essays (700 words, each 10%) and one individual essay (of 1400 words, 20%) and a presentation (20%). Total 60%
Written exam with essay-questions 40%.

The lectures, seminars and workshops are compulsory. Workshops will take place at the Depot of the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen/ Codarts.
Students are required to perform on stage.