Inviting YOU . . .
“Participants” refers to Friends of the Institute as well as people who have attended or will attend the Institute trainings. This is a widely cast net! The goal is to publicize activist and artistic projects, educational forums, environmental science programs as they travel through and meet up with the Public Humanities. We want to create opportunities for Participants to learn about, and learn from, each other.
We want Participants to improve our livelihoods by letting others know about our work!!
The geographies of surfing range over the world; women and girls’ surfing often moves under the radar of what gets noticed, or publicized. Getting the word out to others about a film, an important blog post, an action, or an organization not in our home base, can do a lot to maintain movement momentum and to generate new ideas. It also archives materials that otherwise might not find public forums. Major corporate monies and massive media presence can exercise chilling and discouraging effects on the social worlds and everyday lives that smaller groups of less monied people build in the here and now. It can feel “unrealistic” to imagine ourselves into other ways of doing and being TODAY. The work of Participants shows how much energy, talent, intelligence, and group purpose in fact exists and coheres. Maintaining connections with a larger group “brain” and set of networks keeps us strong in our autonomous lives and communities.
2014 Participants
Participants in the initial year were drawn from people known to Cori Schumacher and Krista Comer — there was no public application process. The group included competitive and former competitive surfers, activists, educators, bloggers/filmmakers/photographers, media professionals, and non-profit leaders.
2015 Participants
Among the 2015 year’s Participants (featured in the side bar roster) were filmmakers, photographers, writers, activists, non-profit leaders, musicians, business people, professionals, grad students and university faculty, consultants, and culture workers. Many participants combine these talents. Those who attended the Institute were drawn from a public application process.
2017 Participants
The 2017 Participant pool was the largest and broadest to date in interests and resources. We were: educators, non-profit leaders, scientists, community workers, activists of all kinds, competitive pro surfers, entrepreneurs, and artists (film, photography, illustration, writers, music). Again the application process was open to the public.
The number of scientists as well as the citizen scientists among us allowed more informed work in environmental and marine science as well as it is allowing us, going forward, to engage a broader set of science-oriented and STEM publics.
2018-2019 Participants
As our work has crossed the seas and grown in Europe and Oceania, we continue to be a range of educators, climate activists, non-profit directors, and artists and filmmakers.
Please contact us if you would like to be a Participant.