Allison is this year’s Geography in Practice visiting scholar and the Ruby Prior Speaker. Her talk, titled “Scaling visceral geographies of youth activism: From internal feelings to international collaboration,” will be followed by a Q&A and a reception with light refreshments.

Abstract: Feelings play important and complicated roles in motivating and mobilizing youth activism. My research with the Colombian group Legion del Afecto (Legion of Affection) examines how diverse internal (interoceptive) and relational (proprioceptive and somato-sensorial) feelings have been harnessed for collective peacebuilding and non-violent social change. Individuals’ bodily, sensory and emotional feelings coalesce to form an inner sense of self and being. While typically understood as an interior process, these feelings also form the basis for inter-personal relating and collective collaboration at broader scales. The recent history of the Legion del Afecto is ripe with examples of the relevance of such feelings to broader social and political struggles, especially because the initiative has built a methodology for social engagement that is centered on shared bodily feeling. While a body-centered methodology may seem particularly suited to the rebuilding of smaller-scale, inter-personal relationships, instances of ‘jumping scale,’ whether imagined or actual, also bring powerful if not unexpected results.

Cost: Free

For more information contact:

Megan Betz
(812) 219-8364
[email protected]