I have two big passions in life. Feminism/queer theory and building cool things for the theater. I’ve been able to study both of them in college, as a theater major and gender, sexuality and women’s studies minor. When arriving at OSF, it was pretty obvious to me I would be learning a lot about theater, but I had no idea how much my social justice brain would be stimulated as well. Going into my first FAIR Forum specifically themed around diversity, I was less than thrilled. Coming from an academic environment where I’m used to discussing diversity at length every day, I was prepared to not learn about anything new. I was pleasantly surprised. Three hours later when I left the meeting to go back to the prop shop, my social justice brain would couldn’t get off the topic. Talking to a fellow FAIR participant the next day we both experienced the need for the conversation to continue, after the meeting had come to a close.
In the discussion, I was familiar with all of the terms we had discussed, however the group brought up points of view I had never considered before. Coming from a feminist and queer theory background, I’ve explored them at length, and through intersectionality, explored other issues such as race through their lenses. What interested me particularly in this FAIR Forum, was hearing people’s experience the other way around; looking at women’s and queer issues through the lens of race. As in many aspects of life, it is important to recognize where you can be a teacher, and when its most important to sit back and listen. The subject of diversity especially demands this, as we all have different, valuable experiences and ways to look at the world.
The FAIR Experience 