We live in a precarious moment in the fortunes of our civilisation, and indeed in those of the many species, ecosystems and future generations that find themselves threatened by it. It is a moment where a deeper and broader understanding is needed into the systemic roots of the various crises converging upon us – as well as how we might creatively respond to them.
Politically progressive researchers and writers have often laboured under the illusion that providing ‘the strongest arguments’, substantiated by copious data, would be enough to win the day. However, it is becoming increasingly recognised that effective communication is a science as well as an art, and that at least as much attention needs to be devoted to the "how" of communication as to the "what".
Of particular importance is the growing understanding of the importance of values and frames in how people make sense of the world and in guiding their attitudes and behaviours. So, campaigns to promote pro-social behaviours that appeal to people’s extrinsic values (to do, for example, with economic benefit or increased social status) may in the long run have the perverse effect of diminishing motivations deriving from intrinsic values associated with love and generosity.
Similarly, skilful use of visual and verbal/written metaphor is increasingly recognised as central to effective communication.
The course will provide an exploration of:
- insights derived from behavioural economics and neuro-neuroscience into the process by which people make meaning in the world and form (and change) their worldviews
- the importance of framing, values and metaphor in transforming individual and societal narratives
- a history of the rise of today’s dominant economic narrative, neoliberalism, and the role played by skilful communication strategies in its emergence
- the framing of alternative models and how they might be constructed in different narrative and artistic structures
- experimenting with creative expression in the company of a gifted, international, multi-modal learning community and teachers
- how to harness modern vehicles of mythology: television, film, internet memes
- personal life-frames and habits; how these are conditioned by the dominant societal narratives; and how to shift inner and outer frames as mutually supportive processes
This course is a module of our Regenerative Economics postgraduate course. It is open to external short course participants who would like to deeply explore this subject material and who can join us for the whole five week programme.
For short course participants, the first two weeks of the course [1-12 March 2021] will be residential at Schumacher College. Participants will be in class for 12 hours per week, with design group break-out sessions for an additional 12 hours. There will, in addition, be various community-based activities during which short course participants will be able to spend time with students on the various Masters programmes that are running in parallel.
Week three, week four and week five will be taught online, with 6 hours per week spent together synchronously plus a range of group activities and supported independent learning.
The course is designed to support
- socially engaged writers and artists seeking to make their work more effective, informed by the science of communication
- writers and artists of all kinds seeking to collaborate across artistic forms
- campaigners seeking to integrate the arts intelligently into their work to make it more effective, fun and engaging