As part of our (Re)imaginative Learning practices the AAC hosts courses, lessons, workshops and webinars on the topics of anti-speciesism, community care, art and liberation which you can learn more about below.
- Greif In Death, Love in Life - In a speciesist world, there are very few places where we can discuss our grief for the nonhumans around us who have passed without being dismissed or ridiculed. But nonhumans are people and by minimising how much they may mean to us only enforces the speciesist idea that they are objects. Inspired by the creative and academic contributions of bell hooks, Syl Ko, Audre Lorde, Frued, Lil Nas X, Erich Fromm and Carol J. Adams, we will explore multiple topics and theories related to animality, as well as hold a healing space for reflection. By the end of the workshop we will have written our own creative writing pieces about animals who have personally impacted our lives.
- Creating Cultures of Accountability & Animality - Accountability is essential if, like the Anima Arts Collective, you too want to build a world without police or prisons. Freedom from carceral systems is a central goal for so many justice movements. But how do we do this whilst surrounded by oppression, when it is so easy to fall back into the punitive system? How can we be accountable for our own oppressive behaviours without doing more damage to ourselves? How do we do this in the animal liberationist movement, when the nonhuman animals we stand in solidarity with cannot give us critique? Can a freedom movement really be led by oppressors? In this course, we attempt to answer some of these questions through a process of accountability, particularly with our own speciesism, without sinking into self-hatred, shame, or guilt. Grounded in the work of multiple scholars, writers, authors, and activists we aim for the recovery of our animality and healing from speciesism. We are not experts: we are learners, explorers and animals who feel passionate about accountability and see it's importance. To be offered again in 2022/2023