About this Blog
Welcome to the Bahia Brazil Blog, documenting MICA's (Maryland Institute College of Art) summer study away course, Countering Eco-racism through Arts-based Research & Ecological Exploration in Bahia Brazil. Here faculty and students share their experiences, research, cultural connections, and projects working within communities in Salvador, Sao Paulo, Itacare and Ilha de Mare--all in the state of Bahia, Brazil.
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In this studio art, environmental science, and social science integrated STEAM course, we visit art and history museums, cultural performances, beaches, ecological field sites, and hold discussions about eco-racism with community members, artists, scholars, and activists. Through independent exploration of the environment, students develop visual ethnography maps and design artistic works to raise awareness, garner broad community support, and/or develop sustainability plans in an effort to mitigate further harm globally.
About Us
Pamela Harris Lawton, EdDCTA, MFA is the Florence Gaskins Harper Endowed Chair in Art Education, and thought leader for MICA’s
Hurwitz Center. Lawton has led study away courses in Mexico and Nicaragua. In 2019 she was both a Tate Exchange Associate artist in
London and Distinguished Chair Fulbright in Edinburgh, Scotland where she facilitated artist’s book workshops with BIPOC immigrant youth.
A scholar, printmaker, book and mixed media artist, her research revolves around visual narrative and intergenerational arts learning in BIPOC
communities. She has published extensively and exhibited her artwork nationally and internationally.
Carissa Aoki, Phd, teaches in MICA’s Ecosystems, Sustainability & Justice BFA program and is an applied ecologist working at
the intersection of landscapes, disturbance and risk. She is particularly interested in bringing anti-racist principles to the teaching of science,
including the use of interdisciplinary stories to bring non-traditional content into the curriculum.
© 2023 by Local Adventures. Crafted with love and passion.