Art As A Tool For Civic Engagement Is Lecture Topic At MCCC October 22

The use of artistic expression as a means to bring about social change will be the topic of a lecture at Mercer County Community College (MCCC) as part of the college's Fall 2019 Distinguished Lecture Series.

Jive Poetics will deliver his lecture "Insurgent Poetics" on Tuesday, Oct. 22, at noon in the Communications Building, Room CM109 on the college's West Windsor Campus. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Poetic approaches his lecture from the standpoint that our current democracy is leaning toward plutocracy, where individuals of great wealth are driving the social agenda. He notes that public corporations are benefitting financially from mass incarceration, with home loans, college loans, and medical bills creating what amounts to debt slavery. Poetic contends that this, in addition to the proliferation of social ills ranging from racism to misogyny to homophobia, portends a time of action for the civic minded.

But, he notes, most would-be activists cannot risk taking part in traditional means of protest, putting their physical bodies, reputations, and livelihoods on the line when confronting powerful foes. In this lecture and poetry reading, Poetic will discuss creative strategies to position art as a tool for civic engagement.

Poetic received his B.A. in Media Studies from the State University of New York at Buffalo, and his M.F.A. in Writing and Activism from Pratt Institute. He has performed his work in venues ranging from the Australian House of Parliament to the Tom Thumb Theatre in Kent, England. He was one of two poets selected but the U.S. Embassy to represent American slam poetry during an international cultural exchange program in Warsaw, Poland.

For more information on MCCC's Distinguished Lecture Series, call (609) 570-3324 or visit www.mccc.edu/lecture.