The arts are an important focus for social change. This has been true in times past and is increasingly the case today locally, nationally, and globally. Artists worldwide use their talents to fight against injustice and oppression. Explore the artivist (artist + activist) through discussion and video material from student work as well as conversation from Sharon Friedler's own extensive experience as an artivist throughout the United States, Italy, Canada, Ghana, Poland, and Wales. Examples of Swarthmore students who have pursued work as artivists are also featured. This lecture was sponsored by the Lang Center for Civic and Social Responsibility.

Sharon Friedler, Stephen Lang Professor of Performing Arts, Director of the Dance Program, and Faculty Adviser for Off Campus Study, celebrates dance as a means of developing meaningful conversations between diverse individuals and communities. Her areas of interest include dance composition, history and theory of dance (with special interests in cross-cultural study, gender, and dance as a social change agent), modern dance technique, and traditional and contemporary dances of Ghana.