February 17, 2026
This lecture explores a range of socially engaged art practices. It considers how some seek to make community, some seek to expose inequity and some open new ideas of what democracy might mean.
What is the role of the arts in activating and sustaining democratic life? How have artists sustained the rights of free expression? Why are some forms of artistic expression censored? How have the arts contributed to social movements? Should the arts have a politically useful role? Or stay strategically "un-useful"? In different eras and regions of the world, artists have responded to these questions quite differently. This lecture explores a range of socially engaged art practices, considering how some seek to make community, how some seek to expose inequity, and how some open new ideas of what democracy might mean.
Shannon Jackson is the Cyrus and Michelle Hadidi Professor of the Arts & Humanities at UC Berkeley and the Chair of the History of Art department. Professor Jackson's research, teaching, and convening focus on the role of visual, literary, performance, and media art forms in social movements and in public life, with a recent focus on ecological aesthetics. Her books include Back Stages, Public Servants, Social Works, and The Builders Association; recent online public projects include Relevance of Place, Media Art 21, and In Terms of Performance. Professor Jackson has been the recipient of numerous awards and grants, including the Mellon Foundation and the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation. She is a frequent speaker at museums, theaters, biennials, festivals, and universities around the world and serves on the advisory board of several organizations, including ZKM, BAMPFA, the Kramlich Art Foundation, and the Minnesota Street Project Foundation.
This program is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and Phi Beta Kappa.
For more information, visit https://www.clarkeforum.org/tuesday-february-17-2026/
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Further information
- Location: Anita Tuvin Schlechter Auditorium
- Time: 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
- Cost: Free