The Return of Fox Fridays
2020-09-13 • Jonathan Hanahan & Heather Woofter
Welcome to the 2020-21 academic year and the second year of Fox Fridays. We all know this school year is going to be different, but we suspect most of us are optimistic about a future where we return to a normal academic environment. With that in mind we have been considering how Fox Fridays might fit into this current reality.
We believe that Fox Fridays has the opportunity to provide “value-added” experiences for our students, faculty, and staff and also create opportunities for the community both within and beyond the walls of the Sam Fox School. We also believe that Fox Fridays carves out space for us to share interdisciplinary skills as well as discuss ideas and issues that are plaguing our everyday realities from a rich variety of perspectives. The daily learning environment may be drastically different, but the low-stakes, interdisciplinary, and social nature at the foundation of Fox Fridays provides an opportunity to maintain and even expand our rich community in these times.
The theme for this year’s workshop series is “Nimbleness.” This is a time we all need to be nimble and adaptable, in life and in creative practice. How can we do more with less? How can we make the work we aspire to in less than optimal situations and without unfettered access to the resources we have become accustomed to? How can we challenge ourselves and investigate new methods of making and thinking? How can we create alternative ways to gather, discuss, share, and learn?
This year Fox Fridays will largely reside online through two types of workshops. First, we will offer software-based investigations that help our community find alternative ways to make the work they previously did in person. Additionally, we will offer physical and tactile workshops administered remotely. Participants will receive a kit of materials that they can then use during a synchronous Zoom workshop.
If you have any questions, please reach out to Fox Fridays Faculty Director Jonathan Hanahan. Also, if you have an idea for a workshop you would like to see or would like to lead, please fill out this Call for Proposals form.
Again, we are excited and encouraged that Fox Fridays can be a glue that keeps us connected, learning, and sharing thought through these tough times and are excited to welcome everyone back for the 2020-21 year. So sign up on the Fox Fridays page. There could not be a better time to jump into something unexpected.
Jonathan Hanahan & Heather Woofter
Fox Fridays Co-Founders