Out-of-school contexts which shape civic education for conflict-affected youth are understudied in the West African context (Quaynor, 2015). Drawing from Liberian youth theatre artists, this ethnography uses a performance studies approach, requiring participants to “collect information, the imagination to act, think and feel as someone else and the courage to encounter alternatives; the process is open and ongoing” (Conquergood, 1985). This study focuses on youth voice and gesture, demonstrating ways in which performing arts create possibilities for collective work among youth, and how artists’ projects are made possible or constrained by the development agendas of donor organizations.

This paper reports on a multiyear practitioner inquiry project investigating a new interdisciplinary major at a liberal arts college. The major is designed to support undergraduates to become activists and engaged scholars. The paper focuses centrally on the ways in which uncertainty – both designed and unplanned – enhanced or hindered students’ learning. Data analysis revealed four sources of uncertainty, including the uncertainty associated with bridging theory and practice, working with complex partnerships and with the newness of the major. Incorporating an analysis of uncertainty into conceptualizations of a community of praxis offers theoretical and practical insights for higher education.

“Community” is an important aspect of boarding school life; all-girls’ schools take “community” a step further, describing the “sisterhood” students experience. Do all students experience the same sense of community? Specifically, what is our Asian and Asian-American students’ sense of belonging in our community? This presentation focuses on how students’ Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) at an all-girls’ boarding school sheds light on these students’ lived experiences with belonging to our community. We will also share the arc of our nearly three-year research project, from topic selection through to developing recommendations for our school’s leadership.