Project Hózhó : Youth, Arts and Environment in the Navajo Nation

Brian James, Oberlin College
Kieran Minor, Oberlin College
Rashad Saleh, Oberlin College

Session III, Panel 4 - Environmental | Education
Moderator: Nicollette Mitchell, Director of the Center for Learning Education and Research in the Sciences

*Featured presentation*

Abstract

The goal of our project, Project Hózhó, is to create an enduring collaborative summer program for youth on the Navajo Nation that engages complex environmental, cultural and political issues through photography and filmmaking. We collaborated with local organizations like the National Park Service, Indian Health Service, and the local school district to create curriculum for grades 7-12, executed over a four week period at Canyon de Chelly National Monument in Chinle, AZ. Through classroom workshops, field shoots, and a guest photography workshop with Will Wilson ’93, students created a portfolio of a dozen works ranging from documentary to sci-fi. Student work will be combined with hours of our own documentary footage and oral histories to create an interactive website about environmental change in the Chinle Valley. This project shows the value of interdisciplinary learning, collaboration, and entrepreneurship in crafting creative approaches to community-centered social and environmental justice.

 
Apr 27th, 1:00 PM Apr 27th, 2:20 PM

Project Hózhó : Youth, Arts and Environment in the Navajo Nation

King Building 101

The goal of our project, Project Hózhó, is to create an enduring collaborative summer program for youth on the Navajo Nation that engages complex environmental, cultural and political issues through photography and filmmaking. We collaborated with local organizations like the National Park Service, Indian Health Service, and the local school district to create curriculum for grades 7-12, executed over a four week period at Canyon de Chelly National Monument in Chinle, AZ. Through classroom workshops, field shoots, and a guest photography workshop with Will Wilson ’93, students created a portfolio of a dozen works ranging from documentary to sci-fi. Student work will be combined with hours of our own documentary footage and oral histories to create an interactive website about environmental change in the Chinle Valley. This project shows the value of interdisciplinary learning, collaboration, and entrepreneurship in crafting creative approaches to community-centered social and environmental justice.