Up-staging Ourselves: Performing Community as Critical Change in the Blackout Project
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.37119/ojs2026.v31i1.956Abstract
How do we know when we are just going through the motions? Moreover, how do we close the gap between our stated commitments and our everyday practices in our community-facing academic work? This article is an autoethnographic study that uses found poems derived from interview transcripts and personal reflections to describe and explore our work in the Blackout Project. This arts-based and community-oriented project aims to celebrate and explore neuroqueer identity by staging tensions around visibility, agency and belonging and inviting persuasion through performance. Here, we describe the origins of Blackout, our positioning as critical scholars at a crucial juncture in our careers, and the project's inception as a response to shifting historical and cultural conditions. We also discuss the challenges associated with partnerships among academics, community educators, and community members, as well as how we envision the future trajectory of work that pushes representational and institutional boundaries during a time of realignment and challenge within today’s universities.
Keywords: anti-oppressive education, neuroqueer identity, arts-based education
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Copyright (c) 2026 Sarah Pickett, John Hoben
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