Faith
During 2023 I was invited by Camden Council to run a series of collaborative art workshops with a Jewish LGBTQ+ group based in Belsize Park Synagogue. The workshops were part of a pilot project exploring the contested heritages of statues within the borough. Our statue was of author Virginia Woolf whose history was being re-examined considering the antisemitic comments she made within her fiction and her diaries. This revisiting highlighted her complex identity, as an openly queer woman, who was married to a Jewish man, and her visit to Nazi-run Germany in 1935.
As a non-religious queer woman, I was at times an outsider to the group, as well as in ways an insider. To acknowledge this, we organised a group learning session about Woolf, run by Jewish Queer scholar Aviva Dautch, so that, myself and the group could arrive at the subject together. Working with the group, I discovered that they were more interested in exploring their own personal relationships to identity and values through personal narrative, emotion, family, love, friendship and fun, rather than trying to unpick complex histories of societal antisemitism and homophobia. They were interested in expressing their humanity, rather than their perceived place within society. One participant shared with me about her shifting intersectional experience, explaining that in some Jewish run spaces she would conceal her queer identity, but equally in queer run spaces, which are often intended to be progressive and inclusive, she equally felt the need to hide her Jewish identity.
This experience has been enriched by the thinking within Mirza’s text about the impact of secular run university spaces on students who experience gendered religious racism. ‘The teachers’ perceptions of the young women wearing the veil were bounded by popular concerns about their agency and what they perceived to be their cultural and familial disempowerment and restricted scope for choice.’ (Mirza, 2018) For students whose religion is visible, the privilege to keep parts of their identity private is not possible. This can create contexts where others make biased assumptions, leading to such students having to work harder to prove their abilities.
Simran Jeet Singh talks about overcoming the tendency to try and paint entire communities with a single brush. He (Jeet Singh, 2016), explains the importance of demonstrating that differences exist within communities by challenging basic stereotypes through his own behaviour and shows the importance of providing multiple different ways of looking at things. An example which I felt embodies this practice is the Inclusive Mosque’s programme Raise Your Gaze which works with support services to address discriminatory practices, ‘through workshops which tackle the root causes of those injustices so that practitioners are equipped to understand why injustice exists in their sector and how to address it.’ ( Inclusive Mosque Initiative, 2016) This approach exemplifies a critical understanding which can be applied to the studio setting. Within my teaching, it is important to consider how our current practices, such as largely ignoring faith, can be harmful to students, and to actively find ways to explore topics with students, through asking them to consider their own positionalities in relation to these wider research topics.
- Mirza, H. S. (2018) Threatening Bodies, Black Bodies ‘Out of Place’ in Academic Spaces: Gender, Race, Faith and Culture in Post-race Times. In Dismantling Race in Higher Education, Eds. Arday, J & Mirza, H. S. Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan. pp 184 – 187
- Jeet Singh, S, Trinity University (2016) Challenging Race, Religion, and Stereotypes in the Classroom. [Online]. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CAOKTo_DOk Accessed May 2024
- Inclusive Mosque Initiative (2016) Our Mission [Online] Available at: https://inclusivemosque.org/our-mission/ Accessed May 2024
I really loved the outcome of this group… “Working with the group, I discovered that they were more interested in exploring their own personal relationships to identity and values through personal narrative, emotion, family, love, friendship and fun, rather than trying to unpick complex histories of societal antisemitism and homophobia. They were interested in expressing their humanity, rather than their perceived place within society”
VW was also neurodiverse to add to her intersectionality… did that have an impact? Leonard her husband had some spicy things to say… the early Friday Club papers are interesting which led me to considering the acknowledgement of largely ignoring faith as harmful in the studio space and whether it could be seen as harmful in other spaces or whether there were some learning experiences where it could be seen as the opposite.
Hi Anna, it was great to hear your reflections on your collaborative workshops with the Jewish LGBTQ+ group at Belsize Park Synagogue. It is striking how the participants’ desire to explore personal narratives over societal complexities, perhaps it is easier to engage with emotionally through one’s own experience. At its best, storytelling and narrative historically allows us to practice empathy and capacity to see the world from different viewpoints.
Your approach to acknowledge your positionality as both an insider and outsider by organizing a group learning session with Aviva Dautch is really interesting too and a great example of how we all continue to intersect fluidly and serves as an inspiring and encouraging example of how such interventions can be thoughtfully implemented, benefiting both participants and facilitators. By encouraging dialogue on difficult subjects and integrating diverse perspectives into our curriculum at UAL, we can try to foster a more inclusive and empathetic learning environment.
I wonder if you might be interested in the work of Jessica Greenebaum whom talks about the sociological, political significance of the othering process in her paper ‘Placing Jewish Women into the intersectionality of race, class and gender’.
You highlighted Mizras text, that ‘for students whose religion is visible, the privilege to keep parts of their identity private is not possible. This can create contexts where others make biased assumptions, leading to such students having to work harder to prove their abilities’.
Visible faith positions such as this sadly are open to facing ‘direct discrimination’ which is characterised with intent and experiences of being ‘othered’. This highlights the importance of creating environments in our teaching where all facets of identity are acknowledged and respected.
I would also argue that there are challenges with concealing your identity too. Both Visible and non-visible faiths alike can experience the effects of ‘indirect discrimination’ which is sneaky and works in apparently neutral provisions affecting groups in less favourable ways regardless, as does the prevailing structural discrimination which is woven into the ways in which our society functions, operating through norms, routines patterns of attitudes and behaviours that create obstacles in achieving equal opportunities. These discriminations can still affect many people who are “passing” and able to hide their invisible faith and social identities regardless as to if they might fabricate, conceal or use discretion to hide because of fear of discrimination or harassment. It is perhaps likely to happen avertedly or in more covert ways. `Evelyn Torton Beck wrote in 1982 ‘Jewish invisibility is a symptom of anti-Semitism as surely as lesbian invisibility is a symptom of homophobia.
Hi Anna
It was interesting to discover more about the complexities of Virginia Wolfs identity through your post, I wasn’t aware of this at all. The Camden workshop series sounds like a fantastic way for people to engage with social histories in their local area. Your collaborative approach to building a dialogue around the subject together with participants and Aviva Dautch as co-faclitator shows you have a strong consideration of the significance of postionality and intersectionality in your approach to education, and of how the potential to be both an insider/outsider at the same time can be very valuable. As Liz has affirmed also, that the group came back to issues of common humanity was telling.
Your comments about the dangers of ignoring faith resonated, and while it can feel very challenging I think you’re right about the importance openness in the classroom, but that simply by being aware of their own positionalities and facilitating brave spaces we can work toward this.
It can feel quite overwhelming at times, and we can wonder if we feel equipped. Perhaps conversations need to more open within the University at staff level too for us to be able to feel confident to support students? This Social Justice module is the first time I have really talked about faith since being at UAL!