In response to efforts to impose #censorship by the Provost at the University of #Florida, a group of UF Faculty and community members have devised a creative performance using challenged language as the text for a contemporary #aria. The aria, based in part on elements of compositions by the twentieth-century Russian composer Dmitri #Shostakovich, draws ironic parallels between the actions of a staunchly “anti-socialist” state #government and Stalinist legacies of censorship. It was performed April 15th at @dadsbar in Gainesville, Florida, local to the #university, as well as streamed online. 

In anticipation of political initiatives of the state, the provost of the University of Florida asked university lawyers to review the College of the Arts’ Meta-Strategy. It included the following phrases:

unsettle

deeply inequitable access to #power

systemic change

correcting exclusionary and repressive #systems

undo systemic oppression and #marginalization

dismantle obstacles to AEI ingrained in our curriculum

truth, and reconciliation

negotiations of power and privilege as defined by organizational structures in the College of the Arts

power analysis

racial equity spheres to identify and document institutional practices that are barriers to a thriving pluralistic multicultural #diversity

micro-aggression 

Examine and reposition Western, white, male privilege implicit in the foundations of the style, techniques, and methodologies of historical works and traditional performance and practice. Address cultural differences within the disciplines represented in COTA

eliminating discrimination and other forms of #oppression

AEI criteria at the ULO level

provocative participation

power and privilege

negotiations of power and privilege

barriers to a thriving pluralistic multicultural diversity

prepare to or continue to engage race and #racism curricularly

College faculty were asked by the provost to “reconsider” (read: rewrite) these terms. They are now an aria, composed by @stephengermana , performed by @kayleigh214 @kenya9 and @trentdance2, with support from an anonymous collective of UF community members. More info at #linkinbio @culturenaturestructure.