AATE 2025 National Conference

As the climate crisis intensifies, impacting Global Majority and other marginalized communities "first and worst," how might we initiate critical conversations about Environmental (In)justice with the young people we teach and create with and for? How might our tools as theatre artists be uniquely equipped to help us make sense of our current reality, trace the histories and systems of power that brought us to this point, and envision radically just and thriving futures? This 75-minute workshop, based on an arts-integrated lesson originally developed for a 7th Grade Social Studies classroom in Austin, TX grapples with these very questions. You’ll be invited to experience the workshop as well as brainstorm how you might adapt it for the communities and contexts in which you work. Through Theatre of the Oppressed activities, collaborative analysis of maps and other artifacts, and visual arts expression, we’ll explore one potential creative entry point into these conversations about Environmental (In)justice and the climate crisis with the young people in our lives.