Emma Oestmann, College of Literature, Science, and the Arts, Amia Richardson, Michigan Engineering, Julia Flatley, Stamps School of Art & Design, Evan Schuman, School of Music, Theatre & Dance, Cicada Bhatia-Guerin, School of Music, Theatre & Dance
Emma Oestmann [M-uh Oh-st-men]from LSA, Amia Richardson from CoE, Julia Flatley [Joolia Flat-lee] from Art and Design, Evan Schuman from SMTD, and Cicada Bhatia-Guerin from SMTD – participated in the Fall 2022 Makeathon as a team in Living ArtsEngine, the only living-learning community on North Campus in the Bursley residence hall, where the participating teams of first-year, first-semester students were tasked with presenting a unique solution to some issue involving social justice. Together they created a sculpture and audio installation that paid tribute to Mahsa Amini, an Iranian woman who died while in police captivity in September after being arrested for a dress code violation. The sculpture was accompanied by music written by the team and inspired by real Iranian protest songs sung by the thousands of protesters who have demonstrated since Amini’s death. The resulting experience for the judges and their fellow participants was a moving interdisciplinary piece that brought attention to the human rights violations and injustices taking place against women in many countries today. This co-curricular project exemplifies the activism and participation we hope these MLK Spirit awards will inspire and recognize across our student communities!