Learning through Play: A Conversation with PublicsLab Fellows Mica Baum-Tuccillo and Nic Benacerraf

In this conversation, PublicsLab Fellows Mica Baum-Tuccillo and Nic Benacerraf talk about how, as both academics and practitioners, the PublicsLab gave them time and the resources to be accountable to the communities they serve. Their most recent collaboration was with Edge Effect Media Group, a “think-and-do tank” co-founded by Nic and the interview host, Jess Applebaum. Edge Effect’s work brings polydiscipinary scholars, artists, and activists together to create community, scholarship, and performances, using the principles of Participatory Action Research at its foundation.

The interview was recorded by Jess Applebaum on December 7, 2022.

PDF Transcript: Interview with PublicsLab Fellows Mica Baum Tuccillo and Nic Benacerraf

“Coming in as a new scholar, early on I was working on Beyond Acceptance Research Collective and the Youth Justice Research Collaborative, which are both projects with young people, but what PublicsLab gave me was a space to articulate what that work meant to me, to my field, in the world, and where I thought we could work and make our processes stronger.”

– Mica Baum-Tuccillo

“…from the very beginning of my participation in the PublicsLab there’s been a lot of emphasis on accountability. And for me, in large part, that’s been my devised theater community in New York City, which has placed a large premium and a lot of energy into living and imagining better ways of being together.”

– Nic Benacerraf

Mica Baum-Tuccillo is a scholar, activist, educator, and licensed social worker. Mica has co-facilitated several community-based research projects, including The Beyond Acceptance Research Collective, And Still They Rise , and The Youth Justice Research Collaborative. In early 2023 Mica is launching a 2-year participatory action research study and universal basic income pilot with the Children’s Defense Fund-NY and young people who have direct experience of foster care in NYC. As a doctoral student in Critical Psychology, Mica uses eclectic methods to engage with urgent concerns of justice, to trouble boundaries around expertise, and to produce knowledge collaboratively and with joy.

Nic Benacerraf is a scholar and political artist who creates and studies live performance. As a doctoral student in GC’s Theatre & Performance program, Nic’s dissertation exposes the industry of Public Relations as form of anti-political theatre which uses theatrical techniques of mass persuasion to alter our sense of social reality, for the purpose of widening existing power inequities. As a creative director and scenographer, Nic engineers consent-based systems and environments for genuine human encounters in theaters, galleries, concert halls, and streets. He is founding partner of Edge Effect Media Group, following 15 years as founding co-artistic director of The Assembly. He holds a BA from Wesleyan and an MA/MFA from CalArts. www.nicbenacerraf.com/

Music Credit: https://www.purple-planet.com

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