Paper Short Abstract:

How might future us look back on the state of academia today? In awe, nostalgia, disgust? This interactive session presents images of academia today drawn by members of The Reject Lounge. We invite you to write a postcard from the future in response: whether utopian, dystopian or something else…

Paper Abstract:

PJ Annand, Francesca Bernardi, Bee Damara, Sohail Jannesari, Ankita Mishra, River Újhadbor, Frances Williams

This interactive paper explores the role of creative practice (1) in the development of the Reject Lounge – a space for rejecting harmful academic norms and cultivating a research community that values compassion, social justice and solidarity; and relatedly (2) in fostering a state of ‘unknowing’: understood here as a condition of openness to understanding and imagining the world differently.

Made up of researchers, artists, activists, and members of community organisations, the Reject Lounge has embarked on a wandering, goal-less and curious journey. The Reject Lounge does not adhere to a predefined mission; rather, it evolves organically as we come together in collective care and creative unknowing. Within it we question established norms, challenge harmful practices, and re-imagine academia's purpose.

This session revolves around a series of images created in this tentative environment, each capturing our views of the state of academia today and our role in it. The images are presented as postcards to the future. We speculate how our future selves might look back on this time upon receiving them. We invite you to join us by writing or drawing responses from the future: whether utopian, dystopian or something else…