Coming into the course, I was rather excited to learn more about incorporating aspects of DIY ethos and maker mentality into the education and pedagogy, as I felt like the theoretical pedagogy was what I lacked in my current arsenal of tools.
The Provocations and Maker Challenges were great opportunities to think about the application of the theories we have learned in class. It was the perfect time and place for me to brainstorm the ways I can incorporate my personal interests with creating meaningful activities for others to think more deeply about topics relating to EDIDA frameworks and Liberatory Design Thinking, grounding the theoretical concepts and rendering it more tangible and meaningful.
One example of this was reflecting on my visit to Our Community Bikes, and later on, exploring the intersection of identity, accessibility and community building through the Critical Learning Task in conjunction with the Anti-racism Speaker Series podcast. This personal connection also allowed me to embed lived experiences into the narrative, further demonstrating how makerspaces can serve as platforms for storytelling and advocacy.
With accessibility and inclusivity at its core, this course also challenged me to think more thoughtfully about the utilization of technology and creating multiple points of entry for participation. On the no-tech side of things, using recycled fabric to create a quilt, or magazines and scrap paper to create a collage zine, this made me reflect on the the value of resourcefulness in inclusive makerspace to democratize making. On the high-tech side of things, the incorporation of AR/VR elements created opportunities for engagement in digital spaces, which made me reflect on the module of multimedia and multiliteracies, which was an opportunity to consider the ways how technology can enhance access and interaction without overshadowing the personal, hands-on aspects of making.
Constructivist theories, which emphasize learning through experiences, deeply resonated with me in this class, especially when it came to sharing our own artefacts with each other on the discussion boards and providing feedback to each other. I learned a lot about how each of my colleagues implement their maker mentality in their personal and professional contexts, and getting to know one another through this mixing and remixing of ideas was rather fun and insightful! This reciprocal exchange highlighted the power of collective making, and underscores how diverse perspectives can enrich meaning-making, moving beyond individual experiences to create shared understanding.
Along those same lines, our instructor, Keri, provided such detailed feedback throughout the semester, her encouragement and guidance affirmed the effort I put into integrating personal experiences, scholarly frameworks and hands-on practice. This reinforced my confidence in using storytelling and personal insights to make theoretical concepts more accessible and actionable. Keri does not forget to push us further to think about how our work connects with the critical theory, and invites us to refine our work iteratively throughout the course, metaphysically embodying the Liberatory Design Principles that we have learned! Thank you again for your thoughtful guidance through this course, not only affirming my progress throughout this program, but also providing clear pathways for improvement and growth. I look forwards to applying these insights to my future work, and continuing to bridge personal resonance with critical engagement.
Though most of the readings are centered around Makerspaces, I think the biggest paradigm shift for me was requiring us to expand our ideas of what “making” and “makerspaces” can look like — a walk in the park, a craft circle amongst friends, a repair café at the community center, a workshop at school — can all be sites of making and creating. This shift of perspective has made me realize how embedded in “making” I already am, and realizing that has only expanded my ways of participation! These moments reinforced the idea that makerspaces are not confined to workshops or classrooms, they’re embedded in daily life!
This course expanded my understanding of makerspaces as dynamic, inclusive spaces rooted in both theory and personal experience. By embracing the maker mindset in everyday life and projects, I’ve learned to see making as a form of storytelling, advocacy, and connection. Moving forward, I am excited to apply these insights to help facilitate and make spaces that honor diverse voices and foster meaningful engagement.
Safe spaces and brave spaces have often been discussed in the context of creating more inclusive environments for community-building. While both ideas foster understanding and growth, they diverge in their approach to discomfort, accountability and conflict resolution.
Safe spaces often prioritize emotional safety, support and inclusivity, as they were originally created by marginalized groups for marginalized groups. Often they are non-confrontational, providing emotional validation and affirmation, with guidelines often focused on minimizing harm or offensive behavior, language, and ideas.
However, safe spaces can often create echo chambers or discourage confrontation of biases, limiting open dialogue or critical engagement with uncomfortable truths.
From the above Youtube video, Jama emphasizes that “it is a dangerous practice if safe spaces are all that we use”, as it forecloses the opportunity for change, does nothing to address structural issues that exist, and can often help reinforce and maintain the status quo.
On the other hand, brave spaces emphasizes embracing discomfort as a key to growth and understanding, and “calling in” –rather than “calling out”– those with different viewpoints to engage in conversation from a perspective of curiosity rather than assumptions or defensiveness.
“The mark of an educated mind is to entertain a thought without accepting it, listen to each other even if we disagree or have different opinions, without it being a threat on our identity”
— Carol Cabrera in “From Safe Spaces to Brave Spaces”
Components for Developing a Braver Space
Based on the provided resources, I think some core characteristics and guidelines include:
Authenticity, Vulnerability and Empathy
Discomfort: normalize discomfort, especially when moving through conflict
Growth Mindset: being open to having your mind changed
Radical Candor: being able to challenge ideas while being personable
Clear Guidelines and Skillful Facilitation
Brave Spaces in the Workplace
Below are reflections based on my current workplace and how it aligns with the characteristics of brave spaces, and some potential solutions to foster a braver space.
There seems to be a divide between the faculty members and union staff members, combined with office politics, there seems to be an unbalance of power dynamics, which may prevent more open-dialogue or equitable collaboration, leading to disengagement or trust from team members.
There seems to be a prioritization of experience over innovation where younger or less experienced voices may feel undervalued or dismissed, creating challenges between team members when it comes to collaboration on problem-solving.
Sometimes the team leader’s lack of approachability inhibits honest communication between team members, and there may be hesitation to express concerns leading to hierarchical culture that stifles feedback and transparency.
I think one big potential solution to foster a braver space is creating more time and space for team-building events or internal diversity, equity and inclusion workshops, which will create the opportunity for reducing hierarchical divides, fostering a more cohesive team dynamic, further promoting an office culture where both experiences and fresh perspectives can be seen as assets, and encourage more constructive dialogue where team members can voice concerns, suggest changes or address workplace dynamics in a safer moderated environment.
Instead of going into BIPOC cultures, I will be reviewing an interactive AR zine based on an artist’s experience with ADHD and my conversation with them about their design process. I believe this topic still intersects with the challenge’s main learning objective of reflecting from an EDIDA framework perspective.
As someone with ADHD myself, it was an refreshing to see a common experience visualized in a way that was thoughtful and creative. I have included the QR code to the zine in the blogpost below, and purposefully excluded any screenshots, as to not detract from the AR experience for the readers.
In a corner, someone was showcasing their zines, which piqued my interest. I initiated a conversation with the artist, Rowan (@keeponcreative), who created an interactive AR zine on their ADHD experience.
Before continuing to the rest of the blogpost, please take some time and experience the AR interactive zine yourself here:
Rowan created this zine to visualize the ADHD experience first-handedly through the interactive dialogue panels of a conversation. They hope to increase the ADHD awareness so that neurotypicals can understand the challenges that ADHD folks have during conversations with others.
They created the experience in Adobe Aero, and intertwined the digital interface of AR with the analogue form of zines and illustrations seamlessly.
In a choose-your-own-adventure type of interaction, the reader can choose from three different paths in a text message style conversation, with an insider view into the internal monologue; visual distractions obfuscating the dialogue bubbles; and rapid fire walls of texts.
Some aspects Rowan chose to focus on was:
Info-dumping: Sharing a large amount of detailed information about a topic of interest is a way ADHD folks connect with others and to express that they’re excited about a specific topic. However, sometimes it may come off as overwhelming or dominating the conversation.
Distractions: Staying on top of the conversation thread can be a challenge for ADHD folks, while overstimulating environments can also effect attention and participation in a conversation.
Interruptions: for many ADHD folks, the mind stays active and often thoughts get left behind and fade away if they do not get expressed as they come along. This can come of as rude or misreading of social cues when they interrupt conversations.
While conversing with Rowan, I felt like they conveyed an AR experience that felt really close to my experiences with ADHD. I learned that they are slowly working on their capstone project, “Visualize”, that addresses the lesser known qualities of ADHD through experiential zine. They created AR simulations to supplement the zine with animations allowing the reader to engage in a more embodied way.
We also briefly discussed the challenges of creating AR experiences; the technical limitations using Adobe Aero; integration of more analogue forms of media, or making users want to engage in “going the extra step” to use technology in hand with art.
This conversation with Rowan has made me reflect more on the utilization of AR with DIY culture values of decentralization of knowledge through analogue media of zines, especially with leveraging the affordance of AR to embed an experience for more embodiment, engagement and interaction.
Critically analyze the impact of ableism on accessibility and inclusivity of makerspaces, while exploring strategies to foster a more inclusive maker mentality and a more welcoming makerspace.
Engaging with this task you are going to disseminate the discrimination of and social prejudice against people with disabilities. Disabilities can be visible and invisible.
The task is to engage with required scholarly work, supplementing with own examination of research and academic work to design an accessible maker space (physical, virtual or hybrid) that is inclusive of individuals with (in)visible disabilities from an anti-ableist lens.
Use the checklist below and the liberatory design thinking process as a means to guide your design using any of the educational technology tools listed below (or your own tool of choice). You will include a description and justification of your designed inclusive space using the scholarly work to support your claims, decisions, and configuration. You will want to check out Makers Making Change to provide you with ideas and additional resources to support your design.
Accessibility standards and guidelines for makerspaces have been addressed.
The space was designed using liberatory design thinking principles and practices.
Inclusive vs. exclusive accessibility and usability has been considered.
The design of your accessible makerspace is inclusive of individuals with diverse abilities
Incorporated universal design principles in the design process of this maker space as it pertains to set up, equipment, materials, and navigation.
Addresses physical and sensory barriers in maker space design and activities.
Empowers individuals with disabilities through adaptive and assistive technologies included in the space
Promotes inclusive practices and fosters a culture of accessibility and accommodation
Recognizes and challenges ableist assumptions and biases within maker culture through the design of the space
Space demonstrates an awareness and sensitivity toward diverse abilities.
Implements inclusive policies and guidelines for equitable participation in maker activities
Leverages community engagement and partnerships to support and amplify inclusivity in makerspaces as best communicated through the design.
People first and identify the first language used in space.
Demonstrates critical analysis of the texts through the design of the space.
Preface
After graduating from university, I was working as a BC Autism Funding service provider, working with youths on the autism spectrum. This project was inspired by KK, one of the youths that I used to work with. He would make elaborate builds of the Vancouver skytrain system within his Minecraft world, and we would often hop onto the server to build together during our sessions.
This made me consider online virtual spaces in connection with makerspaces and the potential ways that the Minecraft functions can be leveraged or modified to accommodate for individual user’s needs.
Above I have created my Mentorship Map in Mural. I have also included a brief timeline of my education background for some context.
I found it rather hard to pinpoint my mentor’s identity based on the Wheel of Power/Privilege, as I would be making a lot of assumptions about their identity, which may not be accurate, as I do not know my mentors through these markers of identity. Previously when I was still in school, the obvious power dynamic between teacher and student was at the forefront of our mentorship. However, now that I am no longer their student, I got to know them better through our shared interests and activities that we do together, or through the perspectives that they share through our conversations. Often, when I ask for guidance as they use their own life experiences as starting points, and there I am able to understand where they are coming from.
The mentors that I have chosen were from different periods of my life, most of them I met as a student while studying in Taiwan. Now that I live mostly in Vancouver, I make an effort to visit them whenever I go home. Through these repeating years of maintaining contact, I found that now our relationship has expanded as I have gained more life experience, yet still feel the familiar sense of comfort and support.
One aspect I appreciate most from my relationships with my mentors is their willingness to meet me where I am each year I visit them as a “different version” of myself, and the way that they listen to my experiences while connecting to the older versions of myself that they have witnessed, learning and growing. The importance of building rapport at a more personal capacity, regardless of similarities or differences will impact the perspective, concerns and decision one makes in the mentorship process was revealed to me as I reflect upon this challenge.
This December I will be visiting Taiwan for an extended period of time, and I am looking forward to having tea with Vivien, going on a little urban sketching trip with Miss You, and sharing my last art exhibit with Mrs. Wen!
For this challenge, I connect it with a recent volunteering experience that involved fast fashion and sustainability at Science World.
The other day my friend K texted me to ask if I could volunteer last minute with their organization Threading Change, a fashion and sustainability non-profit based in Vancouver, BC. This organization addresses the systemic injustices and inequities that persist in the global fashion industry through education, collaboration with innovative ethical brands, and consultation with stakeholders to advocate for a just fashion future and circular economy.
They were one of the participating organizations for the Girls in STEAM Summit held at Science World, focusing on bringing learners from ages 12-14 to expand their interest and explore potential career fields in STEAM.
For our table, K had come up with the activity idea. We asked learners to think about the environmental impact that fast fashion has, while sharing some current potential solutions and innovations that directly tackle this issue, from biodegradable fabrics made from kelp to ethical lab-grown leather. We invited the learners to invent a type of fabric they would like to see in the future that can be sustainable and eco-friendly. They would write down their ideas on a square patch of scrap fabric that they would sew together to create a quilt.
Some of the ideas they came up with were rather funny and creative :
Fabric that stretches as you grow so it can be one-size-fits-all.
Fabric that does not stain easily so that it saves water and helps out mothers around the world
Fabric that is invisible
Fabric that changes color under the sun
Fabric with built-in deodorant
It was rather interesting chatting to the various learners and seeing their reaction. Some of them were super engaged with the activity, and seemed rather practiced with sewing; some were inexperienced but excited to learn; some seemed more disenchanted by the activity and just wanted a stamp on their activity passport.
Through chatting with the learners, those who were engaged and actively participating usually expressed artistic interest of their own accord, had someone in their family had taught them how to sew, or other crafting experience in DIY maker culture.
Reflecting back on this activity at Science World, I think it would be beneficial to incorporate aspects of understanding labour exploitation and unsafe working conditions of underpaid workers disproportionally located in the Global South, as labour concerns are also deeply intertwined with environmental impacts when it comes to discussion on sustainability. Through actual experiencing of sewing the quilt squares together, learners can have an idea of how laborious it actually is to create clothing that we wear day-to-day.
Human.Touch.Clothing is a clothing brand that visualizes the human labour essential to clothing manufacturing by using paint in the sewing process to show the handling process. It is a rather simple but powerful way to envision the invisible labour that consumers often overlook when they buy fast fashion.
Reflecting back on to the maker challenge as a whole, though it encourages learners to reflect on the environmental impacts and to create an action plan, I believe it was a missed opportunity to engage with the subject matter in a more tactile, embodied way when it comes to thinking about fast fashion and climate change, and create a more impactful exercise on reflecting on sustainability on a multi-faceted level.
This challenge caught my attention, as I am a strong believer in the values behind repair and mending as a form of sustainability by reducing waste; extending the life of objects; as well as embracing appreciation for imperfection, creativity and personal expression.
I thought it was rather refreshing that this challenge included mending techniques and history from different cultures, including Japanese Sashiko and Bengali Kantha embroidery.
Originally for both cultures, this kind of visible mending originated out of basic necessity to repair or prolong the use their clothing and other fabric garments. The process does not require many tools nor materials, and often re-incorporates waste fabric and recycling as input, where old scraps are given new life.
In the Youtube Video that introduced Japanese Sashiko, the artisan Keiko brought up an important point —- “when we are going to shout out and live the importance of sustainability, I would like us to care and be respectful of cultural sustainability as well. […] and not lose the whole picture of the wisdom and stories behind it”. Keiko also has an entire video where he discusses not to worry about the fine line between appreciation and appropriation too much, under the one condition that people who do practice this kind of mending do not ignore the voices of Japanese Sashiko artisans themselves, and strive to understand and learn more about this practice.
My roommates and I are avid menders when it comes to our household items or clothing. Sometimes we would have communal mending time, where we work on our own mending projects together in the living room.
One visible mending project was mending our couch — it came with a huge gash in the cover when we got it second-hand off online marketplace. It didn’t bother us much until the gash started tearing apart more with use over time. We weren’t able to sew the big gash together, so I crocheted a patch that was in the exact shape of the gash to close the gap. My roommate then sewed the patch in place.
This was an obvious instance where mending extended the life and use of the couch significantly without much effort, rather it became a fun collaboration of our craft skills and gave our living room a more personalized touch!
However, there are times where mending might not be the obvious solution.
In the introductory article of this activity on “mending as an ancient craft for modern times”, it talks about “whether we actually mend the garments we buy directly correlates to how much we value them.” I don’t think that it is completely true, as I believe sometimes we tend to take the path of least effort when it comes to mending.
Perhaps it is more cost-effective to buy a new version of the item because it might be more expensive to repair, or perhaps the repairs may not outlast the everyday wear and tear. There are many “lazy ways” to justify ones’ way out of maintenance, especially in the face of fast fashion.
In contrast, the decision to mend and repair then becomes more of a conscious action and choice, as a persistence of DIY values and resistance to the temptation of consumerism that envelops us.
Part 3: What did you notice about these two maps? Notice your observations about your locale, region and area. Name any connections, discrepancies, wonderings, surprises, or alignments. Review the two maps and think about what it means to create a territorial acknowledgement.
CBC put together an article named, What’s wrong with Land Acknowledgements, and how to make them better. This article highlighted the thoughts, advice, and expectations from five First Nations individuals to debunk the notion that land acknowledgements have become a tokenism and performative task rather than a deeply reflective and immersive experience and process of reconciliation.
Mapping Cultural Histories: Map Comparison
In the First People’s Map of BC, I found that it included information on the language, arts and heritage of each Indigenous group. I found it compelling that the Indigenous regions were layered over a contemporary map showing cities, territories and “Westernized” names of places. This approach made it easier to locate my are and understand the relationship to Indigenous lands, blending with historical and modern geographical references in a way that highlights the present-day identities first and foremost before thinking about the land’s Indigenous history.
When exploring the Native Land Digital Map and locating my area, I was struck by the layers of Indigenous territories, languages and Treaties that intersected with each other. The biggest difference when it came to locating my area was how much more challenging it was with the Native Land Digital Map, as it presents the land according to the original territories Indigenous peoples occupied before colonization, offering a distinctly Indigenous perspective. Navigating this map required more effort to locate my area, encouraging a more intentional reflection on land stewardship and my connection (or rather disconnect) to the land. This approach invited me to consider how our contemporary cities relate to their Indigenous histories, creating more awareness of the deeper cultural narratives embedded within the landscapes we inhabit today.
Residential Schools and Impact on Indigenous Languages
With my background in languages and linguistics, I decided to delve deeper into the kinds of information that the map provided about the different Indigenous languages of each region.
While looking through the various languages regions, there are statistics of the total population of each nation, with a count of fluent speakers, semi-speakers and active learners.
Many sleeping languages do not have fluent speakers at all, and those who are re-learning their first languages are considered “silent speakers”, meaning that they understand their languages, but cannot speak it. Often, these silent speakers are survivors of residential schools whose abilities to speak their first language were “beaten out of them” or lost them when raised in non-native foster families.
Cultural Continuity Through Language Revitalization Efforts
Languages are vital for passing down a people’s knowledge of their land and way of life. Below is a Youtube video where Khelsilem discusses the importance of preservation and revitalization of Indigenous languages in Canada, as they are crucial for maintaining cultural identity and community well-being for Indigenous communities.
First Voices is a website for communities to share and promote their language, oral culture and linguistic history, promoting linguistic diversity and providing a platform to work with experienced language educators, band councils and language communities to plan language revitalization and preservation programs.
Aligning with Khelsilem’s advocacy for language revitalization through community-driven education and use of technology, efforts towards creating professional audio recordings, physical archives of audio, photos and written sources are being made by younger generations to ensure that their Elder’s voices are preserved.
Land Acknowledgements at Langara College
With my previous position working at the Modern Languages Department at Langara College, I think the following are some potential points that are necessary to incorporate while thinking about Indigenization, decolonization and reconciliation when it comes to land acknowledgements.
Firstly, is to acknowledging the relationship between Langara College and the Musqeam peoples. Langara College is located on the unceded traditional territory of the Musqueam First Nation, and Langara College is honored to receive the Musqueum name snəw̓eyəɬ leləm̓, which means house of teachings.
Secondly, I believe it is important to acknowledge the privileges that we have currently to be able to speak, utilize, and learn about different languages and cultures freely, some with the intention to connect with their cultural heritage, or with the intention to expand their intercultural and linguistics competencies, as this was not the case for Indigenous children who were put into residential schools.
Lastly, in the context of languages offered at Langara College (i.e. Chinese, Japanese, French and Spanish) it is important to consider histories of these languages as tools for colonization; Chinese Mandarin as the language promoted through regional expansion during periods like the Cultural Revolution; Japanese imperialism imposed across East Asia as an effort to assimilate local populations into the Japanese Empire; and French and Spanish spreading through European colonization of the America’s Africa and Asia, often at the cost of Indigenous languages and local minority languages and dialects.
Highlighting the history of colonization shows the power of language policies and role it plays in colonization, while also emphasizing the power of languages as symbols of cultural resilience, making languages a form of resistance and cultural continuity, reclaiming identity and heritage and incorporation of decolonization efforts into language learning.
The purpose of the task is to critically examine the role of equity, diversity and inclusion within the context of makerspaces, while incorporating decolonization and anti-racism frameworks through the examination of the content in MET’s Anti-Racism Speaker Series. Design a maker challenge or provocation that fosters an environment of equal participation, cultural understanding, and social justice within the makerspace community.
Choose one Anti-racism Speakers Series presentation or podcast to frame the challenge/provocation. Make note of key ideas, theories and research presented in the series. This challenge/provocation should actively promote the participation of individuals from diverse backgrounds, including those historically marginalized and under-represented in the field. Integrate cultural sensitivity and awareness into the design process, ensuring the activity is respectful, accommodating, and accessible to all participants. Use the following templates to design the challenge/provocation.
This provocation is designed to encourage students to explore the local bike scene and explore how community, identity and inclusivity intersect in cycling culture.
In Pedal Perspectives, students are encouraged to read some bike zines, visit their local bike shops, meet local riders and perhaps join a biking event, and consider the ways that these spaces are — or are not — accessible and welcoming. How do gender, race and identity shape our experiences in these spaces?
While cycling has surged in popularity as a mode of transport, fitness and community engagement, scholarly research on bike culture remains scarce. Traditional academic circles often overlook the nuanced, lived experiences of cyclists, especially those from marginalized groups.
In conjunction with the Anti-Racism Speakers Series podcast Pervasive Racism and the 2SLGBTQIA+ Community, guest speakers Alex DeForge and Meera Dhebar talk about the lack of meaningful representation, the impact of stereotypes, and need for more intentional and inclusive effort to reflect diverse identities. Both speakers emphasize that critical literacy is the key to empower individuals, and to understand the diversity and depth of the bike community, we need to explore beyond mainstream publications and delve into more underground and personal spaces – like zines.
“The history of lack of women, LGBTQIA+, and BIPOC representation in cycling reveals their marginalization and exclusion, especially in cycling media and sport. And it speaks to a bigger cultural issue of how marginalized groups are continually ignored and misrepresented. We cannot shy away from telling our stories in cycling just because it doesn’t suit the narrative the cycling industry sells.” (Cyclista Zine, 2019)
Zines are booklets (like magazines) that are used to share information, knowledge or experiences with others. They are often made with pen, paper, and collage techniques. They can also be made on computers using digital publishing software.
These DIY publications offer a more authentic look at the voices, struggles and triumphs within biking subcultures, often addressing topics such as gender identity, race, accessibility and social justice that are otherwise absent in academic discourse. By engaging with zines, we can gain more personal and grassroots perspectives that shape biking culture, and illuminate the vital, under-represented voices that mainstream studies miss.
Through guided reflections and interactive exploration, and creating your own zine, this project encourages students to investigate how their own backgrounds and identities relate to the biking community, in hopes to start a conversation about inclusivity, equity and what it means to belong and participate in a community.
Materials and Resources Required
Device (computer, tablet, phone) to take notes or document reflections
Pencil, pens, paper, magazines, flyers, art/craft supplies etc.
Optional: access to a bicycle
Inclusive Maker Provocation Instructions
Part 1: Pre-activity Reflection — Understanding your own positionality in bike culture
Think about your current experiences and knowledge when it comes to biking and bike culture. By reflecting on these questions beforehand, you can better understand your personal lens and become more aware of how your own experiences and identities shape the way you engage with biking spaces and community interactions.
Some questions to consider:
What is your personal history with biking? Do you view it more as a form of transportation, recreation, fitness or something else?
How often do you engage in biking activities, and in what kinds of spaces (i.e. recreational trails, urban commutes, group events)?
Have you experienced barriers to accessing biking spaces, whether economic, social, physical, etc.? How have they shaped your relationship to biking?
Do you see people who share your identity and background in biking spaces you frequent? How does this affect your sense of belonging?
Are there stereotypes or assumptions within biking culture that impact on how people perceive you or that shape how you perceive others?
Part 2: Participate —
Visit your library’s zine section
Visit your library’s zine section, and browse the selection of bike-related zines
Select a few zines to read, pay attention to the different voices, styles and stories represented
Take notes on reoccurring themes, especially in relation to gender, race, accessibility or personal experiences in the bike community
Some questions to consider:
Who is the author and how does their background and identity impact their experiences within the bike community?
How do the perspectives in the zines compare with the mainstream cycling media or bike shops?
What issues or themes appear frequently across the zines? What is something novel or surprising that you’ve noticed about the zines? What are some themes that you can relate to personally?
How do the zine creators express their identities and experiences through their zines? Are there recurring challenges or barriers that they discuss?
How do the zines influence your understanding of the biking community? How does that affect your perspective of your understanding of the bike community?
If you do not have a zine section at your local library, consider reading through online eZines related to bike culture, here are some recommendations:
Cyclista Zine Library : a collaborative zine made from intersectional feminist and DIY culture lens. It is run by zinester Christina Torres and celebrates intersectional feminism through zines, live events and workshops.
QZAP: Queer Zine Archive Project – Dykes and Bykes
Microcosm Publishing Bike Zines : should you have the funds and means, check out some bike zines Microcosm Publishing, a zine publisher based in Portland, Oregon.
Part 3: Create — Record and share your experiences in a zine
Follow the instructions above to make a simple one-page zine as a base to document your reflections from the previous activities.
Embellish your zine with illustrations or make a collage with my arts and crafts supplies that you have available.
How do you feel about entering spaces that may be new or unfamiliar? Are there any assumptions or expectations you hold about bike shops, biking events, or zine culture?
In what ways are you open to letting this experience challenge or expand your existing views on biking culture, inclusivity, and community dynamics?
In what ways could this provocation be adapted to other subcultures or community activities where marginalized voices are underrepresented? How might this broaden students’ understanding of inclusivity in various societal domains?
Background/Additional Information
Inclusivity Focus
This challenge considers the EDIDA framework with emphasis on exploring biking spaces in relation to the student’s own positionality, encouraging students to access who these spaces are designed to serve and who may be excluded or underrepresented.
The activity also includes diverse ways to engage with the biking culture and community (see Extension section below) – whether it is visiting a bike shop, attending an event, or exploration via zines — students with varying physical abilities, comfort levels and preferences can participate meaningfully.
Lastly, I have purposefully included zines as a source of learning as it engages with the decolonization framework by valuing non-traditional, grassroots forms of knowledge production and distribution. Zines often represent marginalized voices and disrupt dominant narratives, offering insight to biking culture and underrepresented voices often missed in academic literature.
No Tech, Low Tech, High Tech Options
Zines are quintessentially low-tech, DIY methods of sharing knowledge and experiences, easily made with pen and paper, and a photocopier if you would like to share and distribute your zines!
Some higher-tech options for sharing similar kinds of DIY content include:
Blogs/Personal Website
Digital Zine/eZine
Social Media
Podcast/ Youtube Channel
Extension
Choose an activity below and follow the guiding instructions to help reflect on your experience. These activities are made to include a broad range of involvement and participation, and are mindful of certain barriers, such as access to a bicycle, different levels of mobility and skill levels, and meant to expand in the different ways participation can look like.
Nonetheless, these activities and questions aim to deepen your understanding of the diverse, often overlooked experiences within biking culture and help you explore how your own perspectives interact with these communities. Enjoy the journey!
Visit a local bike shop
Choose a bike shop near you and make a visit. As you explore space, pay attention to how the space is organized and who the shop seems to be designed to serve.
Observe the shop’s environment, the types of bikes and gears available, and any information displayed about events or cycling groups.
If possible, strike up a conversation with an employee to learn more about the shop’s role in the local biking community
Some questions to consider:
Who does this bike shop seem to cater to? Are there specific demographics that seem prioritized in this set up, product offerings or marketing?
What aspects of the shop make it feel inclusive or exclusive? Consider factors like pricing, layout and accessibility.
How does the shop engage with local community? Do they advertise any events or promote social causes on their bulletin boards?
How did you feel going into this space, what about it made it feel welcoming or intimidating? Did you feel comfortable being in this space?
Participate in a bike event
Find a local bike event that is open to all skill levels, like a group ride or a community bike day.
Participate in the event, look around and make note of the people involved, the event’s purpose and the general atmosphere
Notice how newcomers are welcomed, and whether accessibility (in terms of skill level, gender, background) is addressed during the event
Some questions to consider:
What kinds of people attended this event? Are there particular groups that seem well-represented or under-represented?
In what ways was the event accessible or inaccessible to people with different needs or backgrounds?
How did the event organizers foster a sense of community or shared purpose? Were there any efforts made to address diversity or inclusivity?
How did you feel about participating in this event? How does your own identity and experience shape your sense of belonging or connection? Would you participate in a similar event again?
