PhD student Courtney Richardson has been selected as a Publicly Active Graduate Education (PAGE) fellow by Imagining America (IA), a consortium that "brings together scholars, artists, designers, humanists, and organizers to imagine, study, and enact a more just and liberatory 'America' and world." Fellows are selected for their creative and intentional commitment to public engagement and unique approach to engaged scholarship.
As a PAGE fellow, Richardson will receive a mentorship, professionalization training, and financial support during the 2020-21 academic year. She will also participate in monthly webinars and the PAGE Summit, which provide fellows with the opportunity to build on projects that center on inspiring change for justice by involvement within the community and higher education.
"IA and PAGE values that resonate most with me involve wrestling with ideas of 'America,' valuing creative practices as a form of research and key to highlighting multiple knowledges, and examining collaborative aspects of information-making practices," said Richardson. "By participating in PAGE, I hope to acquire more tools that align with these values to position my artwork and research within the broader public."
Richardson's research interests relate to spaces of art, design, and historical information and involve the exploration of how their intersections can increase and enhance public access to knowledge. She is currently working on a textile/fabric art project in order to research and re-present historical data of an eighteenth-century manuscript concerning the migration of Black Americans from America to Nova Scotia. Richardson received her MFA in art from Wayne State University, where she also taught as a graphic design lecturer.