Welcome
How this Course Came to Be
“G’day. We are so happy that you are here. It’s wonderful to join with other people who are interested in feminist/intersectional ideas, and to engage with other narrative practitioners. Sometimes it can be a bit of a lonely effort if you are trying to think these things through on your own, so we are delighted that so many feminist practitioners have generously shared their experiences here. Watching their videos, reading their words, is like a window into how others are trying to grapple with dilemmas and challenges. Our overall hope is that this course will assist all of us to offer something more for those who consult us. We’re really happy you are here!”
This course builds upon an earlier feminism, intersectionality and narrative practice project (2017), in which Cheryl White (she/her)* invited feminist practitioners from a wide range of contexts to make short videos about why intersectional feminist practice is relevant and important to them. These videos can be viewed here. Kassandra Pederson (she/her) made significant contributions to this early phase of this project.
More recently, Cheryl invited Zan Maeder (they/them) to take the next steps in curating this course and what a wonderful idea this turned out to be. Wow!
Zan has collaborated with the two Dulwich Centre Chairs of Feminism, Intersectionality and Narrative Practice –
Zan has also liaised with and interviewed members of an international team of chapter ‘hosts’:
These hosts practice intersectional feminist narrative therapy across varied locations of race, class, culture, age, language, ability and sexuality.
This course is the result of the efforts of feminist narrative practitioners over many decades. They are too numerous to name here, but you will meet many of them in this course through their writings and videos.
So, let’s start with a video in which Zan Maeder interviews Tileah Drahm-Butler and Sekneh Hammoud-Beckett, co-chairs of Feminisms, Intersectionality and Narrative Practice at Dulwich Centre.
Tileah Drahm-Butler is an Aboriginal woman of Kullilli and Yidinji and with Respect to Darumbal. She lives on Gimuy Walubara Yidinji Country in Cairns, North Queensland. Tileah works in an Emergency Department of a busy regional hospital and is on the Dulwich Centre International Teaching Faculty where she leads the teaching of Narrative Therapy and Community Work through an Aboriginal lens.
Sekneh Hammoud-Beckett is a registered psychologist and narrative therapist. She is Australian-born and coloured by her Lebanese Muslim ancestry. When not immersed in the therapeutic space, she is engaged in community advocacy roles.
Introducing Zan Maeder: Zan is a queer nonbinary narrative practitioner living and working on Kaurna Country in South Australia. They find it hard to imagine a therapeutic practice that is not guided by intersectional feminist knowledges.
*You will notice that throughout this course when first introducing someone we have indicated the pronouns they use. This is an intersectional feminist practice challenging the dominant discourse that it’s possible assume someone’s gender based on their name, or how they look or sound. If you would like to learn more about pronouns click here or check out our free online course: Sexualities, genders and narrative practice: A narrative therapy queer space.
Reflection questions
Before you get stuck into Chapter 1, we invite you to consider the following questions and share your reflections in the forum below:
- What does feminism mean to you? What does it mean in the context of your narrative practice?
- What does embarking on this course reflect about any hopes, ethics or commitments you have in your life or work?
- What do you imagine might challenge or stretch you in this course?
- Can you think of any people in your life (including ancestors, folks who have passed, or characters who inspire you), communities, movements, places, stories or songs that you might carry with you on this learning journey, and which might support you to engage rigorously? What might this look like?
- We would love to hear how you plan to engage in this course! There is no one right way to do it. Are you dipping in here and there or setting aside a chunk of time? Are you hoping to take your time engaging in it over the course of a year or some other period? Are you doing the course with a buddy or a group to discuss your learnings?
- How do you imagine you might put into practice your learnings from this course?
Below each chapter, you’ll find a forum where you can share your reflections and exchange ideas with others taking this course. We strongly encourage you to take the time to share what has captured your attention, how the learnings of the chapter might shape your practice, stories of practice that you were reminded of, and what might need to be considered or adapted for these ideas to work in your particular context.
Tips for navigating the course
- You will see a sidebar at the right of your screen that allows you to navigate through the different parts of the course and return ‘home’ at any stage.
- As you go through the course, we will invite you to click on links to access readings. These will open in a new page or tab. As you progress you can close these pages and return to the main page to continue.
- We hope that the forums in each chapter will be a place where people engage with each other respectfully. Please note that the views expressed in these forums are those of the group members and do not necessarily reflect the views of Dulwich Centre or Dulwich Centre Foundation. Dulwich Centre and Dulwich Centre Foundation do not accept responsibility for them.
- If you have any difficulties with this site, please email us c/o dcp@dulwichcentre.com.au
mcosta_01
June 2, 2023Hi everyone! Writing from Lenapehoking land (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the USA)
What does feminism mean to you? What does it mean in the context of your narrative practice?
To me, feminism is about equality, inclusion and the acknowledgement of intersectionality. In the context of my narrative practice, it means acknowledging the gendered impact systems of power have on people of all genders. It also means highlighting the strengths of one’s gender identity, finding community within and outside of that identity, and feeling not only comfortable, but empowered by one’s identity.
What does embarking on this course reflect about any hopes, ethics or commitments you have in your life or work?
I am currently studying counseling with a concentration in trauma. I am interning at a woman-owned practice and many of their clients are impacted by sexism, racism, eating difficulties and body-image difficulties. I hope that embarking on this course will bolster my ability to work with clients who are impacted by eating difficulties or have experienced gendered violence/oppression that has resulted in trauma that impacts their daily lives.
I have been committed to feminist thought from a young age, and to not include it in my practices as a therapist is unimaginable to me. It is integral to my identity and how I operate in the world, so of course it would be a part of my narrative practices.
What do you imagine might challenge or stretch you in this course?
The definition of feminism has evolved greatly over the years and to this day there are various discourses and debates about what feminism means. I could find myself getting confused around the different messages given by first, second, and third wave feminism. I also imagine that these “waves of feminism” are deeply American, and these terms do not resonate with every culture across the globe. I am excited to learn more about feminism outside of the context of American culture. This will also be a challenge for me, as it might require me to unlearn some of what I learned long ago about feminism.
Can you think of any people in your life (including ancestors, folks who have passed, or characters who inspire you), communities, movements, places, stories or songs that you might carry with you on this learning journey, and which might support you to engage rigorously?
The women in my family and the women and trans people in my life will be a great support throughout my time engaging in this course and engaging in growth as a therapist. I also think of my ancestors and the small acts of feminism they were able to practice in Italy, where a very catholic and patriarchal society was the norm during their time. I also think of a more recent ancestor, who had a baby “out of wedlock” in the 1920s, and left this baby in the care of her family when she ran away to join the circus. I do not know much about her, but I wonder how the pressures of motherhood and the dominant patriarchal society at that time impacted her choices. Perhaps the circus was where she felt the most liberated from society’s expectations of women at that time.
What might this look like?
Engaging in support throughout this course will look like spending time with those who value feminism and intersectionality as much as I do. It will likely include attending Pride events (June is LGBTQ pride month in America) and attending live music events hosted by women and LGBTQ+ artists.
We would love to hear how you plan to engage in this course! There is no one right way to do it. Are you dipping in here and there or setting aside a chunk of time? Are you hoping to take your time engaging in it over the course of a year or some other period? Are you doing the course with a buddy or a group to discuss your learnings?
I am setting aside chunks of time each week to work on this course. I am counting it as “indirect hours” towards my internship. The hours are needed to graduate from my masters program and this course will count as a training. I also plan to use a professional development fund my school provided me with to pay for certification in this course as well as some other courses from the Dulwich Centre.
How do you imagine you might put into practice your learnings from this course?
I imagine this course will both teach me new ideas and also activate and help me better use knowledge I already have about feminism and intersectionality. My long term goal is to work as a narrative therapist, and this course is one stepping stone in achieving this goal.
ytydc
April 12, 2023Hello everyone~This course looks so fantastic! For the question “What does feminism mean to you? What does it mean in the context of your narrative practice?” my ideas go like this: First, feminism works for me as a set of reminders of how our daily lives and ordinary experiences and feelings are shaped by power, a seemingly abstract thing, by sex, sexuality, and gender, a group of seemigly very concrete things, and by the interaction between them. Apart from demanding me to think and criticize the given, the taken-for-granted, it also comforts and empowers me. In narrative practices, it helps urge me to ask more questions, write down more details, particularly information that is ignored or de-valued by those from a privileged position.
Michelle Fairbrother
January 9, 2023What does feminism mean to me? That’s feels steeped in cultural bias and assumed definitions for me – it was not a word that was embraced or acknowledged in my family of origin. Only now as I move into my later adult years, am I feeling safe enough to question. explore and challenge some of the insidious and almost unseen narratives that dominated how I was “allowed” to explore or understand this idea. So while it may feel like a relaitvely easy question to ask, I think I am still “redefining” what true feminism means for me. So far, I would say that it represents a way of being in the world where my hopes, ideas, individuality and sexual and feminine identity can be whatever it is, without all the covert and overt messages of “shoulds” getting in the way (whether these constraints may be religious, cultural, societal, familial, patriarchal or other). And likewise, it means this same for all those who align with this way of being in the world. It means I am able to reject what no longer feels right, even if it is the more accepted “norm” and to voice this in my language, my behaviour, my attitudes, my beliefs and my interactions with others – including how I have chosen to raise my children – and my son in particular.. I believe that feminism can support all humankind – men included – to be their best true selves – because the patriarchy has done as much damage to men as it has to women. I think I may have rambled on here, but I have appreciated the opportunity to put my thoughts onto paper as a way of practicing what it actually means to hold onto an intersectional feminist framework – and explore this not only from the perspective of a practitioner, but also as a woman, friend, daughter, mother, partner and member of my community.
boodika
January 3, 2023Hi Tileah, Zan and Sekneh, I have been looking forward to this course for many months, and at last I have a week where my diary has the space necessary to immerse myself in this. Twenty four years ago I was at university in the UK completing a module in Contemporary Western Feminism, which was so fascinating. It is going to be so interesting to take these ideas further up to current times, and to learn about feminism beyond the Western lense. Thank you.
Sylvie
December 22, 2022Thank you for the welcome and the introduction to the course, this is my first exposure to feminism-related courses, and I would like to start my exploration through this course. I don’t know where this course will take me yet, but it surely will be an exciting journey. I can also begin to think about what feminism is, what my feminine identity means to me personally and what it means to me as a counsellor.I also look forward to seeing examples of diverse feminist narratives, stories.
Megan Testro
December 18, 2022Thank you for the generous introduction – I appreciate the valuing of pronouns, as a strength in continually challenging internal bias & assumptions. I was struck by the honest story from Sekneh about the ‘Family Violence’ experience and the reflective response – of framing those close relationships through a feminist lens (particularly framing the feminist response of father).
As a recent graduate of a Masters in Social Work, I am hoping to strengthen my knowledge and skills in applying an Intersectional Feminist lens to narrative practice professionally and personally.
Bec
September 12, 2022What do you imagine might challenge or stretch you in this course? Having to let go of the idea that I need to know everything, that I need to be able to describe everything perfectly, otherwise I’m not a good feminist. I’m hoping that my privilege will continue to be challenged through this course, particularly in understanding how to decolonise my practice
Denise Cabrera
September 9, 2022what does feminism meant to me? it means many posibilities of being whoever I want to be, means Change, deconstruction, redistribution, justice, confusión, conflict, possibilities, reconstrucción, but first of all: freedom of decide what is important to me! Narrative therapy means to me, the way to make it possible not only in me even in all the People Who want to change their realities!
becky (she/her) on Ohlone land (CA, USA)
August 17, 2022What an inspiring welcome, thank you! I am excited to explore this course and appreciate all of the care and generosity put into creating it. The combination of feminism, narrative therapy, and a current/anti-colonial lens feels much needed and incredibly nourishing: thank you again!
Jessica Lenihan
August 17, 2022Good Morning Tileah, Zan and Sekneh,
As a new parent I am interested in the ways that relational practice support us in telling our family’s stories and reauthoring new ones. I also like the questions about calling in accountability to power. I am looking forward to this course.
Mercy Shumbamhini
July 1, 2022Hi Tileah, Zan and Sekneh, Thank you very much for this inspiring and wonderful welcome and introduction to this online course. I deeply appreciate the article about pronouns, this is a new learning for me. I am looking forward to participating in this course.
Mercy
July 1, 2022Hi Tileah, Zan and Sekneh, Thank you very much for this inspiring and wonderful welcome and introduction to this online course. I deeply appreciate the article about pronouns, this is a new learning for me. I am looking forward to participating in this course.
Tim
June 23, 2022Dear Sekneh Tileah and Zan, I appreciate the intro, I look forward to increasing my learnings and knowledges. And also to continue reflecting on my own back pack of privileges’, which I carry.
Sekneh, you have reminded me, from your story telling of remembering your father, of the conversations I am now having with my 9 yo. daughter. I find myself joining with your story and the conversations that I am having with her, as she comes alive with the possibilities in how she can make a difference in the world.
Warmly, Tim
Michelle Tamara Wylie
January 21, 2022Hi Tileah, Zan and Sekneh, Thank you for the wonderful welcome to this course. I particularly resonated with Tileah’s words “When we can name our practice as being from this perspective, we’re held accountable to our own use of power and how we invite these stories in”. I am so looking forward to engaging with this course.
Frankie HS
January 20, 2022Hi Tileah, Zan and Sekneh,
Thank you for that great introduction to this online course.
I was particularly struck by Tileah referring to Shelja’s work on ‘Just Girls’ and highlighting the grassroots resilience of young women in India, whether that be small or large, that link together this theme of feminisms and intersectionality. I was moved to hear Sekneh mention that she learnt feminism from her mother who gave her a kiss on the forehead and support to leave an abusive relationship. Although these examples of local knowledge of feminism were perhaps not called that by the people enacting these actions of love, support and care, it is important that this folk knowledge is included as central component of intersectionality and feminisms.
It feels nourishing and beautiful to hear these practices embedded in people’s webs of relationships, rather than belonging inside an institution of a university where these feminist ideas can get co-opted or gentrified.
I also appreciated Tileah’s honouring of Aunty Barb and how Aunty Barb has invited narrative practitioners who engage with Dulwich into responsibility and accountability.
I look forward to diving into the course!