In the call for the 2016-17 ISI seminar, 'Trespassing,' ISI fellows were asked to reflect on the act of trespassing and examine it as an intellectual, scientific, artistic, political, social, cultural or legal act. Trespassing is ordinarily thought of as a misdemeanor, if not a crime, and as a violation of a declared boundary. Moreover, changes to what the boundary protected are ordinarily treated as damage. Trespassing is never encouraged, generally prohibited, and often punished. It is a phenomenon that can take many forms, often no more than setting foot across a property line, but also migrating or fleeing across a territorial boundary, or working in a discipline other than one’s own.What obstructions do trespassers encounter, whether from colleagues, citizens or others who claim ownership? What does trespassing disrupt in one’s own well-honed practice or sense of the familiar? What is damaged and what is generated? And finally, how is trespassing transformed into collaboration and remapping, finding neighbors, colleagues and compatriots in new versions of home?

 

2016-17 'Trespassing' Fellows:

Kiran Asher, Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

Elena Chiu, Asian Languages and Literatures

Jonathan Hulting-Cohen, Music and Dance

Rebecca Hamlin, Legal Studies

Leila Kawar, Legal Studies

Asha Nadkarni, English

Traci Parker, Afro-American Studies

Kimberlee Pérez, Communication

Marianna Ritchey, Music and Dance

Shawn Shimpach, Communication

Joel Wolfe, History