Part of the Practice
What is social practice, and how does it affect the ways we navigate our lives and make change in the world? Join artists, scholars, and collaborators from Social Practice CUNY on Part of the Practice, hosted by Catherine LaSota, as we discuss our individual art practices, our communities, and the role of socially-engaged art in our work for social justice.
Episodes
35 episodes
33: Creative Possibility with Nicolás Dumit Estévez Raful Espejo Ovalles Morel Atrib
Social Practice CUNY Teaching Scholar-in-Residence Nicolás Dumit Estévez Raful Espejo Ovalles Morel Atrib joins host Catherine LaSota for a conversation about the South Bronx, cats, definitions of home, ecosexuality, and more. Tune in an...
32: A Continuity of Discontinuities with Chris Harding
This episode features a conversation with Chris Harding (2024-25 SPCUNY Student Actionist Fellow), who is a Ph.D. candidate in the History Department at the City University of New York Graduate Center. His work focuses on themes relating to cap...
31: Performing Our Selves with Alyssa Kitt Hanley
Join strip tease scholar and burlesque performer Alyssa Kitt Hanley (2025-26 SPCUNY Faculty Fellow) for a conversation with host Catherine LaSota in this episode. They discuss Alyssa's experience as a performer, dramaturg, and mentor, as...
30: Making Meaningful Art Together with Alexandra Juhasz
In this episode, Dr. Alexandra Juhasz (SPCUNY 2022-23 Faculty Fellow) joins host Catherine LaSota to share her thoughts as a scholar, maker and organizer around activist media. She discusses the queer and feminist methods in her work and...
29: Boundaries of Intelligibility with Jay Reinier
Social Practice CUNY Student Fellow Jay Reinier, an MFA candidate in the Performance and Interactive Media Arts (PIMA) program at Brooklyn College, joins host Catherine LaSota in this episode to discuss the more-than-human grief of clima...
28: Manipulation and Conversation with Monica Rocha
Monica Rocha, a 2025-26 SPCUNY Student Fellow and MFA candidate in the Integrated Media Arts program at Hunter College, joins host Catherine LaSota to discuss her interest in conversation as a method of engagement, and how manipulation i...
27: Improvisation and Co-Creation with Amirtha Kidambi
We return from our season two break with conversation featuring 2025-26 SPCUNY Faculty Fellow Amirtha Kidambi. Host Catherine LaSota chats with Amirtha about her improvisational approach to music, teaching, and activism, and about the ma...
26: Building Better Museums with Tom Finkelpearl
In this final episode before we take a brief holiday break during season two of Part of the Practice, host Catherine LaSota is in conversation with SPCUNY Teaching Scholar-in-Residence Tom Finkelpearl. Tom is a former Director of the Que...
25: Art for Systemic Change with Ash Marinaccio
Visual storyteller Ash Marinaccio (2024-25 SPCUNY Faculty Fellow) joins host Catherine LaSota to talk about her projects in theatre, photography, film, and activism. Ash is faculty in Media Studies at Queens College CUNY and is the Found...
24: Recording Our Experiences with Art Jones
Art Jones, a native New Yorker and a 2023-24 SPCUNY Faculty Fellow at the City College of New York, joins host Catherine LaSota for a conversation about Art’s work in film and video and music, and in live performance. Art talks about how...
23: Foundations of a Practice with Alicia Grullón
Artist and activist Alicia Grullón (SPCUNY Faculty Fellow 2022-23) joins host Catherine LaSota on this episode to discuss the foundations of her own practice as a socially-engaged artist, including her background in acting and her contin...
22: Being in Our Bodies with Floor Grootenhuis
Our second episode of season two brings you a conversation with Floor Grootenhuis, a 2022-23 Social Practice CUNY Faculty Fellow. Floor chats with host Catherine LaSota about blood and breath and embodiment. They discuss her Ask a Parasi...
21: Conversations as Art with Nora Almeida
It's our first episode of season two! 2021-22 SPCUNY Faculty Fellow Nora Almeida joins host Catherine LaSota to talk about environmental activism, urban swimming, and the subversion of different spaces in Nora’s practices. They al...
20: Art and Freedom with Tao Leigh Goffe
On our final episode of season one of Part of the Practice, writer, theorist, and interdisciplinary artist Tao Leigh Goffe is in conversation with host Catherine LaSota about art, freedom, and her project Dark Laboratory, located at Hunt...
19: Citation Needed with Cristina Ferrigno and Ari Wolff
This is a special episode about Social Practice CUNY connections and collaborations! Host Catherine LaSota chats with Ari Wolff (SPCUNY Student Fellow 2022-23) and Cristina Ferrigno (SPCUNY Student Fellow 2021-22) about their proj...
18: Being a Disruptor with Emily Raboteau
Environmental writer, teacher, and parent Emily Raboteau is in conversation with host Catherine LaSota on this episode of Part of the Practice. Emily, who teaches creative writing as a professor in the Black Studies Department at the Cit...
17: Climate Justice and Social Movements with Ashley Dawson
Author, scholar, and activist Ashley Dawson is in conversation with host Catherine LaSota on this episode of Part of the Practice. Ashley, who is a Distinguished Professor at the City University of New York, talks about how his training ...
16: Space Making with Nic Benacerraf
Facilitator, educator, and scholar Nic Benacerraf is in conversation with host Catherine LaSota on this episode of Part of the Practice. Nic, who is pursuing a Ph.D. in the Theatre and Performance program at the Graduate Center, CUNY, ta...
15: Relationality and Intersubjectivity with Jess Bal
Researcher, educator, and photographer Jess Bal is in conversation with host Catherine LaSota on this episode of Part of the Practice. Jess, who is pursuing her Ph.D. in Art History at the Graduate Center, CUNY, and working on a communit...
14: Field Notes and Spaces of Intelligence with Chloe Smolarski
Artist and educator Chloe Smolarski is in conversation with host Catherine LaSota on this episode of Part of the Practice. Chloe, who teaches at New York City College of Technology CUNY and is a Faculty Fellow at Social Practic...
13: Vocabulary Across Media with Jaclyn Reyes
Artist and researcher Jaclyn Reyes is in conversation with host Catherine LaSota on this episode of Part of the Practice. Jaclyn discusses her relationship with drawing, the Filipino community, her work with the United Nations, and her c...
12: Models and Processes with Esther Marveta Neff
In this episode of Part of the Practice, host Catherine LaSota is in conversation with SPCUNY Fellow Esther Marveta Neff. Esther talks about their collective/thinktank/entity PPL, and their work in the Ph.D. program in Theatre and Perfor...
11: Queering the Form with brynn asha walker
In our first episode of 2025, host Catherine LaSota is in conversation with brynn asha walker, an MFA student in the Performance and Interactive Media Arts (PIMA) program at Brooklyn College. brynn discusses her interest in poor images, ...
10: Public Lives, Community Care with Elvis Bakaitis
In our final episode of 2024, host Catherine LaSota is in conversation with Elvis Bakaitis, Head of Reference at the Graduate Center CUNY Library. Elvis discusses their work with the Lesbian Herstory Archives, their experience as a careg...
09: Ghosts in the Archive with Kerosene Jones
In this episode of Part of the Practice, host Catherine LaSota is in conversation with Kerosene Jones, an interdisciplinary artist and MFA student in Performance and Interactive Media Arts at Brooklyn College. Jones discusses the role of...
