Speaker
Description
This project has been the natural evolution of our outreach work at the “Instituto de Estudios Astrofísicos” of Diego Portales University (UDP), which since 2016 has focused mainly on 2 lines: Astronomical Art and Inclusive Astronomy.
Working together with poets, we have managed to merge both lines in transdisciplinary experiences where the public is the one who communicates astronomy in a creative way, with inclusion as motivation.
We have been surprised to find expressions of scientific knowledge coming from the public so clear and meaningful that we, as astronomers, had not achieved before. We believe that the diversity of our audience (different ages, studies, experiences, people with or without disabilities) is responsible for these achievements, since their life experiences are reflected in their writings.
In this talk we will recount the evolution of this initiative, which started in 2022 with online astronomical observations of deep field objects taken in real time and described by poets and the audience. Then, along with the recognized Chilean poet Alejandra del Río, we carried out Poetic Creation Workshops around astronomical objects, where the public learned astronomy, poetry, and wrote their own poems. Finally we create the transdisciplinary General Formation course: “Astronomy and literature: a creative proposal” at UDP, that scales the workshop experience to an entire two weekly sessions course for undergraduates (2024- present), and the inclusive astronomy book project “Astronomía al Alcance”, a spin off idea from the workshops that includes poetry and paper tactile models.
In these experiences the fundamental principles of inclusion, such as participation, equity, and identity, expand to a wide diversity of backgrounds and visions, putting the public in a position where everyone can contribute, and differences are valued. This highlights the importance and potential of transdisciplinarity and inclusion as a path for scientific communication.
