A middle-class family becomes homeless after a company lay-off. For some this seems unimaginable; for others it’s a reality.
Miami University architecture students held an unusual demonstration April 17 in Piatt Park to promote empathy for the homeless. Thomas A. Dutton, professor and director of the Miami University Center for Community Engagement in Over-the-Rhine, led his students in exploring urban economic realities.
” I was hoping that, through an artistic invention, that some way people’s learning would be impacted,” he said.
The students created a game much like the popular board game Life. Called “Strife,” it takes individuals down different economic paths. The different game tracks include homeless, middle class, corporate and Over-the-Rhine residents. The students created the game to show how easy it would be to become homeless.
The project was inspired by the early 20th century Russian artistic movement known as agit/prop, which negotiated a line between architects and learning.
The challenge of agit/prop is to agitate and propagate points of view with regard to political questions and help people learn about the workings of the system and where they are situated.
The students worked closely with the Center for Community Engagement, to study issues of race and class.
Each game participant/player received a spinner, which let them know where to start on the large game board. Different starting points included high school education with minimum-wage occupation and college degree with Fortune 500 careers. The players then used their spinners to take the steps of their life paths. Each step had variables such as company buyouts, layoffs, loss of medical insurance and failure to pay rent.
One of the game squares stated that a loss of three paychecks could make a middle-class family homeless.
Dutton and the students sought the advice of Kurt Ghode, a Lexington art professor, on how to make the game practical and durable. Ghode said he just listened to the ideas the students had and commented on materials to make the game of Strife come to life. Ghode had his own interest in the project, as he is also a homeless advocate, heading up a project called Headfirst Slide.
Students Nicole Brown spoke about how the project opened her eyes to how others live.
“It has been a great way to leave the areas that we have grown up in, that we have been privileged to grow up in and really have to deal with questions of race, privilege, and class,” she said. “We have stepped out of our boundaries and really understand the word empathy.”
She hopes that people walk away with an understanding of homelessness and begin to address the issue.
“I hope that anybody who comes through could take away something from this experience,” said student Liz Gerber. ” There is so much here in Cincinnati that people don’t know or don’t make the connection.”
“For me, I hope that just one person walks away with one fact or one piece of information that they did not know,” said student Nicole Boyer. “If just one person would leave with this information and tell another, I will feel as though I have made a difference”.
A passer-by, Mohammed Reaiz, played the game. He said that he was able to break out of the cycle of homelessness, unlike many others.
“Cincinnati is the best place to be homeless,” he said Reaiz. “You will not go hungry in Cincinnati.”
Student Libby Weisenberg said hoped to help passersby she wanted broaden their horizons.
“I just want people to obtain a greater sense of awareness,” she said. “One day something could happen in your life, and you could be put on a different life path. It could happen to anybody.” ©
This article appears in Apr 26 – May 2, 2006.