How a Monthly Meet-Up of Scholars of Graffiti and Street Art Builds Community
The academic study of graffiti and street art is interdisciplinary. Although two scholarly journals (i.e., Nuart Journal and Street Art & Urban Creativity) specialize in this subject, university-level classes are rare and scattered across different departments. No post-secondary institution has a dedicated program or department for this field.
What’s more, none of the major learned societies has a division that brings together scholars working on graffiti and street art. As a result, conducting research in this area can be a little lonely.
Since January 2023, however, John L. Lennon, PhD, a professor of English at the University of Southern Florida, has organized a monthly Zoom meetup (the “Graffiti and Street Art Group”) devoted to graffiti and street art. Except for the summer months, the hour-long sessions typically draw at least ten participants, ranging from graduate students to senior professors who have conducted and published research on graffiti and street art.
Each meeting focuses on a rotating set of topics: participants discuss ongoing research, share recent publications, and occasionally invite someone to present an article or book for group discussion. The conversations are lively and engaging, often leading to new insights and collaborations. Opportunities for publication and conferences that might be interested in papers and chapters about graffiti and street art are also discussed. For example, Lennon is now editing a forthcoming special issue of Visual Inquiry on graffiti/street art and pedagogy, with all articles contributed by members of the group.
The meetings are informal and interdisciplinary, attracting scholars from around the world, including the United States, the United Kingdom, and various parts of Europe. The group now boasts 90 individuals on the listserv. Although attendance varies from month to month, a genuine sense of community has formed among the participants. The meetup now serves as a vital point of connection for researchers studying graffiti and street art across different academic and cultural contexts.
People interested in joining the group should reach out to John at jflennon@usf.edu
Image Credit:
Title: Community (Rusholme, England)
Photographer: Dunk
