The end of spring semester was busy with final exams, commencement, and students heading home for the summer months. But graduate students, Center for Communicating Science (CCS) faculty fellows, and other members of the CCS community made time for a half-day science communication workshop led by Superhero Clubhouse on May 15.

    Superhero Clubhouse, an organization based in New York City, combines principles of theatre with knowledge and hope to advocate for environmental justice. The workshop was led by organization co-founder Lani Fu and core member Claire Moodey.

Superhero Clubhouse Workshop Participants in action.
Workshop participants engaged in theatre improvisation exercises to build community and prepare them for group performances. Photo by Quinn Richards for Virginia Tech.

    Special guest Dr. Leigh-Anne Krometis, a Virginia Tech faculty member in the department of biological systems engineering, kicked off the day with a short but compelling presentation on PFAS. PFAS – or per- and polyfluorinated substances – are found in almost everything, she said. PFAS have recently become an environmental and health concern, and Krometis’s research is looking into the levels of these chemicals in both well and metropolitan drinking water systems. PFAS, Krometis explained, have been associated with various types of cancer, and even one part per trillion (the equivalent to one drop in 20 swimming pools’ worth of water) may have health repercussions.

    As a group, workshop participants created a list of “popcorn” ideas, or information that stuck out to them the most in Krometis’s presentation. Popcorn subjects included “it’s in our blood,” referring to 90% of people having PFAS in their blood; “forever chemicals,” a name for PFAS resiliency resulting from strong carbon-fluoride bonds; and “anxious to get my water tested,” a message in the context of homeowners wanting to know if there is PFAS in their water.

A Superhero clubhouse workshop popcorn list of information positions and tools of collaboration.
Workshop participants created a list of “popcorn” ideas, or information that stuck out to them the most in a presentation on an environmental threat, and generated a list of tools of collaboration. Photo by Quinn Richards for Virginia Tech.

    Using the “popcorn” list, participants created individual poses to physically express a small portion of information at a time. After a few rounds, these poses expanded to collaborative duos and then to small teams who created short sequential scenes in a matter of seconds and in complete silence.

    This exercise drew attention to important tools of collaboration. These tools, the presenters said, are crucial to keep in mind whether the activity involves verbal or non-verbal communication. The list generated by the group included acceptance, vulnerability, and attentiveness along with many other partnership- and teamwork-related values.

    The latter half of the workshop consisted of the five established groups creating skits based on the PFAS information. Groups began with facts from the presentation and then reversed their meanings to create an imagined reality. Participants were asked to work together to answer the question of how the imagined reverse scenario came to be.

Superhero Clubhouse Group creating a skit during the workshop.
A workshop group performs their skit based on the PFAS information. Photo by Quinn Richards for Virginia Tech.

    To lead the groups in constructing their skits, Fu and Moodey walked participants through creating an "impossible question" for their scenario. An impossible question, as its name implies, cannot be answered, the presenters explained. The questions guided the participants by establishing a central theme and allowing the details to fall into place within this framework.

    Five presentation guidelines were enforced for the groups: 

  1. Interpret ingredients to your advantage

  2. Everyone is involved in creating; not everyone has to perform

  3. Ask “impossible question” with performance, but don’t state or answer

  4. No improvising

  5. Take care of audience

    In addition to these guidelines, groups also chose skit “ingredients” that placed further constraints while creating the performance. Text, narrative, space, movement, and sound prompts were revealed by the groups during the presentations of their skits and varied greatly. One group, for example, was allowed to make lots of noise but not to speak. Another group included asynchronous duck calls to meet the criterion of live music. Because of the constraints, the five-minute performances were unique pieces of art that, despite being based on the same scientific subject, shone as individual creations.

    A short debriefing session after the performances allowed participants to discuss their  workshop experiences. Many voiced elation over being able to safely step out of their comfort zones, and others mentioned looking forward to using the experience as a teaching tool in their own courses and groups.

    We are very grateful for Fu, Moodey, and the Superhero Clubhouse team for this opportunity to get to know one another better, develop our collaboration skills, and improve our science communication skills. Thank you to our workshop leaders, and huge thanks to all 19 of our fabulous participants for giving their all!

By Quinn Richards, Center for Communicating Science graduate assistant