Tools for the Undercommons: Speaker Series

When: Wednesday, November 12, 2025, 12noon-1:15 PT / 1-2:15pm MT / 2-3:15pm CT / 3-4:15pm ET
Where: Online via zoom

Drawing inspiration from Harney and Moten’s theorization of “study” as the “incessant and the irreversible intellectuality” present in myriad forms of collective knowledge production, this speaker series brings together scholars, artists, and other cultural workers to share field-tested tools that maintain alternate centers of gravity within (and outside of) academia, while also constituting an undercommons of its own.  We define tools broadly—including strategies, tactics, theories, case studies, methods, and more—that support ongoing efforts to develop new pathways for research and creative intervention that is meaningful to those most impacted and that demonstrates the value of creative work to diverse audiences and institutions. This IA Collaboratory is organized by professors Jacqueline Jean Barrios and Harris Kornstein (Public & Applied Humanities, University of Arizona), and each virtual event features two guest speakers in a salon-style conversation with attendees.

This month’s featured speakers are Paisley Rekdal (University of Utah) and Hannah Moushabeck (Interlink Publishing).

Paisley Rekdal is a Distinguished Professor at the University of Utah, where she teaches in the Creative Writing Program and directs the American West Center. She is the author of four books of nonfiction and seven collections of poetry,  served as Utah’s Poet Laureate from 2017-2022, and currently serves as poetry editor for High Country News and as co-chair of PEN America’s Utah Chapter. More info: https://www.paisleyrekdal.com/.

Hannah Moushabeck is a second-generation Palestinian American author and book worker who has worked in publishing for over a decade at companies such as Chronicle Books and Simon & Schuster, and now runs Interlink Publishing alongside her family. Her debut picture book Homeland: My Father Dreams of Palestine won The New England Book Award and The Arab American Book Award. More info: https://hannahmoushabeck.com/