Creating Communities of Hope - Spring 2026

In a time of rapid change, many of us are searching—not for answers to follow, but for ways to create together. How do people and communities grow when there’s no script? What tools support human development and social change without simply reproducing what already exists?

This course introduces social therapeutics, a tried-and-true yet continually evolving approach to creating environments for collective development and social transformation. Rather than offering a blueprint, it explores flexible tools—developed and refined over decades—that help people generate something new together.

The East Side Institute is a hub for a diverse, emergent community of activists, educators, therapists, community organizers, and practitioners. Through the methodology of social therapeutics, the Institute has played a leading role in developing a new form of positive resistance: Performance Activism.

Join Carrie Lobman, researcher and community educator, and Maria José Castrillo, social therapist and community organizer, for an introduction to social therapeutics, performance activism, and the communities of hope they make possible. Together, we will visit projects across education, psychology, youth programs, social movements, and workplaces, while playing with practical tools of performance and philosophizing.

Seminal readings and videos bring this work to life. The course takes place via Zoom, with asynchronous online conversation supporting ongoing inquiry and collective learning.

The group begins on Saturday, April 11th at 11am Eastern US Time (UTC-4) - click here (Timezone Converter) if you aren't sure what time this is in your part of the world. The group will continue on April 18th & 25th, and May 2nd, 9th & 16th @ 11am-12:45pm Eastern US Time.

Leader Biographies

Carrie Lobman is a sociocultural scholar and play movement leader. She is the Leader of Education and Research at the East Side Institute and a professor in the department of Learning and Teaching at the Graduate School of Education at Rutgers University. She is a key organizer of the Performing the World conference and community, facilitates the Institute's "Play, Development and Social Justice" webinar series and co-leads the International Class, its flagship leadership program. She serves as a mentor to emerging performance activists around the world and has served on the national board of directors of the All Stars Project. Carrie is the author or editor of three books: Unscripted Learning: Using Improvisation across the K-8 Curriculum, Big Ideas and Revolutionary Activity: Selected Essays, Talks and Articles by Lois Holzman and Performance and Play: Play and Culture Series, Volume 11.

Maria Jose (Majo) Castrillo is a social therapist, activist, and entrepreneur specializing in creating diverse environments for human development that reawaken creativity and co-creation. She studied Psychology at the University of Costa Rica and completed her postgraduate work at the East Side Institute. Raised in Costa Rica and now based in Mexico, Majo works with individuals, couples, and groups—both online and in person—supporting emotional growth and meaningful life creation. Her work is informed by lived inquiry and research in non-monogamy, psychedelics, and disability, which she draws on to challenge normative relationship models and support clients in creating the lives they want to live. She is a co-founder of the Latin American Hub for Social Therapeutics, which promotes the dissemination, research, and co-creation of Social Therapeutics and translated The Overweight Brain into Spanish, published in 2024 in collaboration with the TAOS Institute. She believes deeply in the power of community and relationality to cultivate a kinder and more humane culture.