Skip to Content

The Weight of Light: Reasoning and Imagining with Present and Possible Energy Systems

About

The Weight of Light (WoL) project includes learning opportunities for middle and high school youth to imagine possible futures for their communities while increasing interest in and awareness of energy challenges and the role STEM plays in transforming local and national energy systems. Specifically, the project builds on the strengths of The Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts62 (HIDA), Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College 63(MLFTC), and beyond to engage youth in creating multimodal solar energy futures narratives as a means of identifying with STEM and increasing agency for engaging STEM practices for social purposes. WoL will develop events and programs for youth to learn about socio-technical aspects of solar engineering and apply this knowledge to envisioning future possibilities for themselves and their community. Participants will create original stories, music, visual art, and essays – supported by educators, artists, learning scientists, and solar energy experts with experience fostering youth creative voice and agency. Using design-based research, the project will document and analyze participation in terms of socio-cultural frameworks that characterize forms of consequential learning. In designing and testing WoL activities, the WoL team will explore how youth exercise agency while identifying with and contributing to STEM endeavors.

This project is generously funded by a HIDA/MLFTC Seed Grant.

For additional information on the project or how to get involved, contact:

The Team

Tobias, E. S., Bartlett, K., Jordan, M. E., & Zuiker, S. J. (2023). Addressing climate change and sustainable energy futures through creative music engagement72. In Youth Created Media on the Climate Crisis (pp. 146-165). Routledge. 

Examples of WoL Student Projects

Listen to examples of student WoL projects73.

Resources for Partnering Programs

Initiatives That Inspired the WoL Project

The Weight of Light: A Collection of Solar Futures74

The Weight of Light is the initiative and book that inspired our current research project oriented around young people creating solar energy futures.

Land Art Generator75

“The Land Art Generator has become one of the world’s most followed sustainable design events and is inspiring people everywhere about the promise of a net-zero carbon future. Showing how innovation through interdisciplinary collaboration, culture, and the expanding role of technology in art can help to shape the aesthetic impact of renewable energy on our constructed and natural environments.”

Activities For Starting the Project

These activities can serve as starting points76 for sparking students’ curiosity and learning about aspects of climate change and energy transitions to scaffold engagement leading up to the core part of the project.

Design Brief

The core of the WoL project is structured with a Design Brief that invites students to work through the complexities of climate change and energy transitions by imagining possible solar futures through music.

Access the Project Design Brief 77and related information

Prompts to Support Inquiry and Reflection

Access prompts to support students’ inquiry and reflection throughout the project.

Inspirations and Resources

Music

Complex Movement’s Beware of The Dandelions78

DJ Cavem and Eco Hip Hop79

Xiuhtezcatl Martinez80

The Book of Ice & Antarctica Projects 81– DJ Spooky (Paul D Miller)

Heart of a Forest 82– DJ Spooky (Paul D Miller)

Climate Conscious Collabs83

10 Musicians Taking on Climate Change84 – EcoWatch

An Alternate Canon of Afrofuturist Classics 85– Red Bull Music Academy

10 Far-Out Afrofuturistic Music Videos You Need to See86 – okayafrica

Sustainable Music87 – Jeff Todd Titon’s Blog

Additional Curated Sustainability and Music Resources88

Solarpunk

Solarpunk: A reference guide89

Octopia: A Solarpunk Zine90

Additional Curated Solarpunk Resources91

Additional Examples of Arts Addressing Issues of Sustainability

Organizations

A Blade of Grass92

Artists and Climate Change92

EarthGuardians93

Green Art Lab Alliance94

Resources for Music Creation

Web-Based Music Creation Apps and Platforms95

Resources for Solar Energy

The Quantum Energy and Sustainable Solar Technologies (QESST) lab96

Examples of Solar Projects

CITME @ ASU

Arizona State University - Tempe campus
1151 S. Forest Ave.
Tempe, AZ 85287 USA


Contact Us100

ASU is #1 in the U.S. for Innovation103

Links

  1. https://weblogin.asu.edu/cgi-bin/login
  2. http://www.asu.edu/
  3. https://my.asu.edu/
  4. http://www.asu.edu/colleges/
  5. https://citme.music.asu.edu//artsandsciences.asu.edu/
  6. https://citme.music.asu.edu//wpcarey.asu.edu/
  7. https://citme.music.asu.edu//herbergerinstitute.asu.edu
  8. https://citme.music.asu.edu//education.asu.edu/
  9. https://citme.music.asu.edu//engineering.asu.edu/
  10. https://citme.music.asu.edu//sfis.asu.edu/
  11. https://citme.music.asu.edu//graduate.asu.edu
  12. https://chs.asu.edu/
  13. https://citme.music.asu.edu//honors.asu.edu/
  14. https://citme.music.asu.edu//cronkite.asu.edu
  15. https://citme.music.asu.edu//www.law.asu.edu/
  16. https://citme.music.asu.edu//nursingandhealth.asu.edu/
  17. https://citme.music.asu.edu//copp.asu.edu
  18. https://citme.music.asu.edu//schoolofsustainability.asu.edu
  19. https://citme.music.asu.edu//uc.asu.edu/
  20. http://www.thunderbird.edu/
  21. http://www.asu.edu/map/
  22. https://citme.music.asu.edu//campus.asu.edu/tempe/
  23. https://citme.music.asu.edu//campus.asu.edu/west/
  24. https://citme.music.asu.edu//campus.asu.edu/polytechnic/
  25. https://citme.music.asu.edu//campus.asu.edu/downtown/
  26. https://citme.music.asu.edu//asuonline.asu.edu/
  27. https://citme.music.asu.edu//havasu.asu.edu/
  28. https://citme.music.asu.edu//skysong.asu.edu/
  29. https://citme.music.asu.edu//asuresearchpark.com/
  30. https://citme.music.asu.edu//washingtoncenter.asu.edu/
  31. https://citme.music.asu.edu//wpcarey.asu.edu/mba/china-program/english/
  32. http://www.asu.edu/contactasu/
  33. https://citme.music.asu.edu/initiatives/transforming-society/weight-of-light/javascript:toggleASU();
  34. https://music.asu.edu/
  35. https://citme.music.asu.edu
  36. https://citme.music.asu.edu/
  37. https://citme.music.asu.edu/initiatives/transforming-society/weight-of-light/#
  38. https://citme.music.asu.edu/about/
  39. https://citme.music.asu.edu/people/
  40. https://citme.music.asu.edu/opportunities/
  41. https://citme.music.asu.edu/initiatives/connected-learning/
  42. https://citme.music.asu.edu/initiatives/contemporary-musicianship/
  43. https://citme.music.asu.edu/initiatives/creative-music-enterprise-and-entrepreneurship/
  44. https://citme.music.asu.edu/initiatives/creativity-and-artistic-inquiry/
  45. https://citme.music.asu.edu/initiatives/leisure-lifelong-engagement-and-wellness/
  46. https://citme.music.asu.edu/initiatives/music-teaching-and-learning/
  47. https://citme.music.asu.edu/initiatives/music-science-and-society/
  48. https://citme.music.asu.edu/initiatives/transforming-society/
  49. https://citme.music.asu.edu/news/
  50. https://citme.music.asu.edu/smil/
  51. https://citme.music.asu.edu/soundexplorations/
  52. https://citme.music.asu.edu/soundexplorations3/about-sound-explorations/
  53. https://citme.music.asu.edu/jdillamusictech/
  54. https://citme.music.asu.edu/jdillamusictech/j-dilla-music-tech-grantees-resources/
  55. https://citme.music.asu.edu/resources-ableton1/
  56. https://citme.music.asu.edu/resources-dawbasics/
  57. https://citme.music.asu.edu/resources/steam-maker-home/
  58. https://citme.music.asu.edu/makey-makey/
  59. https://citme.music.asu.edu/littlebitsmusic/
  60. https://citme.music.asu.edu/makerculture-musicprojectideas/
  61. https://citme.music.asu.edu/resources-steam/steam-musiced/
  62. https://herbergerinstitute.asu.edu/
  63. https://education.asu.edu/
  64. https://citme.music.asu.edu/initiatives/transforming-society/weight-of-light/Evan.Tobias@asu.edu
  65. https://citme.music.asu.edu/initiatives/transforming-society/weight-of-light/Michelle.E.Jordan@asu.edu
  66. https://education.asu.edu/michelle-jordan-0
  67. https://isearch.asu.edu/profile/977682
  68. https://herbergerinstitute.asu.edu/content/evan-tobias
  69. https://isearch.asu.edu/profile/1864819
  70. https://education.asu.edu/steven-zuiker
  71. https://landartgenerator.org
  72. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003335276-10/addressing-climate-change-sustainable-energy-futures-creative-music-engagement-evan-tobias-kyle-bartlett-michelle-jordan-steven-zuiker
  73. https://citme.music.asu.edu/initiatives/transforming-society/weight-of-light/wol-student-project-examples/
  74. https://csi.asu.edu/books/weight/
  75. http://landartgenerator.org/index.html
  76. https://citme.music.asu.edu/initiatives/transforming-society/weight-of-light/wol-activities/
  77. https://citme.music.asu.edu/initiatives/transforming-society/weight-of-light/wol-designbrief/
  78. https://emergencemedia.org/pages/beware-of-the-dandelions
  79. https://www.chefietef.com/
  80. https://xiuhtezcatl.com/
  81. http://djspooky.com/antarctica/
  82. http://djspooky.com/heart-of-a-forest/
  83. https://www.climatecollabs.com/
  84. https://www.ecowatch.com/musicians-taking-climate-crisis-2645219076.html?rebelltitem=4#rebelltitem4
  85. https://daily.redbullmusicacademy.com/2019/07/defining-songs-of-afrofuturism
  86. https://www.okayafrica.com/10-afrofuturistic-music-videos-show-versatility-far-genre/
  87. https://sustainablemusic.blogspot.com/
  88. https://citme.music.asu.edu/initiatives/transforming-society/sustainability-and-music-resources/
  89. https://citme.music.asu.edu/initiatives/transforming-society/weight-of-light/A reference guide
  90. https://issuu.com/optopia
  91. https://citme.music.asu.edu/initiatives/transforming-society/solarpunk/
  92. https://artistsandclimatechange.com/
  93. https://www.earthguardians.org/
  94. https://greenartlaballiance.com/
  95. https://evantobias.net/web-based-music-apps/
  96. https://qesst.org/
  97. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crescent_Dunes_Solar_Energy_Project
  98. https://www.gosunpro.com/news/largest-texas-solar-farm-yet-is-halfway-complete/
  99. https://www.zmescience.com/ecology/climate/us-navy-solar-energy-43223/
  100. https://citme.music.asu.edu/initiatives/transforming-society/weight-of-light/mailto:citmeasu@asu.edu?subject=ASU%20CITME%20Inquiry
  101. https://www.facebook.com/groups/113637715406106/
  102. https://twitter.com/CITME_ASU
  103. http://yourfuture.asu.edu/rankings
  104. http://www.asu.edu/copyright/
  105. http://www.asu.edu/accessibility/
  106. http://www.asu.edu/privacy/
  107. http://www.asu.edu/asujobs
  108. https://cfo.asu.edu/emergency
  109. https://contact.asu.edu/