Harriett’s Bookshop x UArts Inclusive Philly presents a conversation with Gretchen Sisson, PhD, and Errin Haines at the Art Alliance for the new book Relinquished: The Politics of Adoption and the Privilege of American Motherhood! Over the span of two decades, Sisson conducted hundreds of in-depth interviews with women who have relinquished their children for domestic adoption. Her book is the powerful culmination of her research, a study of adoption that places birth parents firmly in the center. Masterfully weaving first-person accounts with factual, historical, and political contexts, Sisson examines the powerful forces shaping American motherhood, including poverty, religion, and politics. Ultimately, she reveals that adoption is not the cure for America’s “abortion problem.” Instead, it is a pathway of constrained choice— which is to say, no choice at all.

Collage as a Ritual. This class explores the practices of collaging as a ritual. Throughout the exploration of this practice, students will learn how to make their own collages. We will implement and enhance the practice as individuals as well as a collective. We will experiment with visuals that curate our ideologies around joy, glory, Black paradise, and more.