an internationally acclaimed performance-based experience that supports participants to envision themselves as agents of change through experiencing a butterfly’s metamorphosis stages. This research is driven by the core belief that “if a dove is the symbol for peace, a butterfly is the symbol for change. Change is inevitable; making it beautiful is a choice.” It centers “affect” as a verb that recognizes continuous action and change. The Butterfly Affect invites individualized self-reflection on personal growth and transformation; wherein participants may recognize themselves as civic agents with the potential for social, political, and cultural impact, capable of co-creating an equitable, survivable, and thrive-able world for all.  

The Butterfly Affect has three prongs: (1) The immersive performance: a site-specific, guided experience that offers participants a contemplative invitation to reflect, dream, and imagine by wearing large-scale puppets to co-metamorphosize alongside a butterfly. (2) The Care Deck: an open-access digital self-guided resource featuring creative prompts to ignite our imaginations and inspire our bodies to rest, move, and emerge transformed. (3) Paper Doll Puppets: an interactive guided chance to play and experience transformation through hand-held puppets as conduits for their transformation, offering a nature-based, ecofeminist approach to systems of care towards women.

This is a joint research initiative by the University of Colorado Boulder and Florida State University and is lead by Dr. Beth Osnes and Dr. Sarah Fahmy. It has been featured at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women Parallel Event; has toured internationally around the US, Canada, Scotland, Ireland, and Jordan; as well as being presented on at several academic conferences.