15 events to choose from over two days of reflection.
These educational Events for the SUNY Potsdam Campus Community are sponsored by the SUNY Potsdam Division of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
Monday, February 13
My Journey in Understanding Islam
A teacher, scholar, and activist from Central New York reflects on key moments in his own journey in understanding Islam. He starts with the impact of the 9/11 attack and moves through more formal study of the contributions of Islamic thinkers to mathematics and philosophy. He reflects on how his personal journey of understanding can help us identify challenges to ending Islamaphobia.
If These Halls Could Talk
We’ll view and discuss a powerful film about race and identity. The film features 11 college students who honestly share their frustrations about race and racism with each other. After showing the film, we will discuss the current struggles and issues that students are facing on our campus today. We’ll discuss what each of us can do to work towards fighting racism on a daily basis.
Indigenation
Through storytelling, reflection, activities, and ceremony, this presentation will educate, bring awareness, and engage participants in dialogue surrounding historic and current issues facing indigenous peoples in education in both the U.S. and Canada. Participants will learn of current movements taking place across Indigenous nations and Universities, they will experience the first-hand accounts and call-to-action of Indigenous students. They will work collectively with Indigenous peoples to bring real solutions to their campus and society.
The Identity of the Confederate Flag
The Confederate Flag flew from State Capitol buildings, once adorned the hood of the "General Lee" car on a popular TV show, and was used by a murderous shooter who killed nine Black people in a church. It elicits pride and disgust in nearly equal measure depending on who you ask. But what is its own history, its own identity? Where did the flag come from and how has it been used since its creation in 1861?
A Brief History of Blackface
Why is blackface so hurtful? Why, despite its reputation, does blackface continue to be a problem? These questions and others will be explored at this session where the history of blackface as a performance will be explored and discussed. Film clips of blackface are featured.
Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ), North Country Chapter
Meet the coordinators of SURJ’s local chapter and learn how this new group is beginning to stand for racial justice. This session will introduce participants to how community organizing works and how local groups can connect to national movements. From SURJ: “SURJ is a national network organizing white people for racial justice. Through community organizing, mobilizing and education, SURJ moves white people to act as part of a multi-racial majority. SURJ provides a space to build relationships, skills and political analysis.”
Racism, Microaggressions, and White Privilege
Participants will actively reflect on the meaning and impact of microaggressions. This workshop defines implicit bias, white fragility, and racial microaggressions. Then we raise our awareness about how racism can blind white people to the effects of our own actions. Finally, we look closely at the hurtful messages sent by racial microaggressions.
Stay Awake: Bridging the Gap Between Mindfulness Meditation and Social Justice Advocacy
In our fight for racial equity, stressful emotions arise and we may lose focus on the need for self-care as a way of staying energized and committed to our role as activists. Participants in this workshop will gain a knowledge of 1.) the KORU Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction model, 2.) a hands-on approach to specific meditation practices that help us identify our thoughts and emotions that are evoked when we experience prejudice and discrimination and, 3.) an opportunity to explore how “staying awake” in our present moment experience will help us remain committed to social justice advocacy work.
Tuesday, February 14
Reflection on Language, Race, and Latinx Identity
This presentation explores critical perspectives by three noted Hispanics on prevalent discourses on race, identity, and language.
Unequal Choices, Unequal Chances: The American Game of Life
Participants will actively join in a “game of life” to act out the benefits and disadvantages encountered by families of different race and class backgrounds. As participants progress through the game, they will learn how policies such as the GI Bill, “red-lining,” and the War on Drugs have created structures of inequality that determine whether individuals and families have opportunities to achieve the American Dream by being able to buy a home, get an education, survive unemployment, etc. Come join us for this interactive and informative workshop!
“Intersectionality: intersecting social identities and related systems of oppression, domination, and discrimination.”
Presenters will engage participants in a facilitated discussion on how the many aspects of an individual’s background (gender, race, culture, sexual orientation, religion, class, ability, etc.) interact and can contribute to systematic injustice and social inequality. The session will include a short video presentation and a group activity designed to engender discussion and promote educational growth.
Power, Privilege, and Theatre as Activism
Applied theatre has played a role in inspiring social change. This workshop will inspire students with a little history of important theatre companies such as Bread and Puppet, Cornerstone Theatre, and others, etc. Then, in groups, participants will identify a cause of their own choosing. They will begin crafting short performance pieces to raise awareness of the issues involved in that cause. Lessons for the US Today: Japanese American Internment and European Refugee Crisis This panel will explore the historical and political contexts of the contrived fear and/or prejudice towards specific migrant/immigrant groups. We will address the stereotypes associated with their ethnic, racial, and/or religious backgrounds as we examine some of the past and present immigration policies of the US and Europe. We will open the floor to discussion following a presentation of the latest results from a public opinion survey on American and Canadian support for the civil rights of Muslims.
Let’s Talk
“We feel as though one of the most successful ways in educating people is simply by talking to one another.” In Fall 2016, three Potsdam Communication students videotaped a pair of panel discussions in which faculty, staff, and students discuss racial inequality and how change could happen on our campus. Participants will view clips from the Let’s Talk video and discuss their own ideas about how to teach the campus and people about racial inequality and cultural insensitivity.
Self-Care in Difficult Times
In this workshop, we will teach ways to cope with stress. Everyone experiences stress, but students living with microaggressions suffer from more than the typical academic and student stressors. Allies may also experience anxiety from being an advocate/activist. Participants will learn to identify stressors and to recognize when their stress threshold is rising. They will learn positive stress reduction techniques to use in a variety of situations.