University to spend full week promoting 'resistance' to Trump policies
The University of Maryland, Baltimore County is promoting its fifth annual “Critical Social Justice” week with veiled appeals to “resistance” against the policies of President Trump.
“Over the past year, acts of resistance and resilience have electrified our country and world,” an online description for the event explains, harkening back to instances of political resistance such as “the water protectors at Standing Rock, the millions around the world who participated in the Women’s March, [and] those who rushed to the airports to volunteer translation and legal assistance to immigrants and refugees in the immediate aftermath of the travel ban.”
[RELATED: Students get $11 per hour to ‘advance social justice and diversity’]
“As these images of mass protests and large-scale actions capture our attention, we also recognize the power of everyday acts of resistance,” the description continues, noting that over the course of the previous year, “social justice movements have been infused with a new sense of urgency.”
The UMBC Women’s Center is sponsoring the program, which will “explore opportunities for building individual and collective resistance and resilience” with a particular focus on meeting “the challenges of this particular cultural moment to work toward a vision of inclusive excellence—whether it’s in the classroom, online, or in our communities.”
While a detailed schedule has yet to be released for the October event series, the Women’s Center did disclose that Dr. Adrienne Keene, who “writes about cultural appropriation and stereotypes of Native peoples in pop culture,” will deliver the keynote address.
[RELATED: College offers free certification in ‘social justice work’]
“Keene examines the way Indigenous peoples are using new media to challenge racism, present authentic counter-narratives, and create innovative space for art and activism,” the Women’s Center explained.
Campus Reform reached out to the university for additional comment on the event, but did not receive a response in time for publication.
Follow the author of this article on Twitter: @AGockowski
