The Graduate School at NC State University will host a Scholars Visitation Program, February 26-28, 2017. These programs are provided at no cost to students who are accepted into the visitation program. Completed applications to attend the Program can be emailed directly to the Program Director, Brett A. Locklear. Additional information can be found on the NC State Scholars Visitation Program website.

*** The NC State Scholars Visitation Program is February 26-28, 2017.

       The application deadline is November 30, 2016, at 12 noon.
       Decisions will be emailed on December 16, 2016.
       Website: go.ncsu.edu/scholarsvisit

Questions and Contact

For additional information and selection criteria, visit the website, or contact Brett A. Locklear, at balockle@ncsu.edu.

A reflection written by Women’s Center director, Jess Myers 

As Critical Social Justice: Home comes to an end today, I can’t help but to think about what is happening at Standing Rock right now where over 100 police with military equipment are advancing on a resistance camp established by Native American water protectors in the path of the proposed $3.8 billion Dakota Access pipeline (details). My week starting off with me tuning into Democracy Now! to hear reports from water protectors who were arrested over the weekend at a peaceful march after they were confronted by police in riot gear, carrying assault rifles (details).

Then at the CSJ keynote event, Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha opened her talk by acknowledging the Susquehannock and Lenape people, whose land UMBC stands on or is nearby. She went on to say that except for the Piscataway, Maryland does not recognize any Nations because, as with many mid Atlantic states, Native people were displaced onto Oklahoma Indian Territory or other places of displacement during colonization in the 1700s. When I lived in Colorado, speakers at events would often start with this land acknowledgment, in fact, some professors even named it in their course syllabi. It has been a long time since I’ve been in a space where this critical history has been acknowledge.

Later in the week, I saw an infograph created by FORCE: Upsetting Rape Culture that outlined the scary realities of “Sexual Assault on the Pipeline.”

As we spent the whole week exploring and navigating the complexities of home, I can’t stop thinking about Standing Rock, the water protectors, and what the pipeline will do to the homes and communities of Native American and Indigenous people, specifically the Standing Rock Sioux tribe. We would be remiss if we did not name their cause, efforts, and fight for home this week.

In social justice circles, you’ll often hear people say, “Do the work.” This is a call for us to learn about issues, do self-reflection, and appropriately lend our voice and action to the cause. While I’m still learning about this evolving issue, I wanted to at least share the information I’ve been accessing and provide some resources for where we can keep learning about this critical issue happening right now. Please note, this is not an exhaustive list! As you explore resources, be sure to check out coverage and resources directly created by Native American voices and those that amplify their voices.

• An FAQ on how you can help from Camp of the Sacred Stone
• On Twitter you can follow @NoDAPL and @NativeApprops (just 2 suggestions to get you started!)
• Democracy Now! coverage of resistance to the Dakota Access Pipeline
• 3 Things You Need to Know About Indigenous Efforts Against the Dakota Access Pipeline from Everyday Feminism
• Water in Life: Native Groups Push back Against Environmental Racism on Bitch Media
• Donate! To donate to the Legal Defense Fund for Sacred Stone Spirit Camp or help with supplies.

Once again, this is not an exhaustive list. Use this short list to get started and keep clicking on the links for more information and resources!

PRAC students:

Did you know that you could be featured as UMBC's Intern of the Week??

Share your fall experience with friends, family, professors, and other students who may be interested in a similar internship. Spread the word about all the great things that you're doing this semester!

Here's what to do:

1. Submit your (thoughtful!) response to these questions.
2. Send us a few photos. We would like a head shot and and action shot of you at your internship or research site, if possible. You'll find instructions in the form.

We will get in touch if you are selected as an Intern of the Week. You'll be featured on myUMBC as well as the Career Center's Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram! 

Happy interning!

The Women’s Center at UMBC turns 25 this year! We’re excited to share our important milestone with UMBC’s 50th Anniversary and will be celebrating throughout the year with the rest of campus! We were inspired by Special Collections archival project Archives Gold: 50 Objects for UMBC’s 50th and decided to do our own digging into the Women’s Center archives. Over the course of the year, we’ll be sharing 25 “Then vs Now” archives to celebrate the origin and evolution of the Women’s Center at UMBC.

It’s been a while since our last post because we were prepping for Critical Social Justice. Consequently, this week we’re featuring the awesome posters + a Prezi presentation student staff put together highlighting the Women’s Center history which was showcased at this week’s Critical Social Justice event addressing diversity and inclusion within higher education.

The posters are hanging up in the Women’s Center right now so stop by to check them out. In the meantime, here’s some photos of the posters Shira and Michael made and the link to Daniel’s Prezi Presentation. Prachi also made a really cool zine about our history that we’ll be adding to the 50th Anniversary time capsule that we’re working to get online. In the meantime, you can pick up a hard copy the next time you visit the Women’s Center.

Shira’s poster explored the dynamics of 1991 – the year the Women’s Center opened

Michael focused his poster on important Women’s Center programs and their evolution of the past 25 years.

Prachi created a multi-page zine documenting the history of the Women’s Center. Here’s just one of the pages.

You can check out Dan’s cool Prezi presentation, Historical Foundations of the Women’s Center at UMBC, that explores the evolution of women’s centers and women’s movements from a holistic perspective which he was then able to connect to the programming and services our specific Women’s Center has offered over the years.

A screen shot of one of Dan’s slides from  Historical Foundations of the Women’s Center at UMBC.

What are the memories you have of the Women’s Center over the years that are meaningful to you? What does the Women’s Center mean to you today? Share your memories and pictures with us in the comment section below!
Stay up-to-date with our 25th anniversary on social media using #UMBCWC25. Share your Women’s Center experiences and memories with the UMBC community using #UMBCWC25 AND #UMBC50!

A weekly round-up curated by Women’s Center staff member, Michael Jalloh Jamboria

In the spirit of my friend, who gave us the glorious name ‘Slaying on the Weekly’, every week I will be bringing you some interesting, funny or thought-provoking content from the internet! Be sure to join us next week for more and continue to slay!

Things you should know:

Believe it or not, voting happens in a few very short weeks. Early voting begins November 3rd. The presidential election is important, but so are the 469 Congressional seats up for re-election! That’s a lot! Stay informed and get there to vote!

Article of the Week:

We’re only 3 days from Halloween!!! For those that are going out, be safe! Be sure to check out Everyday Feminism’s article “Is Your Halloween Costume Racist?” This is a really cool guide for making sure our costumes are not making fun of or being disrespectful to people of other cultures, religions, races, etc.

UMBC Happenings:

This week was Critical Social Justice! There were a ton of amazing events all pertaining to our theme, ‘Home’. It was an amazing time, especially with our keynote speaker Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha. If you missed the events, some of them are available to watch on the Critical Social Justice Facebook Page. Even though Critical Social Justice is over, we want to encourage all of you to continue to be critical and cognizant of how UMBC is or isn’t a home to the students, faculty and staff it houses!

Also, the theme of Home is really resonating with many of us in the Women’s Center as we watch and pay attention to what is happening at Standing Rock. We’re working on a round-up of resources we’ll post on the Critical Social Justice blog so you can learn more about the Native American and indigenous people in America, the water protectors, the social justice issues related to the Dakota Access Pipeline.

Song of the Week:

I’ve been listening to really great music recently, and I want to share that with all of you! This week’s song is Laputa by Hiatus Kaiyote ft Anderson.Paak.

Until next week! Happy Halloween!