Departments, student groups, and individuals from across the UMBC campus and community have organized a week full of exciting programming for the 2nd annual Critical Social Justice campaign. This year’s theme is “Creating Brave Spaces,” inspired by the essay “From Safe Spaces to Brave Spaces” by Brian Arao and Kristi Clemens.

Our keynote speaker will be comedian and social justice blogger Franchesca Ramsey (a.k.a. Chescaleigh), who’s perhaps best known for her viral parody video on racial microaggressions “Sh*t White Girls Say…To Black Girls.” Franchesca Ramsey’s keynote lecture “Your Powerful Online Voice: Social Media for Social Change” will be Tuesday, February 17th at 7:30pm in the UC Ballroom.

Several other programs will be held throughout the week which will support interdisciplinary learning and active engagement with social justice, including:

• CSJ 101 roundtable – Mon. 2/16, 12-1pm in Commons 329
• Invisible Privilege (Made Visible) activity & discussion – Tues. 2/17, 1-3pm on Main Street (event sponsored by: Mosaic Center)
• Women’s Center Occupies Main Street interactive exhibit & activities – Wed. 2/18, 11-2pm on Main Street (event sponsored by: Women’s Center)
• Social Justice Pedagogy: Tensions, Triggers & Teachable Moments faculty panel discussion – Wed. 2/18, 3-4pm in Sherman B-wing 220 (event sponsored by: Women’s Center)
• CSJ Reflection discussion – Thurs. 2/19, 3-4pm in the Mosaic Center
• Making Queer Spaces Safe Spaces roundtable – Thurs. 2/19, 7:30-9pm in the Women’s Center
• Feminist Art Gallery – Mon. 2/16 through Fri. 2/27 in the Commons Mezzanine Gallery

CSJ aims to support ongoing engagement with social justice across campus and we encourage all members of the UMBC community to get involved. Check out the CSJ website to find out more about the discussions, workshops, and other activities planned for February 16-20, 2015.

More details and events will be announced leading up to CSJ 2015, so like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and use the hashtag #CSJ2015 to keep up-to-date with the latest news!

Critical Social Justice is an interdisciplinary initiative coordinated by the Women’s Center with Student Life’s Mosaic Center.

David Hoffman, assistant director of student life for civic agency, wrote a chapter in the recently published Democracy’s Education: Public Work, Citizenship and the Future of Colleges and Universities. The book challenges educators to rethink the meaning of citizenship and education.

Hoffman’s chapter, entitled “Fostering Civic Agency by Making Education (and Ourselves) ‘Real,'” describes the philosophy of BreakingGround, a collaborative approach to innovative campus and community engagement at UMBC. Hoffman draws on his research and experience at UMBC, focusing on students who gained civic agency by causing meaningful change on campus through launching new organizations and engaging in purposeful conversations. The chapter also mentions work done by President Hrabowski, Provost Rous, the Shriver Center and The Retriever Project.

Hoffman writes, “The process at BreakingGround’s heart is a series of real conversations. There is strategy and design behind them: the initiative’s organizers have sought out people on campus who have seemed to embrace or demonstrate civic agency, or who have been in a position to help support its promotion on campus. But the conversations have been essentially free of maneuvering and salesmanship. Mostly we have asked students, faculty, and staff about their own experiences with civic agency (though typically not in those words) and have sought to make the road to BreakingGround’s objectives by walking it with them.”

Click here to learn more about BreakingGround. Learn more about Democracy’s Education here.