Call for Proposals: What’s Going On: Breaking Bread, COVID-19, Anti-Racism and Critical Conversations on Social Justice

The newly formed editorial board of the “What’s Going On? CHESS Newsletter” invites you to submit proposed conversation starters for the upcoming What’s Going On? Conversations on COVID-19, Antiracism and Social Justice Conference to be held September 29 and 30 from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

The goal of the conference is to create space to engage with our community and discuss current social issues. PNW faculty and the community leaders will present five-minute conversation starters as a brief introduction to a particular conversation. These may be in relation to COVID-19, racism and antiracism, climate change and environmental justice, attacks on Critical Race Theory in education, or other timely topics related to social justice. They can be grounded in a specific academic discipline, interdisciplinary, and/or based on community organizing experience. Presenters will be asked to provide some background (five minutes) and then pose three questions, including an idea or direction for discussions of possible solutions with those in attendance (facilitators will be available to support Q&A and participatory discussion).

This online conference will be set up with the idea that people can pop in and out on Zoom as they are available for some or all of the discussions. The focus will be on engaging and sharing ideas. All from the PNW and larger community are invited.

Have an idea or social issue you want to present? Please send a Word document as an attachment to LaVada Taylor at brandonl@pnw.edu with the subject: What’s Going On Proposal, by end of day Monday, September 20. The Word document should include the following:

• The proposed title of your conversation starter
• A short paragraph indicating the social issue you will focus on and what you intend to present
• 3-5 possible questions to pose for discussion (one with a direction or idea for a solution)
• Any days and time slots that do not work with your schedule. Sessions will run 11am-12:30pm and 12:35-2:15 on Wednesday and Thursday
• Your name, email, and your affiliation (PNW faculty & department or community member & organization).

We hope that you will be part of this engaging conversation as we launch “What’s Going On?”

Sincerely,

The Editorial Board of “What’s Going On”: Professors LaVada Taylor, Collette Morrow, Jesse Cohn, Kate Sweeney, Gisele Casanova, Kenny Kincaid