About Activism in Academia V: Friday Forums
Join Lehman Honors faculty & alumni to explore different research methods, upcoming publications, innovative collaborations, and activist applications.
Click here for the full Program website.
About Activism in Academia V
Activism
in Academia a radical space committed to anti-racist, feminist, queer
and critical race theory that emphasizes the work of BIPOC scholars
and theorists and the decolonization of fields that have been
predominantly white. We are particularly interested in highlighting the
contributions of underrepresented populations in academia by changing
the demographics and critical lenses of academia. This
space bridges multiple divides: full-time/ part-time, creative/ critical
work, scholarly/public audiences, teaching/scholarship. Presentations
on works in progress or recent publications, roundtable discussions, and
creative performances and readings are most
welcome.
This year, Activism in Academia V teams up with Lehman’s Honors Programs for a new Research
Colloquium series. The Honors Programs, made up of Lehman Scholars
(our local honors program) and the Macaulay Honors College at Lehman, nurtures many talented
students who identify uniquely as
Scholar-Activists: students eager to engage in research that, at the end
of their four years of study, gives back to the community or seeks new
ways of solving systemic problems in education and in our world. Their
scholarship features experiential learning
that allows them to undertake research in new, public-facing ways with
community engagement — contributing not just another research paper, lab
report, or a peer-reviewed publication. It
is our
privilege to bring together these two scholarly communities — Lehman
Honors and Activism in Academia — comprised activists, scholars, and
community members who share
a commitment to working outside of the college campus, beyond the
classroom. Our interdisciplinary conversations tackle system problems in
and around New York City and the Bronx. If you are interested
in joining this group, please contact [email protected]
or [email protected].
History:
Activism in Academia V continues a tradition of online forums that was started at the beginning of the pandemic with our Activism
in Academia IV: Adjuncts in Dialogue & Action, a
wonderful group of community members, part-time and full-time faculty,
graduated students, who presented scholarly and creative works in the
humanities and social
sciences, as well as shared experiences as scholars of color in higher
education. Activism in Academia originally began in 2017, with
our first A in A event, a day-long symposium organized
by Rosie Walia and Olivia Moy at The Graduate Center, CUNY with the
sponsorship of Lehman English and the Center for the Humanities, in
collaboration with Kendra Sullivan, Sampson Starkweather, Alisa Becher,
and Jordan Lord.
Previous Presentations:
April 1: Stephanie Rupp (Anthropology) & Bertrade Ngo-ngijol Banoum (Africana Studies) | “Experiential Learning: Interdisciplinary, International & Intersectional Coursework in Cameroon”
Fri, Mar 25: Dr. Vanessa Valdés (Black Studies, Spanish and Portuguese) | Dean of Macaulay Honors College | “From the Bronx to Diasporic Blackness: Making My Way to Arturo Schomburg”
Dr. Vanessa Valdés, Dean of Macaulay Honors College, will be presenting her research and meeting with Lehman students and faculty. Dean Valdés is a New Yorker originally from the Bronx & a first-generation college student. She will be sharing the research experiences that led her to become Director of Black Studies at City College and Dean of Macaulay Honors College. Dr. Valdés is the author of a major critical biography of Arturo Alfonso Schomburg, the legendary collector, writer, and activist. He is one of the most influential figures in the history of book collecting and a seminal figure in the curation of Afro-Latinx history and identity through archives. Learn more about the NYPL & Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture here.
Mar 18: Duran Fiack & Michael Sutherland (Macaulay alum ’20) | Political Science & Environmental Studies | "The Value of Student-Faculty Collaboration in Scholarly Research: Co-writing and Publishing a Scholarly Article”
Professor Duran Fiack and Mr. Michael Sutherland (MHC ’20) will present their recently published research concerning the integration of social equity into local-level climate adaptation planning, as well as the process and benefits of participating in student-faculty research collaborations.
Mar 11: Maurice Vann, Social Work | Faculty Spotlight Research Talk | Returning Citizens and the Freddie Gray Uprising of 2015
Join Lehman Honors Faculty Maurice Vann for
a research talk on "Returning Citizens and the Freddie Gray Uprising of
2015." Our overreliance on policing and incarceration as formal
controls hinders the ability of some Black and Brown communities to
foster other forms of control. The overreliance on policing and
incarceration weakens family and community structures, allowing
informalorganizations to control some Black and Brown communities.
Feb. 11: Michael Buckley, Philosophy | Faculty Spotlight Research Talk | “Does justice need the truth?”
Feb 18: Catherine Kapphahn, English & Disabilities Studies | Faculty Book Talk | “Miseducation of a Dyslexic Girl”
Feb 25: Jang Wook Huh (Ethnic American Studies, University of Washington, Seattle) and Eve Eure (English) | Afro-Asian & Afro-Indigenous Literary Connections | A Conversation Between Scholars
Mar 4: Whitney Diaz Gochez (Macaulay alum ’20) | MD-PhD Candidate, Cornell Weill Medical Research Hospital | "From B.A. to Ph.D.: An Unconventional Path"
This week, Activism in Academia welcomes Whitney Diaz Gochez, a Lehman Honors alumna and current PHD Candidate at Cornell Weill Medical Research Hospital, to talk candidly about her experiences applying to medical school, navigating the graduate experience, and dealing with questions of student debt and the astronomical costs of med school tuition. Since attending Cornell Weill, Diaz Gochez has spearheaded new efforts towards increasing equity and diversity in the medical professions, providing opportunities such as internships and lab research positions to undergrads at CUNY campuses.
Activism in Academia V is co-organized by Nicole Flores, Lise Esdaile, and Olivia Moy, and is co-sponsored by Lehman Honors, the Center for the Humanities at The Graduate Center, CUNY, and the School of Arts & Humanities.
