This November is the 3rd annual Social Justice Month at Skidmore College. This movement is a month of many events related to various social justice issues. Social Justice Month's vision is to bring the campus together to engage students in social justice issues, and give a voice to voice-less groups. Although these injustices might feel far off, they are very connected to our lives and Social Justice Month wants to inform the campus of these injustices and equip students with how they can help. This year's main themes are related to the education system, human rights, and hunger & homelessness. Types of events include workshops, speakers, documentaries, a poster campaign, a display on Case Green, an exhibition, and more, and over 50 organizations on campus are co-sponsoring Social Justice Month. Following is the detailed schedule of Social Justice Month.
November 2, Saturday
Kickoff: Social Justice Month Showcase
9:30pm Spa
Social Justice Month is having a kickoff event to officially start the month-long movement. There will be Bandersnatchers, Breakbeats, and Lift Every Voice Gospel Choir performing with presentations of the three main themes that Social Justice Month is dealing with: Education, Human Rights, and Hunger & Homelessness. There will also be free Plum Dandy Cookies and Esperanto's Pizza and Doughboys/Doughgirls.
November 4, Monday
Human Trafficking: Film Screening of "Dreams Die Hard"
7:30pm Emerson Auditorium
"Dreams Die Hard" is a documentary by Free the Slaves, a NGO fighting to end human trafficking. The documentary discusses the hidden slavery in the United State by featuring victims and how they got trapped into human trafficking. A dialogue will follow the screening.
November 5, Tuesday
Labor Movement: Why Unions? Reflections on the Purpose and State of Organized Labor
7pm Emerson Auditorium
Erin Johansson, Director of Research at American Rights at Work and 1998 Skidmore alumna, will be giving a lecture about the state of the labor movement and her work within it. Erin is a member of the Labor and Employment Relations Association and serves as a Co-Chair of the Labor Studies Committee.
November 6, Wednesday
Education: Film Screening of "Race to Nowhere"
8pm Davis Auditorium
"Race to Nowhere" is a documentary that discusses concerns with standardized testing and how it affects students in elementary school. The film features students across the country who have been pushed to overwork and lack of engagement due to the current testing system in the U.S. A dialogue will follow the screening.
November 11, Monday
Health and Human Rights: High Cost for Service, a Case Study of HIV/AIDS in Iran with Dr. Kamiar Alaei
7pm Gannett Auditorium
Kamiar Alaei M.D. is the Director of the Global Institute for Health and Human Rights and an expert on HIV/AIDS. He and his brother Arash co-founded the first "Triangular Clinic" for three target groups in Iran (drug users, HIV patients, and STD cases) to deal with both the biological and social manifestations of the disease. The controversial nature of his work led to his persecution and eventual imprisonment in Iran with his brother for over 3 years. Since his release, Dr. Alaei has been preparing to return to his area of expertise, focusing on HIV/AIDS policy and management through an academic perspective with a concentration on the Middle East and Central Asia.
November 11-17
North Korean Political Prison Camp: Exhibition of "Where Love Does Not Exist"
Dining Hall Atrium and Intercultural Center
The North Korean Political Prison Camp is a huge place of exile housing approximately 150,000 political prisoners considered a threat to the regime. The exhibition documents the extreme violations of human rights in the political prison camps through drawings by former prisoners who escaped from the camps.
November 14, Thursday
North Korean Human Rights: Escape From Camp 14: The Story of Shin Donghyuk, a North Korean Defector
7pm Gannett Auditorium
Shin Donghyuk, a human rights activist, is the only known North Korean defector who was born in a political prison camp. He will be sharing his life in the political prison camp and his escape from North Korea. Addition to his personal accounts, he will discuss human rights violations in North Korea. After escaping from North Korea, Shin Donghyuk testified in the United Nations and spoke in various organizations and college campuses. Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West, a biography of Shin's life, was published in 2012.
November 19, Tuesday
Homelessness: Film Screening of "Homelessness in Paradise"
8pm Davis Auditorium
Filmed over two years beginning in December 2002, "Homeless in Paradise" focuses on a small group of people living on the streets of Santa Monica. The documentary explains how the homeless got there and the issues faced by a city that both cares for them and wishes they would go away. A discussion will follow the screening.
November 20, Wednesday
Hunger: Flags for Hunger
11am-5pm Case Green
FeelGood is a national youth movement committed to end world hunger by selling grilled cheese sandwiches. FeelGood deli will be selling grilled cheese and a customer will be invited to pick up a flag representing a statistic of world hunger from Case Green. When the sandwich is ready the customer will be handed a new flag representing a change that is happening to erase global hunger.
November 20, Wednesday
Education: Resisting the Ambush of Public Education
7pm Dining Hall 2nd Floor
To address the destructive effects of current, corporate-driven educational policies, Nancy Schniedewind co-editedEducational Courage: Resisting the Ambush of Public Education. The book is a compilation of first hand narratives of resistance to these policies by students, parents, and educators who have fought to uphold democratic public education. Book contributor, Felipa Gaudet, a public school teacher in Kingston, NY, and Nancy, professor in the Masters Program in Humanitic/Multicultural Education at SUNY New Paltz, will join us to lead an interactive workshop. Both experts on the current state of the school system, as well as veteran teachers who have seen the effects of these policies from the inside, these women have valuable insights to share including ways to actively fight for change.
November 21, Thursday
Hunger: Hunger Banquet
7pm Tang Museum
Hunger Banquet is an interactive event that allows participants to experience how our decisions affect others in the world. The banquet will help participants visualize and understand the current global hunger problem. After the banquet, participants will have an opportunity to view the "Classless Society" exhibition in the Tang Museum.
Co-sponsored by
Active Minds, American Red Cross, American Studies Department, Art Department, Art History Department, Asian Cultural Awareness, Benef-action, Biology Department, Chemistry Club, Christian Fellowship, Classics Department, Economics Department, Education Studies Department, English Department, FeelGood, Feminist Action Network, Fight Club, Government Department, Hayat, Health and Exercise Science Department, Hillel, Intercultural Studies, Intergroup Relations, International Affairs Program, International Student Union, Late Night, Latin American Studies Program, Management and Business Department, NihonGo!, Office of Communications, Office of Community Service, Office of Religious and Spiritual Life, Office of Student Diversity Programs, Opportunity Program, Photography Club, Physics Department, Pre-Law, Raices, Skidmore Democrats, Skidmore, Education Taking Action, Skidmore Labor Alliance, Skidmore News, Social Work Department, Speaker's Bureau, Students United for Public Education, Sustainable Skidmore, Tang Teaching Museum, Theater Department, Ujima, Voices for Planned Parenthood, WSPN