Vail Fletcher and her communication studies students received a competitive Oregon Humanities Conversation Starter Project grant to host a program titled, “Beyond Bars: Rethinking Our Reliance on Prisons” on Thursday, November 21, 7-9 p.m., in the Bauccio Commons. It will be an interactive conversation focused on considering the following questions: What role do prisons serve in our country? Is it possible to envision a world where people are safe and secure, and where there is accountability, without prisons? Does our prison system, in some cases, actually cause rather than reduce crime? The event is sponsored in part by the Garaventa Center, the Department of Social Justice, the Department of Political Science, and the Department of Communication Studies. The event will be immediately followed by a dessert reception. All community members are welcome. Please contact Fletcher at fletcher@up.edu with any questions and/or if you plan on bringing your class.
social justice
Freedom Fighters Exhibit
A group of freshman students from Roosevelt High School have created a museum-quality traveling exhibit and publication featuring the stories of sixteen local individuals who have taken part in historic social justice movements. The Freedom Fighters Exhibit will be on display on Tuesday, February 19 and Wednesday, February 20, in the Franz Hall foyer, and is free and open to faculty, staff, students, and the public.
Fourteen University of Portland students in Rich Christen’s social studies methods course assisted ninety Roosevelt students in a freshman humanities course as they interviewed local community leaders who have taken a stand for social justice, working to advance the civil rights of various races, cultures, and religions. The resulting exhibit has been traveling alongside a national Frederick Douglass exhibit throughout Portland and Multnomah County during the month of February 2013.
For more information contact Kathleen Staten, education, at 7135 or staten@up.edu.