Bringing It #85: Paradigm Project Update, Student Voice, and Opportunities
Dear friends,
We’re pleased to write this week with a reminder to submit your ideas for the Paradigm Project, news of three opportunities for getting involved with socially engaged work within higher education, and a personal reflection from our student intern on her work with BT2P over the past academic year.
Paradigm Project: Please Share Your Ideas
What are the purposes of higher education? What experiences should undergraduates have for a holistic education? How can we make higher education more inclusive and equitable?
Your ideas and insights are crucial in helping us develop the values and priorities that the Paradigm Project should advance. Over the next few months, the Paradigm Project will be developing a Statement of Values, a concise set of assertions about the values, practices, and experiences that should inform undergraduate education.
Use this Google Form to submit your ideas. We’re eager to know what you want the Paradigm Project to include!
A Reflection from Gianna: BT2P’s Communications Intern
As Gianna Smurro completes her first year as BT2P’s communications intern, she’s offered these reflections on her experience. She’s been an important contributor to our work, and we’re delighted that she will continue to be part of the BT2P team next over the summer and next fall.
This past year there has been a lot of change in my life. I have moved eight hours from home, starting my first year at Elon University and the position of Digital Media Intern for BT2P, all while navigating the coursework and social scene that makes up college life. I have grown so much not only as a student but as a person, as I have had the opportunity to take on many responsibilities and meaningful tasks. BT2P has also grown and expanded over the years, and since beginning my internship in August I have been able to contribute to the growth of this national project. I was drawn to the mission of this organization for its commitment to a holistic and engaged education. This internship has provided me the opportunity to work with this community of educators through a communications lens under the guidance and mentorship of Communications and Public Outreach Coordinator, Kelly Jones.
Over the past year, I have predominantly assisted with the publication of these biweekly letters and with our triannual digital newsletter (and in doing so have gained a greater knowledge of the many initiatives around the U.S. that contribute to BT2P’s priorities and goals). Collaborating with the BT2P team has given me insight into the inner workings of taking on ambitious projects in response to challenging questions, especially with our most recent launch of the Paradigm Project. I look forward to furthering my growth through my position as BT2P continues to grow towards future endeavors.
– Gianna
Opportunities
We’re happy to share with you three opportunities connected to social action and anti-racist community building work:
- The Bonner Foundation will be hosting a virtual Teaching Social Action Summer Institute on June 28 – 30, 2022. This three-day institute will introduce faculty and staff to an approach for incorporating social action campaigns into either a semester-long course or co-curricular workshop series. Institute participants will develop and launch a social action campaign of their choosing that seeks to change a rule, regulation, norm, or practice of an institution (on campus or in their community). The formal application to join the Summer Institute cohort is due June 15, 2022.
- The co-editors of Anti-Racist Community Engagement: Principles and Practices are seeking chapter contributions from faculty, staff, administrators, practitioners, students, and community partners who can share and analyze their experiences using anti-racist community engagement principles in their teaching, research, and practice on and off college campuses. This interdisciplinary effort relies on established Anti-Racist Community Engagement (ARCE) Principles as a shared language and toolkit to support informed action and ongoing conversations regarding anti-racist community engaged practices on campuses, within communities, and in the classroom. Full details and an online submission form is available here. The deadline to submit is June 3, 2022. This edited collection will be published by Campus Compact, in collaboration with Stylus Publishing.
- Our friends at Imagining America have announced the theme of their annual gathering and have invited proposals for the in-person 2022 IA National Gathering! The submission deadline is Friday, June 10, 2022. This year’s Gathering theme is Rituals of Repair and Renewal, which invites participants to engage in joyful celebration of the magic in being together. The gathering will take place in the city of New Orleans from Friday October 14th – Sunday October 16th, 2022.
Thank you for staying in touch, contributing to our work, and for all that you do,
David, Gianna, Kelly, & Todd