Social Justice Week 2013 Schedule

Schedule of Confirmed Events (Events will be continuously added)

Monday, March 11th

6:00-8:00PM Safe Zone & Ally Training. Murray Lounge
Come get certified through Merrimack’s training to create safer spaces for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people on campus.
This is an interactive workshop, and all participants will have the option of signing the Safe Zone agreement form and receiving a Merrimack Safe Zone square to display.
All students, faculty, and staff are welcome to this training!
Please contact Chelsea Fullerton (fullertonc@merrimack.edu) or Nic Wildes (wildesn@merrimack.edu) if you plan to attend; space is limited.
If you have any accessibility needs or concerns, feel free to contact Chelsea Fullerton (fullertonc@merrimack.edu).

Tuesday, March 12th

9:00-12:00PM Haiti Exhibit. Sakowich, Main Room.
Based on the work of the Merrimack College Haiti Service Learning Initiative, the exhibit will be an interactive display of activities and visual materials that will provide a detailed and personal perspective of what life is like in Haiti.

7:00-8:00PM Intersectional Justice Workshop. Sakowich Campus Center, Meeting Room B
Open to all public.

Wednesday, March 13th

10:00AM-12:00PM Phyllis Kornfeld: Cellblock Visions, Cascia Hall
“Phyllis Kornfeld - internationally known expert on prison art offers a slide/lecture presenting powerful images and eloquent quotes that reveal this unseen subculture and illuminate the human faces of its inhabitants” (from author’s website). Sponsored by the Department of Sociology and Criminology, the Department of Visual and Performing Arts, and the School of Liberal Arts.

10:05-11:35AM A Promise to the Dead: The Exile Journey of Ariel Dorfman. Social Justice Documentary Filmfest @McQuade Auditorium.
“A…powerful, at times unforgettable, documentary… It’s utterly compelling and definitely worth seeing… it’s a must-see because you soon learn that it’s about more than Chile. It’s about how the world works.” - John Doyle, The Globe and Mail
”A Promise to the Dead: The Exile Journey of Ariel Dorfman is an exploration of exile, memory, longing and democracy through the words and memories of playwright/author/activist, Ariel Dorfman (Death and the Maiden, How to Read Donald Duck, Other Septembers). The documentary was filmed in the USA, Argentina and Chile in late 2006 coinciding with the death of former Chilean dictator, Augusto Pinochet” (From official website).

11:40AM-12:05PM Temple of Confessions, by Guillermo Gómez-Peña and Roberto Sifuentes. Social Justice Documentary Filmfest @McQuade Auditorium.
“Considered one of the finest performance artists working in the U.S. today, Mexico-born Guillermo Gómez-Peña and his collaborator Roberto Sifuentes have created a surreal, chapel-like environment. In this space, viewers become participants, revealing their innermost fears and feelings about Mexicans, Chicanos, and Mexican culture… People are disturbed, confused, ashamed, hopeful.” - Kathleen Vanesian, Phoenix New Times (quoted on official website).

12:00-4:00PM Poster Session  by the Gay-Straight Alliance. McQuade Library 1st Floor.
The GSA will also be running a poster-making station, to help passersby create their own posters on issues that concern them.
From 12:00-1:00 and 2:00-3:00, there will also be a special Materials Creation section at the station, to produce materials that will help the children in our local Lawrence preschools to understand English better and begin to learn the alphabet. Materials created will be sent home to the children, so their parents can become more involved in their child’s life and help them further their learning outside the classroom.

12:10-1:05PM Two Spirits. Social Justice Documentary Filmfest @McQuade Auditorium.

1:10-2:15PM Cruel and Unusual. Social Justice Documentary Filmfest @McQuade Auditorium.

2:15-3:00PM The Effects of Stereotypes - What’s in a Label? Warrior’s Den.
Interactive student activity that attempts to demonstrate how activating stereotypes can powerfully affect self-perceptions and behaviors. Volunteers will be asked to participate in this engaging exercise so that we will have an understanding of how labeling works.
Run by Betsy Salerno and students from WGS 2010 Introduction to Ethnic’s Studies.

3:00-4:15PM Panel: LGBT Rights are Human Rights. Cascia Hall.
The panel will address LGBT issues in higher education and local and global transgender rights issues.
Panel members include:
- Dr. Gordene MacKenzie, Chair of Women’s and Gender Studies at Merrimack College.
- Dr. Susan Marine, Academic Director of the Higher Education program at Merrimack College.
- Chelsea Fullerton, M.Ed. Community Engagement ‘13.
- Selene Cummings, Merrimack College ‘14.

4:00-5:30PM Sounds of Social Justice. Warrior’s Den.
Come prepared to perform how you define social justice with an original work or a rendition of your favorite song or poem, spoken word, dance or musical performance. Register your performance at the Sounds of Social Justice Event! Sponsored by the English Department.

6:00-6:15PM Dos americanos. Rogers Center.
World Premiere. Short play written by Kali Tudisco, featuring Kevin Robinson as Don and Joän Mejía as Ned.
Don and Ned are two complete strangers who are forced to pursue a very uncomfortable conversation when they find themselves trapped in an elevator together. Don believes strongly in the American dream; Ned has firsthand knowledge of what that dream really looks like. Their encounter leads them to confront issues of prejudice, identity and what it means to be an American. The play was inspired in part by themes found in the nonfiction works of Luís Alberto Urrea and the documentary Precious Knowledge.

6:30-8:00PM Detained. Rogers Center.
Documentary on the 2007 New Bedford raids against undocumented workers.
After the screening, there will be a Q & A with director Jenny Alexander and Alexandra Piñeros Shields, Senior Researcher at the Center for Youth and Communities, Heller School for Social Policy and Management, Brandeis University.

Thursday, March 14th

11:00AM-12:05PM Girl Trouble. Social Justice Documentary Filmfest @McQuade Auditorium.

11:00AM-4:00PM Bra Drive/Fundraiser. Sakowich, Main St.
Bra Drive/fundraiser for Free the Girls (freethegirls.org), an organization that sells used clothes to help women who have been sex trafficked. Organized by students from WGS 3110: Global Women’s Issues, Activism, and Social Justice.

12:00-2:00PM Poster Sessions. Sakowich, Main Room
- International Gay, Lesbian,,and Transgender Human Rights
- Human Trafficking
Organized by students from WGS 3110: Global Women’s Issues, Activism, and Social Justice.

12:00-4:00PM Poster Session  by the Gay-Straight Alliance. McQuade Library 1st Floor.
The GSA will also be running a poster-making station, to help passersby create their own posters on issues that concern them.

12:20-13:55 Harvest of Empire. Social Justice Documentary Filmfest @McQuade Auditorium.

12:30-2:00PM Global Media and Global Sweatshops Table. Sakowich, Main St.
This informational table will inform the community about differences between U.S. and Global Media reports and will provide information of Global Sweatshops.Organized by students from WGS 3110: Global Women’s Issues, Activism, and Social Justice.

2:30-5:00PM The Stoning of Soraya M. McQuade Auditorium.
Award winning film that tells the true story of Soraya (Mozhan Marnò), whose husband plots to have her falsely accused of adultery- whose penalty for women is being stoned to death- so he can divorce her and marry a young girl. The  film illuminates the dangers of religious fundamentalism and gender apartheid,  The story takes place in 1986, just as Khomeini is coming into power in Iran.  
Student Discussion to follow. Screening and discussion organized by students from WGS 3110: Global Women’s Issues, Activism, and Social Justice.

3:00-5:00PM Materials Creation. McQuade 1st Floor Conference Room
This workshop event will help the children in our local Lawrence preschools better understand English and begin to learn the alphabet. Students, faculty and staff are invited to create materials that will be sent home to the children, so their parents can become more involved in their child’s life and help them further their learning outside the classroom.

5:00-6:00PM College and Activism. McQuade 1st Floor Conference Room.
- Prof. Joe Ramsey (U-Mass, Lowell)
- Christopher Round, Merrimack College ‘12, currently pursuing graduate studies of Environmental Science and Policy at Harvard University, and working on the divestment campaign in the fight against climate change.

6:00-8:15PM Precious Knowledge. Cascia Hall.***Please, note change of venue.
Documentary on the battle to defend the successful Mexican Studies Program in the Tucson, Arizona, High School District against the attacks of the Arizona legislature.
After the screening, there will be a Q & A with director Eren McGinnis, and MSP founder and education activist Sean Arce. Click on their names for their bios and for additional info on the film.
Preceeded by a presentation of the Jumpstart program by Meghan Reynolds ‘16.

Friday, March 15th

10:00AM-12:00PM Walking tour of Lawrence and the Everett Mill. Hosted by the Lawrence History Center. If you want to sign up for the tour, please write to Prof. Luis Saenz de Viguera Erkiaga (saenzdevigul@merrimack.edu).

10:05-11:00AM Ida B. Wells: A Passion for Justice. Social Justice Documentary Filmfest @McQuade Auditorium.

11:05AM-12:05PM Maid in America. Social Justice Documentary Filmfest @McQuade Auditorium.

Sunday, March 17th

7:00-8:30PM SJW Final Event - “And now… what?” Cascia Hall.
Social Justice Week invites everyone to attend this open forum to discuss the events that have taken place during the week, but more importantly, to offer possible ways in which we can carry on the goal of creating a more just world from our space here at Merrimack College.
Not only is everyone invited, but everyone is actually needed! Come and participate!