The Point: News You Can Use

4/25/2024

This week’s Point was prepared by the FSU’s Ad Hoc Communications Committee

Dear Colleagues:

We were sitting around talking (well, ok, emailing each other) and we realized that we all are having a hard time keeping track of all of the amazing events and opportunities we have been hearing about on campus.  So as a sort of public service, we thought we would digest some of the ones that seemed most timely and urgent.

Starting with today, April 25, 11 a.m.

1. This virtual event, hosted by the Department of Women’s, Gender, & Sexuality Studies and the Minor in Human Rights this morning at 11am with Walaa Munir.  Walaa Munir hails from the Gaza Strip and will be delivering a lecture titled 'Bearing Witness: Genocide and Personal Narratives'.  This event is for UMB community members only (contact FSU for Zoom information).

This event is hosted by Profs Rajini Srikanth and Amani El Jack with their students in “Literature and the Political Imagination” and “Gender, Development, & Globalization.”

On a related matter

    2. Want to talk about Palestine (but don't know how or have fears about doing so)?

FSJP members are providing space for UMass Boston faculty, staff, and students who are interested in discussing Palestine and exploring effective ways to communicate about Palestinian liberation with their different constituencies, but who are feeling nervous, uneasy, or insecure on how best to handle those conversations. We welcome individuals seeking to learn more about how to communicate effectively, those whose consciousness has been raised but are not yet speaking out or are unsure how to, and individuals interested in addressing Palestinian liberation in various settings such as classrooms, with colleagues, family members, or among student peers. This is not a space to debate the legitimacy of Palestinian liberation, to learn basics about Palestine, or to engage in expert conversations. This is an open and welcoming space for those who, having some knowledge and an interest in getting more informed, are also interested in informing others, but feel like they do not necessarily have the skills to start or negotiate those conversations.

Interested? 

More information available HERE

Sign up to attend a conversation HERE

Also today, April 25 at 4:15!

      3. Educators in Boston's charter schools are on the march! Join the Labor Resource Center in welcoming educators who have organized their workplaces and joined the Boston Teachers Union. Learn how and why these              educators have joined the labor movement and how they hope to improve their schools and the charter sector for teachers and students alike. Wheatley, 144/19. 

And finally, on Monday, April 29 from 12-2 p.m.

       4. See attached flyer for more details, but please consider attending this fantastic-looking speak out and teach in about bargaining for the common good, partially funded by an FSU Anti-Racism Grant, and moderated by one current member of our core bargaining team (Professor Keith Jones) and one member of the previous team (Professor Tony Van Der Meer).  This session represents the last session of this year’s Sankofa series.

Lagniappe

You may have noticed that students, staff, and faculty at universities across the country have been exercising their rights and responsibilities as citizens of their campus communities to lift their voices and deploy their bodies in protest of various institutional policies and investments.  We were encouraged by the recent action on our own campus, which even managed to get some coverage in the Globe—no small feat for our scrappy campus, which does not always seem to hit its radar.  Why some UMass Boston students and staff are protesting the chancellor's inauguration