Workshop Descriptions
Thank you for your interest in Social Justice Education workshops! We are taking an intentional workshop pause for the month of September as we actively search for our new Director and Administrative Assistant.
Our staff will review submitted workshops request forms on a rolling basis and will respond to all requests by October 1. If you have questions regarding workshops, please contact socialjustice@u.northwestern.edu.
Social Justice Education Workshops
- Creating a More Inclusive Community
- Cycle of Socialization
- Demystifying Class
- Exploring Social Identity
- Intersectionality
- Microaggressions
- Social Justice - Key Concepts
- Unboxing Masculinities
Social Justice Education (SJE) offers workshops facilitated by professional staff and trained Peer Inclusion Educators. All workshops are designed for undergraduate and graduate student groups, residential communities, student employees, executive boards, or new leaders and can be scheduled upon request. Workshop requests are reviewed each Wednesday by SJE staff members and assigned to a staff manager, who will follow up with the organization to coordinate workshop logistics, discuss outcomes, and better understand the student community.
View full descriptions of each workshop below.
**Each workshop is designed for 90 minutes of engagement and dialogue with max capacity for 30 participants. Please see our Request a Workshop page if you would like to see about arranging a workshop or joining a workshop for you or your group.
Intro to Social Justice & Identity Development
Exploring Social Identity
In this workshop, participants will have an opportunity to reflect on social identities such as race, ethnicity, gender, sex, class, ability, citizenship, age, and religion. Facilitators will help participants explore the concepts of social identity, and the ways in which they experience power, privilege and/or marginalization as a result of having these identities.
Social Justice - Key Concepts
While Social Justice language is used on many college campuses, time is rarely spent ensuring a mutual understanding of these terms. In this workshop, participants will assess their own understanding of common social justice key concepts such as prejudice, discrimination, and oppression. In this assessment, participants will compare their own understanding with definitions provided and articulate how these concepts show up in their everyday lives.
Cycle of Socialization
The Cycle of Socialization is a theory and resource created by Bobby Harro, which walks through the ways in which individuals receive messages about social identity throughout their life. In this workshop, facilitators will walk through the cycle, and give examples from their own lives. Participants are then given a worksheet for them to choose a social identity to map out and reflect on messages received throughout their lives. The goal of this workshop is for participants to gain an understanding of the differences between personal, cultural, and institutional messaging around social identities, as well as allow them an opportunity to reflect on ways they have been, socialized.
Taking Action & Creating Change
Creating a more Inclusive Community
This workshop is designed for all student groups and organizations, teams, executive boards and new officers or leaders. In this workshop students will have the opportunity to reflect on the culture and practices of their community and develop an action plan to help them implement practices of inclusivity. Facilitators will guide the group in reflective questions and dialogue to explore questions such as:
- What does it mean to be an inclusive community?
- How do our multiple and intersecting social identities impact our understanding or experience of inclusivity?
- What practices and tools do we already utilize towards an inclusive community?
- In order to build upon this, what individual and collective action can we take? What tools or conversations do we need to have?
Intersectionality
“There is no such thing as a single-issue struggle, because we do not live single issue lives” – Audre Lorde.
This workshop is designed for participants who have already completed the Social Identity workshop or have a deeper understanding of social identity. Participants will have an opportunity to share personal narratives of how their social identities layer and relate to each other. Facilitators will help the group further explore the dynamics of power, privilege, and oppression woven within each intersection of their identities.
The Impact of Microaggressions on Building Inclusive Environments
Many people are unfamiliar with the term but most are aware of what it is, and what it feels like to be on the receiving end: the small and rather subtle well-intentioned behaviors and statements made by others, which reflect an implicit negative bias or perception of a certain individual or group because of their identity. This workshop will create awareness surrounding the common occurrences of microaggresions and explore tools to interrupt microaggressive behavior.
Culturally Specific & Affirming Practices
Demystifying Class
Oftentimes most people are assumed to be “middle class”– but who really is middle class? And what does that mean? Request this workshop to better understand class/socioeconomic status, your own class identity, and how classism affects your Northwestern experience. Participants will leave with a common understanding and framework along with some tools to start noticing how class and classism play out in their everyday lives.
Unboxing Masculinities
Media, hook up culture, alcohol, violence, pop culture; expectations about masculinity affect all of us. Understanding the connections between our experiences with masculinity and issues in society can help build stronger communities. This workshop will help us better understand ourselves and empower men and people of all/no genders to promote gender equity and social justice.