New Mexico State University’s Office of Equity, Inclusion and Diversity invites campus and community members to engage in a day of deep discussions on issues related to social justice and awareness.
NMSU’s second annual Justice and Revolutionary Thought Conference will take place from noon to 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 26, in Corbett Center Student Union on the Las Cruces campus.
The multidisciplinary academic conference will feature original scholarship, art, multimedia and panels that promote activism, social change and dissent. It will bring together scholars, artists, community members and experts who will discuss topics like cultural studies, community building, gender and sexuality, wellness and health care, race and justice in uncertain times, among other issues.
“This conference has provided us the opportunity to partner and connect with the university and Las Cruces community for thoughtful practices and impacts and bringing in regional and national speakers to add to our mission of exposure and growth mindsets here on campus and the region,” said Cecil Rose, director of NMSU’s Black Programs.
The conference is a collaboration between NMSU’s Black Programs, Latin American Programs, American Indian Programs, LGBT+ Programs and the Asian Pacific Islander Program.
Artist Christian Cardenas will open the conference with remarks. As part of the duo LxsDos, Cardenas captures the life and struggles of the El Paso and Ciudad Juárez borderlands through art and murals. She has collaborated with Rage Against the Machine and created art installations for the music festival Coachella, highlighting migration, refugee issues and social justice.
Presentations by students, faculty staff and community contributors will begin at 1:30 p.m. across three locations in Corbett Center Student Union, including the ballrooms and the Doña Ana Room on third floor. Each talk will last about 30 minutes.
Asif Wilson, an assistant professor of curriculum and instruction at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, will close the conference with an address starting at 4:30 p.m. in the Corbett Center Student Union auditorium on the second floor.
Wilson’s research broadly focuses on justice-centered pedagogies in P-20 educational contexts and has been featured in peer-reviewed publications like the Journal of Curriculum Theorizing, the Journal of Educational Foundations, and Rethinking Schools.
During his presentation, Wilson will share sources and analyses of educational social movements of the past, building on his research and organizing as an educator-scholar-activist. He said he hopes historical movements may serve as models for the contemporary moments ahead.
“While the future may come with uncertainty, a review of the past reminds us that people are not passive recipients of repression,” Wilson said.
Lunch and light snacks will be available throughout the conference while supplies last. Registration is strongly recommended. For more information, contact Cecil Rose at 575-646-4208 or crose3@nmsu.edu, or visit https://eid.nmsu.edu.
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Cultine: New Mexico State University’s second annual Justice and Revolutionary Thought Conference will take place from noon to 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 26, in Corbett Center Student Union on the Las Cruces campus. (Courtey)