A Project STAND (STudent Activism Now Documented) Symposium)

Monday, June 3, 2019
8:30 am – 5 pm
Galanti Lounge, Carothers Library

Contemporary student activism is undergoing a transformation as the traditional methods of direct action through demonstrations and protests converge with online practices where organizing, communication, solicitation, and interrogation occurs primarily within digital spaces. As the discourse on centering marginalized communities within mainstream archives emerges, archivists and other information professionals are being tasked to document this rise in student activism, especially movements led by students in those communities. The archival profession must document the full scope of student life with the objective of capturing these richly diverse histories because they are pertinent to the evolution of colleges and universities and their role in society.

Issues surrounding diversity, equity, and inclusion have historically been the most consistent area of student activism at the University of Rhode Island. That history will serve as the backdrop for the June 3, 2019 Project STAND symposium at URI. It is the second of four IMLS-funded symposia. For highlights of the first symposium held at AUC Woodruff in Atlanta Georgia, see https://standarchives.com/stand-symposium-auc-woodruff/.

This forum will examine student activism through the lens of difference (including, but not limited to ability, class, gender, race, and sexual orientation) as well as the role of student organizers in advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion at their colleges and universities. It will provide vital discourse on levels of engagement of student organizers, the impact of place and space first on the development of campus culture and later on student activism, and difference as it pertains to student activism. The forum will also include an investigation of traditional archival praxis within the realm of social media and a discussion of how to forge a more equitable relationship between the record creator and the repository.

Keynote speaker:  Dr. Adrienne Keene

The program will include papers solicited via a CFP, panels of student organizers and memory workers, and breakout sessions.

This event is free and open to the public.   Please register through the link at https://standarchives.com/stand-symposium-university-of-rhode-island/.

For more information about the event, please contact Karen Morse at kwmorse@uri.edu

Sponsored by the Institute of Museum and Library Services and the University of Rhode Island Libraries.