Workshops

Presenter: Dr. Denise Meringolo (UMBC Associate Professor of History and Director of Public History)

Historic sites, museums, archives, and monuments are neither neutral nor objective. Many were established to strengthen tradition, reinforce the cultural authority of elites, and inhibit change. Today, these sites have become the focal point of protest, symbols in a larger fight for inclusiveness and equality. In this talk, Dr. Denise Meringolo identifies different, less well-documented forms of public history practice, drawing attention to individuals who understood collecting, preserving, analyzing, and interpreting the past as entirely compatible with - even necessary for—productive political discourse, and embraced the potential of their work to promote social justice.

Presenter: Lawrence Grandpre (Director of Research for Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle)

Historical analysis of the Civil Rights and Black Power movements reveals that attempts to co-opt social justice movements have often been couched as attempts to do "community reinvestment". Despite this, many "leftist" have celebrated recent federal and state investments into "underserved communities", often without critically interrogating the institutional imperatives and political infrastructures behind these policies. Leader of a Beautiful Struggle Director of Research Lawrence Grandpre will analyze recent federal and state social justice interventions, arguing that, while claiming to be radical, many have served to further center decision-making power within elites institutions that adopt top-down, technocratic methodologies on how to engage Black and Brown communities, thus further disempowering the communities they claim to support. Conversely, an analysis of Baltimore's federal poverty programs and minority contracting investments in the 60s, 70s, and 80s reveal paths to an alternative vision on how to conceptualize policy approaches to community empowerment, ones that can harness the history and culture of oppressed communities to empower communities to serve as their own saviors.

Presenter: Chuck D’Adamo (Co-editor of the Alternative Press Index)

Every social movement of radical action requires a linked movement of radical ideas. The New Left of the 1960s and 1970s developed a radical culture in journalism and academic research which challenged mainstream practices. The Alternative Press Index was founded in 1969 to document these cultural practices. This talk will discuss aspects of this development through some examples of the new periodicals which originated during this time. There will be some focus on an example of class analysis which attempts to clarify social relationships relevant for strategic practice. (The Albin O. Kuhn Library archives the periodicals of the API).

Presenter: Dr. Nancy Kusmaul (UMBC Associate Professor of Social Work), with UMBC students Kayla Brooks and Deysi Chitic-Amaya

The language used inside and outside social justice movements speaks volumes about what people believe the movement to be about. Yet often even those within a movement do not always agree on the terms. In this presentation, students Deysi Chitic-Amaya and Kayla Brooks, along with Faculty Advisor Dr. Nancy Kusmaul will discuss the lessons learned while collecting oral histories for From the Civil Rights Movement to Black Lives Matter: Oral Histories of the Lived Experience in Baltimore during co-lab 2021. More information on this co-lab project will be available on the Center for Social Science Scholarship’s new podcast series, available sometime during the 2021-2022 academic year.

Presenter: Dr. Kate Drabinski (UMBC Principal Lecturer of Gender and Women’s Studies and Director of WILL+ ), with UMBC students Sarah Nove and Gabe Brunal

What does "radical" mean in our classrooms? How do we teach about radicalism, particularly when the concept itself can be so politically divisive? Building on examples from her teaching about Baltimore's radical queer and feminist movements, Kate Drabinski will share strategies for teaching, learning, and thinking radically in classes, and how this work can move beyond the boundaries of UMBC.

Presenter: Dr. Fred Pincus (UMBC Emeritus Professor of Sociology)

UMBC students, faculty and staff participated in a wide range of radical social movements in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Like other students across the country, protests against the Vietnam War and systemic racism were common. Demands for more on-campus student decision-making power were also important including administration’s censorship of a literary magazine, the hiring and firing of faculty and the development of a Black Studies program. This resulted in demonstrations, sit-ins and student strikes. Dr. Pincus will also report on a small, where-are-they-now study of former activists.