Social Justice Commons^™

Undoing The Absence Of Asexuality In The Classroom, Canton Winer

Feminist Pedagogy

Asexuality exists at the margins of sexuality, often invisible to and misunderstood outside—and even within—the LGBTQIA+ community. As an identity that generally refers to those who experience low/no sexual attraction, asexuality challenges the broadly held notion that everyone experiences sexual attraction. Given the centrality of sexuality to a great deal of feminist scholarship, the absence of asexuality in many feminist classrooms is striking. Moreover, decades of feminist and queer research and pedagogy have demonstrated the vast, liberatory potential of centering the margins as we seek to understand the social world. With that lineage in mind, asexuality presents a rich, relatively …

Love Letters For Liberatory Futures, Jessica Rodriguez-Jenkins, Roberta Hunte, Lakindra Mitchell Dove, Antonia R.G. Alvarez, Alma M. O. Trinidad, Gita Mehrotra

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

This collection of letters serves to explore the narratives of a collective of women of color in academia by examining individual, collective, spiritual, and institutional strategies for surviving and transforming our institutional spaces and the ways that White Supremacy has shaped our journeys. Multiple perspectives are viewed, and we have written to our children, our future social work students, our future selves, our BIPOC faculty siblings, and our feared enemies to envision and embody more liberatory futures.

Keywords: liberation, academia, BIPOC faculty, institutional racism, White Supremacy

“Nope. Don’T Like That.” In Search Of Justice And Commitment To Nonmaleficence In Dance/Movement Therapy, Johnee Border

Dance/Movement Therapy Theses

The American Dance Therapy Association (ADTA) and Dance/Movement Therapy Certification Board (DMTCB) have ensured those dance/movement therapists who have been educated, registered, and board-certified share a commitment to equity, justice, and nonmaleficence according to the ADTA and DMTCB’s Code of Ethics and Standards (The Code) (ADTA, 2015). “Nope. Don’t like that,” has been the actual, verbal, expression of the embodied experience of intersectional harm from a lack of assessed, decolonized dance/movement therapy practice and pedagogy. The ADTA, students, educators, and credentialed dance/movement therapists hold an established, ethical responsibility to justice and nonmaleficence, and as such, must demonstrate a commitment to …

Menstruation Products And Perceptions: Breaking Through The Crimson Ceiling, Ava Colleran

Young Historians Conference

This paper examines different views on menstruation throughout history and their effects on social, political, and economic landscapes. The ancient Greeks, Romans, and Mayans all believed in the supposed ‘magical powers’ of menstrual blood. These societies held their own ideas on the limits of these magical abilities, and the good and evil forces they could be used for. Throughout these ancient societies, menstruation was used as a justification for the increased control of the state and men over women’s bodies. If menstrual blood did have these magical powers, it was a power that needed to be limited and controlled so …

Gender Inclusivity In Italian: Can Gender Neutrality Be Reached In A Gendered Language? Difficulties, Proposals And Public Perception Of The Phenomenon, Gaia Prunotto

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Italian is a gendered language in which reference to grammatical gender has been constant and inevitable. As language reflects and shapes society, grammatical gender reinforces binary views of social gender and the invizibilization of non-binary identities. Movements for social justice have inspired gender-fair linguistic innovations, such as the feminization of job titles and gender-neutral markers, to promote gender equity and challenge hierarchies of power and dominance in society. This research aimed to explore gender-neutral forms in the Italian grammatical system and public perceptions of these innovations through two studies with two groups of participants.

The first group of participants (n=27) …

Teaching Justice Through Literature: How Higher Education Informs Ethics And Identity, Kami Mittlestadt

Regis University Student Publications (comprehensive collection)

This thesis argues that literature is a valuable tool in examining issues of justice, and teaching ethics through literature is a way to build critical thinking skills and awareness of the world. In this thesis, I examine research and teaching methods that have already been studied and implemented in the teaching of ethics and justice in companionship with literature, and use these resources to propose my own syllabus for a community college class on Ethics in Reading. The syllabus is broken into 7 units: an overview of justice in literature, five specific justice issues (race, feminism, queer studies, eco-criticism, and …

Barriers To Outdoor Recreation For Marginalized Groups At The University Of Montana, Sabine R. Englert, Beatrix Frissell, Adrienne Liebert, Sophia Rodriquez, Margaret Jensen, Rachana Harris, Abby Doss

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

Exclusion from outdoor recreation reflects legacies of oppression of marginalized communities and makes access to the outdoors not equally available. In the United States, approximately 38% of Black Americans and 48% of Hispanic Americans participated in outdoor recreation in 2020. This is compared to 55% participation among Caucasian Americans. Many other intersecting identities are actively excluded, including people with disabilities, fat populations, and members of the LGBTQIA2S+ community; furthermore, class-based hierarchies are shown through the restricted outdoor access of low-income populations.

While numerous studies show a lack of diversity in outdoor recreation, little to no research has been conducted on …

Equity + Catalyst Framework Guide, Naomi M. Silas

Culminating Experience Projects

There has been a shift in society, in light of Covid-19 and the global pandemic, more people have begun to recognize the structural and institutional injustices that exist in this country. Social innovation allows collaboration between people from different sectors, disciplines, industries, and backgrounds; in order to create sustainable change to complex social issues. Design thinking is an iterative process used in business to create innovation and products; it’s also used for social impact.

The goal of the Equity + Catalyst Framework is to bridge concepts that include design thinking, and embodiment, as well as lived experiences and community care …

From Abortion Rights To Reproductive Justice: A Call To Action, Erica Goldblatt Hyatt, Judith L.M. Mccoyd, Mery Diaz

Publications and Research

As aggressive cultural and legislative attacks on abortion rights and access continue, we call upon social workers to pursue the liberatory aims of the reproductive justice (RJ) movement. We argue that the RJ framework, rooted in feminist theory, aligns with social work’s social justice ethos and goals, appropriately guiding advocacy and intervention. After outlining the central aims and tenets of the RJ movement, we consider policies that impair RJ and those that could promote RJ, focusing on enhancing body sovereignty, childbearing, and parenting. We conclude with concrete recommendations for how social workers can pursue RJ professionally and personally.

"Comic"Ally Calling For Cultural Competency: Using Graphic Narratives To Teach Social Justice In The Writing Classroom, Travis Moody

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Black Feminism And Me/Maine Webinar, University Of Maine Alumni Association

Social Justice: Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion

Video of the University of Maine Alumni Association's Black Feminism and Me/Maine Webinar.

The conversation was facilitated by Laren Babb who pursued a graduate degree in chemistry from the University of Maine. Around the table will be: Dr. Samaa Abdurraqib, Associate Director, Maine Humanities Council; Dr. Lori Banks, Assistant Professor of Biology, Bates College; Dr. Leslie Hill, Professor Emerita of Politics, Bates College; Amara Ifeji, Director of Youth Engagement and Policy, Maine Environmental Association and National Geographic Young Explorer; and Kosi Ifeji, Bangor High School student and Youth Hub Coordinator, Maine Environmental Education Association.

The event was made possible with …