Dr. Francisco Rios speaks of UW Social Justice Research Center at UWNA Denver Breakfast Series

UW alumni and friends gathered at Dixon's Downtown Grill on a chilly Wednesday morning in November to hear the anxiously awaited presentation by Dr. Francisco Rios, Director of the UW Social Justice Research Center. The following article was compiled from the presentation and supporting materials.  To view our upcoming Denver Breakfast Series speakers and topics, please see our events page.

"Social Justice: What does the University of Wyoming have to do with it?"
Presented by Dr. Francisco Rios, November 19, 2008     

 

Wyoming – the Equality State – has long-standing diverse communities, and as the state with the largest increase in newcomers and immigrants, there is also increasing cultural and linguistic diversity.  Historic and contemporary challenges are seen in the Rock Springs Chinese Massacre Riot of 1885, the Matthew Shepard murder and the continued existence of “Sundown Laws”, tensions with newcomer communities, state legislation around limits on “hate crimes” and inequitable school funding,  to name a few.

UW’s response to these important issues can be found in the university’s diversity and social justice initiatives. These include interdisciplinary academic programs such as African American Studies, American Indian Studies, Women’s Studies, Chicano/Latino Studies, the Wyoming Institute for Disabilities, and International Studies.  Scholarly forums like the Shepard Symposium for Social Justice, Martin Luther King Days of Dialogue and increasing attention to diversity of speakers are valued vehicles for open discussion and raising awareness.  The Office of Multicultural Affairs, Students for Social Change, Multicultural Alumni Association, Center for Volunteer Services and the President’s Advisory Council on Minorities and Women’s Affairs are only a few of the groups working to address social justice and equality concerns within the state of Wyoming. 
 
At the University of Wyoming, the Social Justice Research Center (SJRC) has a mission to serve the region and respond to contemporary needs, which includes the need to nurture an environment that values and manifests diversity, free expression, academic freedom, personal integrity and mutual respect. As a result, the SJRC must respond to the perception of UW, recruitment and retention of faculty, staff and students, lack of diversity in upper administration and issues of racism and homophobia.

Social justice grew out of the Civil Rights Movement. Drawing from interdisciplinary program knowledge, it focuses on social structures that perpetuate inequality and an understanding of the intersections of identities and social systems.  Social justice values and affirms differing points of view, while attending to oppression, and seeks to generate solutions.

The UW Social Justice Research Center was funded by an anonymous donor and matching endowment funds by the Wyoming legislature, with the intent to get faculty, staff and students involved in the understanding of contemporary issues: be they state, regional or international, which may lead to more robust solutions. The SJRC will also provide scholarly forums and support for faculty, staff and students to engage in research activities, in support of the academic mission of UW.

The mission and goals of the SJRC are to support and advance practical and theoretical research related to the pursuit of social justice.  The goals include production and dissemination of research, outreach to the state/region, intellectual exchange, constructive dialogue and generation of knowledge which contributes to meaningful solutions.

The SJRC has supported sanitation and water management efforts in Liberia, Latina women’s roles in collective bargaining, and Project Citizen and the Role of Science in Bolivia. Future efforts will continue to be seen in scholarly forums and support, center-based, targeted initiatives, collaboration with others on the UW campus, and a movement of work out to the state-wide community.

The UW Social Justice Research Center believes that education in a democracy should “equip children with the means to think and stand on their own two feet, bringing the ideas and experiences of far away or long ago to bear upon the understanding and criticism of the here and now.   The school should examine possibilities of imagination and of life that the surrounding society is unable or unwilling to countenance. It should be the voice of the future”. 

Posted on Thursday, December 11, 2008