Global Challenges, Local Actions: Webinar Series, Tools and Resources
Moisés García Guzmán in San Jerónimo Tlacochahuaya, one of the presenters of Speaking, Writing, and Resisting: Celebrating Zapotec Language Activism.
During the last several months, the Center for Peace and Global Citizenship amplified community-campus partnerships advancing global solidarity through local actions in the Philadelphia region and around the world.
Through several virtual events, the CPGC hosted faculty, student, alumni, and community collaborators in a series that reflected on current programming, celebrated relationship-building, and considered the Center's impact on post-Haverford careers. A small sampling includes:
Local Issues in Global Context, Including Racism and Structural Inequality
Beginning with a focus on how to live and practice racial equity everyday, Dr. Nicole Stokes, Associate Provost for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at St. Joseph’s University and Dr. Eric Hartman, Executive Director of the Center for Peace and Global Citizenship shared a set of resources designed to expand local understanding of global injustices, as well as ways to foster classroom discussions and dialogues about inequality and racial discrimination.
Laɣim Tehi Tuma: Inquiries into Black Study/ies
Laɣim Tehi Tuma (LTT) 2020 Fellows Lauren Lattimore BMC '21, Lisa Adanye BMC '23, and Ibrahim Zengbang Muta-Ali UDS '21 shared a combined reflection of their experiences with their internships, Dagomba language and cultural learning, and work together on LTT’s Research Committee. They also shared vignettes of their individual inquiry projects, followed by small group discussions based on the topics they researched (histories of enslavement camps in Ghana, migration from rural to urban areas in Ghana, and familial artifacts). The Fellows then facilitated a larger discussion on the current political and personal relevance of Black Study/ies and how to protect it from career and media commodification.
Speaking, Writing, and Resisting: Celebrating Zapotec Language Activism
Zapotec language activists and educators shared about their work to reclaim knowledge and resist anti-indigenous ideologies in Mexico and the diaspora. Attendees learned how dictionaries relate to weaving, heard Zapotec poetry, and listened to Zapotec language in context through a tour of San Jerónimo Tlacochahuaya, Oaxaca. Panelists were then in conversation around this international collaboration that seeks to center and celebrate Zapotec knowledge and expertise through research, education, and the creation of publicly available resources, such as Zapotec Talking Dictionaries and Ticha.
Cultural Humility and Historical Understanding: Understanding What is Now Pennsylvania through Indigenous Experience
Adam DePaul, a Tribal Council Member of the Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania, shared about the Lenape Nation of PA, provided a historical overview, invited participants to visit the Lenape Nation of PA Cultural Center in Easton in the future, and offered educators ideas for sharing more about the Lenape Nation of PA in their classrooms. Much of Pennsylvania is on the unceded ancestral homelands of the Lenape.
Additionally, some events dovetailed with a series of professional development sessions that the CPGC organized in collaboration with the Pennsylvania Council for International Education, Philadelphia Higher Education Network for Neighborhood Development, and Community-based Global Learning Collaborative. Together, these sessions drew participation from across the globe - more than 600 individuals attended from over 450 different colleges, universities, and community and educational organizations.
