The sociology program is running a day-long professional-development workshop on activism and academia on Saturday, June 13, 2009. The event is being kicked off at 10am with remarks by Saadia Toor, assistant professor at The College of Staten Island. Several activist groups have been invited to discuss with students in the program, including Filipinas for Rights and Empowerment (FiRE), KABALIKAT Domestic Workers Support Network, and 123 Community Space. Food and drinks will be provided!

This day-long event will focus on methods of applied/empirical social research and their relationship to activism and social justice. How can we as sociologists be at once actively engaged in our communities and still maintain professional standards in our work? The workshop will address methodological, practical, organizational, theoretical and ethical questions. The first part of the workshop will focus on organizations within NYC, the current work they are engaged in and how they think academics could better serve activist communities. In the second part, there will be an emphasis on current scholarly work by academics who are engaged in community based or activist oriented projects.  This will be followed by a break out session.  These small informal groups, with the speakers you have heard throughout the day, will be for sharing your experiences and brainstorming for new ways to bridge the academic/activist divide.  The goal is to end with a better understanding of how to unite the academic and activist parts of ourselves and our research.