Programming

As part of The New School’s Black History Month celebration, the Office of Equity, Inclusion, and Social Justice will continue with the EISJ series announced in President McBride's community message, which critically interrogates the U.S. Constitution through the lens of inclusion and human rights.

The office invites you to join us for a program that will examine the status and impact of the legal rights provided under the Constitution and the concomitant economic, political, social, and cultural rights and the creative freedom and practices that enable members of Black community to access, exercise, and protect their rights and the rights of all who live in the United States.

Learn more here.  

As part of the Milano School’s Henry Cohen Lecture Series and in honor of International Women’s Day, we present three dynamic leaders who discuss and chart a more inclusive and just political economy. Join our speakers: Nina Turner, former Ohio state senator and Bernie 2020 Campaign co-chair; Angela Glover Blackwell, founder in residence of PolicyLink and the host of the Radical Imagination podcast; and Melanie F. Hart, senior legal and policy advisor to the Institute for Race, Power and Political Economy, senior vice president for Equity, Inclusion, and Social Justice, and chief diversity officer at The New School.

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In honor of Black History Month, the Office of Equity, Inclusion, and Social Justice will host an educational and inspirational discussion with the renowned civil rights lawyer, activist, and former New School leader Maya Wiley on the current state of racial equity and the journey ahead on February 17 at 5:00 p.m. EST.

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In honor of LGBTQIA+ Pride Month 2021, the Office of Equity, Inclusion, and Social Justice will celebrate the journeys of two incredible history makers.

On June 9, 2021, EISJ, in collaboration with the Office of Alumni Relations, is hosting New School alumna Dr. Siobhan Brooks, MA Sociology ’01 and PhD Sociology ’08, in conversation with New School President and University Professor Dr. Dwight A. McBride.

On June 28, 2021, the anniversary of the Stonewall uprising, please join us for a conversation with U.S. Congressmember Mondaire Jones.

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The Office of Equity, Inclusion, and Social Justice, in collaboration with the Institute on Race and Political Economy, will host an important discussion to honor and recognize the holiday.

While Juneteenth acknowledges the declared end of the legal enslavement of African Americans, its existence challenges us to ask: What is freedom to African Americans? To grapple with the legacy of Juneteenth and the persistent questions regarding the status of African Americans in the United States, we invite you to join us on Tuesday, June 22, at 3:00 p.m. for an in-depth transdisciplinary discussion between Darrick Hamilton, University Professor and founding director of the Institute on Race and Political Economy; Deva Woodly, associate professor in the Department of Politics and faculty director of the Mellon Initiative for Inclusive Faculty Excellence; and Melanie Hart, senior vice president for Equity, Inclusion, and Social Justice and senior legal and policy advisor for the Institute on Race and Political Economy. 

In celebration of AAPI Heritage Month 2021, the Office of Equity, Inclusion, and Social Justice is proud to partner with faculty, staff, and students to present two special events:

A discussion between assistant professor Mia Charlene White and Margo Okazawa-Rey, professor emerita, educator, writer, social justice activist, and founding member of the Combahee River Collective. 

A short-film event titled Envisioning Beyond the Silence: Asian American Filmmakers Speak Their Truth. Presented by Creatively Speaking in collaboration with the Institute on Race and Political Economy and the Office of Equity, Inclusion, and Social Justice. Michelle Materre, associate professor and director of the Media Management program, will host the event and a panel discussion following the screening.

The New School community includes dynamic women of diverse intersectional identities. As Audre Lorde noted, “Without community, there is no liberation ... but community must not mean a shedding of our differences, nor the pathetic pretense that these differences do not exist.”  

This Women's History Month, we invite you to a series of intimate discussions among women of The New School:

• Women in Leadership with Anne Adriance, Rachel Schreiber, Antonia Craig, and others on March 11 at 4:00 p.m.   
  From varied vantage points of leadership within The New School, these dynamic women will explore what it means to serve as leaders and their vision for women now and in the future. 
• Activism at the Academy with Yvonne Watson, Tamara Oyola-Santiago, Tsuya Yee, Natalie Gross, and others on March 25 at 4:00 p.m.
  These social justice warriors will participate in a discussion of what it means to be an activist in the academy and explore strategies for advancing inclusion and practicing radical self-care.
• An Intergenerational Discussion on Feminism and Intersectionality in 2021 with Mia White, Nadia Williams, and others on March 31 at 4:00 p.m.
  The analytic and activist frames of feminism and intersectionality have long been essential yet contested spaces. This intergenerational dialogue will offer unique perspectives on the relevance of these frames today and in the future.

The Office of Equity, Inclusion, and Social Justice welcomed The New School community to Black History Month 2021.  

While the origins of Black History Month date back to 1915, we entered into Black History Month 2021 at a time of significant turmoil and transition within the United States and throughout the world. The systemic disparities and inequities that Black people experience are, for example, acutely displayed in the disproportionately high death rates and disproportionately low vaccine inoculation rates in the COVID-19 global health pandemic. Black History Month 2021 also arrived at a time of great hope and aspiration as communities continued to struggle for equity and social justice.

This dichotomy of struggle and hope are as old as the Black experience in America and endemic to its many institutions. The New School is no exception as we strive to discern and address inequities and any vestiges of anti-Blackness within the student, staff, and faculty experience. We come to this Black History Month open and ready to address our challenges, as we advance inclusion and social justice within our policies, practices, and structures. 

And while the dichotomies exist, we recognize that Black history, Black culture, Black joy, and Black love are defined by beauty, strength, and a complexity that is humanity. 

In honor of Black History Month 2021, The New School is working to build a tradition of honoring and celebrating Black culture, history, and lives year-round. 

Watch Archived Black History Month 2021 Events
Never Forget: Cycles of History: Award-winning journalist and historian Jelani Cobb will ground and explore what is meant by "never forget." Cobb will discuss the way much of contemporary politics and conditions has been foretold by those of historic times. 

A Conversation with Nikki Giovanni: The legendary poet, educator, and activist.

As an initial offering of recognition and reclamation, the Office of Equity, Inclusion, and Social Justice hosted a Juneteenth Black-Out Day of programming on Friday, June 19, 2020. The Juneteenth 2020 events featured live captioning and ASL interpretation.

Juneteenth 2020 comes at a time when the very question of freedom for Black people is challenged by the persistence of institutionalized racism in the United States.  And while the struggle for freedom also persists, our collective response must take many forms.  Our resistance on Juneteenth comes in the form of a recognition and reclamation day to center the experience of Black people through teach-ins and to offer tools of healing, support, and community building that focus on our physical and mental health.

Juneteenth Videos

• James Baldwin’s New Jerusalem
• Care & Freedom: Black Feminist Practices of Marronage
• Bearing Witness to a History of Black Land Ethics