Scholarship and Social Justice

undergraduate research

CONFERENCE

April 17-18 | Harvard College

The Scholarship and Social Justice (SSJ) Conference brings staff, faculty, and undergraduates together to celebrate social-justice focused scholarship and reflective learning.

History of the Conference

Since 2015, the Scholarship and Social Justice (SSJ) conference has been led by the Harvard College Center for Public Service & Engaged Scholarship and the Harvard Foundation for Intercultural & Race Relations. SSJ has welcomed undergraduate students from private and public institutions across the nation. With each year of this conference, we continue to be impressed with the rigor and depth of the research undertaken by undergraduate scholars across the country.

Mission Statement

The purpose of this conference is:

to honor scholarship that focuses on challenges facing society with regard to equity and inclusion and historically marginalized and under-represented communities
to illuminate community-engaged research that reflects qualities of reciprocity and mutuality in the co-creation of scholarship, in addition to being transdisciplinary and inclusive of knowledge from outside the academy
to provide undergraduate researchers an opportunity to engage in academic discourse and research dissemination

For student-scholars, this is an opportunity to engage in academic dialogue with peers and faculty mentors. For faculty, this conference presents an opportunity to explore how other disciplines conduct research that creates new knowledge and understanding about equity and social justice and to be inspired by the next generation of scholars. In particular, we hope that this conference will encourage historically underrepresented students to pursue careers in the academy.

Credit: Hugo Cardona @hugos.camera

Meet our Faculty Chair

Ken Thomas

Ken Darrie Thomas is the Lecturer on Environmental Science and Public Policy and Lecturer on Environmental Science and Engineering in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University, and he also serves as the Resident Dean of Cabot House. He was born in Trinidad and Tobago (raised in Siparia, Trinidad) and went to the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad where he studied chemical and process engineering. Ken went on to complete MSc in Environmental Engineering from the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine. Ken then completed his PhD at the University of South Florida in civil engineering (water resources and engineering focus), where he concentrated in environmental engineering and water resources. His dissertation is entitled "Ecotourism and Water Quality: Linking Management, Activities and Sustainability Indicators in the Caribbean." Since then Ken’s work has focus mainly on the rural South and developing countries.

Meet the Team