On Being Student as Praxis: A Reperative Pedagogy

Jeffrey Hogrefe and Scott Ruff, M.Arch

Center for Equity and Inclusion, Main Building, 004

In a discipline that has marginalized people of color, the architectural curriculum presented in this workshop engages the student as praxis by constructing procedures that work toward an event which activates the past, present and future in world making and world shaping organizations of space. The opportunity to locate a voice to question the underlying assumptions of a formalist architecture pedagogy results in award winning projects that are culturally significant and personally satisfying for the students, their communities, and the critics. Taken together, they present the beginning of a decolonized curriculum that refocuses architecture on a level of subjectivity that could be beneficial to all students and faculty, and lead to a just future for a built and imagined world where the economies of extraction are reversed by collective shared economies that develop in architecture schools. 

Understanding the Impact of Racial Microaggressions on Mental Health

Jung Eun Kim, Ph.D., Jernee Montoya, LCSW CASAC and Hana Chowdhury

Pratt Library - Alumni Reading Room

This educational and interactive workshop will focus on the mental health implications of racial microaggressions. The workshop will start by providing an overview of racial microaggressions and how to recognize them within our interpersonal interactions and overall environments. We will also discuss their implications for mental health and overall well-being and provide examples of psychological and physical manifestations that may be reflective of their negative impact. Next, we will introduce ways that BIPOC individuals can respond to and cope with racial discrimination and how allies can intervene.

Wikimedians Mobilize! Using Wikipedia to Highlight the Work of Black Artists, Designers and Architects

Missy Brown, M.S. LIS, Amy Ballmer, M.L.S, M.S. and Kearra Gopee

Pratt Library - Learning Lab

The Pratt Institute Libraries and the Black Lunch Table invite participants to a collaborative workshop that aims to make important, but underrepresented Black creators, designers, and architects more visible on the Internet, and highlight the impact the work of these professionals have on the Pratt community and beyond. During this workshop participants will create a Wikipedia user account (if new to Wikipedia) and learn how to edit Wikipedia in order to improve it.

*Attendees encouraged to bring a laptop to this session.

Wikipedia Edit-a-thon will continue in the Library Learning Lab from 12-4 pm.

Bring the skills you learned at the workshop and add to the Wikipedia pages of Black creators, designers, and architects. Come for 30 minutes or 4 hours! Librarians and wikipedians will be on hand to offer research and editing assistance.

Three Schools, Three Approaches 

Maria Siera, M. Arch., Uzma Z. Rizvi, Ph.D., and Amanda Huynh 黃珮詩, M.S. 

Pratt Library - Alumni Reading Room

In the School of Architecture, Professor Sieira teaches a seminar in which students analyze film spaces and explore how race is represented in the work of contemporary American filmmakers. Students are trained to understand, not just the physical environments, but also, through film, the socio-political and socio-cultural contexts in which they will be asked to design. In the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences, ‎Professor Rizvi works to make data from archaeological sites accessible to broader publics through data visualization. Rather than us informing communities on how data is made, we will be working with, and alongside, folks as research collaborators to figure out how we might consider data making differently. In the School of Design, Professor Huynh explores the intersection of food, culture, social policy, environment and the impact that art and design can make in these crucial spaces we encounter daily. Topics will include the consumption of food and politics, the ethnic food aisle, migration and diaspora, food trends and xenophobia, food identity and cultural exchange.

Broadening Perspectives: Anti-Racist Efforts towards International Students 

Helio Takai, Ph.D., and Kristin Oberheide, Ed.D.

Center for Equity and Inclusion, Main Building, 004

Institutional anti-racism efforts should include efforts toward our international community. To begin anti-racist efforts, it is important that our community members possess an intercultural lens, and basic knowledge about current international events, in order to support others. A systemic policy that could assist is institutional support for education provided to all community members on intercultural leadership and international topics. With greater awareness-building, faculty members can better integrate international students’ perspectives into the classroom discussion and prevent misunderstandings and microaggressions related to lack of awareness. This session will allow participants to engage in dialogue that addresses this idea, current and potential challenges, and future opportunities for interested community members.

Anti-Racism Workshop

Jazmin A. Peralta, M.S.

Student Union 

Racism permeates with or without animus intention to harm and with or without awareness of its existence. Racism operates at multiple levels, and its power derives from its integration into a unified racial discrimination and prejudice system that creates, governs, and presets opportunities and outcomes across generations. This interactive workshop will explore what it means to be anti-racist. It will unpack the relationships between historical events, institutional structures (federal/state laws, practices, policies), internalized ideologies (beliefs, perceptions, scripts, values, and attitudes), and social structures (state/federal programs, laws, norms, and culture). Specifically, reflect on how these systems and concepts work together to inform and impact our daily lives. The workshop will also provide participants with tangible tools and practices to become active anti-racist allies in the fight towards racial justice.