Adobe Express

Staff as Students of Social Justice

The Staff as Social Justice Leaders program is an opportunity for staff to participate in discussions about timely and important topics, led by American Cultures faculty. Piloted in Fall 2020, the SSSJ/SSSJL program is a unique and amazing opportunity to learn first hand from leading scholars of race, ethnicity, and gender; dig into subject of personal interests; and build connections with faculty, students and fellow VCUE colleagues. Program Overview Attend lectures/meetings for your chosen class Participate in a weekly discussion section with a GSI just for VCUE staff Expect 3-4 hours of...

Creative Discovery Fellows (CDF) Support

Resources

To help support creative/digital projects in your courses, the following set of resources are available for immediate implementation.

Public Policy 160AC: Work, Justice and the Labor Movement

This course provides a broad, interdisciplinary overview of the U.S. labor movement in the fight for social and economic justice. It will introduce students to critiques of racial capitalism and the power dynamics inherent in paid work while considering why and how workers form unions in response. One of the primary objectives of this course is to develop a theoretical and analytical understanding of contemporary workers’ experiences of work in the U.S. shaped by race, class, gender, sexuality, immigration status, language, religion, and other social constructs. There will be a special...

Creative Project Support

The Creative Discovery Design Team is excited to start consultations again this semester! Sign up to meet with one of our peer consultants who can help you with your creative projects. You do not have to be in one of the supporting classes to sign up – we are open to all students.

Our consultants can help with design principles, Adobe application questions, thinking through your projects with a social justice-centered lens, and more!

One-on-one appointments

If you need...

Theater 25AC: Performance in América

About the Course Assignment

This course considers America as contested territory, where multiple Americas are not just written but also performed. By studying performance we look at how different meanings of America have been constructed over time. This class especially focuses on race intersecting with class and gender in the United States towards stronger anti-racist and anti-imperialist collective strategies for artists, scholars, and other cultural producers. Course materials include plays, live performances, popular media, music,...

History 131C: In the Shadow of War

Over the course of the semester, students in History 131C, In the Shadow of War: A Social History of the U.S. Military, investigate together how the military shaped and was shaped by the experiences of African American, indigenous American, Mexican American, Asian American, and white American soldiers, officers, and their families. Alongside race, ethnicity, and national origin, the course considers how personnel policies and exigent circumstances of war rendered gender, sexuality, class, religion, and disability visible and invisible, acceptable and...

English 135AC: "Race, Class & Disability: An American Foundling Museum"

About the Course Assignment

English 135AC: “Race, Class, & Disability: An American Foundling Museum” analyzed race, ethnicity, and disability in American cultures, focusing particularly on histories of family separation. A final project for the course asked students to curate an artifact for an “American Foundling Museum," with an opportunity to work in a variety of different mediums: conventional papers, podcasts, video, graphic art, and more. Across the semester, students applied writing and arts-based practices to generate a major...

Chicano Studies 174AC: "Chicanos, the Law and the Criminal Justice System"

About the Course Assignment

Chicano Studies 174AC: “Chicanos, the Law, and the Criminal Justice System” situates itself within an abolitionist paradigm to understand the connections between Chicano, Latino, and migrant urbanization, race, poverty, state violence, and the criminal justice system. The project for this course asked students, as groups, to select a topic or theme that they wanted to engage and to create a Spark presentation introducing the topic, as well as produce a podcast on the chosen topic or theme.

Chicano Studies 159AC: “Mexican and Central American Migration”

About the Course Assignment

Chicano Studies 159AC: “Mexican and Central American Migration” attempts to answer the following questions: why does Mexican and Central American immigration continue to be the target of anti-immigrant hysteria and unjust immigration policy? And how do Mexican and Central American immigrant communities navigate, contest, and challenge these policies in their everyday lives? In empowering students to seek answers to these questions, the projects for this class included a group project where students could create...