Project: Minnesota Transform Showcase Series
About the project
In the Spring of 2022, MNT hosted the Minnesota Transform Showcase Series, a weeklong showcase of MNT projects and partnerships. Spanning five days, ten events, and four locations, the MNT Showcase Series highlighted the work carried out by interns, administrators, scholars, staff, and everyone else who carried out the mission of MNT across its three-year run. Learn about our line-up of panels, workshops, and other events that comprised our Showcase Series below.
Teaching Carcerality: New Possibilities in the Archive
This roundtable centered an innovative, interdisciplinary graduate course that uses archival collections around policing, carcerality and justice to bring Law school students and CLA students together. Students, faculty and archivists shared what they learned about the ways that universities have engaged with the communities that surround them, about the archives, and about the possibilities of universities. This roundtable was moderated by Tracey Deutsch, and featured Susanna Blumenthal, Ellen Holt-Werle, Treasure Tinsley, Akeem Anderson, and Dewitt King.
Minneapolis Panorama: Visualizing Change in the Built Environment Over Time
This interactive presentation led by Dr. Fernando Burga featured visual records of the Lake Street and West Broadway corridors from the immediate aftermath of the murder of George Floyd through 2022 to track and evaluate their transformation. To learn more about the Minneapolis Panorama project, please visit this project library page.
MN Transform Internship Showcase
At the MNT Internship Showcase, MNT interns and community partners showcased their projects and spoke about their experiences. Highlighted partners included Mapping Prejudice, Tamales y Bicycletas, Memorialize the Movement, Soomal House, Minnesota Youth Story Squad, and others. This event was led, organized, and facilitated by Michelle Garvey.
GRUDGE (Groundwork Research on Under-resourced, Disabled, Graduate Experiences) Report: Preliminary Findings
This session presented preliminary research findings on the experiences of multiply-marginalized, under-resourced and disabled UMN graduate students. Time was dedicated to an open discussion about improving support for BIPOC, first-generation, international, and queer/trans disabled graduate students. To learn more about GRUDGE, please visit this project library page.
Indigenous Initiatives and the Department of American Indian Studies
Members of the Ojibwe and Dakota language initiatives shared the ways that they have promoted language immersion, education, access, and preservation through collaboration with MNT. We reflected on the implications of these collaborations in terms of knowledge production, commitments to Indigenous communities, and the structures and possibilities of the university. This event was facilitated by Tracey Deutsch and featured Zoe Brown, Deacon DeBoer, Taryn Long, Raine Cloud, Ric Bertsch, Nick Estes, and Vicente Diaz. You can read more about our collaborations with AIS, including the language study program and the Dakota Audio Journal, at their project library pages.
Whose Campus History: Space and Place Through the Mississippi
“Whose Campus History: Space and Place Through the Mississippi” was an informational workshop focused on fostering different ways of thinking about our campus environment. After an introduction to the topics of Environmental Justice and Counter Mapping, participants in this workshop discussed the multitude of ways the river connects to the University and envisioned what different narratives of campus might look like through the lens of the river. By drawing on community knowledges and relationships to and with the river and campus environments, the workshop demonstrated how counter mapping can enrich our view of the spaces we inhabit and recognize the winding connections that bind us to others through space and time. This workshop was led by Christopher Rico. To learn more about the Whose Campus History project, visit this project library page.
A Climate Act for the People? Breaking Down the $369 Billion Federal Bill
This student-led teach-in evaluated the Inflation Reduction Act from a climate justice perspective, shared how it impacts the general public, and uplifted on-going climate justice initiatives. This event was organized by Michelle Garvey.
Oral Histories for Racial and Indigenous Justice
MNT partners reflected on how oral history initiatives have generated new knowledge and created new possibilities at their racial and social justice organizations. Together, we considered how the university-supported oral history projects can further present-day racial and indigenous justice movements. This roundtable was facilitated by Kevin Murphy, and featured Macey Flood and Emily Beck(Plant/People), Edward Barber (Defend Glendale), Mike Hoyt (Pillsbury House + Theatre), and Khoi Nguyen (The Aliveness Oral History Project).
What to Do When They Tell You It Can’t Be Done: Innovative Approaches to Navigating Administrative Injustice
Bringing together faculty from across the country who have participated in "Just Futures" partnerships, we discussed the bureaucratic processes and procedures that can support or impede community-university partnerships. Together,Jigna Desai, Tracey Deutsch, Julio Capo, Jr., and John Arroyo reflected on how prioritizing racial and Indigenous justice in community engagement projects—getting universities into “right relationship” with BIPOC communities— reverberates through universities themselves. These outward-facing projects demonstrate that change also has to come from within. This roundtable was a part of the IAS Thursdays series,.
MNT Community Celebration
The final showcase series event was an evening of celebration and gratitude at Pillsbury House & Theatre. The evening featured reflections about Minnesota Transform and its partnerships, an interactive Ojos de Dios art making activity with Serpentina Arts, and heavy hors d'oeuvres for all attendees.
