Courageous Conversations Towards Racial Justice is a dialogue-centered initiative on racism and privilege designed to address racial healing, equity, and justice.听听
The Courageous Conversations Facilitation Team, a group of faculty, students and administrators, brings together a diverse group of the 51茶馆 Community for conversations on race and racial justice.听
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Mission
The program was created on the principle that racism impacts all of us. We recognize that understanding, interrupting, and dismantling internal and external racism is lifelong work and cannot just be achieved by a series of seminars, but we believe that engagement with people across various lines of difference is an essential element of this work. As we come to know one another, we will recognize the inherent dignity within each of us, find common ground, and learn from one another in a trusting, authentic community.
Fall 2024 Courageous Conversation: Embracing Curious Dialogue Across Differences
In today's polarized climate, even those who consider themselves experienced may struggle to have open and brave discussions about racism and other forms of discrimination. The Office for Institutional Diversity invites all students, faculty, and staff to join us for dinner and dialogue. Using the Intercultural Racial Continuum and Monica Guzman's frameworks, we will examine valuable insights, practical tools, and strategies to improve our ability to navigate challenging conversations about race, embrace diverse perspectives, and foster a respectful, resilient community during difficult times.
Date: November 14th, 2024
Time: Dinner 6:30 pm, followed by dialogue 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm听
Location: McElroy Commons Faculty Dining Room
Partners
The Boston College Forum on Racial Justice
The Forum on Racial Justice in America will provide a meeting place for listening, dialogue, and greater understanding about race and racism in our country, while serving as a catalyst for bridging differences, promoting reconciliation, and encouraging new perspectives.
Environmental Studies Program
The Environmental Studies Program is an undergraduate interdisciplinary major and minor program that prepares students to envision and implement paths towards social justice, environmental health, and economic prosperity so that all people may flourish.
Past Conversations
Color Consciousness: Know Your Racial Identity
November 09, 2023
6:30 PM 鈥� 8:30 PM
McElroy Commons, Faculty Dining Room
The next Courageous Conversation is scheduled for听Thursday,听November 9th, 2023, 7:00-8:30 p.m. in the McElroy听Commons Faculty Dining Room. Dinner will be available. A team of students, staff, and faculty are excited to bring this initiative to the campus community. Join us for an evening of resource sharing and small-group discussion, where we will strive to understand the value of color consciousness.
Dipti Bramhandkar presents her monologue, American Rookie
April 25, 2023
6:00 PM
Robsham Theater Arts Center, Bonn Theatre
The Courageous Conversations is delighted to welcome playwright听Dipti Bramhandkar听to Boston College to present her monologue, American Rookie. Part coming-of-age tale, part social commentary, and part comedy, American Rookie grapples with what it means to be an immigrant at a time when the country couldn't stop talking about it. Inspired by playwright Dipti Bramhandkar's experiences in America after moving from Mumbai to Central New York State, American Rookie brings to life the joy, humor, and pain of the assimilation process 鈥� from mimicking 80's fashion and studying Judy Blume books to constructing a new American persona altogether.
Ms. Bramhandkar staged American Rookie in January 2020 to local听acclaim. Since that time, and between听other projects, Ms. Bramhandkar has taken American Rookie to college campuses and looks forward to bringing the work to Boston College. The monologue will be by Q&A and discussion with Ms. Bramhamdkar, and then a light reception. Sponsored with an ILA grant
A Community Conversation
February 15, 2023
5:00 PM 鈥� 7:00 PM
McElroy Commons, Faculty Dining Room
An opportunity for students and administrators to engae in important dialogue focused on racial identity and experiences. Dinner will be provided.听
What's Your Racism Blindspot? The Hidden Biases of Good People
December 07, 2022
7:00 PM 鈥� 8:00 PM
About Couragous Conversations: A team of students, staff, and faculty are excited to bring this initiative to the 51茶馆 community. The entire 51茶馆 community is welcome to听CC@51茶馆听events. Hungry for dialogue about race, privilege, and identity at Boston College? Join the initiative: Join us for evenings of resource sharing and small-group discussion, where we will strive to unpack the meaning of implicit biases and blindspots
Cultural Appropriation
October 20, 2022
7:00 PM 鈥� 8:30 PM
Walsh Hall, Function Room
Cultural appropriation happens听when members of a dominant group use cultural elements of a non-dominant group in an exploitative and disrespectful way that reinforces stereotypes and contributes to oppression.听We will discuss the negative consequences of cultural appropriation and the differences between appreciation and appropriation.
The Commodification of BIPOC Bodies
April 25, 2022
7:00 PM 鈥� 8:30 PM
Walsh Hall, Function Room
There are a lot of directions this conversation can take 鈥� most obviously, slavery, where the exploitation of the Black body generated great wealth, but we might also discuss other ways in which BIPOC bodies are commodified -- mass incarceration, Asianfishing, Blackfishing, sexual objectification, exoticization, and cultural appropriation are just some of the topics we鈥檒l discuss.
Race in College Admissions
March 22, 2022
7:00 PM 鈥� 8:30 AM
Walsh Hall, Function Room
The U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly upheld race-conscious admissions programs through the decades, but the court鈥檚 new conservative supermajority has agreed to hear two cases that put the fate of affirmative action in higher education into question.听How is race used in the college admissions process? How might these cases impact the diversity of the student body on college campuses?
A Conversation in Collaboration with the Athletics Department on The Loyola Project
March 01, 2022
7:00 PM 鈥� 8:30 AM
Walsh Hall, Function Room
At a time when it was uncommon for college basketball teams to play more than three Black players at any one time, the 1963 Loyola University Chicago Ramblers started four Black players and won the NCAA championship. This team not only revolutionized the way college basketball was played, but also battled and overcame extreme racism both on and off the court. The Loyola Project tells their story.听The documentary film will be screened in Robsham Theatre on Monday February 28, prior to the conversation on Tuesday.
What is Critical Race Theory and Why is it Under Attack?
February 16, 2022
7:00 PM 鈥� 8:30 PM
Virtual
Is 鈥渃ritical race theory鈥� a way of understanding how American racism has shaped public policy, or a divisive discourse that pits people of color against white people? The topic has exploded in the public arena 鈥攅specially in K-12, where numerous state legislatures are debating bills seeking to ban its use in the classroom. Professor Daniel Farbman, Law School, will join the conversation to give us a primer on critical race theory.
The Social Construction of Whiteness
November 30, 2021
7:00 PM 鈥� 8:30 PM
Walsh Function Room
Constructions of whiteness have changed over time, shifting with social change.Ta-Nehisi Coates has described whiteness as 鈥渁n existential danger to the country and the world.鈥� What is 鈥淲hiteness鈥� and why don鈥檛 we talk about it more?
鈥淪o, what are you anyway?鈥� The Complexities of Racial Identity if you are neither White nor Black
October 27, 2021
7:00 PM 鈥� 8:30 PM
Walsh Function Room
This topic can include the complexity of race in the Latinx & AAPI communities and for bi-racial & multi-racial folx.
The Race Card Project
September 30, 2021
7:00 PM 鈥� 8:30 PM
McElroy 237
NPR Journalist Michele Norris started The Race Card Project where people from around the world share their experiences, questions, hopes, and dreams, laments, and observations about race and identity 鈥搃n just six words鈥揳s the starting point for conversations about race.听
A Conversation on听Citizen: An American Lyric听by Claudia Rankine
February 17, 2021
7-8:30pm
A听campus conversation on the winter break book read which was the winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award in Poetry in 2014, and a finalist for the National Book Award. (Co-Sponsored w/ the Forum on Racial Justice)
Racial Justice and Covid-19听
March 9, 2021
7-8:30pm
A Conversation听about how systemic health inequities have put Black and Brown people at increased risk for Covid-19. Black, Indigenous & Latinx communities are suffering disproportionately in this pandemic.
Mass Incarceration and Racial Inequality
March 31, 2021
7-8:30pm
America is number one听in incarceration. Over the past several decades, we have built the largest prison population in the entire world, with a concentration of imprisonment among young, Black men. How did we get here?听
Racial Equity, Representation & Inclusion: A Celebration of the Arts
April 15, 2021
7-8:30pm
A celebratory final event that highlights some of the many artistic achievements of BIPOC.
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Racial Justice & Democratic Citizenship: A Pre-Election Conversation in collaboration w/ The Forum on Racial Justice
October 10, 2020
A conversation about the importance of voting and participating in the democratic process, as John Lewis rightly noted, as a means to redeem the soul of our nation.