Kristina Brant and Justine Lindemann (faculty in the rural sociology program in the College of Agricultural Sciences) are hosting a symposium Nov. 7-8 that will convene community organizations, researchers, and extension professionals to grapple with challenges and barriers to innovative, equitable, and liberatory partnerships serving historically underserved populations. The symposium will take a special focus on using agrifood interventions and innovations as a tool to promote community transformation and resilience, but we welcome those working outside of the agrifood space.
In a morning keynote panel on November 7th, we will hear about examples of community-university collaborations that simultaneously enhance community resilience and challenge carceral, punitive, and individualist approaches that can reify inequalities. After a lunch break, we will regroup with roundtable discussions to interrogate our own observations and experiences with community-university partnerships and envision best practices for future work. On Friday, November 8, those interested in working further in this space will reconvene to map out potential future project(s) and collaborations, either ongoing or new, that we want to pursue.
Educators, staff, faculty, and graduate students are encouraged to attend any or all symposium events (you do not need to attend the full 1.5-day symposium!) Limited funding is available to support travel for extension educators to University Park.