Social Justice: Writing For, Writing Back

What do social justice and diversity mean to young people?

How can we build spaces of learning that inspire educators and young people to orient their lives and purpose towards achieving social justice?

How can schools and educators translate social justice and diversity from mere buzzwords and motherhood goals to wholesale ethics of practice that drill down into young people’s everyday lives?

In this talk, Randa Abdel Fattah will walk us through how she has come to understand social justice from a local, individualized struggle to a global solidarity movement and what inspired her to write The Lines We Cross. She will share insights from her career as an author of books for young people, her experiences as a lawyer and anti-racism activist, and her current academic research as a sociologist working with Muslim and non-Muslim youth exploring their trust relations, fears, aspirations, and political agency as they come of age in today’s social and political climate.

Randa Abdel-Fattah is a Palestinian Egyptian Muslim writer, academic, anti-racism, and Palestine advocate, former lawyer, and the multi-award-winning author of 11 books published in over 20 countries. Several of her books have been adapted to the stage in the US and Australia. Randa is also a postdoctoral research fellow in the Department of Sociology at Macquarie University. Her latest book is ‘Coming of Age in the War on Terror. Randa lives in Sydney, Australia, with her husband and four children.

Participants are encouraged to read the book The Lines We Cross by Randa Abdel-Fattah before attending.

All registered participants will receive access to a digital resources folder.

The first 30 Wisconsin K-12 educators who register for this event will receive a copy of the book.

This event is co-sponsored by Middle East Studies Program and Center for South Asia, UW-Madison.