During the 2023-24 academic year, the Office of DEI is hosting a four-part workshop series facilitated by longtime anti-oppressive practitioner and transformative justice educator Jazmin Peralta. *These workshops are open to all faculty and staff.

• Bias & Microaggressions, Spring TBD - This workshop will have participants analyze how power and privilege influence oppression, discrimination, and stereotypes and how that creates conscious and subconscious bias leading to microaggressions.
• Gender & Sexuality, Spring TBD - This workshop explores the intricate differences between sex assigned at birth, gender identity, and sexual orientation. Participants will learn about LGBTQ+ identities, gender, and sexuality and examine prejudice, assumptions, and privilege.
• Anti-Racism Workshop, Spring TBD -  This workshop discusses how racism operates at multiple levels. How its power derives from its integration into a unified racial discrimination and prejudice system that creates, governs, and presets opportunities and outcomes across generations. It also explores what it means to be anti-racist. It will unpack the relationships between historical events, institutional structures (federal/state laws, practices, policies), internalized ideologies (beliefs, perceptions, scripts, values, and attitudes), and social structures (state/federal programs, laws, norms, and culture). Specifically, reflect on how these systems and concepts work together to inform and impact our daily lives. The workshop will also provide participants with tangible tools and practices to become active anti-racist allies in the fight towards racial justice.
• Allyship & Intersectionality, December 1, 12-2 PM - This workshop discusses the expectations of being an ally and the active practices of allyship. Participants will explore intersectionality by learning about primary and secondary identities and how they interplay with each other to create unique experiences for individuals.

A little bit about the facilitator:

Jazmin Peralta is a longtime anti-oppressive practitioner and transformative justice educator. For over 18 years, Jazmin has worked with students, faculty, and staff within institutions of higher learning in support of marginalized communities impacted by various oppressive systems. Jazmin centers her work through an intersectional lens, informed by her lived experiences as an Afro-Latinx, first-generation, queer, and neurodivergent person. Through this holistic framework, Jazmin strives to raise critical consciousness on social justice issues to inspire positive, sustainable social change and create a more liberated and just campus community.

Jazmin currently serves as the Executive Director for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at the Pratt Institute, leading critical areas of policy reform and advocacy, shared leadership and training, and community empowerment. She is also a Doctoral Candidate at Northeastern University, focusing on the impact of the carceral state within higher education, specifically investigating the lived experiences of justice-impacted students. She has an M.S. in Higher Education in  Student Affairs from Purdue University and a B.A. in Spanish Language and Literature and Mass Communication from Florida State University.

Though the rise of antisemitism in the United States and across the world has been well-documented over the last few years, it remains a largely-misunderstood form of oppression. Debate has emerged about how to define antisemitism, how to spell antisemitism, and who has the authority to label speech or behavior as antisemitic. Amidst public controversies, what often gets overlooked are the individual experiences of Jewish people, who may simultaneously be targeted by harmful tropes and violent rhetoric while having concerns about antisemitism dismissed as unimportant. A 2021 survey of Jewish college students found that over 40% had witnessed or experienced antisemitism at school, and yet relatively few had reported their experiences to campus authorities. This two-part workshop will seek to create a baseline of knowledge for the Barnard community to draw from when working to create a campus that acts in solidarity with Jewish communities to challenge antisemitism and create an environment of affirmation and justice.

Description of this workshop series:

As antisemitic acts continue to rise across the United States, including in New York City, what can we do as a community to create an environment of solidarity, affirmation, and justice for Jewish students and colleagues? This two-part workshop will unpack the tropes of modern antisemitism, how they show up in contemporary discourse, and how they can impact the life of a college student. Through dialogue-based learning exercises, participants will be invited to explore the early messages they received about Jews and Jewish communities, consider strategies for interrupting antisemitic tropes when they show up on campus, and employ practices for building an inclusive and socially just community. 

Fall 2023: 

Challenging Antisemitism: Upstander Strategies (Register here.) 

• For faculty/staff: Monday, December 4, 1 - 3 p.m.
• For students: Tuesday, December 5, 5 - 7 p.m.

A little bit about the facilitator:

Avi Edelman (he/him/his) creates environments of warmth and empathy for transformational dialogue about the forces that shape how we see the world and how the world sees us. He has over a decade of experience as an experiential educator, dialogue facilitator, and equity and inclusion trainer. Last year, he led programming for Barnard students and staff on disability justice and helped to create and facilitate Barnard's Black Liberation Seder. Previously, he served as Columbia University’s Associate Director of Multicultural Affairs/Manager of Diversity Education, where he led intercultural dialogue programs for students and developed and implemented trainings for thousands of students, staff, and faculty. His areas of expertise include mitigating unconscious bias, understanding privilege and oppression, LGBTQ solidarity, antiracism, building socially just practices, disability justice, exploring whiteness, and challenging antisemitism. For a decade, he has led an annual civil rights pilgrimage for teens through the U.S. south to explore the history of social justice in Black and Jewish communities. As the founder of Two Pockets Dialogue, he works with individuals and organizations across the country to develop inclusive practices, build spaces of trust and understanding, and foster a culture of dialogue. He was featured in National Geographic's documentary series America Inside Out, leading a workshop convened by Katie Couric. He holds a master's degree in nonprofit management from Columbia University and is an above-average juggler with waning professional circus aspirations.

Islamophobia, the unwarranted fear or hatred of Islam and Muslims, is not a new phenomenon. Rather, it is deeply rooted in historical contexts that have shaped Western perceptions of the Islamic world for centuries. Understanding the historical roots of Islamophobia is critical in comprehending the depth and complexity of the issue today. This workshop series provides a foundation for examining how these biases are manifested in contemporary society, from policies and politics to media representations and everyday interactions. Participants will engage in interactive sessions to develop action plans and strategies that address Islamophobia
at individual, community, and institutional levels with the aim to inspire proactive contributions to fostering understanding, tolerance, and acceptance of Islam and Muslims in diverse societies.

Fall 2023: 

Challenging Islamophobia: Upstander Strategies (Register here.)

• For faculty/staff: Thursday, December 7, 2 - 4 p.m.
• For students: Thursday, December 7, 5 - 7 p.m.

A little bit about the facilitator:

Muslim Anti-Racism Collaborative

Layla Abdullah-Poulos holds a B.A. in Historical Studies and Literature, M.A. in Liberal Studies, and an AC in Women and Gender Studies. She is a homeschooling mother, adjunct instructor, anti-racism trainer, and gender equity advocate. Layla is the MuslimARC lead trainer in New York, where she has facilitated training in the northeast at educational and nonprofit institutions.