Project Title:
“Bringing Forgotten Social Histories Back Home”
Name of the Group:
Social Histories Community Group
Start Date: March 8
860 951 6846-Caitlin Pearce
Department of Sociology
533 Mergenthaler Hall
Bringing Forgotten Social Histories Back Home
We propose a community-building project, which aims at establishing a space of communication among international students, American students and community organizations in Baltimore around two “forgotten social histories of the United States”, namely the March 8th, the International Women’s Day and the May First, the Mayday. Our proposal is to organize two separate but interconnected events, one on the International Women’s Day and one on the Mayday, with a common theme. Each of these two events will cover panels, speeches, movie-shows and musical performances bringing international students, American students and members of the Baltimorean community organizations. This project was inspired by an International Women’s Day event organized last year by Hopkins students and supported by the Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies. Last year, this event brought students from different countries and universities together to discuss women’s issues, watch and discuss a movie on the women’s movement, and share experiences on the conditions of women and the March 8th movements all over the world.
Why Do We Choose Women’s Day and Mayday for This Series of Events?
Women’s Day and Mayday share a common feature: Both originated from the United States at critical moments in the history of the social movements in the US, then gained significant meaning in many other countries as “people made their own history.” However, they have been since forgotten in the United States, their political homeland. In many countries and across different continents, March 8th has been the day during which women have collectively negated the norms, values and practices that have discriminated against them.
Similarly, May First has been celebrated in many countries as Workers’ Day and attained a significant historical meaning in the making of the modern world. The irony is that these days, even as the United Nations celebrates March 8th as the International Women’s Day and many countries officially and socially celebrate Mayday, these days have lost their historical meaning in the United States where women and labor movements have been very strong. We think that these internationally known but nationally forgotten social histories can be re-embraced on an international campus. We envision a day where students and academics from different departments and members of local communities can cherish and protect the heritage of celebrating these events critical to the struggle of women and labor, which have been forgotten here, but continue to thrive across the globe.
Why Are These Two Days Relevant Now and Why Right Here?
Johns Hopkins University has a large and diverse community of international students, each with their own social and cultural heritages. It is our mission to represent the diversity present within our university and to integrate these personal histories of struggle, including that of the United States, with the culture on campus. For many students, March 8th and Mayday are critical junctures in the history of their home country. For American students, they are all chapters in the forgotten history of their country. We aim to construct a link between the historical and the contemporary, and the global and the local, by creating solidarity between different groups on campus in an attempt to include, or at least represent, as many possible perspectives on these events as exist within our own community. In celebrating International Women’s Day and Mayday, we hope to create a dialogue inclusive of the many groups on campus as well as that of the Baltimorean community.
What Kind of Events Are We Planning to Host?
We are planning to organize events on International Women’s Day and Mayday which will focus on the following issues:
a) The historical, social and cultural meaning of International Women’s Day and Mayday in the contexts of international, national and local settings.
b) The historical trajectory through which International Women’s Day and Mayday have been widely celebrated in the world and almost forgotten in their homeland, the United States.
c) The ways of creating linkages with and consolidating relationships among international students, American students and Baltimorean community organizations around socio-historical issues. In that sense, the events will try to bridge between and build communities among
- international students and American students
- on-campus groups and off-campus groups
- academic and non-academic agents of knowledge
d) Incorporating music as an artistic form into the discussion of social events, drawing the attention of the larger Hopkins community into social events, and seeking ways of establishing inter-group activity within the campus.
Whom Are We Going to Invite for the Series?
For International Women’s Day:
a) Hopkins communities and institutions working on the issues of women and gender:
b) Academics (sociology, history, political science, gender studies, anthropology) and activists working on women and gender
c) Baltimorean community organizations of women.
Mayday:
a) Academics working on labor and labor history (sociology, history, political science, anthropology).
b) Labor organizations and NGOs from Baltimore.
c) Immigrant organizations from Baltimore.
During each day, incoming groups can have tables where they can present their organizations and activities.
What Kinds of Events Will Be Included in These Events?
1. Movies: For each event, we will screen one movie that is relevant to the meaning of each day.
2. Panel Discussions and Workshops: We will invite academics, activists from local community organizations of women, and labor organizations to give speeches about Mayday and Women`s Day. In these panel discussions, audiences from different countries also will have the opportunity to convey their experiences about International Women’s Day and Mayday.
3. Musical Performances: We will invite one or two bands whose musical concepts overlap with these events’ content.
We are expecting to have around 100-150 attendees for each event.
6) Budget
We calculated two kinds of budgets. The first is the minimum amount of funding that we need in order to organize the event with minimum necessary equipment. The second is the optimum amount of money that will yield a satisfactory event without any reservation.
| Minimum | Optimum | Minimum | Optimum | |||
| International Women's Day | Mayday | |||||
| Food | 450 | 600 | Food | 450 | 600 | |
| Music | 100 | 300 | Music | 100 | 300 | |
| Stationery Materials (photocopies, posters etc.) | 100 | 300 | Stationery Materials (photocopies, posters etc.) | 100 | 300 | |
| Total | 650 | 1200 | 650 | 1200 | ||
| Minimum | Optimum | |||||
| Grand Total | 1300 | 2400 |
Furthermore, we request a room for organization, which then can become a space of interaction and community building for the incoming students. This room may also have a fax machine and a printer to organize the events.
If this proposal is accepted we are committed to submitting a progress report (if requested) and a final, short report to the Dean of Graduate Education and Research on completion of this project.
