We are very excited to confirm the date for our culminating event for the Mel King Community Fellowship -- our joint New York City and State Hearing on Economic Democracy. 

Locaation: New York City Council Chambers.

Our website for the Hearing is live! We are beginning a social media campaign to spread the word about the event and solicit digital testimonies in response to the Hearing question "How can we build an economy that works for New Yorkers of color?"

Help amplify our efforts, share the hashtag #NY4EconomicDemocracy and encourage folks to submit online testimony. 

Come join in conversation with CoLab's Summer 2018 Self-Determination Narrative Fellows on Oct 18th @ 6p in 9-217. 

The Fellows will share their work, discuss their learnings, and we’ll all engage in conversation about the intersection between stories, self-determination, and “planning"! 
RSVP to colabradio+SDNpanel@gmail.com. 

This workshop will introduce participants to Participatory Action Research (PAR) as an approach to research and inquiry that enables communities to examine and address consequential societal problems. By bringing together community members and academics to investigate real world problems, PAR seeks to transform unequal power dynamics between marginalized communities and those traditionally considered ‘expert’ researchers. This workshop will touch on theoretical and practical considerations for co-creation with community partners, and participants will hear directly from students and resident researchers involved in an ongoing PAR project. Please RSVP to Jill Kronberg at kronberg@mit.edu by March 30th.

Please join us for our Admitted Student Open House on April 6th, 1 - 2 PM (Building 9, Room 238). This will be an opportunity to learn more about our work, and mingle with CoLab staff and students. Snacks will be served.

This workshop will introduce participants to Participatory Action Research (PAR) as an approach to research and inquiry that enables communities to examine and address consequential societal problems. By bringing together community members and academics to investigate real world problems, PAR seeks to transform unequal power dynamics between marginalized communities and those traditionally considered ‘expert’ researchers. This workshop will touch on theoretical and practical considerations for co-creation with community partners, and participants will hear directly from students and resident researchers involved in an ongoing PAR project. Please RSVP to Allegra Williams at Allegraw@mit.edu.

Here is the full list of workshops being offered this Fall through the PKG series, of which this workshop is a part: http://studentlife.mit.edu/pkgcenter/student-programs/get-good-stuff-done

Please join us for our annual Open House on September 27th from 4 – 6 PM (Building 9, Room 238). This will be an opportunity to learn more about our work, mingle with affiliated staff and students, and find out about upcoming engagement opportunities. Refreshments will be served. Please RSVP to Allegra Williams at Allegraw@mit.edu by September 25th.

Author/activist, Greg Jobin-Leeds of the Schott Foundation for Public Education, and coauthor/partnering artist, Dey Hernández Vázquez of AgitArte, will discuss their shared book project, When We Fight We Win: Twenty-First Century Social Movements and the Activists that are Transforming Our World, and lead us in a discussion and series of activities around the role of art in current social movements. This event is sponsored and organized by MIT CoLab. Lunch will be provided. For more information and to RSVP, please contact Allegra Williams at Allegraw@mit.edu by May 1st.

Wagram is one of twenty five communities in North Carolina that hosts an abandoned prison. In the early 1930s, a number of small prisons were built throughout the state to provide free prison labor for the construction of highways. Many of these sites have been closed and left to decay over the last couple of decades. Under the umbrella of the non-profit Growing Change, a group of formerly incarcerated young men, military veterans, criminal justice stakeholders and farming enthusiasts are coming together to transform the site in Wagram into an educational and recreational center for its local community. But how does the history of this site influence its future? Is there a way to acknowledge the oppressive legacy of this site while also charting a positive vision for change? Join us for a panel discussion with representatives from Growing Change to learn more about this process of transformation. Our guests will also guide us through their exhibit which documents the history of prison labor in North Carolina. Refreshments will be provided. This event is being sponsored by the Students of Color Committee, New Economy Committee, CoLab, and Department of Urban Studies and Planning.

Join us for a conversation about this community-led effort to bridge the digital divide. The Red Hook Digital Stewards from Brooklyn, NYC are giving a special presentation about their work and research. This talk is taking place as part of a course on The Practice of Participatory Action Research (11.237) that CoLab offers in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning. The talk is free and open to the public. 

Please join us for our annual Open House in Building 9, Room 238. This will be an opportunity to learn more about our work, mingle with affiliated staff and students, and find out about upcoming engagement opportunities. Refreshments will be served. Please RSVP to Allegra Williams at Allegraw@mit.edu by September 25th.