Red Clay Writing Project Saturday Morning Series, Conversing with Students in Contentious Times: Civic Engagement and Protest

In this workshop, participants will engage in a dialogue about how community organizing and civic engagement can (and why they should!) figure into the classroom setting. Participants will engage in a short discussion of the history of the role of protests and civic engagement in social change; consider the risks and difficulties of incorporating this content into the classroom; and explore curricular approaches for teaching content around protest and organizing. Participants will also work in small groups to build and explore a sample organizing curriculum. This workshop is designed for grades 6-12 educators and community educators who want to facilitate student engagement with social change; connect students to vocabulary that can help them analyze the world around them; and provide students with strategies to intervene in that world.

Instructor: Briana Bivens, Athens For Everyone, Organization Coordinator

Bivens (she/her) is a PhD student in Educational Theory and Practice at UGA, a graduate assistant in the UGA College of Education’s Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, and a community organizer in Athens, Georgia. She has served in various organizing roles with Athens for Everyone, the Economic Justice Coalition, and the Athens-Clarke County Democratic Committee. She also ran a regional field campaign in Georgia to defeat the state’s 2016 ballot initiative (Amendment 1) to takeover public schools, and managed Tim Denson’s successful 2018 campaign for Athens-Clarke County Commission. She believes that transformative change requires grassroots base-building and strong, intersectional coalitions. Briana is interested in the pedagogy of social movement building and how community organizing spaces enact practices oriented toward affirmation, healing, and sustainability.