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Transforming Teaching & Learning

What's in your Knapsack?

An Intensive Three Day Summer Institute Focused on Social Justice Pedagogy

As our nation becomes increasingly diverse, it is imperative to have the understanding and resources to effectively navigate discussions about diversity and inequality in the classroom and workplace. The Knapsack Institute is designed for individuals at the beginning to intermediate stages of this journey, as well as those seeking to refresh their approach and embrace intersectional strategies. The Institute is designed for all educators (K-12; higher education; workshop facilitators, etc.).

Race, class, gender, disability, and sexuality are highly political and emotionally-laden subjects. They may evoke a range of responses, from hostility and anger to guilt and depression. The Institute will prepare you to preempt and manage such responses and be better prepared. Our goal is to provide you with the tools, knowledge and support to create inclusive and equitable environments.

The name, "The Knapsack Institute" hails from Peggy McIntosh's renowned article, "White privilege and male privilege: A personal account of coming to see correspondences through work in women's studies," in which she states:

"I have come to see white privilege as an invisible package of unearned assets which I can count on cashing in each day, but about which I was 'meant' to remain oblivious. White privilege is like an invisible weightless knapsack of special provisions, assurances, tools, maps, guides, codebooks, passports, visas, clothes, compass, emergency gear, and blank checks." (Peggy McIntosh, 1988 "White privilege and male privilege: A personal account of coming to see correspondences through work in women's studies." Excerpted from Working Paper 189, Wellesley College Center for Research on Women, Wellesley, MA.)

        Knapsack Institute: 2022 Reflection and Action     Inside the Knapsack Institute: 2021 Students of Color

 

 

 

 

Thank you to all of those who made the Knapsack Institute 2022 a great success. We hope to see you all again for the Knapsack Institute in 2023. 
 
A photo of a Knapsack Institute meeting room.   A photo of Knapsack Institute Participants engaging in conversation via Zoom.  Knapsack Institute 2022 participants