{"id":6831,"date":"2026-05-14T10:56:34","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T14:56:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.trincoll.edu\/reporter\/?page_id=6831"},"modified":"2026-05-14T10:56:34","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T14:56:34","slug":"deepening-dialogues","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.trincoll.edu\/reporter\/spring-2022\/features\/deepening-dialogues\/","title":{"rendered":"Deepening Dialogues"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Andrew J. Concatelli<\/em><\/p>\n

The timing of the launch of the Trinity Social Justice Initiative (TSJI)<\/a> could not be more appropriate, says Assistant Professor of American Studies and Human Rights Christina Heatherton.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re in the middle of a global pandemic, an economic crisis, and an upsurge of social movements. All the cracks of society are deepening at this moment,\u201d she says. \u201cThere\u2019s nothing abstract about the things we\u2019re trying to address. We ground our conversations in this moment and in the crises that people are facing.\u201d<\/p>\n

The initiative, started in fall 2021, aims to increase scholarly dialogues about some of society\u2019s most pressing topics, including wealth inequality, mass incarceration, policing, gender violence, and systemic racism.<\/p>\n

\u201cTSJI grounds questions of social justice in collaborative research. This work was already happening at Trinity; this initiative puts a structure in place to foster its growth,\u201d says Heatherton, who co-directs the TSJI with Assistant Professor of American Studies Jordan T. Camp.<\/p>\n

\"\"The series of public conversations that introduced the TSJI in the fall\u2014offered both in person and via Zoom\u2014discussed questions surrounding imprisonment, gender, and militarism along borders, among others. \u201cTaken together, we felt that these were important ways to begin to address topics in American studies and related interdisciplinary investigations and also to try to make contributions to public debates in this moment,\u201d Camp says. \u201cWe\u2019re curating conversations; we\u2019re encouraging people to learn to listen to aggrieved communities engaged in struggles for social justice.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to events open to the Trinity community and the public, the TSJI also has launched a webinar and podcast series called Conjuncture<\/em>, research clusters, new courses, and more.<\/p>\n

Heatherton says that the online programs have brought together people who cannot be present in the same physical space. \u201cWe\u2019ve been working with the Library and Information Technology Services staff to share all of these conversations. In the pandemic, when we can\u2019t all be together, we\u2019ve had to become creative in sharing these important dialogues,\u201d she says. \u201cWe\u2019re fulfilling our public humanities mission by reaching new publics through digital outreach.\u201d All the conversations are archived and available on the TSJI website.<\/p>\n

Camp and Heatherton have been collaborating since 2008, most recently co-editing Policing the Planet: Why the Policing Crisis Led to Black Lives Matter<\/em> (Verso, 2016). The two, who joined the Trinity faculty in summer 2021, have spent their careers studying and teaching about aspects of social justice. Camp\u2019s specialties include the public humanities, prisons, and social theory. Heatherton, who previously was a member of the Trinity faculty from 2014 to 2017, specializes in subjects including transnational social movements, race and class, and human rights. At Barnard College and Columbia University, Camp and Heatherton co-directed a number of public-facing initiatives.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe commitment to engaging in dialogue with people and about places that are bearing the brunt of the problems that we\u2019re studying\u2014questions of gentrification and mass imprisonment, for example\u2014and to learn from these communities, not just study about them, has been integral to each of our research projects,\u201d says Camp.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were excited about the opportunity to join the faculty at Trinity College and launch this initiative in collaboration with partners across campus, not least of which is [Paul E. Raether Distinguished Professor of American Studies] Davarian Baldwin\u2019s Smart Cities Lab,\u201d he adds. \u201cWe are able to join a conversation about social justice that has long been happening on campus\u2014from students who have been protesting after the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, to connections that scholars have already been making with communities in Hartford and throughout the region. Our work is a product of talking with students, colleagues, staff, and community members, all of whom will have active roles in the initiative. Partnering with our colleagues at Trinity has exceeded our expectations.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
Assistant Professor of American Studies Jordan T. Camp, Paul E. Raether Distinguished Professor of American Studies Davarian Baldwin, and Assistant Professor of American Studies and Human Rights Christina Heatherton; Photo by John Marinelli<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Baldwin says that after the social unrest of summer 2020, many schools leaned into the \u201ctrendy theme of diversity, equity, and inclusion.\u201d But, he notes, \u201cJordan Camp and Christina Heatherton\u2019s proven track record of social justice scholarship, deep student mentorship, and broad public advocacy brings substantive legitimacy to Trinity\u2019s efforts. And I am more than thrilled to see how their partnership with my new Smart Cities Lab will ground social justice work directly within our campus community in ways that could serve as a national model for cultivating what I call \u2018urban citizenship.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n

Associate Dean for Curriculum Mitchell Polin \u201996 says that the TSJI enables important and inclusive conversations while making experiential opportunities accessible for all students. \u201cJordan and Christina are embracing the college\u2019s revised Trinity+ curriculum to generate new ways for students to build their own social justice research projects, as well as to engage with faculty and community members on opportunities for collaboration,\u201d Polin says. \u201cThey also are essential participants in the Trinity Urban-Global Arts Initiative, and they have worked hard to engage artists on campus to be part of the Trinity Social Justice Initiative, which is an inclusive, interdisciplinary venture in the best possible ways.\u201d<\/p>\n

Heatherton says that the Trinity community embraces the discussion of difficult topics and the commitment to making positive changes. \u201cStudents, faculty, and staff have been working hard to address things like racism, sexism, homophobia, and transphobia, both in the curriculum and in the social life of campus,\u201d she says. \u201cWe have such a deep appreciation for our students and colleagues at Trinity; the initiative wouldn\u2019t be what it is without them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Posse Scholar Renita Washington \u201922, from Chicago, has attended the initiative\u2019s programs and has helped promote the events through the college\u2019s Multicultural Affairs Council, which she leads. \u201cThe TSJI relates to both my educational studies major and my community action minor because they both promote conversations for change,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Washington also has worked with Camp and Heatherton on ways for Trinity students to play a role in the initiative, including through independent research and research clusters. \u201cThis is important because now students have a way to expand their learning by researching what they have learned in the classroom,\u201d she says. \u201cIt also helps facilitate a conversation that we don\u2019t have in the classroom and gets students engaged by letting them be in charge of their own learning.\u201d<\/p>\n

Washington says she sees the TSJI as a benefit to the whole college community, noting, \u201cThis is now going to play an important role in the Trinity experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

The inaugural year<\/h2>\n

Dialogues: As the first public event of the TSJI, Heatherton\u2019s \u201cGrounded Ways of Knowing: Pedagogies of Place and the Trinity Social Justice Initiative\u201d in October 2021 laid out the goals and mission of the initiative. A lecture series last fall called Curated Conversations<\/em> brought scholars and practitioners to campus for public dialogues.<\/p>\n

Research Clusters: Topics include \u201cEntangled Histories: Race, Colonialism, and Indigeneity,\u201d \u201cEducation for Liberation,\u201d and \u201cPublic Archives and Oral Histories.\u201d A student-led research cluster also was formed.<\/p>\n

Conjuncture:<\/em> The monthly webinar and podcast series features interviews with activists, artists, scholars, and public intellectuals. Guests include additional members of the Trinity faculty.<\/p>\n

New Courses: The TSJI mission includes curricular development. Camp introduced \u201cCurating Conversations\u201d in spring 2022, focusing on how scholars in the field curate conversations in public humanities across disciplines. Heatherton\u2019s new course, \u201cGrounded Ways of Knowing,\u201d explores activist research and how research questions are formed.<\/p>\n

Ccampus Partnerships: The TSJI is working this spring with Trinity\u2019s Primus Project and the Smart Cities Lab on collaborations that emphasize relationships between public history and public memory.<\/p>\n

Justice Fellow Program: The fellowship award is a partnership between the TSJI and the Smart Cities Lab. Robert Cotto, director of the Hartford Magnet Trinity College Academy Partnership, is the inaugural recipient, in recognition of his research on higher education, racism, inequality, and public health, particularly in Hartford. Fellows give a public lecture on their research.<\/p>\n

Conference: Scheduled for fall 2022, \u201cEducation Must Be Defended\u201d will be a partnership between the TSJI and the Smart Cities Lab, co-sponsored by Brown University\u2019s Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice.<\/p>\n

Learn more on the TSJI<\/a> and the work of Heatherton and Camp.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Andrew J. Concatelli The timing of the launch of the Trinity Social Justice Initiative (TSJI) could not be more appropriate, says Assistant Professor of American Studies and Human Rights Christina Heatherton. \u201cWe\u2019re in the middle of a global pandemic, an economic crisis, and an upsurge of social movements. All the cracks of society are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":139,"featured_media":0,"parent":6813,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-6831","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nDeepening Dialogues - The Trinity Reporter<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.trincoll.edu\/reporter\/spring-2022\/features\/deepening-dialogues\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Deepening Dialogues\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Andrew J. 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