• • Election Reflection: An Interdisciplinary Panel Discussion 
    • Date & Time: TBA
    • Featuring RCNJ faculty, students, and members of the Civic and Community Engagement Center

• • Election Night Watch Party
    • November 5
    • Featuring RCNJ faculty, students, and members of the Civic and Community Engagement Center

• • Debate Night Watch Parties (including Debate Bingo)
    • September 16 & 25, October 1 & 9, 9pm, Location: TBA
    • Featuring RCNJ faculty, students, and members of the Civic and Community Engagement Center

• • Super Tuesday Reflection: Q&A and Panel Discussion
    • March 6, 1pm, York Room
    • Featuring Ramapo College students and Professors Jeremy Teigen, Dean Chen, Kaitlin Sidorsky, and Michael Unger

• • Be Heard. Listen.: A Public Art Installation of Student Voices at the Learning Commons
    • Mid-February 2024: Student submissions open; March 8: Installation Opens; April 8: Installation Closes
    • Featuring the voices, experiences, and perspectives of RCNJ students.
    • Description: The purpose of this Ramapo College-curated installation, Be Heard. Listen., is simple: to engage the campus through an opportunity to be heard, and to amplify the other on-campus programming by calling attention to student perspectives and experiences which are often unshared. This is an artistic response to a community experience and not intended to be journalistic. This interactive installation will be housed in the Learning Commons and will call attention to the authentic experiences and perspectives of students.

SUBMIT HERE

This three-part series of talks will help prepare the Ramapo community to hold meaningful conversations about the latest Israel-Hamas war. We start off with reports on current conditions for civilians in Israel and Gaza, founded on the conviction that productive study and discussion must begin with the humanization of every person and community involved. We acknowledge that the violence of the past months is rooted in a long history which remains the subject of scholarship and acrimonious public debate—a history that we cannot responsibly recount in just a handful of lectures. Thus, for our third and final talk in this series, we meet with two scholars, each with personal connections to the affected regions and communities, who will model for us how to discuss and learn about history and current events productively and meaningfully. They come not to tell us what to think—that is your decision—but how to share and test our convictions, how to learn from others, and how to process the information we receive from various media, scholarly sources, and even college courses. These are vital skills for anyone seeking to make lasting political change or who simply wants to be better informed.

• • • Talk 1: Documenting Trauma- Recording Testimonies of Survivors and Witnesses of the October 7 Attacks
      • February 19, 2024, 1pm, Alumni Lounges & Virtual
        • Due to the holiday, this program is also being offered via virtual participation. If you plan to participate virtually, advance registration is required. 
      • Featuring Dr. Roni Mikel-Arieli, Open University of Israel, Ben-Gurion University, Israel.
      • Description: Oral history serves as both a field of study and a method for gathering, preserving, and interpreting the voices and memories of individuals, communities, and participants in historical events. This talk delves into the ethical, emotional, and social dimensions involved in preserving firsthand accounts of a traumatic event, focusing on various documentation initiatives collecting testimonies related to the October 7 brutal attack by Hamas on southern Israel.
    • Talk 2: Life and Need in Gaza Today
      • February 29, 2024, 1pm, Alumni Lounges
      • Featuring: Rasha Abousaelem, Independent Aid Worker, St. Louis, MO
      • Description: Rasha Abousalem left for Egypt in early 2024 to help facilitate the collection and delivery of food and medical supplies vital to survival in Gaza. While sharing her experiences, Rasha will provide an insider’s account of conditions on the ground and the humanitarian crisis facing millions of Palestinians in Gaza. Rasha is also part of the Palestinian diaspora in St. Louis and can also speak to the effects of the current war and the proceeding history on her community.
    • Talk 3: Meaningfully Discussing Palestine/Israel after October 7
      • March 12, 2024, 3pm, Alumni Lounges
      • Featuring Dr. Mira Sucharov, Professor of Political Science, Carleton University, Ottawa, and Dr. Sa’ed Atshan, Associate Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies and Anthropology Swarthmore, PA
      • Description:  This program will bring together two experts who have been working across national, ethnic, and religious divides to explore the most challenging dimensions of the situation in Israel-Palestine and to help others find ways to have productive discussions about it. Their focus extends beyond conditions in the Middle East to cover the perspectives and needs of multiple diasporas as well.

• • Annual Diversity Convocation
    • February 21st, 3:00 p.m., Sharp Theater
    • Featuring: Tahesha Way, Esq., Lieutenant Governor of NJ.
    • Description: A lifelong public servant, Lieutenant Governor Tahesha Way, Esq. has devoted her entire career to improving the lives of her fellow New Jerseyans. Over the past two decades, she has served at numerous levels of local and state government. As Lieutenant Governor, Ms. Way brings her extensive experience to bear on addressing the greatest challenges facing New Jerseyans — from making life more affordable, to protecting fundamental freedoms—like access to reproductive health care and equality under the law — to maintaining New Jersey’s reputation as the best and safest state to raise a family. Read more about Lieutenant Governor Way.

• • I Think, I Feel: A Student-Centered Forum
    • • Thursday, March 14, 1:15pm-2:15pm, Trustees Pavilion
      • Featuring the thoughts and viewpoints of RCNJ students through faculty/staff facilitation.
      • Description: I Think, I Feel is a student-centered forum that will provide students with a space to share thoughts related to current issues and the national and international responses. The forum endeavors to be a place where you can talk about issues embedded in domestic and international communities, understand social issues, listen to and respect viewpoints different from your own, and stay in touch with self-care as being vital to your well-being.