We are happy to invite you to join CIES2020 off-site visits to meet members of the Farmworker Association of Florida and explore ‘Little Haiti as Text’! Please see more information and registration below!
The Farmworker Association of Florida (FWAF)
Sunday, March 22, 1:00-5:00 pm*
FWAF is a statewide, grassroots, community-based, non-profit, farmworker membership organization with over 10,000 Haitian, Hispanic, and African American members and five offices in Florida with a 35 year history of working for social and environmental justice with farmworkers. FWAF’s programs and activities build leadership, civic engagement, and activist skills among low-income communities of color who are disproportionately women.
Our planned off-site visit will be the FWAF’s Homestead site (about a 45 min drive from the conference center). The trip is designed to link CIES participants with a community based rural farmworkers project that focuses on educating and organizing farmworker and rural low-income communities to respond to and gain control over the social, political, economic, workplace, health, and environmental justice issues that impact their lives. We will explore: (1) the experiences, knowledge, and understanding of farmworkers’ struggles over race, ethnicity, gender, or immigrant or socioeconomic status, (2) how FWAF builds farmworkers capacity to participate in decision-making processes that affect their lives, (3) FWAF’s multiracial coalitions with other farmworker organizations promoting civic engagement and better working conditions and how they are organizing around community and labor issues, and (4) strategies for working together to raise consciousness about and advocating for farmworkers’ rights and justice.*Vans will leave from the conference hotel at 1:15 and return by 5pm.
Visit Leaders
Carol Anne Spreen, PhD, International Education, NYU
Rebecca Tarlau, PhD, Education and Labor and Employment Relations at the Pennsylvania State University
Frank Adamson, PhD, Education Leadership and Policy Studies at California State University, Sacramento
This off-site visit is organized by the thematic track “Education for 21st Century Socialisms: Alternatives to Racial Capitalism, Patriarchy, and Climate Crisis”
Little Haiti as Text
Monday, March 23, 10:00-2:00 pm
The purpose of the Little Haiti as Text off-site visit is to introduce participants to the experiential learning methodologies of City As Text. Workshop facilitators will implement CAT strategies as a way to actively investigate Little Haiti’s complex and unique Caribbean culture and history as well as to explore the local economy, ecology, geography and politics. After participants have explored the area, we will come together at a central Hatian restaurant to share a meal* and reflect on what we discovered from this vibrant and culturally rich neighborhood of Miami. We will also have a special guest speaker during this time to help facilitate our conversation.
City as Text (CAT) refers to structured explorations of environments and ecosystems. Small teams investigate challenged areas and issues in urban areas or competing forces in natural ones. These exercises foster critical inquiry and integrative learning across disciplines, and include reflective practices and projects adaptable to study abroad, service learning, campus assessments, student orientations and professional development workshops (NCHC, 2019).
Visit Leaders
Dr. Sarah Mathews is an Associate Professor of Curriculum and Instruction at Florida International University. Her research and teaching are influenced by principles of global education, including pedagogies that develop perspective consciousness and intercultural competence. Her research utilizes qualitative and photo methodologies, and works toward fostering global citizenship and civic engagement. Dr. Mathews has conducted a similar workshop with local teacher for the past four years.
Holly Hutton is a Ph.D. candidate in curriculum and instruction at Florida International University. Her research focuses on teacher training and global learning, and she is currently developing an overseas student teaching program at FIU. She has worked all over the world as an educator, but is thrilled to call the gorgeous city of Miami home.
*Lunch will be at the participants’ expense (approximately US$25/person). Transportation will be provided by the CIES. This trip can accommodate up to 10 participants. Deadline for registration is March 14, 2020.
