As we embrace the chilly autumn weather, take in the beauty of the changing leaves, and enjoy apple and pumpkin spice (and gingerbread for a snowy morning), we are also taking time to appreciate our hardworking students whose determination energizes us, our committed staff who keep everything running smoothly, our passionate faculty who infuse their classrooms with creativity and care, and our supportive campus community whose collaboration makes our work possible. We are grateful for all that you do!
Spring enrollment is well underway, and we need your help in promoting our classes. Many have reached capacity, but we still have space in a few classes: ENR 5193: Disabled Ecologies (replacing ENR 2300) at Southeastern Correctional Institution (SCI) with Columbus professor Alia Dietch; GEOG 3600: Space, Power, and Political Geography at SCI with Newark professor Kenneth Madsen; Dance 5505S: Citizen Artists at London Correctional Institution (LoCI) with Columbus professor Irvin Gonzalez; and AAAS/HIST 2081: African American History since 1877 at LoCI with Dr. Monica Stigler. Check out the profile of Dr. Stigler in this month’s newsletter. We cannot offer these classes without campus student enrollment; please spread the word and encourage your students and classmates to enroll. The deadline is November 20, so apply now.
Liberation at the Margins (LAM) Collective, ORW’s learning community, has been busy! New members have been delving into Audre Lorde’s essays and poetry and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee’s organization tradition to build their understanding of Black feminist principles and activism. Four of our veteran members have been working on presentations for the National Women’s Studies Association Conference, where they will be presenting virtually later this week. Send them positive energy and well wishes as they share how feminist solidarity operates in carceral spaces and how Black feminist principles and pedagogy transform prison classrooms. Speaking of conferences, be sure to read the article about Dr. Linda Mizejewski’s and three former OPEEP campus students’ presentation at The Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Drug Misuse Prevention conference. We are thrilled that our students have the opportunity to take their work beyond our classrooms and are sharing their OPEEP experiences with national academic audiences.
Last month, the degree cohort at ORW welcomed back Dr. Brittany Collier-Gibson from the Dennis Learning Center for her second workshop on time management skills and self-regulation. The students are developing and flexing new academic muscles as they navigate their first semester as full-time students. We are continually impressed with their focus and fortitude as they manage the demands of classes and studying with jobs and other commitments. They, like many of us, are feeling overwhelmed and stressed, and we are encouraging them to rest and cheering them on to finish the semester strong!
On November 6th, OPEEP hosted a pedagogy workshop about how to use the freedom dreaming wheels we developed with GAHDT. Our brief demonstration of the wheel was followed by a rich and lively exchange of ideas. We explored creative ways to utilize the tool in our campus and OPEEP classrooms, to energize our writing projects, and to collaborate with community and student groups. We left with new ideas and a renewed excitement for using the wheel. If you’ve used the freedom dreaming wheel, we’d love to hear about your experience. Please send us a quick note at opeep@osu.edu with your thoughts or examples. We plan to share prompts for classroom use with OPEEP faculty in our shared folder.
As always, stay connected with us on Instagram at @opeep_osu, and consider donating to our Campus Campaign. And have a wonderful November holiday!
Dr. Tiyi Morris and Dr. Mary Thomas