Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda: Moving Beyond Failure and Actively Cultivating a More Equitable Academy

Systems of higher education in the U.S. create differential advantage and disadvantage for the people who work and learn in them. When individuals move through these systems—as administrators, instructors, or learners—they make choices to participate in the perpetuation or the disruption of these inequities. While some perpetuation of inequity can be attributed to ignorance, it is often true that individuals who do understand the harmful impacts of unjust behavior, processes, and structures often fail to address them. This session centers around an embodied case study depicting one man’s meditation on a personal failure and the choices he made afterward that defined his path as an educator. Through session activities, participants will reflect on what failures of this kind indicate about the educational environments in which they occur and how such reflection might prime them to reshape the spaces in which they have responsibilities.

In this session, participants will:

• Reflect on failures to act for justice
• Consider how their lived relationship to social inequities within and outside of their educational environment shapes their willingness and ability to act
• Explore the tension between risk and responsibility when disrupting the status quo
• Practice identifying opportunities for proactive justice work in their spheres of influence in the academy

**The theatrical portion of this session contains strong language. It includes descriptions of sexist, heterosexist, and ableist behaviors and reflection on systemic inequities related to race and socioeconomic status.

This workshop is designed for University of Michigan master’s students, doctoral students, and postdoctoral fellows. For faculty and staff, please contact [email protected] to see if we can accommodate your attendance.

Registration is required at https://myumi.ch/G1X6J.