On Wednesday, May 10, 2017 from 2-4pm, the UC San Diego Library organized a workshop titled “From Crisis to Change: How to Organize for Action” in collaboration with the University of California Student Association.

Image source: https://ucsd.libcal.com/event/3291451

According to Maya Angelou, “the more you know of your history, the more liberated you are.” Knowledge of history, along with direct action organizing, can create significant change by making students aware of their own power in order to alter the existing power relations. This two-part training covered the history of UC San Diego as it relates to the current campus climate, social change, and activism through the Tell Us How UC It: A Living Archive project. It was followed by concrete skills-building to learn the basic principles of direct action organizing. Students learned the strategies, tools, and organizing math behind direct action.

This program was a part of a larger suite of programs compiled by the Teaching and Learning Commons (T+LC) as part of the Spring 2017 Innovation, Creativity, and Entrepreneurship program. Participation in the workshop counted as credit on a student’s co-curricular record (CCR).

It was presented by Patricia Arroyos, UCSA Statewide Organizing Director, Cristela Garcia Spitz, Digital Initiatives Librarian, and Tamara Rhodes, Social Sciences Librarian & Living Archive Coordinator.

Workshop resources can be found at https://library.ucsd.edu/dc/object/bb7342954v