Event Description:

In mid-2025, many of us find ourselves amid a conjunctural moment characterized by uncertainty, chaos, and fear, prompted by threats imposed by the recently inaugurated US federal administration. The actions since taken by these newly elected representatives constitute direct attacks on the values and missions we hold as Physical Cultural Studies, Kinesiology, and Public Health scholars.

In lieu of our annual graduate student conference, we hold this space to grapple with all that continues to unfold in front of us. As opposed to festering in our looming concerns, frustration(s), and/or rage, we hope to find strength within our respective academic community/ies, being tactful and forward thinking for ourselves and the like-minded collective. Featuring a keynote presentation by PCS alum, Dr. Shaun Edmonds, panels featuring PCS network members and UMD Kinesiology and School of Public Health faculty and staff, and a graduate student fireside chat, we invite you to join us in critical discussions pointed toward mass-polarization, mischaracterizations of “woke” ideologies (and the implications thereof), and strategic collectivity amid growing regulation of higher education.

As representatives of multiple communities (social, cultural, economic, academic, geographic), how can we best address the root causes of hardship that fuel the ever increasing polarization of efforts in pursuit of ‘justice’? How can we better approach and improve these underlying conditions within our own spaces, inside the School of Public Health at UMD, and across academic and research spaces across the nation? How can we maintain unity during turbulent times?  

*This event is funded in part by the UMD Graduate Student Activities Fee and is open to the entire graduate student community.