Thank you to Dr. Shirley Steinberg, Werklund Research Professor of Critical Youth Studies at the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary, for conducting ELC’s workshop on “Getting Your Work Published: What You Need To Know and Do” on 12/3/2017. Dr. Steinberg who is also the Managing Editor of “The International Journal of Critical Pedagogy” and co-founder of The Paulo & Nita Freire International Project for Critical Pedagogy had meetings with ELC faculty and students on one-on-one sessions to discuss about publishing needs.

In addition, Dr. Steinberg had a meeting with ELC doctoral students who attended The International Institute for Critical Pedagogy and Transformative Leadership 9th Annual Congress that was held in Turin, Italy from 9/28/2017 – 10/7/2017. Erica-Brittany Horhn, LaToya Brown, and Frannie Varker, who received the Kohler grant to attend this conference, were able to have follow-up meetings with Dr. Steinberg to discuss on the opportunity of bringing similar style conference here at UNCG. The Congress which implements the Bellagio model of conferencing is based on a process developed by The Rockefeller Foundation’s Bellagio Center Conference Program. The experiences and dialogues from their Spring 2017’s ELC 688-05 course on “Critical Pedagogies for Communities of Color” with ELC Department Chair, Dr. Rochelle Brock, which focused on critical pedagogy, social justice and the impact of these theories on communities of color, brought forth the idea to attend this Congress.

Through this unique method which includes “bringing together diverse groups of scholars, teachers, students and community workers working in forums to create productive, positive change through research, pedagogy, and leadership” (Steinberg), along with social activism (the theme of the Congress), the conveners of the Congress set up community visits, dialogical style presentations, and daily self-care practices. Although there were not many graduate students present, those there found it exciting to be among community activists, program administrators, and scholars from Italy, Canada, Australia, China, Israel, and the Netherlands. Through the Bellagio method’s intentional, yet organic, dialogue, all were welcomed into the conversations with open arms.

We hope that through continuous coaching from Dr. Steinberg, our student’s group will be able to offer similar experience to UNCG community and all of our students this coming year. We wish to express our heartfelt appreciation to Dr. Steinberg for her time and coaching and to Dr. Nell Pynes and the International Programs Center’s Discretionary Fund Committee for awarding our students the Kohler grant to make this once in a lifetime opportunity possible.