Summer Workshop – Reckonings Institute
4-Day Incubator Workshop + ½ Day Showcase, 26-30 June 2023
Through the generous support of the Mellon Foundation and Northeastern University, the
Reckonings Project Summer Institute in Social Justice & Community Archiving is launching for
summer 2023. The Reckonings Project builds collaborations between community partners, faculty,
and students to empower BIPOC communities and residents in the preservation, creation, and
curation of community histories. This Summer Institute promotes the methods and practical
application of co-creation and co-curation among community organizations and college teachers
across the Boston and New England region.
About the Program
Co-creation and co-curation are approaches to community enrichment wherein community partners
and college teachers work together to build programming, archives, and exhibits that best serve
BIPOC communities. Representatives from partnering community organizations will:
● Center the goals of communities while highlighting the iterative nature of
community-engaged work;
● Receive training in digital archival methods and gain access to necessary tools they deem fit
for their work;
● Be paid for their participation;
● Be part of a space where community members and college teachers can gather and share
ideas in a knowledge-making setting.
The June workshop is dedicated to training the inaugural cohort of community organizers and college
teachers with the skills to go on to lead workshops, presentations, and classes. Before, during, and
after the June workshop, the Reckonings infrastructure will support participants. Support will
include, but is not limited to toolkits, design capacity, and general help with digital tools. The June
workshop will be co-taught by Reckonings staff, our collaborator Professor Dorothy Kim from
Brandeis, and community partners.
The 2023 Summer Workshop seeks community-based organizations and college teachers who are
actively looking to document the rich histories of community organizations in the New England
region. For this first cohort, college teachers and community-based organizations need not come to
the Workshop already having established these partnerships. Rather, participants should be interested
in developing strategies together for building BIPOC histories and disseminating new narratives and
new knowledge to the public in online and analog formats.
In 2024, we plan to welcome a new crop of community organizations and college teachers to work
with us. For our second summer, in June 2024, participants of the Summer 2023 program will be
invited to lead workshops for the second Institute.
We will be:
● Providing key resources and training for individuals and organizations to incubate this work;
● Building new skills for community groups, college teachers, and students;
● Developing a network of skilled members who will provide research and resources for one
another in order to build community;
● Changing the narratives of local histories in order to center BIPOC communities.
An outcome for partners are courses that bring together college teachers with community
organizations to help develop the practical and methodological practices required to do ethical,
co-created projects.
Summer Institute participants will receive a stipend of $3,000 each. This will be paid in two
Installments (in spring 2023 & at the end of the 2023 Summer Institute). Stipends can be used for
travel, accommodations if needed, incidentals, compensation for your time, or other expenses.
Community organizations can decide how to allocate the stipend.
Contact Us
Please contact us with any questions at reckoningsproject@gmail.com