What is MAP SoCal Regional Coalition?
The SoCal MAP regional coalition offers valuable opportunities to find support and further resources in an extended philosophical community and it establishes conditions for fruitful and creative collaboration for members of underrepresented groups in philosophy and for those committed to inclusivity. The SoCal Regional Coalition was formed through the collaborative efforts of the MAP chapters at UCI, UCSB, UCR , UCLA, and USC . These chapters co-organize workshops, conferences, colloquium, and many other resources and opportunities to engage with communities beyond one's home department.
MAP Events/Activities:
1. MAP SoCal Regional Coalition: Joint Research & Reading List on Inclusive Pedagogy
Chapter members from the aforementioned universities constructed a research and reading list at the start of the school year. This central reading list focused on issues of or relating to inclusive pedagogy and under-representation in philosophy. Some of these readings addressed theoretical and philosophical issues relating to notions such as identity, group membership, structural injustice, while others discussed possible practices that accommodate and beneficially draw on diversity in the classroom.
Over the course of the school year the MAP SoCal Regional Coalition met periodically and independently on their own campuses to discuss readings from the collectively generated research and reading list. Chapters integrated these readings into their own respective activities and projects throughout the year and some chose to focus closely on particular issues with the intention of “teaching” the topic to the other SoCal MAP chapters at the Regional Meeting.
2. MAP SoCal Regional Coalition Inaugural Event: Philosophy & Inclusive Pedagogy
May 2, 2015
The inaugural SoCal Regional Meeting was a culminating event marking the first collaborative efforts between MAP chapters in Southern California. The event was hosted by the MAP chapter of University California Irvine's Department of Philosophy at a conference venue on UCI's campus. MAP chapter members in attendance were from the following universities: UC Irvine, UC Santa Barbara, UC Riverside, UC Los Angeles, and University of Southern California (USC).
The event was noteworthy in its capacity to connect various chapter members to individuals from other universities who share a common commitment to address issues regarding minority participation in academic philosophy.
The Regional Meeting was led by a committee of representatives from each chapter. On event day the committee members kickstarted the event by presenting four representative readings from the collective research conducted over the course of the school year. These readings set several general themes for a “large- group” discussion session which was the first activity on the event day. These issues ranged from in-class experiences of minorities, to the conditions of under-represented minorities on the academic job market, to inclusive pedagogical techniques, to more specific challenges related to teaching philosophy (for example: how to motivate certain philosophical concepts/texts, the perceived “purpose” of teaching philosophy, the relationship between teaching philosophy and developing critical reasoning, etc.).
The large-group discussion section was followed by two workshop sessions, each of which included three different focused issues. In total there were six different workshop sessions that were facilitated by various MAP members from the chapters in attendance. The following is the list of workshops included in the regional meeting:
For those of you wanting to know a little more about the type of work MAP chapters are involved with, please visit the site: http://www.mapforthegap.com/about.html
