Latinx Leadership, Indigenous Youth Empowerment and Detroit Ecological Arts Leaders

Dr. Estrella Torrez; Associate Professor in the Residential College in the Arts and Humanities, Michigan State University

Which of the Radical Reciprocity themes does this project align with?

Pluriversality

Conscious ontological engagement with and building of “worlds” through devaluation of “expert” knowledge in favor of co-generation of multiple knowledge (or worlds). University seeks to become a “world in which many worlds fit.”
Autonomy

Parties seek to understand and disrupt relational systems of power and privilege so that collaborations ensure community autonomy in relationship to the university.
Decentering

The university is removed from center of university-community relationships, thus delegitimizing elitism in the university in it’s relationships with communities.

Latinx Leadership Program (LLP): The Latinx Leadership Program provides a space for Latinx students at Everett High School in Lansing, MI, to meet with MSU students through an after school program. The meetings create a space for the high school students to learn culturally relevant leadership skills through discussions and activities with MSU students and faculty trained in this area. The overall goal of LLP is to support youth as they actively work to address inequities within their communities.

Indigenous Youth Empowerment Program (IYEP): IYEP is focused on enriching the lives of the Greater Lansing-area urban Native American youth through developing their sense of community, culture, and health (mental and physical), resulting in potential improvements in academics. The Indigenous Youth Empowerment Program (IYEP) is a partnership of individuals committed to supporting the area's Indigenous communities. The individuals represent the following entities: Michigan State University's American Indian and Indigenous Studies Program, Michigan State University's Residential College in the Arts & Humanities, the Ingham County Health Department, and the Lansing School District's Native American Program. Elders, community members, university faculty, Michigan State University, and Lansing Community College students serve as teachers or mentors for the various programming offered throughout the year.

Green New DEAL (Detroit Ecological Arts Leaders): Detroit’s Green New DEAL (Detroit Ecological and Arts Leaders) is a partnership of MSU’s Residential College of the Arts and Humanities (RCAH) and Department of Forestry with Detroit’s University Prep Science and Math High School (UPSM). The project aims to incorporate the arts into UPSM’s Urban Ecology Pathway Program. The goals are to (a) expand the UPSM Urban Ecology Pathway Program through the development of an ecological arts (or eco-arts) course component and (b) create near-peer mentoring networks through which UPSM students can better explore and delineate their academic interests through the mentorship of MSU graduate and undergraduate students. The inclusion of the eco-arts component has the potential to facilitate student achievement of learning outcomes in varied competency areas in science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) that are and will be integrated into the Urban Ecology Pathway.