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Safe Spaces provides a forum where a number of things can happen. First, it creates a space where difference, diversity of thought and ways of being are welcome so that students know that there are conversations, discussions, research and action occurring at KSU that include and value their particular historical and current life experiences. Second, it creates a space where faculty, staff, students and community activists with similar social justice research and interest can connect and collaborate. Safe Spaces aims to highlight the part of KSU academic culture that recognizes and researches interactive and oppressive social patterns and invites students and the community into an ongoing conversation

Events

Safe Spaces holds multiple events each semester, all with the goal of creating an atmosphere of continuous, sustained and engaged learning beyond the classroom at KSU. All of the events in the Safe Spaces event series are free and open to the public. We welcome students, faculty, administrators, staff, workers and the general public. Our hope is to have a diverse audience, because the conversation we hope to inform is not one limited to a certain population.

From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation

• Thursday April 14, KIVA, 7:00-9:00 p.m.
  Dr. Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor
  A response and Q&A will be led by Patrick Gallagher of the Department of Modern & Classic Language Studies
• The contemporary movement against racism and militarized policing is shattering the illusion of a colorblind, post-racial United States. Cries of “Hands up, don’t shoot!” are heard around the country as people demand an end to rampant police brutality against African Americans. What does the visibility of this movement, born out of a long history of structural and physical violence, tell us about the future? 

A Sight/Site We Cannot Bear: Women Wearing the Islamic Niqab and Public Space

• Thursday March 3, Oscar Ritchie Hall Theatre, 7:00 p.m.
  Dr. Sherene Razack
  A response and Q&A will be led by Amoaba Gooden of the Department of Pan-African Studies
• Have you ever been in public and seen a woman in niqab? Did you give her a second look and maybe think she appeared suspicious? There is a reason why she stands out and remains invisible at the same time. Islamophobia is on the rise and penetrates how media, entertainment and political discourses portray Muslims. Prominent public figures propagate a fear of Muslims and frame an alleged "problem of Islam" as a security question. Join us for a discussion that looks at the ways in which these dynamics impact Muslim women, particularly in public spaces.

The Palestine Exception to Free Speech in America

• Wednesday Feb. 10, KIVA, 7:00 p.m. -9:00 p.m.
  Omar Shakir, Bertha Fellow at the Center for Constitutional Rights
  Megan Marzec, graduate of Ohio University
• What is the greatest threat to free speech at U.S. universities today? Who is trying to block students from organizing around Palestine on American campuses? How are they doing this? Can professors have their academic freedom stripped if they research Palestine? Do people choose silence about Palestinian rights because they fear they may be accused of anti-Semitism?

A Mongrel-American Social Science: Minority Voices in America

• Wednesday Nov. 18, Oscar Ritchie Hall, 7:00 p.m.-8:30 p.m.
  Bob Vitalis will present an overview of his new book, White World Order, Black Power Politics
• #ExcludedKnowledge​

Subjects of Rights and Subjects of Cruelty: Producing an Islamic Backlash Against Homosexuality in Turkey

• Monday Oct. 26, KSC Governing Chambers,12:00 p.m.-1:30 p.m. 
  Evren Savci will present her research on LGBT rights in Turkey and the Middle East
• #LoveIsLove

Why It's Not 'All Lives Matter:' BLM History and Future

• Tuesday October 13, Michael Schwartz Center 177, 7:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
  Austin McCoy and DaMareo Cooper will discuss Black Lives Matter.
  Moderated by Julie Mazzei, Political Science
• #BlackLivesMatter

Are You Not Entertained? Discriminatory Sports Mascots

• Thursday Sept. 24, Kiva, 7:00 p.m.- 9:00 p.m. 
  Dave Zirin, Cynthia Connolly, and Margie Villafane will discuss discriminatory sports mascots
• #ChangeTheMascot

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