Faculty/Staff
Students Community
In support of the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse’s commitment to Inclusive
Excellence, the mission of the Institute for Social Justice is to create and support a community of scholars committed to social justice research; to engage and mentor students who are interested in pursuing social justice research and/or careers in social justice fields; and to form partnerships with social justice organizations in the La Crosse community.
Institute for Social Justice Vision:
1) Maintain a database of all UW-L faculty and staff who do social justice research to provide opportunities for research collaboration, networking, and accountability groups.
2) Create and maintain a web site with resources for faculty, staff, and students who are interested in social justice research and advocacy, and also provides students with a list of all currently offered UW-L classes that focus on social justice issues and/or that are taught by Institute-affiliated faculty.
3) Organize and maintain a monthly brown bag lunch series for UW-L social justice scholars to share their research and solicit feedback from colleagues.
4) Organize and run a three-day social justice research and advocacy conference annually in the spring to provide an opportunity for UW-L scholars to present their research along with scholars at neighboring institutions and beyond; and to provide students with opportunities for social justice advocacy training, information about careers in social justice and graduate school programs that emphasize social justice, and opportunities to network with faculty who do social justice research.
5) Provide an opportunity for students to work with Institute-affiliated faculty in order to gain hands-on experience conducting social justice research.
6) Form partnerships with organizations in the La Crosse community that can provide faculty and students with opportunities to engage in social justice research and/or social justice advocacy.
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7) Support and collaborate with other UW-L offices and departments that are committed to social justice issues.
8) Invite social justice scholars and activists to campus to share their research and/or conduct workshops on social justice issues.
Institute for Social Justice Purpose:
The purpose of the Institute for Social Justice is to fill the gap in current Inclusive
Excellence initiatives on campus that focus primarily on awareness, and to some extent curriculum, but much less on research and advocacy. The fulfillment of the Institute’s vision will provide benefits for all stakeholders by providing a centralized structure that facilitates connections between faculty, students, and the La Crosse community. As such, the College of Liberal Studies support for ISJ demonstrates a commitment to:
1) Faculty research endeavors . Further, the presence of a social justice institute on campus has the potential to attract diverse faculty from underrepresented groups who do social justice research and advocacy, and provide such faculty with a community of scholarly support throughout their tenure at UW-L.
2) Students, especially students of color and students from other underrepresented groups, who are interested in pursing social justice research and advocacy .
While the Inclusive Excellence initiative at UW-L has taken a number of steps to reduce the marginalization of students from underrepresented groups through, there has not been an organized effort to incorporate Inclusive Excellence within as opposed to outside the “academic” sphere. As a result, students at UW-L may become more aware of social justice issues, but lack an understanding of social justice scholarship with which to ground their awareness and to more fully conceive how to address social justice issues. ISJ takes up this challenge by providing students with an opportunity to move beyond awareness to action in the form of research and advocacy.
3) The La Crosse Community . Forming partnerships with the La Crosse community around social justice research and advocacy provides opportunities for faculty and student research endeavors and employment/internship opportunities for students, as well as offers the possibility of securing financial resources with which to advance the mission of the Institute and CLS.
4) The mission and vision of the College of Liberal Studies . Not only does the
Institute for Social Justice further the Inclusive Excellence initiative at UW-L, it has the potential to increase student enrollments in the College as there is no other institute in the surrounding area, including at UW-Madison, that shares the structure and scope of IJS.
Participation Across Campus
The Institute for Social Justice seeks to bring together faculty and staff, students, and the
La Crosse community, around issues related to social justice. Thus far, faculty from 25 departments across all three Colleges and the School of Education, have expressed their desire to work with the Institute. Further, administrators and staff from 12 offices on
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campus have asked to collaborate. Finally, undergraduate and graduate students at UW-L as well as persons in the La Crosse community have also contacted Dr. Laurie Cooper
Stoll to explore ways they can connect with an Institute such as this on our campus.
Institute for Social Justice Organization:
Dr. Laurie Cooper Stoll, Sociology and Archaeology, will initially serve as the Director of the Institute for Social Justice and will run the day-to-day operations. Dr. Ruthann
Benson, Dean of the College of Liberal Studies, will have direct oversight of the Institute.
A permanent location for the Institute has yet to be determined. As such, the Institute will initially be housed within Dr. Cooper Stoll’s office, 432C Wimberly Hall.
Institute for Social Justice Resources
Dean Benson has committed the following resources for the next three years to support the Institute for Social Justice:
1) $4,000.00 annual stipend for Director with $2,000.00 paid in the fall semester and
$2,000.00 paid in the spring
2) $1,000.00 operating budget
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