usdac college hubs
[Note: We are currently piloting the College Hubs Initiative. We will announce the call for new college hubs in Spring 2018. If you're interested, please drop us a line at hello@usdac.us.]
overview:
THE USDAC IS A NATIONAL ACTION NETWORK of artists and cultural workers mobilizing creativity for social justice. Organizing both locally and nationally, the USDAC exists to spark a grassroots, creative change movement, engaging millions in envisioning and enacting a world rooted in empathy, equity, and social imagination.
The USDAC is supporting a new college initiative putting people-power into practice: USDAC College Hubs. We seek partner campuses to take part in a higher-ed program beginning Spring, 2018. As part of this growing action network, participating students, staff, and faculty will develop arts and social change initiatives on their own campuses and communities while building connective tissue and collective impact across sites.
Some colleges already have robust arts and social change curricula, programming, and partnerships with local organizations. Yet, many college students learn about arts and social change outside of school or not until after they’ve left school. Wherever your school is on the spectrum, the USDAC College Hub framework offers a catalytic spark and a supportive network to bring creative community engagement to the next level. By sharing strategies, projects, and learning opportunities across sites, this action-oriented network will help deepen existing initiatives, provide hands-on learning opportunities for students interested in arts and social change, and bring increased visibility to community cultural development initiatives in higher education.
how it works:
USDAC College Hubs enact, promote, and spread arts and social change democratic values. Alongside Cultural Agents, Citizen Artists, and Field Offices across the U.S. they take part in National Actions and create their own local initiatives. The USDAC supports them by providing:
- A kick-off video conference with national leadership
- Ongoing consultation with experienced organizers
- Presence on USDAC website
- National exposure through the USDAC blog, social media, and news coverage
- Two network learning calls per semester with special guests and conversation with all participating campuses
- Opportunities to bring USDAC speakers and workshops to campus
- A crowd-resourcing platform that provides fiscal sponsorship for fundraising
- Connection to the wider USDAC network
- A shipment of USDAC swag: buttons, stickers, posters, etc.
how to apply:
Get in touch for an initial conversation: just drop us a line at hello@usdac.us and we'll start the conversation and send an application your way.
Then make your application: The application asks basic questions about your wish to open a USDAC College Hub and who will be involved.
You need a team of six to endorse the application. That should include at least one staff or faculty member, at least one junior or senior, at least one freshman or sophomore, and, if your campus has postgraduate programs, we encourage at least one graduate student.
Why Apply?
USDAC College Hubs:
- Help grow and connect a new generation of community-engaged artists/scholars/activists.
- Foster a culture of deeper connection and interaction between on- and off-campus communities.
- Bolster and connect arts and social change education and programming, on campus and across institutions.
Infuse arts into other campus groups and organizing efforts.
Questions? Contact us at hello@usdac.us.
The first Usdac college hubs include:
- Oregon State University
- University of Northern Iowa
- City College of New York
- University of Oregon
- Dominican University