ItAGs gather educators, activists and their allies to study a topic and collectively create an action around that area of study, making it a true community of praxis. The topics and themes are always consistent with TSJ's principles. ItAGs support, study, and take action on issues of education and social justice.

On January 21st at 5 PM, join us for the ItAG Kickoff Event at Marwen, 833 N. Orleans to meet the facilitators and fellow participants and build a community of people committed to social justice in education.

The ItAGs will meet for two hours once a week for 6 weeks and conclude with a Finale Event March 17 at 5:30 PM at Marwen where all the ItAGs will reconvene to share their work.

We ask that all people registering for an ItAG commit to trying to attend all meetings. The ItAGs are structured in a condensed 8-week session in order to create a bounded period of focused study and action. Consistent attendance is important for this model to work.

To participate in an ItAG, please register in advance by filling out the online form at: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dExWcmVTQ1NodUVWaVBkdVlPN3BERXc6MQ

This Year's ItAG Topics:

Chi-Queer: Queer Issues in Education

Sundays, 6:00-8:00pm

Location TBD

This ItAG will explore and address issues of queerness, gender, and sexuality in education. Our study and discussion will include shared reflections on our personal histories and teaching practices. For our 'action' component, we hope to design and present relevant public programs that create positive change regarding queer issues for educators and students. This is our second year facilitating an ItAG - read about our group's history at chiqueer.org or find us on facebook: "ChiQueer: Queer Issues in Education Inquiry to Action Group"

Youth Activism

Saturdays 12:00-2:00pm

This ItAG will look at ways to support youth in doing activist projects. Areas of discussion will include adultism and other forms of oppression, youth identity development, the role of critical media analysis, promoting wellness, incorporating the arts, and examples of youth activism nationwide.

Anti-Military Recruitment in High Schools

Tuesdays 5:00-7:00

Ipsento - 2035 N Western

This ItAG will examine the presence of military recruitment in high schools. We will study strategies for resistance aimed at limiting/eliminating that access.

Science/Speculative Fiction & Social Justice

Saturdays 4:00-6:00pm

Estrella Negra 2345 West Fullerton Avenue (basement)

"I think I would have always believed in revolutionary change, and believed in the power of people to organize for that change. But without visionary fiction, I don't think I would have had the imagination or the permission to actually see and touch and feel what that new world could look like" -- Walidah Imarisha, Left Turn Magazine, Jan/Feb 2010

In the Science/Speculative Fiction & Social Justice ItAG we hope to explore and discuss the possibilities of both social commentary and the imagining of new worlds. We'll use SciFi novels, short stories, young adult fiction, graphic novels & comic books, movies and TV shows to learn, teach each other, and envision ways of using these resources in our classrooms and communities. Whether you're a newbie who just really liked the Hunger Games, or you speak fluent Klingon, you're more than welcome to come and geek out with us once a week.

Community Writing Project

Fridays 4:00-6:00

Location TBD

The Community Writing Project (CWP) offers small group personal narrative writing workshops in poor and marginalized communities with the aim of foster democratic learning communities and spaces for participants' critical, creative exploration of their lives. Based in the politics and pedagogy of popular education, the workshop method can be applied to many educative contexts: from formal classroom settings to workforce development programs, to organizing efforts, to community arts programs. The purposes of this ItAG are first, to experience and reflect on the writing workshop method by meeting weekly as a writing workshop; second, to explore ways of incorporating the CWP method into different educative practices and spaces.