Mason DREAMers: Fostering Inclusion for Our Undocumented Students

Abstract

In this session, become a part of our movement to create more inclusive environments for undocumented students through education and advocacy. Our undocumented students and supportive faculty will lead an interactive discussion on how to better organize, facilitate, educate, and lead on intersections of diversity, culture, history, and policy related to our undocumented populations within the George Mason University campus and community. Grounded in the understanding of critical pedagogy and Paulo Freire's notion of praxis (1970), the Mason DREAMers student organization leads annual events, UndocuAlly trainings, and community outreach initiatives to raise awareness and build critical understanding about the sociopolitical and educational climate of undocumented students and their families. Praxis that involves theory building through learning, action, and reflection is the basis of social transformation and is at the core of the Mason DREAMers mission. The group promotes this critical consciousness to reflect on the multidimensional identities and realities of undocumented students and then empowers participants to become change agents. This interactive session will discuss the praxis involved in being an advocate for undocumented students at George Mason University and will utilize this time and space to detail the concrete opportunities for advocacy and future action that is necessary to improve the social and educational lives of our students. http://www.masondreamers.org/