Community as Intellectual Space 2006:
From Community Organizing
to Community Building
2nd Annual Symposium
June 16-18, 2006
Puerto Rican Cultural Center, Paseo Boricua, Chicago, Illinois, USA
About the Symposium
The concept
of “Community as Intellectual Space” recognizes the myriad ways that people develop creative,
collective, and liberating means to meet challenges and achieve goals in
local settings. Certainly we can see public spaces that nurture
intellectual growth in our schools, museums, libraries, and other places
where people come together to talk, explore, and learn. But communities also
themselves serve as curriculum and laboratory, a space where people can
come together to investigate social, cultural, and economic issues within
the context of past and present lived experiences.
Paseo Boricua (near Chicago’s Humboldt Park) is a vibrant community
characterized by strong multigenerational activism, where about 70% of residents
are of Latino origin, and 30% of families are living below the federally defined
poverty level. It provides one of the world’s leading examples of melding
collaborative action and research whose participants come from all walks of
life. The Puerto Rican Cultural Center serves as its intellectual anchor,
galvanizing work in the community with its motto of “live and help others to
live.”
But how did Paseo Boricua emerge as a model of sustained social change and
community development, cultural expression, ethical leadership, and a truly
intellectual space? We chart its course in the second annual
Community as Intellectual Space symposium, taking as our theme “from community
organizing to community building,” and delving into the past to find practical
lessons for today and a vision for the future.
With this symposium, we invite students, faculty,
researchers and others interested in community research and action to
participate in the life of Paseo Boricua, gaining first-hand experience with community as
intellectual space. The symposium includes presentations by researchers who have
conducted major studies in Paseo Boricua, original films documenting local history,
a performance created by renowned Nuyorican poet Tato
Laviera, and the Puerto Rican People’s Parade.
Registration fees
The cost to attend this three day symposium is $75. The fee will cover
a reception on Friday night, continental breakfast on Saturday and
Sunday mornings, mid-day refreshments, and program materials. Program
presenters and students registered for LIS 590CIO will be given a discounted rate of
$50.
