Today, Thursday, 19 January, is Aequitas Day at ASL, giving high school students the opportunity to partake in workshops and discussion groups, and engage in conversations about justice, equality and fairness. 

There were 21 workshops on offer, with students signing up to two of their choice:

• "Post-Apartheid South Africa: Should your birthplace determine your future?” with Beth Honig, UK Director at Ubuntu
• "What's in a Look?: The power of the male gaze in art and literature” with Mr. Mazzenga
• "Tackling Gender Inequality in Universities (and beyond)” with Dr. Kelly Choate, King’s College London
• "Who is Benefiting from ASL’s Educational System?” with Ms. Xu
• "Women for Women International and Women’s Empowerment” with Danielle Phillips and Paula Schatnik
• "Trouble in Paradise” with Ms. Thompson and Mr. Dunmore
• "Stay Classy, ASL”  with Mr. McGowan
• "White Privilege and the Reactions to It” with Ms. Mears
• "Social Justice and the Latino(a) Experience in the United States” with Mr. Rojas and Ms. DeSimone
• "Gender Bias in Education” with Ms. Gajendragadkar
• "Busting the Model Minority Myth: The experience of Asian immigrants in US and UK” with Mr. Basu
• “Breaking the Stigma" with Julia Leland ’16
• "Stereotypes. Unavoidable?” with Mr. Pavel
• "Who Deserves to Live (Longer)?” with Mr. Yeoh
• "Feminism 101” with Mrs. Hester
• "Human Rights Watch” with Jessica Jones
• "Speak Out and Speak Up!” with Mrs. Craig and Grace Heinrichs
• "Environmental Justice" with Ms. Wilson
• "Social Justice Through Art” with Nick Ellwood
• "Syria: A humanitarian emergency” with Mr. Elhadj
• "Inequality in the American Education System” with Dr. Phillips

Head of School Coreen R. Hester offered a Feminism 101, opening with the rise of feminism throughout history from an international perspective. Gender was a hot topic in multiple workshops, as students in Mr. Mazzenga’s classroom considered the history and consequences of artistic and media-driven objectification, while Ms. Gajendragadkar led a session about gender bias in education, asking students to consider the difference between how male and female students access educational opportunities, and to consider if gender bias is present here in our own community at ASL.

UK director at Ubuntu Beth Honig talked about her passion for South Africa’s development and the history behind Ubuntu. She asked Henry ’18 and Jordan ’18, who have both taken part in ASL trips to visit Ubuntu in South Africa, to share their experiences with the rest of the group. Students then made a Skype call to Nozibele Qamnagana, Ubuntu external relations manager in SA, and asked her to share her story of growing up in Port Elizabeth while being supported by Ubuntu, all the way through to working with them to continue to further their mission.

Following her session with our HS students, Beth Honig commented, "It was a privilege for Ubuntu to participate in Aequitas Day. Students engaged brilliantly as we explored the challenges to social justice, and the racial, economic, educational and medical inequalities still prevalent in post-apartheid South Africa. I only wish that these types of conversations could happen in schools and communities more often!"

Dr. Kelly Choate of King's College London led a session on "Tackling Gender Inequality in Universities (and beyond)." She has a deep interest in why women are being held back in academia, and why we have preconceived conceptions about what women can do. She asked the students to think about the ideas they pick up from people they meet who are involved in activism, from role models, and from the books they read. Research tells us that women are less likely to hold positions of leadership in the higher echelons of universities, are paid less than men, and their work is cited less than that of their male colleagues. After her introduction, Dr. Choate asked the students break into groups to discuss ideas from literature that have inspired them—her own example was King's alumna Virginia Woolf's "A Room of One's Own.”

Students tackled some difficult subjects over the course of the day. Mr. McGowan gathered a group of students in the MILL to discuss social class and its role in the ASL community. He encouraged students to draw upon their own experiences and to embrace the opportunity to converse honestly about topics that may feel initially uncomfortable.

Alumna Julia Leland ’16 took a break from her college studies to return home to ASL and work with students on breaking the stigma of mental health—another topic which had students opening up to speak honestly and frankly about their own experiences.

It’s been a thought-provoking and insightful day, and we can’t wait to hear these conversations continue outside of the classrooms and into the daily lives of our students, faculty and staff. Thank you to everyone who contributed to these fantastic workshops.