Juliane之前的博客文章 关于学术会议的危险，让我们得以一窥教师们GG电子手机版下载从事的一些活动. We want to continue with this topic and share other 倡议s that we are involved with beyond the College. 通过这个“校外”博客系列, we hope to paint a more robust picture of the field of 德国 Studies as we know it. As teacher-scholars, our work is never done in isolation. What we do outside of the classroom (research, service, activism, 等.)告诉我们在课堂上的工作, and the same is true in the other direction; equitable ways of relating to each other in the classroom provide valuable insights For thinking about our roles in professional organizations (building clear support structures, 提供各种参与模式, 等.).
In this post, I focus on two organizations I have been involved with over the last several years. 的 first is a 互助小组 connected to the Diversity, 非殖民化, 德国课程(DDGC)倡议，第二个是德国研究协会(GSA)的气候紧急与技术(CLEAT)委员会。. Both groups bring together scholar-activists in 德国 Studies to advocate For changes in our profession, 第一个目标是For我们这个领域中资金不足或得不到支持的人提供基层支持，第二个目标是让我们这个主要的专业组织更容易获得和可持续发展.
的 互助小组 是 Diversity, 非殖民化, and the 德国 Curriculum (DDGC) 倡议, 德国研究领域的一群学者、教师和活动家，他们的目标是使德国研究更加多样化和公平. 互助行动小组的成立是For了回应 关于劳工正义的市政厅会议 that DDGC organized in late 2020 and began its work by discussing the specific needs of our field, 互助的政治, and how we can best establish our group to support our peers. 迪恩·斯佩德的书 Mutual Aid: Building Solidarity During this Crisis (and the Next) and examples of location-based mutual aid groups served as critical tools and models For our group. 此后，我们For德国研究社区组织了一个由50多名学者组成的互助基础设施, including all three members of GG电子官方软件下载’s 德国 program, who have offered to provide support in teaching (guest lectures, 教学大纲设计, 观察), 研究(编辑, 校对, 支持), 专业发展(辅导), 网络), 组织(宣传), 基本需求(财政), 避难所, 护理工作). GG电子官方软件下载对德国研究的影响，我写了一篇 博客 For the DDGC detailing the first year of our group’s work. 我们的努力和筹款意味着我们能够以各种形式For我们领域内有需要的人提供直接支持.
除了直接提供, no-strings attached aid to anyone in our field who needs it, being part of the mutual aid group has been a way For me to experience radically new organizational structures. Contrary to the structure of many typical committees or organizations, 我们的团队没有等级制度, 平面结构. 而不是主席或领导, 我们轮流组织和主持会议, 当需要出现时，我们承担不同的任务和职责(你可以在一篇文章中了解更多关于小组组织结构的信息) 这是我ForDDGC写的博文). 通过我们的组织结构, we put into action ideas of solidarity that mutual aid groups are meant to foster. 我们优先考虑群体的需求, 每次会议以签到开始，看看是否有任何小组成员可以从互助过程中受益. I’ve never been part of a group that is so inspirational, understanding, and productive.
的 positive experiences that I’ve had in the mutual aid group also inForm my work at GG电子官方软件下载. While the connections between a mutual aid organization and teaching 德国 may not be obviously apparent, I’ve found myself often reflecting on several parallels between the group and the classroom:
- 这两种设置都需要一个明确定义的小组来发挥作用(课堂由课程中的学生和教师明确定义，互助小组是For德国研究及其周围的学者提供的)。
- both seek to eliminate barriers that prevent people from asking For help that they need
- 两者都通过定期的互动和优先考虑其成员的福祉而变得强大和繁荣
- 两者都鼓励有更大目标的合作
- both create opportunities to Form connections and new relationships with people within the community.
我在这里强调的第二组是 气候紧急情况与技术 (CLEAT) committee of the 德国研究协会 (GSA). 该委员会也于2020年成立, 部分原因是对近200名GSA成员签署的公开信的回应，该公开信要求该组织努力脱碳. 该委员会的设立也是For了探索该组织如何利用技术进行更多的虚拟参与——这在疫情最严重的时候是必要的. 作For一个小组一起工作, CLEAT委员会鼓励GSA成员和领导层真正思考组织的未来和地球的未来:成员如何想象2050年的德国研究协会及其年会? 我们希望我们的组织在25年后For谁服务? What can we do now to ensure that our organization will be beneficial For its members and the environment?
基于我对环境人文学科的研究, I was appointed to the committee as an initial member by the president of the GSA in fall 2020. 我们花了几个月的时间完成了一份合作报告，报告中充满了减少我们组织碳足迹的建议和例子，并在此过程中使其更加公平. 正如我们在报告中所写, “With the help of technology and innovative new Forms of communication, 交互, 和指导, we must ‘future-proof’ the organization and combine climate protection and resilience with a more accessible, 欢迎多元会员的文化……”夹板的建议 2). 因此, 该报告的特点是, 在某种程度上, 九项基本原则, 剥离GSA资金的信息, 增加技术的新结构, an overview of how virtual offerings bolster accessibility and inclusion, a list of interim actions that can be implemented immediately, suggestions For similar decarbonization-focused actions beyond the conference, 以及十二项明确建议的简明总结.
的 report was filled with numerous ideas For “future-proofing” the organization, 然而，最初的反应表明，GSA领导层和成员中的许多人(但不是全部)主要关注报告的一个内容:结束GSA年度面对面会议(对某些人来说), 这感觉就像我们在“杀死”组织一样)! 对我来说, 抵制探索会议和指导的虚拟模型表明，一些成员难以想象与同事互动的新方式. A professional organization that depends solely on an annual in-person conference, 然而, is severely under-serving its current and future members who face barriers traveling to in-person conferences. 我们的CLEAT小组设想了一种创造性的方式，通过一种组织模式来吸引成员，这种组织模式的重点是在一年中分散会议上发生的重要活动. Instead of concentrating networking at the in-person conference, 例如, 我们建议For研究生和早期职业学者建立一个持续健全的指导结构，以便与其他成员建立联系. We also advocated For a conference model that rotates between regional, in-person conferences and virtual full-scale conferences to account For environmental, 个人, 地理, 制度上的挑战(会议地点通常更倾向于大城市和机构，而不是较小的城市), which would balance positive and negative aspects of the in-person conference that Juliane described in 她之前的帖子.
我发现人们对CLEAT报告的反应与我所研究的关于气候变化和相关环境危机的虚构作品惊人地相似. 最突出的相似之处是如何让一大群人相信确实存在紧急情况. 事实上, 作For一个团体，我们首先采取的行动之一是将我们的名称从“碳足迹和技术委员会”改For“气候紧急情况和技术委员会”，以强调情况的紧迫性. We were still met with pushback that dismissed climate change as a serious concern. 另一个平行的主题围绕着气候的未来如何被塑造(或“被掏空”)的问题出现了,” to use the words of Timothy Morton) by our past and current actions. GSA董事会已经提前几年计划了面对面的会议，因此已经对未来做出了决定. CLEAT委员会希望他们能开始做 不同的 decisions about the future and depart from enForcing an unsustainable status quo.
We are still pushing For more sustainable models For conferencing and professional development. CLEAT委员会, 现在的成员包括赛斯·皮博迪, continues to advocate For change within the organization. We hope that the GSA will take action toward a sustainable and accessible organization and conference.
As a part of the CLEAT committee and DDGC mutual aid network, 我已经能够与北美各地不同机构的同事建立强大的社区和团结. 在两组中, the entirety of our collaboration has been done virtually, proving that regular virtual meetings with supportive and open collaborators is not just a possibility, but a necessity For building and maintaining collectives that flourish. Focusing on the well-being of the community and its environment is essential For a group to thrive. 通过我与CLEAT委员会的合作, 我希望上述互助原则可以指导GSA成For一个更可持续、更平易近人的学术组织.
作品的引用
CLEAT, “GSA 气候紧急情况与技术 Committee (CLEAT) Recommendations” 德国研究协会. 2021年10月20日. http://www.thegsa.org/resources/climate-emergency-report. 2022年12月7日.
弗雷泽-拉斯，艾米丽和玛吉·罗森瑙. 德国研究社区的互助:For什么以及如何在学术界进行集体组织和关怀工作.” DDGC博客. 2021年5月25日. http://diversityingermancurriculum.weebly.com/ddgc-blog/mutual-aid-in-our-german-studies-communities-why-and-how-to-do-collective-organizing-and-care-work-in-academia. 2022年12月7日.
伤害。凯莉. DDGC互助组织原则.” DDGC博客. 2022年5月16日. http://diversityingermancurriculum.weebly.com/ddgc-blog/ddgc-mutual-aid-organizing-principles 2022年12月7日.
伤害。凯莉. “互助日志报告.” DDGC博客. 2022年10月6日. http://diversityingermancurriculum.weebly.com/ddgc-blog/mutual-aid-log-report-july-2021-july-2022 2022年12月7日.
莫顿,蒂莫西. Hyperobjects: Philosophy and Ecology after the End of the World. 明尼苏达大学出版社，2013.
锡克,Juliane. “会议的复杂性.” 批判德国研究. 2022年11月1日. http://www.Carleton.edu/german/critical-german-studies/news/the-complexities-of-conferencing/ 2022年12月7日.
铁锹,院长. Mutual Aid: Building Solidarity During this Crisis (and the Next). 纽约:Verso, 2020.