University of Iowa’s 2016 spring semester theme is ‘Just Living’

What is “Just Living”?

“Just Living” is a program at the University of Iowa that allows students to explore the field of social justice.

In spring 2016, University of Iowa’s office of Outreach & Engagement sponsor a program called Just Living, which is a theme semester on UI campus.

I became one of the nine student ambassadors of Just Living. Our mission is to introduce social justice to people and make them feel that they are part of the UI community.

Our website displays the missions of Just Living, faculties, student ambassadors, as well as the numerous events we hold.

Jade Manternach, the supervisor of Just Living, and 9 student ambassadors (including me) initiated some events for University of Iowa this semester including Veteran Care Package, Just Living Passport, Film Series.

So far, we’ve had a good outcomes. People have discussed and shared their opinions on what social justice means to them as well as how they plan to partake in ‘just living’.

How do we ‘just live’?

Some people don’t know how to respond to the question “how do you just live?” Even though it seems like a hard question, it’s actual quite easy to answer (and a good practice of self-reflection) if you really give it some thought. It gives you the opportunity to reflect on your identity as whole, including ethnicity, gender, religious background, and cultural background.

How do those identities affect your life? Are you proud of them?

Dr. Angela Davis, a leader in social justice, gave a speech about racial equity on March 8th at the Englert Theatre.

We had “One Button Studio” at the main library on March 10th, where we collected short videos of people talking about what social justice means to them. With this footage, we will be creating a video about social justice at the end of the semester.

The next “One Button Studio” will be on April 20th at the Hardin Library, so come stop by and learn more about Just Living!