Beyond the National Spotlight: Denver’s Palestine Solidarity Encampments, Organizer and Decolonial Perspectives, Institutional Responses, and the Limits of Free Speech

Session Type: Working Group Roundtable

Abstract

The objective of this roundtable is to highlight educational activism within a Palestine Solidarity Encampment in Denver, the host city of AERA 2025. We situate a university's encampment in state, national, and indigenous protest histories, highlight organizer experiences and voices, and discuss responses, or “crisis management missteps.” Instead of calling the police, the administration opted for institutional and academic sanctions. While these sanctions blocked students from attending classes and curtailed their degrees – overlooked forms of political education, learning, and artivism such as zine-making, were also taking place within the encampment. We analyze organizer-led forms of “study and struggle” (Patel, 2021). Joining interdisciplinary perspectives, we critically examine (de)colonial practices, and the work of repair when the institution abdicates this responsibility.

Sub Unit

• SIG-Decolonial, Postcolonial, and Anti-Colonial Studies in Education

Chair

• Alice Y. Taylor, University of Denver

Papers

• Fighting Colonialism in the Modern Day: Indigenous Perspectives of Colorado History, the DU Palestine Solidarity Encampment, and Community Organizing - Alexandria Flores, Denver Indigenous Community Organizer; Rachel Roberts, University of Denver

• Colonizers Tactics Endure: Learning from the University of Denver’s response to the 2024 Solidarity Encampment - JoJo Carranza, University of Denver

• Crisis Management Missteps at the University of Denver - Cecilia M. Orphan, University of Denver

• Political Education, Learning, and Artivism through Collective Action - Alice Y. Taylor, University of Denver; Elia Trucks, University of Denver

Discussant

• Hava Rachel Gordon, University of Denver