Register Now for the 2023 Spring Seminar!
The Unitarian Universalist Office at the United Nations, UU College of Social Justice, UU Service Committee, and Side With Love are excited to announce that the 2023 Intergenerational Spring Seminar will take place April 1-3, 2023, with the theme "Demilitarization & Abolition: Resist Policing and Empire."
The event will be in-person at the First Unitarian Society of Minneapolis with online participation options.
Register now for the 2023 Spring Seminar!
Note: A special orientation for Youth and their adult Sponsors will be held the evening of March 31, so in-person Youth attendees should please plan accordingly.
Keynote: Andrea Ritchie, co-author of No More Police
Andrea Ritchie, 2023 Spring Seminar Keynote Presenter
We are thrilled to announce that Andrea Ritchie will offer the virtual keynote presentation at our 2023 Intergenerational Spring Seminar!
Andrea Ritchie is a Black lesbian immigrant survivor who has been documenting, organizing, advocating, litigating, and agitating around policing and criminalization of Black women, girls, trans, and gender nonconforming people for the past three decades. She is the author of Invisible No More: Police Violence Against Black Women and Women of Color and co-author of Say Her Name: Resisting Police Brutality Against Black Women, Queer (In)Justice: The Criminalization of LGBT People in the United States, and No More Police: A Case for Abolition .
She co-founded the Interrupting Criminalization initiative with Mariame Kaba, as well as the In Our Names Network, a network of over 20 organizations working to end police violence against Black women, girls, trans and gender nonconforming people. She currently hosts the Invest/Divest Learning Communities at the Community Resource Hub, and supports dozens of organizations across the US working to divest from policing and invest in community safety. She has authored numerous research reports, articles, and opinion pieces on policing, criminalization, mass incarceration and immigration enforcement.
Read more about Andrea Ritchie!
Why Minneapolis?
The past few years of online-only Spring Seminars have shown us that we can connect with the UN, and with issues of global concern, from anywhere in the world. For 2023, we wanted to try holding the event closer to the middle of the continent, in the hope that a more geographically diverse community can attend. And given this year's theme of Demilitarization & Abolition, we want to learn from movement leaders in Minneapolis who have been on the front lines of resisting police and empire.
The Intergenerational Spring Seminar, hosted by the UUA Office at the UN in close collaboration with the UU College of Social Justice, UU Service Committee, and Side With Love, aims to instill in Unitarian Universalist youth and adults a commitment to global engagement and the skills to take action locally to address global issues.
The intergenerational seminar is an opportunity to collaborate with others while learning how to be a global activist. Through workshops, peer and expert-led panel discussions, community building activities, and worship services, you will undergo a transformative process of learning, reflection, and growth while exploring some of the most challenging issues facing humanity today.
The Seminar is open to anyone age 14+, and youth make up a large proportion of participants. Safety is our top priority; all attendees should be familiar with our online safety guidelines for youth and intergenerational events.
The Intergenerational Spring Seminar program offers worship, panel discussions, skills-building workshops, small-group work, and more during the 3 days.
Book your room in the hotel block we've reserved for those attending Spring Seminar in-person in Minneapolis!
Take a look back at the themes and take-aways from prior Intergenerational Spring Seminars hosted by the UUA Office at the United Nations. Each year's topic examines a different global justice or human rights issue.