Social Justice Week 2025

11:00

Launch of Social Justice Week 2025

Resistance and Resilience for a Just Future

School of Education Foyer, Maynooth University

11:00  -
15:00

Housing & Community Justice gathering

Hosted by: Juliana Sassi, Dept of Geography
Location: Roque Lab at Rhetoric House, Geography Department

Co-organised by Catu Ireland, Le Cheile, Mullingar 4 All, Maynooth BDS and PWO Maynooth to connect the dots of the several issues communities in Irish towns are facing, bringing groups together and building solidarity.

Email [email protected] to register. 
 

12:00 - 13:00

Academic Writing and Identity

Hosted by: Eva Burke,  Student Skills & Success, Academic Support Officer,
Location: Arts Building Room 34

This workshop will discuss how identity can shape academic writing - when we write in particular contexts or through particular theoretical lenses, we often go beyond the boundaries of our own identities. Can academic writing be a vehicle for exploring marginalised identities?

Email [email protected] to register

14:00-15:30

Burning Under Burqa: Solidarity with Afghanistan women and LGBTQ+

Hosted by: Tom Campbell, Dept of International Development
Location: TSI Room 18

Contributors include Afghan Women and LGBTQ+ activist Basira Paigham, and Afghan Women’s rights activist Latifa Jawadi. This event will be chaired by Dr Eilish Dillon, Lecturer, Department of International Development.

Afghan women and LGBTQ+ individuals face oppression yet continue to resist. Burning Under Burqa sheds light on their struggles through poetry, storytelling, and discussion. Featuring real-life stories, interactive activities, and a panel with activists and academics, this event fosters awareness, solidarity, and dialogue on our collective responsibility for change.

This event, organised by students and staff of the Maynooth University Department of International Development, highlights the struggles of Afghan women and LGBTQ+ individuals through poetry, storytelling, and discussion. Featuring real-life narratives, a platform with activists and academics, and interactive activities, we aim to raise awareness of the injustices experienced by Afghan women and LGBTQ+ people, of their activism and struggles against oppression, and to foster solidarity. Contributors include Afghan Women and LGBTQ+ activist Basira Paigham, and Afghan Women’s rights activist Latifa Jawadi.  You are very welcome to come along to listen, to share, to encourage and to dream. Please feel free to wear Afghan or your own traditional attire. 

Click here to register.

Time: 16:00

Women in 2025: A Call for Accelerate Action Against Global Adversities 

Hosted by: Hannah Cullen 

Location: Online via Zoom

In 2025 it is incredibly important to address the rising  issues and impacts to women’s rights, especially in light of recent elections globally. As women’s international day organisation has stated it is essential that this year that we accelerate action, to tackle these challenges.

Contact [email protected] for more info

10:30-16:30

A Community’s Struggle and Campaign for Regeneration: Lessons Learned – The Story of St. Michael’s Estate in Inchicore

Hosted by: St Michael's Family Resource Centre and Dept. of Applied Social Studies, Community and Youth Work Team 

Location: School of Education Foyer

Workshop at 12:00-13:30. 

No registration required.

12:00 - 13:30

Teach in for Palestine

Hosted by: Academics for Palestine with support from the Students Union. 

Location: Students Union

This teach-in focuses on the devastating escalation of violence in Gaza where the actions of the Israeli military resulted in the death of upward of 40, 000 Palestinians. We explain how this violence wasn’t out of the blue, but a continuation of settler-colonial practices aimed at displacing and erasing the Indigenous Palestinian presence. The teach-in will be participatory with lots of scope to discuss and ask questions.

Contributors: Bana Abu Zuluf, MU School of Law and Criminology and Dr. Mark Walsh, MU Department of Maths & Statistics

No registration required.

11:00 - 14:00

Bystander Awareness event 

Hosted by: Gary Cogan, Maynooth University Sexual Violence Prevention and Response Manager

Location: Tent outside John Hume

Bystander Awareness Event with a sign up, follow up, model to engage students with Bystander Awareness training and its social justice role.

No registration required.

14.30 - 16:00

Social Justice: (Poly)crises, rights and the need for transformative change? 

Hosted by:School of Law and Criminology/Mary Dobbs, Orla Kelleher and Jennie C. Stephens.

Location: John Hume Boardroom

A roundtable discussion considering the multiple, interrelated crises facing Ireland - specifically the environment, health and housing. The impacts are already visible and will increase in future unless transformative change is undertaken. The panel will discuss the concerns, potential solutions and challenges.
Contributors: Ollie Bartlett; Patrick Bresnihan; Conor Crummey; Mary Dobbs; Orla Kelleher and Jennie C. Stephens.

Click here to register.

Time: 12:00-14:00 

Creative Writing & Human Rights: The Troubles & Ken Saro-Wiwa Archive as Inspiration for New Writing 

Hosted by: Dr Catherine Morris, Assistant Professor of Literature   

Location: The Library 

Register at: https://bit.ly/MUWritingWorkshop 

Contact [email protected] for more information. 

10:00-12:00

Creative Dance for Social Justice 

Hosted by: STAND & Dept. of Applied Social Studies  

Location: Hall E, Arts Building 

Email [email protected] to register or for more information. 

12:00-17:00 

Youth Theatre Ireland Workshop for Social Justice 

Hosted by: Youth Theatre Ireland & Dept. of Applied Social Studies 

Location: Hall E, Arts Building 

Email [email protected] to register or for more information.

09:00-10:00

History and debates in language revitalisation

Hosted by: Applied Linguistics and Intercultural Studies/ Dr Elyse Ritchey

Location: TSI045

This session on language revitalisation will evoke discussion on the past, present, and future of efforts to revive endangered languages worldwide. This is a session of our regular PG module, ALIS627, that will be designed to be accessible and open to other community members.

Email [email protected] to register

11:00 – 12:00 

Driving Socio-Economic Equality using Non-Regressive Measures

Hosted by: Akhil Cherian John

Location: John O Connell Room in the John Hume Building

Socio-Economic Gap, also called the rich-poor gap is prominent in Ireland with the richest 10% of Irish households have almost half of all wealth (Central Bank of Ireland, 2025). Budget 2025 has again repeated the mistakes of previous Budgets, and missed the opportunity to set out a transformative legacy for this Government (Social Justice, 2025). At the moment, the cost of reducing the income gap is borne by the high income group. However, this reduces the incentive for the HNIs to contribute to the country's growth and encourages them to leave the country (evidenced by the all time high emigration rate to USA, Australia and other European countries). This Seminar aims to identify the multiple elements in the problem and propose strategic policy updates targeting a holistic development of the Irish Economy.

Click here to register.

16:00-17:30 

Hopes and Fears in a Turbulent World: Voices from Irish Civil Society 

Hosted by: Dr Elena Zambelli, Assistant Professor of Sociology

Location: TSI028

with:
• Maria Elena Costa Sa, Irish Network Against Racism
• John McGeady, Social Justice Ireland
• Brian Hurley, Simon Communities of Ireland
• Chair: Nessa Ni Chasaide
Refreshments will be served

RSVP to [email protected]
by Friday, 28 February

16:00-18:00

Academia’s Role in the Colonization of Palestine and the Power of Resistance in Universities

Hosted by: BDSMaynooth
BDSMaynooth is an independent student organisation without any affiliation to political parties or religious organisations. We support the emancipation of all peoples from any form of colonialism and oppression and our central motivation is to organise in solidarity with the Palestinian people. As students, we work to expose and end Maynooth University’s complicity in Israel’s settler-colonization of Palestine. We recognize that the academic boycott is just one part of a broader strategy to isolate Israel economically, diplomatically, and politically. Instagram @maynoothbds & Twitter/X @MaynoothBDS

Location: MUAHI Seminar Room (1.33) Iontas Building

Israel’s settler-colonization of Palestine is sustained by economic, financial, political, and cultural support from governments and institutions worldwide—including in Ireland. Universities play a crucial role in this system of complicity, legitimizing and reinforcing the systematic oppression of Palestinians. The latest eruption of genocidal violence, from Gaza to the West Bank, is a tragic manifestation of this ongoing injustice. This panel will explore how higher education has been contributing to Israel’s settler-colonialism, examine historical student-led mobilizations, and discuss the role we, as students of Maynooth University, can play in raising awareness and pressuring our University to end their complicity. Ultimately, this event is a call to unite, mobilize, and take action in the struggle for justice and liberation in Palestine.

No registration required.

10:00-14:00

Exploring themes of Identity & Culture through Graphic Recording / Open Creativity session

Hosted by: Collaboration between Student Services; EDI & MSU

Location: Library Foyer

Students can drop in, brainstorm themes of identity and culture and how it relates to their lives and university experience, Irish society, global communities etc. and create a visual artistic response – eg. Graphic recording, collage, badgemaking, zinemaking etc (TBC) Designed to be a safe, open, relaxed space for interaction, reflection and creative action. Facilitators (from Creativity & Change, MTU Crawford, Cork) Hazel Hurley &  Helen O’Keefe

No registration required, just drop in. 
 

12:30-14:00

MU UDL & U: Design for Action & Expression

Hosted by: CTL and MU & U Teaching and Learning Fellows 
Location: Online

In this session, we will discuss the Action and Expression Principles of UDL.  We will highlight the benefits of providing students with equitable opportunities to express their learning. We will discuss the barriers to offering a variety of assessment opportunities from both an educator and student perspective. We provide practical strategies to overcome these challenges and share examples of how these approaches have been successfully implemented.

Click here to join.

13:00 - 14:30
 

From Silence to Scholarship: Navigating the Invisible Intersections of Mothering and Maternal Mental Health in the Global South

AHI Visiting Fellow Dr Ketoki Mazumdar, FLAME University, Pune, India

Hosted by: The Maynooth University Motherhood Project
Location: Iontas Room 1.37

For more information email [email protected] 

15:00-17:30

Gendered Harm: International Women's Day and Social Justice week event from the School of Law and Criminology 

Hosted by: School of Law and Criminology

Location: John Hume Boardroom

This event looks to consider several topics that encompass gendered experiences of harm across a broad spectrum of research areas. A panel of colleagues will discuss their own research areas from image-based sexual abuse to questions are evidentiary processes in rape cases. We aim to discuss and highlight the systems and areas where gendered harm effects not only individuals and society but systems compliance in the perpetuation of gendered harm. Chaired by: Dr. Sinead Ring

Click here to register.

18:00

Art of Justice - Arabic Calligraphy & Iftar - FEMALE ONLY EVENT

Hosted by: MU Islamic Society
Location: TSILT3 & Tutorial Room in front of TSILT3

Click here to register.
 

09:30 - 17:00

Building Collective Power for Feminist Climate Justice

Hosted by: Green Campus, the Climate Justice Universities Union, Feminist Communities for Climate Justice 
Location: TSI 210

The Role of Higher Education. In honour of International Women's Day, join the Climate Justice Universities Union to explore the role of higher education in building collective action for feminist climate justice.   

Click here to register

ARQUS University Alliance Film Screening & Roundtable: 'When You Can't Go Back'

Location: Boardroom, John Hume Building, North Campus

Chair: Dr Chandana Mathur (MU Anthropology)

Roundtable speakers: Elisa Gamba (University of Padua), Leonardo Cinieri Lombroso (Film Director), Dr Abdul Aziz Mohibbi (MU Geography/ ICARUS), Dr Niamh Keady-Tabbal (MU Law).

Registration is not required.
 
 

15:00-16:30

Film screening - Rent strike screening follow by Q&A with co-director and CATU members

Hosted by: Juliana Sassi Silva 
Location: AX1 Auxilia Building

Speakers: Film co-director Dr Fiadh Tubridy and Steph Collins, both from Maynooth University and members of the Community Action Tenants Union (CATU).

THE RENT STRIKE tells the story of the successful rent strikes in Ireland between 1970 and 1973 when over 350,000 tenants withheld rent in protest against rent increases, poor housing conditions and a lack of facilities. The documentary was produced by CATU members, amidst the housing crisis, as a way to remember working-class history and the power of community organising to achieve social justice. The directors drew on RTÉ archive footage and interviews with surviving strikers and their families.  Documentary| 45 min| Year 2024

Email [email protected] to register