USF Celebrates 50th Year of the International and Multicultural Education Department
The 50th anniversary celebration for the International and Multicultural Education Department (IME) titled Learning for Resistance, Love & Liberation, was held on October 4 in Fromm Hall with notable alumni, faculty, and student speakers present. In addition to workshops and networking, participants were privileged to attend a plenary session which embodied the IME department's continued growth in the field.
USF’s IME Department was founded in 1975, influenced by the philosophy of Paulo Freire, a noted Brazilian education philosopher with whom the department founders collaborated. With trailblazing roots in participatory and community based education, IME pursues understanding of formal and informal education within diverse socio-cultural, linguistic, political, and economic contexts. Through its 50 years and the department's four programs, IME has progressed its vision for educational equity and social justice in global, national, and local settings.
The day’s plenary session, IME Across the Decades, explored the founding and evolution of the program over the past five decades with remarks from Dean of the College of Education Shabnam Koirala Azad, Assistant Dean Whitneé L. Garrett-Walker EdD ’21, and Professor Emerita Susan Roberta Katz. As part of the celebration, one of the department’s founders, Professor Emerita Alma Flor Ada, (who now has a collection of her works featured in Gleeson Library) honored the past and situated the School of Education in the present by helping envision what the next 50 years of IME will look like. The plenary served as a grounding in the School of Education’s legacy.
"It was such a powerful day of community, connection, and celebration,” said Monisha Bajaj, professor and chair, IME. “The day's program shone light on the issues we care deeply about: racial justice, dignity for immigrants, linguistic rights, queer rights, restorative practices rooted in Indigenous wisdom, and advancing liberatory praxis in educational settings. Honoring the department's legacy left us inspired and energized to continue the work of educating for peace, justice, human rights, and the dignity of all."
Learn more about how you can contribute to IMEs legacy through the Paulo Freire International & Multicultural Education Scholarship.
