inequality in america

Each term, one participant from each HECUA program abroad takes on the role of student blogger, sending regular dispatches from the field. Elle Nelson is HECUA’s student blogger for the Inequality in America program this fall. Elle is a student at Bethel University, majoring in Biology and Reconciliation Studies. Read on her for first post! […] Read More »

All these people, and many, many more, helped me bridge the gap between textbook and reality and inspire me to embrace, whole-heartedly, the resistance against injustice and inequality within the country. They opened themselves up to the class and used their radical vulnerability as a means to teach us of the oppression they have faced and will continue to face. And it is for this that I think HECUA is so dang special. It provided the means for radical relationships to form and created space to learn from those who are leading the fight against inequality in America. Read More »

Welcome to HECUA’s Alumni Profile series. Each month we’ll catch up with a HECUA alumni, and see how their time in a HECUA classroom influenced their career goals, their life in the community, and their pursuit of continued education. If you or a friend would like to participate in this series, please email lohmans@hecua.org. This […] Read More »

My HECUA internship at the Minneapolis Regional Labor Federation has helped me begin to loosen my restricted perception of who can and should organize, and where organizing is most effective. These experiences have exposed me to the endless opportunities where change can be implemented. Read More »

When people ask me what the Inequality in America program is, time and time again I fail to feel as though I have given a fulfilling answer. This is because we are learning so dang much. In February alone, we have learned everything from the benefits of asset-based mapping to the effect that poverty has on cortisol levels. Read More »

When I signed up for HECUA-Metro Urban Studies Term (now Inequality in America) in 2012, I was hoping to learn how to put my passion for equity in education into action. The notion of praxis HECUA taught me—the idea that I can put social justice values into action through my work—is something I now use daily as a curriculum consultant and writer, helping organizations design their English language arts, English as a Second Language, and social studies courses. Read More »

It was my learning in HECUA that showed me I do have a lot to gain from academic spaces – that is, if they are working to excavate truth, as opposed to reinforcing the colonial mindset that our world is saturated in. Read More »

What I love about HECUA’s Inequality in America program is not just the class material, the internship placement, or the incredible cognitive growth you go through, but the way in which the program director Phil Sandro makes time for students’ mental health. Read More »

“Having knowledge of systemic issues has helped me have more confidence as I advocate for families. I can see what they are working against and where they are coming from.” Read More »

In HECUA’s Inequality in America program we draw on Paul Loeb’s book Soul of a Citizen: Living with Conviction in Challenging Times to dismantle the feelings of powerlessness that keep people from engaging in social movements. Loeb writes about the “false myth” that a person taking a political stand has to be a “larger-than-life figure—someone with more time, energy, courage, vision, or knowledge than any normal person could ever possess.” Read More »