Dear IIRP Community,
At this year’s online World Conference, “Inviting Collective Energy — Igniting Social Change,” I was introduced to a new term when a participant shared: “Epistemic injustice — if you don’t know about this, you need to.” So, as part of a community of learners, I looked it up. Miranda Fricker’s work, Epistemic Injustice — Power and Ethics of Knowing, speaks to the injustices that occur from acts of exclusion and silencing people. As a graduate school committed to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging, this is an injustice, a true harm, that we know how to restore.
Restorative practices by design invites voice. It invites participation and all the messiness that might bring. There is a difference between having an opinion and taking action. There is a difference between sharing perspectives and misrepresenting a fact. At the IIRP, having voice and welcoming someone’s lived experiences, insights, and knowledge is how we learn and explore the complexity of human life. Our practices pair self-reflection and self-expression; they are yoked toward a collective effort — moving us forward to a more compassionate and humane world.
It is core to our graduate curriculum to share our studies, and it is always important for our culture to serve well. At the IIRP we aspire to “practice what we teach.” In this issue, I hope you enjoy hearing how people have invited a plethora of voices to help process trauma, interrupt aggression, and influence community leaders to act. Inviting discourse is a nonviolent but powerful way to right wrongs, be inclusive, and honor all people’s voices. With that, we will learn about impacts we might not see, actuate ideas we might not have considered, and rebalance an injustice we do not want to perpetuate.
Linda J. Kligman, Ph.D.
President
