Students
Students are core participants at every level of BCRW’s work, working on research projects with faculty and activist collaborators, assisting with and producing original content for BCRW publications (including S&F Online and the BCRW Blog) and video productions, developing and carrying out our core programming, and shaping BCRW’s work through the BCRW Student Advisory Board. Students can get involved in BCRW through a weekly social hour on Wednesdays from 4-5 p.m., once monthly workshops (details to be announced), collaborations with student groups, and paid research assistantships. Students can also apply to participate in BCRW’s Feminist Freedom School, a week-long summer workshop established in 2022 for students involved in social movements to engage with urgent themes in feminist politics. Through formal work, study, knowledge production, and community building, students play a key part in developing BCRW’s intersectional feminist politics and practice in collaboration with faculty, activists, artists, and our broader communities.
Want to get involved?
Join us at our weekly social hour on Wednesdays at 4 p.m., beginning January 31.
Add your organization to BCRW’s student-scholar-activist network. Check out collaborating student organizations below and fill out this form.
And join BCRW’s new Student Advisory Board! To join, fill out this form.
If you’re a Barnard student interested in applying to work as as research assistants, come to a social hour or contact BCRW at the beginning of the semester.
Questions? Email Kelsey Kitzke ‘23, Post-Baccalaureate Fellow at kkitzke [at] barnard.edu.
Collaborating Student Organizations
116th Initiative
The 116th Initiative is a grassroots mutual aid collective of BIPOC, allies, first-generation, and low income students from Barnard College and Columbia University. The collective uses creative organizing strategies to redistribute wealth and resources amongst financially struggling and underserved students across our campuses to combat historical socioeconomic barriers. The 116th Initiative exists to acknowledge, interrogate, and address the ongoing impacts of the tremendous wealth gap among undergraduate students attending the historically elitist institution of Columbia University. Learn more on the 116th Initiative website and follow the 116th Initiative on Instagram.
AZINE Zine Collective
AZINE is an Asian/American, queer, women-centered arts and zine collective. AZINE centers around community-building, storytelling, education and creation. Learn more on AZINE’s website.
Barnard Columbia Abolition Collective
The Barnard Columbia Abolition Collective is a coalition of students organizing towards community-based models of care and safety without police, prisons, and the carceral state, on campus and beyond. The collective was formed in 2022 as a student organization in opposition to the proposed plan for a “feminist” Harlem Women’s Jail. BCAC works to dismantle the carceral system through education, activism, and solidarity with other radical movements. Check out digitized zines here and follow BC Abolition Collective on Instagram.
Barnard RA Union
Barnard RA Union (OPEIU Local 153) is a labor union for Resident Assistants at Barnard College that advocates for the recognition of the invaluable work that RAs do for the college community. The Union is currently campaigning for all RAS to receive a $5k/year stipend from Barnard. Follow Barnard RA Union on Instagram.
Barnard Zine Collective
The Barnard Zine Collective/Zine Club is a student organization that independently publishes and distributes zines compiled of students’ creative work each semester. Zine club aims to build a collaborative and creative community by hosting workshops where participants can make pages for the issue of the semester. Follow Barnard Zine Collective on Instagram.
Columbia Iranian Students Association
CISA aims to build and unite a community of Iranians and those interested in Iranian culture in order to celebrate various aspects of Iranian culture/s and explore current identities present among Iranian-Americans. CISA is inclusive of all who have connections to Persian culture, all ethnic groups in Iran, and fosters connections with other cultural groups in the SWANA region and beyond in our programming. CISA is committed to creating safe, affirming, and anti-oppressive spaces for all those who participate. Follow the Columbia Iranian Students Association on Instagram.
Housing Equity Project (HEP)
Columbia HEP is dedicated to serving folks experiencing homelessness and food insecurity and mitigating the harmful impacts of Columbia University’s gentrification and expansion throughout Morningside Heights and West Harlem. HEP’s 4 initiatives consist of: direct outreach to homeless people in the community, participation in the Food Recovery Network, volunteer work at Ascension and Rutgers Shelters, and anti-gentrification advocacy. Learn more on HEP’s website.
Jewish Voice For Peace Columbia (JVP)
Jewish Voice for Peace aims to provide a cultural, community-oriented space on campus for anti-zionist and zionist-questioning Jewish students on Barnard and Columbia’s campuses. JVP organizes closely with Students for Justice in Palestine as a member of the coalition CU Apartheid Divest, and stands in solidarity with Palestinian peers, guided by a vision of justice, equality, and dignity for all people. Follow JVP Columbia on Instagram.
Reproductive Justice Collective (RJC)
The Reproductive Justice Collective’s mission is to advocate for students by increasing equitable access to reproductive healthcare on campus by lobbying the administration and providing information and support resources for our peers, and to defend reproductive freedom in the broader New York City community and the United States by working with partner organizations and legal advocacy groups. The collective prioritizes a radical and intersectional approach to reproductive justice activism, ensuring that connections are fostered between birth justice, abortion access, queer and trans health, sex education and resources for all pregnant and parenting people. Learn more on the RJC website and follow RJC on Instagram.
Students for Justice in Palestine Columbia (SJP)
SJP Columbia is a chapter of the national SJP, an organization dedicated to developing a student movement that is connected and equipped with the tools necessary to achieve Palestinian liberation. Along with JVP and 80+ other student organizations, SJP is in coalition with CU Apartheid Divest, a continuation of the Vietnam anti-war movement and the movement to divest from apartheid South Africa that advocates for Columbia’s divestment from israel apartheid. Follow SJP Columbia on Instagram.
Image Credit: BCRW Research Assistants with Angela Davis at Ella Baker for the 21st Century: A National One-Day Symposium held on December 1, 2023.