During the 2022 Symposium in Miami, we discussed and explored the concept of place as a mechanism for how we understand the world around us.

Place commonly refers to a physical space, or position, in the world. Places often evoke structures, landscapes, geographies, and positions. Places are homes. Places are work. Places are nature. Places are communities. Place is how we navigate and understand our physical environments, and the relationships we have to those “places.” Increasingly, however, places are figurative. They embody the imagined communities, the imagined geographies, and the imagined positions of those located within virtual places, within the places of the mind. These places exist with different routines, different norms, and different guiding principles within which we find location. 

Places, beyond their makeups, are embedded with norms that guide our engagement in the world. Places hold power. Places are representations of the people and structures that are bound within them. Places, as such, are embedded in the relations of people to the world and others around them. This includes how place relates to equity, to oppression, to voice, and to agency to act in the world, in physical and figurative places.The 2022 Social Justice + Media Symposium explored the concept of place as a mechanism for how we understand the world around us, and the ways in which media help to document, share, and reflect places around us. The symposium brought together storytellers, media makers, community stakeholders, and activists to better understand the relationship between media narratives and our places. Sessions highlighted the struggles between media narrative and representation of place, and the opportunities for our stories to bring to light the enduring struggles of communities for more equitable and just futures.

Keynote Speaker

Betty Osceola

Betty Osceola is a Native American Everglades educator, conservationist, anti-fracking and clean water advocate. She is a member of the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida from the Panther Clan. Osceola was born and raised in the Everglades. She is an airboat captain and the operator of Buffalo Tiger Airboat Tours on Tamiami Trail near Miami, Florida.