EEDCC Home •Social Justice Community Festival 2025 • Social Justice Community Festival 2024 • Volunteer
Current Membership
Co-Chairs:
Michael Mufson (Performing Arts)
Brianna Stanley (Art)
Members:
Krista Carraway (ESL)
Henry Cen (Biology)
Marcela Gamez (Languages & Literature)
Laura Padilla (Ethnic Studies)
Alyssa Vafaei (DRC)
Meetings
EEDCC meets on the 2nd and 4th Fridays from 1:30 PM – 3:00 PM on Zoom.
Core Values
As activists to the Faculty Senate, this subcommittee will disrupt the status quo by dismantling and eradicating inequities. We challenge others to be uncomfortable and do the transgressive work towards the shared goal of infusing equity and antiracism throughout our college. We will rebuild, critically question, challenge, engage, reexamine equitable praxis, and validate the cultural agency of the entire Palomar College Community with particular attention towards serving students.
Assignments/Responsibilities
- Offer and sustain cultural conscious training programs, workshops, and activities.
- Advise faculty on matters of diversity, equity, and cultural consciousness.
- Identify and develop opportunities for further implementation and integration of diversity, equity, inclusion, and cultural consciousness in the classroom, curriculum, and hiring.
- Consult with TERB on matters of faculty evaluation related to cultural consciousness.
- Report to the Faculty Senate and Superintendent/President on primacy issues pertaining to diversity, equity, and cultural consciousness.
What is Cultural Consciousness?
Paulo Freire’s concept of cultural consciousness is central to his philosophy of education and social change. Freire, a Brazilian educator and philosopher, believed that education should not be about depositing information into passive students (what he called the banking model), but instead about fostering critical thinking and awareness. His idea of cultural consciousness ties directly into this. What is Cultural Consciousness? In Freire’s work, particularly in “Pedagogy of the Oppressed,” cultural consciousness (or conscientização in Portuguese, often translated as critical consciousness) refers to a deep, reflective awareness of one’s social reality and cultural context. It’s about understanding the forces—historical, social, political, and economic—that shape your life and your society. Key Aspects:
- Awareness of Oppression Freire argued that people often live in a state of cultural unconsciousness, where they accept the status quo without question, even if it oppresses them. Cultural consciousness awakens individuals to recognize the inequalities and injustices they face.
- Questioning Reality It encourages people to critically examine their culture, traditions, language, and the power dynamics at play. Instead of passively accepting their social conditions, individuals learn to question why things are the way they are.
- Dialogue and Praxis Freire believed that cultural consciousness develops through dialogue—open, two-way conversations that encourage mutual learning—and praxis, which is the cycle of reflection and action. You reflect critically on your world, and then you act to change it.
- Liberation through Education For Freire, true education is liberating. As people develop cultural consciousness, they gain the power to transform themselves and their communities. Education becomes a tool for emancipation rather than domination.
In Short: Cultural consciousness is waking up to the invisible cultural forces that influence your life. It’s understanding your place in the world, recognizing systems of power and oppression, and feeling empowered to make change.
EEDCC Statement on the Israel-Palestine Conflict in Gaza
The Educators for Equity, Diversity, and Cultural Consciousness Subcommittee (EEDCC) is disturbed and saddened by the current violence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. As a committee, we call for an end to violence against innocent Israeli and Palestinian civilians. The Committee understands and sympathizes with the complexity of the issues involved and calls for people of goodwill to find peaceful resolutions to the conflict.
As part of our mission to “infuse equity and anti-racism throughout our college,” the Committee believes that one can legitimately criticize Israeli policies towards Palestinians without ascribing to anti-Semitic ideology. Individuals can also condemn the violence of Hamas and other organizations without similarly ascribing to anti-Muslim or anti-Arab ideologies. The Committee asks that everyone remember innocent civilians are being harmed as we speak and whatever our differences, we all still share a common humanity.