Together RIT: A Day of Dialogue

Taj Smith
Executive Director for Community and Education
585-475-2224
tpsddi@rit.edu

This event is only for the RIT Community. 

Volunteer Signup

Submit a Proposal

RIT launched a new tradition fall of 2022, gathering the community to engage in intentional and honest dialogue about challenging issues. It offered students, faculty, staff, and alumni the opportunity to share their work, passions, ideas, critiques, initiatives, performances, and artistic projects with the RIT community through sessions held in-person. This event is open to all eligible members of the RIT community, regardless of protected category.

2026 Together RIT

Together RIT 2026: A Day of Dialogue
Theme: Taboo Topics: Politics, Religion, and Spirituality 
Date: October, 23, 2026
Proposal Submissions Open: April 13, 2026
Proposal Due Date: July 8, 2026 

Submission formats can include:

  • ASL or verbally recorded videos 
  • Written English text 

This event is only for the RIT Community. 

Volunteer Signup

 

Colorful stiped graphic that reads: Save the Date. Friday October 23, 2026. Open to the entire RIT Community. Together RIT. Day of Dialogue on Taboo Topics: Politics, Religion, and Spirituality

Submit a Proposal

Submission Form

We are pleased to accept proposals for our fifth annual Together RIT: A Day of Dialogue. The campus-wide event will be held on October 23, 2026 from 10am-4pm. This event is only for the RIT community. The theme will focus on politics, religion, and spirituality.

Throughout the United States of America’s history politics, organized religion, and non-Western spiritual practices have been discouraged from public conversation. Our own families tell us such intersecting topics are not appropriate for the dinner table.

Yet, we know the reality is that many people would like to discuss these topics. The question is how, where, and when. How do we talk about politics, religion, and spirituality without it leading to personal harm, social polarization, or systemic violence? If not in the safety of our own homes, workplace, or religious spaces, where can we have these difficult conversations and uncomfortable learning? When is the right time? Do we save it for Fridays, Saturdays or Sundays? Do we wait until societal boiling points?

We work, study, and live on a campus that has a diversity of political affiliation, a diversity of religious practices, and a diversity of beliefs. Famous interfaith scholar and practitioner Eboo Patel often articulates the need for a dynamic interaction between our spiritual and religious affiliations and those of the politicized world. As he states, “Diversity is a treasure, identity is a source of pride, equal dignity is the baseline, faith is a bridge, the common good is the north star.”

Together RIT creates a space to ask questions, empathize, build solidarity, and give recognition to our unique experiences. The day is also an opportunity to highlight the positive contributions, joy and pride that come along with identifying with a particular religion, faith, or spirituality. It is a day to seek understanding of political divisions in order to discover what we also have in common.

Together RIT will provide RIT faculty, staff, students, and alums with the opportunity to share their work, passions, ideas, informed critiques, initiatives, performances, and artistic projects. Together RIT is a brave and accountable space, so different perspectives are welcomed. That said, we do not encourage submissions that are rooted in gaslighting, dehumanization, or outright hate.

RIT has made important efforts to address some barriers related to politics, religion, and spirituality. That said, there is still much work to be done to hold ourselves, the university, and its many communities accountable to its professed ideals. We can all do better. We must do better!

While this is certainly not an exhaustive list, we welcome submissions that fall under one of the three main themes and which aim to:

  • Examine how communication barriers limit our ability to productively engage across political differences.
  • Articulate the challenges of identifying with a specific political group.
  • Showcase stories or timelines of how one develops a political or religious identity.
  • Facilitate a religious/spiritual sensitivity workshop.
  • Define political or religious/spiritual concepts and systems.
  • Educate others about the different political systems across the world.

  • Facilitate a conversation across political backgrounds with the goal of bridging divides rather than emphasizing dominance.

  • Discuss the personal impact of internalized religious extremism.

  • Provide tips for supporting religious minority students in the classroom.

  • Connect the dots between politics, religion, and other intersecting identities and experiences.

  • Perform appropriate religious praise dances or songs together.

  • Explain the strategies or steps taken to create dialogic interfaith environments.

  • Propose ideas for inclusive and non-discriminatory policy development and implementation.

  • Highlight historical and current figures who identify as interfaith advocates.

  • Problematize the U.S. political system and offer humanity-centered ways to advocate for rights and basic needs.  

  • Share resources on how religion or spirituality helps to heal trauma, repair and healing.

  • Articulate the experience of being a values and ethics-focused individual without associating with a particular faith or religion.

  • Offer humanity-centered solutions for resolving local, national, and global religious conflict.

  • Celebrate religious, secular, and spirituality identities and culture at RIT through visual arts.

  • Discuss the pros and cons of rank choice voting vs proportional representation, or the popular vote vs electoral college.

  • Invite alumni to share how they’ve negotiated or intentionally used their faith/secular identity in the workplace.

We are open to receiving submissions from any and all mediums, including conference papers, works of art, film, photography, interactive pieces, performances, digital media, collaborative or multi-media projects, roundtable discussions, poster boards, or other creative modes of expression.

Note: We ask that all presenters take into consideration a diverse audience of communicators and learners. Keep in mind how you might provide live captioning, make use of an ASL interpreter and create interactive experiences rather than lecture. If interactive, be sure to consider how people using a manual or power-driven device to move about can participate.

If accepted, the event organizers will work with you to identify available reserved spaces that can accommodate your needs. Please keep in mind classes and offices are still is session so the inventory of what is available will be limited. Zoom only-sessions is an option