Originated in Mississippi, Study and Struggle is a collective curriculum designed to promote education and community building through prison-based reading groups. The mission centers on collaborative learning between incarcerated individuals and people outside prison walls, creating spaces for shared dialogue in initiatives such as radical study groups, pen pal relationships, book reviews and prisoner-led research projects.
At the University of Washington, Study and Struggle has taken the form of a series of events held from Jan. to April 2026, bringing together students, faculty and staff to listen and discuss topics related to race, gender and labor, according to UW’s event calendar.
On Feb. 12, a discussion centered on climate justice was hosted, featuring UC Davis American Studies Professor Julie Sze and UWB Environmental Teaching Professor Jennifer Atkinson, moderated by Jed Murr, the Associate Dean for Diversity and Equity. For many students navigating their education while being exposed to discouraging news about climate change, conversations like this offer space to process and think critically about possible paths forward. This session specifically explored the concept of what Sze described as “non-naive radical hope” when discussing environmental topics, colonialism, and the role of higher education in addressing it.
When introducing the topic, she says, “Everything feels so hopeless and far from justice … how do we talk about climate freedom when hope is in short supply?”
Rather than promoting optimism detached from reality, the non-naive approach is grounded in a form of hope that acknowledges the long-term impacts of human activities. Sze highlighted how the climate crisis is deeply intertwined with historical contexts, including capitalism and colonialism. She noted that the United States remains the single largest historical contributor of carbon dioxide emissions since 1750. Much of the country’s industrial growth later occurred alongside the 19th century Westward Expansion, when settlers claimed Indigenous lands and built extractive industries, a process tied to colonialism.
The conversation continued and addressed broader facts about climate change for context. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the current primary sources of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions include transportation, electricity generation, and commercial and residential energy use. Residential emissions often stem from heating, electricity consumption, and refrigerants used for cooling systems. However, the scale of energy demand shifts when cooling extends beyond individual households to large data center facilities. In Washington state, there are approximately 120 data centers consuming significant amounts of electricity and water to regulate high-powered computing systems. This expansion of digital infrastructure raises broader questions of environmental responsibility and reflects the long history of resource extraction for corporate gains.
Community impacts related to climate justice were also discussed. It was mentioned that 2026 is the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, which is a reminder of how environmental disasters disproportionately affect marginalized communities. According to Louisiana State University, 1.5 million residents were evacuated, and thousands were left homeless, and, as a result, mental health issues also rose. “The majority of those who lost their homes or who were otherwise displaced were African Americans living in the city’s lower-income areas,” says writer Jewett.
The conversation then addressed how political and institutional decisions shape the ability to study issues connected to climate justice. Sze noted recent institutional decisions like the University of Texas closing their gender studies programs. She explained that limiting fields like gender and race can constrain how students respond to environmental crises, which often intersect with social issues.
Sze additionally connected her background to how her lived experiences inform her activist commitments. She comes from working-class parents who experienced famine and violence in Maoist China, which shapes her passion for learning about the unheard. Experiences with food insecurity and social instability can also be connected to environmental conditions as climate change continues to worsen agricultural production, deepening existing inequalities.
At the end of the session, there was time for a Q&A session in which a student questioned how to sustain engagement in social movements while feeling anger and exhaustion. Sze replied and emphasized the importance of balancing urgency with collective care and mentioned forms of activism such as art and learning from artists such as Octavia Butler and Grace Lee Boggs to challenge existing systems.
Throughout the program, attendees gained new ideas about the importance of dialogue and the concept that “transformative freedom” must be reexamined socially at the state level. Sze emphasized that feeling emotional is central to this work. She also says, “humor can sometimes be used to make sense of the world – we do what we can.”
The event concluded with a call for sustained engagement in climate justice movements, as well as greater representation in storytelling and collective action to build resilient communities capable of addressing present and future challenges.
In a time filled with rage, anger and hope, this was just one of the Study and Struggle events that offered students and staff a space to listen and learn about the intersection of policy, history and identities. For many, it reinforced the urgency of collective dialogue.
“We have to reimagine revolution and get beyond protest. We have to think not only about change in our institutions but changes in ourselves.” Sze says.
Check out the culminating event of Study & Struggle at UW Bothell on April 30, which will feature Princeton University African American Studies Professor Keaanga-Yamahtta Taylor.
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