Art + Activism: Critical Encounters is an ongoing, college-wide program that facilitates interdisciplinary conversation between Columbia’s students, faculty and staff around the critical and sometimes controversial issues of our time. Through increased on and off-campus engagement with these topics we further explore the relationship between our art and activism. We define the role that we as artists play in shaping our own and public opinion on the roles and responsibilities of art, artists, and activists to incite change in the local community.