The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth will host Teach-In 2017: Bridging Differences and Creating Change on March 1 and 2.

The two-day event has lined up a diverse and dynamic group of speakers who will create opportunities for attendees to listen and speak about the social issues that affect them.

Professors from the university and local community leaders will discuss topics such as racism, sexism, religious diversity, social justice, power and privilege. All of these talks are designed to promote active civic engagement and open dialogue.

For example, New Bedford’s YWCA Executive Director Gail Fortes will speak about racism and help participants discover the conscious and unconscious ways that racism has affected their lives. Anthropology Professor Lisa Maya Knauer and Labor Educator Camilo Viveiros will explore key moments and issues in social change organizing -- from the early days of the labor movement here in Massachusetts to Occupy Wall Street to Black Lives Matter to the current wave of protests.

“UMass Dartmouth’s Teach-In 2017 is an opportunity for students, faculty, and staff to come together as a community to learn from each other’s perspectives about important current issues,” said College of Arts and Sciences Dean Jeannette Riley in a press release. “We hope to help our students learn the value of dialogue to bridge differences and create positive social change.”

The teach-in is sponsored by the UMass Dartmouth Council on Diversity and Inclusion and supported by the Faculty Senate.

Admission to teach-in events is free and open to the public. For more details, visit www.umassd.edu/teach-in.