Holding the Center at the Confluence of Crises

Holding the Center at the Confluence of Crises: Understanding and Deploying a “Root Shock”-Informed Approach

Course Dates

Monday, July 28, August 4, 11 and 18
6pm-7pm via zoom

Optional in-person “sorted-out city” walking tour of Orange, NJ
Saturday, August 9th at 10am

Course Description

We are in a confluence of crises: rapid shifts of climate, attacks on our democracy, and disregard for the sacredness of all life. At the University of Orange, a 17-year old people’s free school based in Orange NJ, we have learned that “holding the center” requires three things: understanding how we got to this point; deploying strategies that support community recovery; and re-building political power rooted in place. This course will explore these three tasks through the lens of the work of the Cities Research Group (CRG), led by Drs Bob and Mindy Fullilove.

For four decades CRG has conducted groundbreaking research on the forces that caused catastrophic community upheaval, leading to multiple health epidemics and destroying economic, social, political and cultural capital. To describe the vast extent of the harm, Dr. Mindy Fullilove proposed the term “root shock,” a phrase gardeners use to describe what happens to a plant whose roots have been torn in the process of the transplantation. She defined it as “the traumatic stress reaction to the loss of all or part of one’s emotional ecosystem.” We believe we are all experiencing some form of root shock right now. With this understanding of root shock, CRG also identified and practiced collective strategies for community recovery which rebuilds the connective tissue necessary for democracy and people’s power.

Participants will engage with useful resources and tools that they can immediately incorporate into navigating the current crises with their own networks and communities. We will host an optional “sorted out city” walking tour in Orange, NJ on Saturday, August 9 at 10am and share a walking guide so participants can DIY in their own place.

CRG is now housed at the University of Orange under the direction of Dr. Mindy Fullilove, who holds the Helen & Robert E. Fullilove Chair of Community Health at UofO.

Register HERE for “Holding the Center at the Confluence of Crises”

Our Instructors

Dr. Robert E. Fullilove, III, is a professor of sociomedical sciences at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. He got his start in community organizing in 1964, working with the SNCC “Freedom Summer” project. Since 2010, he has been teaching public health courses in six New York State prisons that are part of the Bard College Prison Initiative (BPI) and serves as the Senior Advisor to BPI’s public health program.

Dr. Mindy Fullilove is the Helen and Robert Fullilove Professor of Community Health at the University of Orange and Professor Emeritus at the New School University. She is a social psychiatrist who studies urban problems and their solutions.

Molly Rose Kaufman is a co-founder and director of the University of Orange. She is a graduate of the Columbia University School of Journalism, with training in urbanism from the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers, Paris, France. She uses her grounding in urbanism to develop free education for democracy.

Testimonials for our previous course, “Managing Shock and Awe”

I deeply appreciate the work Dr. Fullilove and the University of Orange team did in designing the sessions and curating the content because, as with all their work, the experience was phenomenal (both live and recorded). Through each weekly session I was grounded in examples, quotes, anecdotes, and stories connected to that week’s theme, which I was able to tie back to my own work and personal life. I have found myself re-listening to the sessions, coming back to the readings, and reflecting on the activities long after the course ended. I will consider this course as a resource especially now, when building belonging and coalitions is critical for the work ahead.

-Katherine Wright, The Rippel Foundation

I thought this course was very grounding and nice for the current political climate that is really overwhelming. It was nice to know that this was happening every week.

-Priscilla P, class participant

This was extremely accessible. I learned a lot and I really enjoyed the blend of New Jersey people’s history and the provided frameworks, ways of thinking for how we can move forward in this moment, and many more moments to come. Thank you so much. I feel more activated than I did before.

-Natalie T, class participant

About the Fullilove Chair of Community Health 

The University of Orange established the Helen and Robert Fullilove Chair of Community Health in 2025. Dr. Mindy Fullilove is the holder of the chair. She will lead community courses, as well relevant research in root shock. She introduced the concept of root shock in 2001, and her book, Root Shock: How Tearing Up City Neighborhoods Hurts America and What To Do About It, was published in 2004. UofO led an observance of the 20th anniversary of the book’s publication, which included editing a special issue of the journal, Built Environment, holding a symposium, and preparing an exhibit on root shock for the Orange Public Library.

Register HERE for “Holding the Center at the Confluence of Crises”

Course Fees

All are welcome to take our course for free! All contributions support the ongoing work of our people’s free university. If you are able, we ask you to please consider registering at a paid level.

$300 (full cost of class per person)

$150 (supporter rate)

$75 (solidarity rate)

OTHER amount (donation of any amount appreciated)

FREE (no one turned away for lack of funds NOTAFLOF) 

Can your institution sponsor your team to come? Talk to us about team rates (info@universityoforange.org) 

Illustration by Ayako Maruyama