Announcement of an Exempt Purchase

The consultant shall research, interview, map and serve as a liaison with sites of engaged social justice knowledge production, teaching and change making around the world in key international sites to be determined. That research and outreach would be documented carefully, and shared regularly with the larger Portal Project team as a way to identify best practices, and learn from models of engaged social justice scholarship that are working in other contexts. Consultant shall support the Portal Project in exploring what international solidarity looks like in the 21st century digital age and rapidly shifting geo-political landscapes.

This purchase is exempt from the usual selection processes of the Procurement Code because the procurement expenditure is for performing sponsored research and other sponsored activities under grants and contracts funded by the sponsor or by sources other than State appropriations. (30 ILCS 500 / 1-13(b)(8)) We received outside funding to develop a two-year long floating seminar, the Portal Project, culminating in a major international conference. This person will help us curate the international component of the conference as well as craft literature and design educational forums leading up to it in preparation. This event will bring acclaimed scholars and experts together and will uplift the international and academic profile of UIC and further showcase the social justice aspect of its mission.